Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative From: paul.hubbard@shbbs.demon.co.uk (Paul Hubbard) Path: newserv.ksu.ksu.edu!moe.ksu.ksu.edu!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!pipex!doc.ic.ac.uk!qmw!demon!shbbs!paul.hubbard Subject: Better The Devil You Know 1 X-Mail-Agent: GIGO unreg at shbbs vsn 0.99 pl1 - G2K v1.01 Organization: Silicon Heaven BBS (2200-0630 UTC) (44-1626-834331) V32B Date: Wed, 10 Aug 1994 23:40:58 +0000 Message-ID: Sender: usenet@demon.co.uk Lines: 66 From: phubb@shbbs.demon.co.uk (Paul Hubbard) Better the Devil you know. By P.D Hubbard. Prologue: Anna O'Halloran stood beside the rail peering out over the sea. It was a warm afternoon, not a cloud in the sky. Quite nice for the time of year, she thought. Taking the holiday to get away from it all was a stroke of genius. A few days in the southern states, enjoying New Orleans. Then a tour of the gambling dens of Cuba, winning a little, losing a lot. Now, finally, the last leg of her trip. If she had told her friends that she was coming home on a fifth rate tramp steamer, they would have called her all the fools under the stars. However, getting away from it all was the idea and staying clear of the usual tourist haunts, seeing things that others would not see. A good idea all round. Some sort of commotion broke the spell. Looking up, Anna noticed the observer in the crows nest shouting to the bridge, pointing to something not visible from this side of the ship. 'Probably a Whale' she mused to herself. The shouting got shriller. Finally, Anna decided to go and have a look, after all, most of the ships crew were over the other side of the ship looking. Pushing her way to the front of the crowd, she finally got a look at what was causing all the fuss. Up on the bridge, the crew could not believe their eyes. Some sort of a tunnel had opened in thin air, directly in front of the ship. Zig zagging had no effect, it was almost as if the ship and the phenomenon were magnetically linked. The hole grew bigger, looking more ominous by the minute. Lightning bolts seemed to whirl about inside the opening. Someone ordered full astern, the ships screws biting into the water, trying to claw her away from the gaping hole, but to no avail. The water was dead calm, where was the horizon? A call came up from the engine room. The boilers were at bursting point, they were loosing the fight. The ship started to slip towards the hole. Down on the deck, the crew started to drop. Anna's lungs ripped at her throat, trying to claw the rapidly diminishing oxygen. The air was being sucked into the hole with a whirling shriek. With her last spark of consciousness, dark fingers blurring her sight, she saw the front to the ship enter the hole. The SS Cotopaxi slowly slid into the hole. It almost looked like she was entering a brick wall, section by section disappearing from sight. Finally, as the rear mast entered, the hole closed down upon itself. Nothing was left, just the blue sky and placid sea. A week would pass, the ship would be posted as overdue, then finally missing without trace. Nothing would be seen of her again.....or so people thought. ~~~ Blue Wave/RA v2.12 [NR] -- | Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own. Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative From: paul.hubbard@shbbs.demon.co.uk (Paul Hubbard) Path: newserv.ksu.ksu.edu!moe.ksu.ksu.edu!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!swrinde!pipex!doc.ic.ac.uk!qmw!demon!shbbs!paul.hubbard Subject: Better The Devil You Know 2 X-Mail-Agent: GIGO unreg at shbbs vsn 0.99 pl1 Organization: Silicon Heaven BBS (2200-0630 UTC) (44-1626-834331) V32B Date: Wed, 10 Aug 1994 23:41:00 +0000 Message-ID: Sender: usenet@demon.co.uk Lines: 204 From: phubb@shbbs.demon.co.uk (Paul Hubbard) Better the Devil you know By P.D Hubbard Part 1. "First officers log, Stardate 48455.6. The Enterprise is currently on a mapping expedition of the 'Hobbs' sector. Little is known about this area with the exception that it consists of a small cluster of suns, each with six planets apiece, a real rarity. We are currently having technical difficulty with the ships sensors at the moment due to a sporadic fault with several sensor pallets. Engineering has promised me full sensor sweep operation by the time we arrive at star system number six. Someone in Stellar Cartography has one hell of a sense of humour. The unofficial label for number six is 'Hades II', I will have to have a word with them later. Meanwhile, all is well, and that's how I want to keep it. End Log...." "Will......" Riker turned and faced Troi. "You rang!!!!!!!", he smiled at her. "Will" she said again in a quite tone. "Don't go too hard on the Cartography department. They don't choose the designated names, besides, a little bit of fun now and then would'nt go amiss". He sighed. "I know....., it's just that this mission is really starting to get to me. Nothing happening, nothing amiss. Everything is so efficient around here that I can't even find a speck of dust anywhere". "And whose fault is that????", she replied, "I remember the last inspection tour when you nearly took that young Ensign's head off with that mouth of yours over a bit of fluff on his uniform. Since then, everybody's been working overtime keeping the ship clean and tidy". She paused a few seconds then continued. "Look Will, relax.... nothing will happen if you want it to". "Is that you or you in your councillor capacity speaking?" "Its me, besides you know where my office is if you need it". Riker grimaced, weighed up the options, then decided to let it go. "I Guess your right, as always......". He smiled again the relaxed deeper into the con. BLOOP!!!!! "LaForge to bridge...." "Bridge here Mr LaForge, go ahead". "Sensor pallets are now back online. It was just a small glitch in the system, nothing to worry about......." "What was the cause of the fault Geordi?????" There was a embarrassed silence from the other end. "I'm waiting Mr LaForge" said Riker. "Well, ulp, the sensor fault was caused by.............." "Spit it out Geordi........" "...caused by a discarded sandwich in the multiplexer unit" he replied wearily. "I guess that one of my staff left it here whilst working a double shift on the last inspection. I'm sorry Commander, it won't happen again". "I'm sure it won't Mr LaForge, especially since I will be personally giving your engineering staff a lecture on cleanliness at work. Riker out". The channel closed. Riker looked pleased with himself. Deanna looked accusingly at him. "You really enjoyed doing that, didn't you....come on, don't lie to me, I know you too well...." "Was it that noticeable?????". "So noticeable" she replied, "that I didn't need to sense it. You really can be incorrigible at times". "That's why I'm first officer" he replied with a grin. Data was looking puzzled. Something was not right with the sensor reading from system six ahead. He doubted that the errant sandwich would have a permeant effect, but something was definitely amiss with the reading. He queried the readings with his onboard data storage, could find no matching readings from a past encounter, then decided that the best thing was to inform the senior officer on duty. He swirled in his chair and faced Riker. "Sir, sensors are reporting a anomaly from system six up ahead. However, I do not trust the sensors at the moment because of the cleared fault". "What sort of sensor readings Data???" "According to readings, there are large amount of ferrous metal in orbit around planet number six. Sensors read the metal as mostly plain Iron to Steel and Steel laminates with a few modern alloys sprinkled in. The presence of plain Iron is why I feel that the sensors are still inaccurate". " I agree, Iron is hardly likely to be used for space vessels. Continue on this course towards system six. We will find out then". "Aye Sir" ____________ Tree's whizzed past at a alarming rate, the wind whistling past his ears. There was no doubt about it, Picard was having the time of his life. His horse, Bessie, was showing no signs of flagging. Several branches shot by ominously close, almost taking is hat off. Then suddenly, the trees cleared and Picard found himself on a open plain with a glorious vista. He turned the horse in a tight circle and drew up. "Whoooaaaa, easy old girl". The horse obliged him. Another rider shot out from the same clump of trees and headed towards Picard. As the horse got closer, Picard could make out the features of Beverley Crusher, her long red hair billowing in the slipstream. She closed then drew up alongside him. "One of these days" she said, "your going to loose your head going through that thicket like that. It was murder for me to try and keep up with you. I can fix most wounds but loosing your head is not one of them". "The Holodeck program would not allow that, and you know it..." replied Picard. "Yes, true, but one day you will be riding for real and there will be no computer watching over you to make sure you keep your head down. Just think of me as a Cassandra reminding you of your mortality. Besides, my back is killing me, I think this horse has a flat!!!!". "Why didn't you ride side saddle and take the bridle path?" "Side saddle my dear captain, is for cissies" she replied, "besides, I like a good ride in the country any day.....Race you back to the stables?". "Yes, why not.." and with that he leaned over and slapped the horse hard on the hind quarters. The horse took great exception to this and shot off at a rate of knots. "JEAN LUC.... I'll kill you...!!!!" screamed Beverley as she shot off, hanging on for dear life. Picard's chuckling was cut short by his communicator badge cheeping. "Bridge to Captain Picard". He slapped it. "Picard here, what's the problem number one??" "Sorry to disturb you Sir, but sensors have picked up a large amount of ferrous metals in orbit around planet six. We are fifteen minutes from entering the system. Are you coming up to the bridge to have a look?" "I'll be up shortly number one. I just have to put Bessie back into her stable". "Good ride Sir?" "Very good ride Will, and the good doctor enjoyed herself as well, with the exception of a stiff back". The silent sound of a eyebrow on Rikers face, raising itself was all too evident over the comm line. "Very good Sir, Riker out". Picard paused for a few moments, looking at the view one last time. Then, taking up the reins, he cantered the horse back to the stables. End of part 1 ~~~ Blue Wave/RA v2.12 [NR] -- | Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own. Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative From: paul.hubbard@shbbs.demon.co.uk (Paul Hubbard) Path: newserv.ksu.ksu.edu!moe.ksu.ksu.edu!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!spool.mu.edu!agate!doc.ic.ac.uk!qmw!demon!shbbs!paul.hubbard Subject: Better The Devil You Know 3 X-Mail-Agent: GIGO unreg at shbbs vsn 0.99 pl1 Organization: Silicon Heaven BBS (2200-0630 UTC) (44-1626-834331) V32B Date: Wed, 10 Aug 1994 23:41:01 +0000 Message-ID: Sender: usenet@demon.co.uk Lines: 244 From: phubb@shbbs.demon.co.uk (Paul Hubbard) Better the Devil you know. by P.D Hubbard. Part 2 The Enterprise slowly entered the vicinity of system six and approached planet number six, dubbed Hades II. The sensors were still giving the strange metal readings and the addition of amounts of free oxygen and nitrogen in the vicinity of the metal. Finally, the Enterprise eased her bulk into orbit around Hades II and slowly approached the anomalous sensor co-ordinates. "Coming up on target Sir" said Riker, "Sensors show there is something there but I'm not too sure". "On screen" replied Picard. The screen illuminated. At the centre of the screen, a jumble of long objects was visible, lumpy, irregular. Picard turned to Data. "Mr Data, are sensors still giving the same readings?". "Yes Sir, all sensor readings have been consistent up to this point". "I'm not at all surprised, looking at those objects out there, take us closer". The Enterprise slowly approached the first object, the outline becoming discernable as the distance decreased. The object slowly resolved itself into a old wooden sailing ship, adrift in space, sails unfurled. The bridge crew were dumbfounded. Riker turned to science 1. "Can you get a laser reader on that target, illuminate the name...". A few seconds passed. "Ship name is the 'Atalanta', frigate......Sir, I have another one,...all metal construction.....laser reader gives name as 'USS Cyclops', some sort of cargo ship". Another voice came in from science 2. "Sir, your not going to believe this but I have two aircraft. Both appear to be old 20th century 'Tudor 4s'....". "Are you sure" replied Picard. "Sure as sure can be. I study these old aircraft as a hobby, that's a pair of 'Tudor 4s' over there, no doubt about it". Science 1 called in. "More Sir, Ion skimmer 'Sea Queen', freighter 'Milton Iatrides', Yacht 'Revonoc', freighter 'Marine Sulphur Queen', freighter 'Cotopaxi', Sir, the list goes on and on. There must be hundreds of ships and planes here". Riker turned to Picard. "What in hell's name are they all doing here?". "Unknown number one. Keep scanning the names of all objects. Mr Worf, dispatch a subspace message to Starfleet Command, attach sensor reading to the message packet. Mr Data, your talents are required. Go through all available computer records and try to find out where all these ships and planes came from". "Aye Sir". "Number One, senior officers meeting at .8. I expect some answers then. Anything comes up, I'll be in my ready room". "yes Sir" acknowledged Riker. Picard strode off the bridge. ____________ The senior staff meeting resembled something of a riot. Conjectures and counter-conjectures were being bandied about. Only Data sat back from the others and reserved his thoughts until the meeting started. He was amazed at how quickly humans would jump to conclusions, often wrong ones at that. He would have to write a small subroutine to investigate this phenomenon further. The door opened and Picard entered, looked around, then took his place at the head of the table. "Mr Data" he started. "have you been able to trace the origins of the ships and planes currently in orbit around us?". "Most of them Sir" replied Data. "Many of the names are quite historically notable. The 'USS Cyclops' for instance. Her disappearance made the then United States Of America examine their methods of obtaining Magnesium for their fledgling weapons program. The 'Kaiyo Maru 5', disappeared whilst investigating similar disappearances off the coast of Japan. The 'Sea Queen', a twin Ion skimmer. That vessel disappeared only four years ago. All of these ships and planes have one thing in common. They all disappeared whilst travelling in areas like the Devil Sea and more interestingly, the Bermuda Triangle". "The Bermuda Triangle!!!!!!". "Yes Sir. a triangular area, each corner defined by the islands of Purto Rico, Bermuda and Flo...." "Yes Data" cut in Picard. "The salient points if you please". "Little is known about the area with the exception that since the time of Columbus, ships and latterly, aircraft, have been disappearing in the confines of this area. No survivors or large items of wreckage have been found. Testimonies from people who have been lucky enough to survive have been remarkably similar, a green fog, no discernable horizon, all navigational aids becoming defective. These are the hallmarks of the area". "When was the last documented disappearance?" said Riker. "Last year Sir, the Atlantis survey ship 'Le Enfant' disappeared whilst conducting magma surveys for the new continent project. Last reported message was 'Sky clear, weather perfect'". _____________ Ensign Cortez was stumped. She had been working over the control console in Auxiliary engineering for the last fifteen minutes, trying to trace a power drain in the system. She had worked her way from the core to a small service conduit where the fluctuations were emanating. A stray smell of sulphur wafted across her nose. "That's odd.." she thought. Using her sense of smell, she traced the faint odour to a storage room. She paused for a few seconds, mentally tossing a coin weather to call her superior, then decided against it. If whatever was causing the smell was dangerous, half the alarms over the ship would go off. The door slid open and she strode into the store room. A red glow emanated from the far wall. Cautiously, she moved towards it, tricoder in her hand, scanning. Nothing was registering. Green slime slowly slid down a wall panel. Suddenly scared, she turned and bolted for the door which slammed shut just as she reached it. The room suddenly became unbearably hot as a perverse, heavy breathing suddenly became audible. Slowly, she turned, to face it's source. A strange shape stood silhouetted in the dim light. 'My child', it hissed. 'I have come for your soul!!!!!!' The muffled screams of Ensign Cortez were drowned out by the engine core. ____________ In the conference room, Riker was going over a sticking point with Data when Troi's eyes suddenly went wide. "D....down in.....engineering..Ensign Cortez......", she blurted then promptly passed out. "SECURITY TO ENGINEERING!!!!!" shouted Picard, then bolted out of the conference room, rapidly followed by Riker and Worf. A few minutes later, they arrived at the storage room, only to find two security men already there. "We tried the door already..." said one security man, " but it seems to be jammed....." "Worf.." said Picard pointing at the door. Worf sauntered over and grasped the door seals. His muscles ripped and he grunted as the door was slowly forced open. The door parted a inch and a jet of sulphur smelling steam escaped into the corridor. Straining, he slammed the door hard against it's stops, pulled out his phaser and then cautiously went inside. Picard waited. "SIR!!" he called. "It is unwise to come in....." Picard pushed past the security guard and went inside. Nothing appeared to be out of place. The he turned and spotted the body of the young Ensign sprawled on the floor. A security man stuck his head in, spotted the body, made gagging motions, turned and promptly threw up on the deck outside. There was little left of Ensign Cortez's uniform. It had been stripped from her back as her skin had been flailed from her torso, a large pool of blood slowly crept towards the wall. Green slime covered the body in patches and her face at the point of death was twisted in a grimace of agony. Death was no stranger to the senior officers present. The scene however left a nasty taste in the mouth and Riker was feeling a little queasy. Another security man attempted to cover the body with a sheet which promptly started to soak up the blood. "Worf" whispered Picard, his face ashen. "Get a forensic team up here immediately. I want to know who done this. When forensic has finished, release the body to medical for a post mortem. I want to know what she died of, and finally, when the body has been removed, I want this place scrubbed out, floor to ceiling. Remove the table and chair and have them disintegrated. I expect a full report as soon as possible". He turned and walked out. "Aye Sir" said Worf, then turned and looked at the body, suddenly realising for the first time that his neat little world had developed a flaw. End of part 2. ~~~ Blue Wave/RA v2.12 [NR] -- | Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own. Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative From: paul.hubbard@shbbs.demon.co.uk (Paul Hubbard) Path: newserv.ksu.ksu.edu!moe.ksu.ksu.edu!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!agate!doc.ic.ac.uk!qmw!demon!shbbs!paul.hubbard Subject: Better The Devil You Know 4 X-Mail-Agent: GIGO unreg at shbbs vsn 0.99 pl1 Organization: Silicon Heaven BBS (2200-0630 UTC) (44-1626-834331) V32B Date: Wed, 10 Aug 1994 23:41:02 +0000 Message-ID: Sender: usenet@demon.co.uk Lines: 267 From: phubb@shbbs.demon.co.uk (Paul Hubbard) Better the devil you know. by P.D Hubbard. Part 3. Beverley Crusher hated doing post mortems, especially when it was someone you knew. On a ship of over a thousand, it was difficult not to. Ensign Sandra Cortez was no exception. She had been a enthusiastic member of the drama group and was well respected by everyone who knew her personally. A terrible waste. The body of Ensign Cortez was laid out on a gurney, ready for examination. Doctor Cody stood by, ready to assist Crusher with the biopsies. With a sense of forbidding, she peeled back the sheet. "Computer. Start recording. Time 20:42 hours. Post mortem of Ensign Sandra Cortez, Engineering staff". She paused for a second, suddenly feeling nauseous. After a few more seconds, she continued. "Exterior of body in a badly lacerated condition. Little or no skin left on both sides of the torso with congealed blood pockets covering the affected area. A sample of the slime covering the body has been dispatched to the labs for analysis. A large gash is visible, extending from the base of the neck to the pubic region. Weather this is the cause of death is at this point debatable. Starting to examine wound close up". Crusher took a scraper and slowly cleared the dried blood from the wound. A foul smell started to waft up from the body making her wince in disgust. Suddenly she stopped, gently parted the skin and looked into the uncovered cavity. "Oh my God.........her heart has been removed". She pottered around for a few minutes more, examining the area. Finally, she started to stitch up the gash and called in a orderly to remove the body to stasis. Then, after finalising her report and sending the samples to the laboratory, she scrubbed up and vomited in the sink. ____________ "Your report Doctor?" started Picard. Stopping first to look around the room, Beverley Crusher grasped her PADD and started to read the report. The effect on the officers present was not kind. Troi immediately started to look sick and Geordi shuffled nervously in his seat. A killer on board was the last thing to be expected. Riker cut in. "Doctor, are you telling us that someone flogged the skin off Ensign Cortez, then gutted her and left her to die?". "That is essentially it. It is doubtful that Cortez felt this happening. She was, to all intent and purposes, dead by the time the flogging had finished". "Thank god for small miracles.." whispered Geordi. Beverley continued. "A large amount of, for want of a better word, green slime, was removed from the body and sent for analysis, results are not available at this time. That's all". Picard collected his thoughts then addressed Worf. "Mr Worf, have security come up with anything???". "Very little Sir. There are no traces of anybody being in the room with Ensign Cortez. The computer records indicate that a period of three minutes elapsed between Ensign Cortez entering the room and the arrival of security, no one went in or out between those times. Due to the short timescale it is highly unlikely that a murderer had time to remove any clues, yet we cannot find any. No hair, fingerprints, nothing. A tricorder was found in a battered state in the room and has been sent to engineering to see if any clues are obtainable on it. However, I am very doubtful of this". "Geordi?" "My staff have been testing the tricorder to see if anything was recorded on it. All we retrieved is a sound recording of Ensign Cortez's screams, that really upset my staff. However, a radiation trace was found on the exterior of the tricorders case and is currently being analyzed". "Will?" "At this point, whoever done it was either clever or not human. I can't believe that anybody on this ship would do something like this. It gives me the shudders just thinking about it". BLOOP: "Bridge to Captain Picard", "Picard here" "Ships sensors have detected a small city on the planets surface. It appears to have no life forms present. However, traces of a power source are registering on the sensors". "Acknowledged, out.." replied Picard. "Will, form an away team and get down there. It may be that the clues we are looking for are in the wrong place. Dismissed". Riker stood up. "Worf, Geordi, Data, with me. Lets go". ____________ Troi strolled down the corridor to her quarters. It was late in the day and she had a backlog of reports to clear along with a condolence message to Ensign Cortez's family. The away team had beamed down and there was little to do until they returned. She cocked her head to one side. A strange whispering chant seemed to emanate from somewhere. Troi took a few more paces and stopped to listen again. The sound had stopped. She paused a few more seconds, then shook her head. 'It really is too late in the evening' she thought as she continued down the corridor. Reaching the end she turned the corner and stopped dead. The lighting appeared to have failed along this stretch of corridor. Turning, Deanna tried using the comm panel to inform engineering of the problem. The panel was dead. She paused for a few seconds more, then carried on down the corridor. ____________ Picard was sitting in his ready room. He had'nt eaten in over 20 hours and food was the order of the moment. Picking up his current piece of reading material, he flipped along the pages to the point he left off whilst munching on lettuce sandwiches. A whispering noise started up, coming from every direction. Picard turned in his chair and stopped dead. A strange glow was starting to form at the far end of the room. After a few seconds, it resolved itself into the figure of a old man, clearly in agony, pointing at Picard. "Oh my.....Father.........." "Jean Luc" hissed the voice. "Leave this place, go......, save yourself and your crew before they suffer my fate, my agony.....". "Father, you know I cannot do that......" "GO.......Go while you can. The devil himself has promised to drink your blood at his banquet. Save yourself my son. Already, it is too late for the Betazoid........". "What do you mean?.....Oh my God...Troi". A blast of air cowered Picard into submission, blowing away the figure of Picard's father. Picking himself up off of the floor, he raced out of the door, grabbing a phaser as he went. ____________ Troi walked to the end of the corridor. A smell of sulphur suddenly sprung up from nowhere, the chanting got louder. A green slime started dripping down the walls onto the floor. Ensign Cortez stood at the end of the corridor. "Sandra...." exclaimed Troi. "Your dead!!!!!!!" The form of Ensign Cortez slowly glided towards Troi who was rooted in fear on the spot. "I have come for your soul, Deanna..." cooed the wraith. Finding her voice, she addressed the figure. "You can't have my soul. You don't exist .There is no such thing as ghosts". At this, the form changed into a demon, it's pointed tail whipping behind its back and it's voice altering to a low thunder. "Maybe you would like to feel the lash of my tail...." it growled, then screamed a horrible demonic scream. "I want your soul for my collection. Come Deanna, you know this is what you want. I can feel your heart yearning for it's release into a eternity of suffering and torture". The demon reached out to her, it's clawed hand glistening in the half light. "Noooooooooo" she screamed. Suddenly, a phaser burst hit the demon. It staggered back and shot obscenities at the newly arrived Picard, then slowly advance again. Picard upped the phaser to kill and fired. the shaft of light hit the demon and threw it back against the bulkhead. It lay there, stunned for a few moments, then picked itself up off the floor and advanced again on Picard. A wind picked up and billowed around Picard and Troi. "You fool Picard. You think you can hurt me, the devil himself. Hurting me does nothing, it only tortures the souls I have collected. Already I have plans for your father. His soul will burn a thousand agonies..." "The dead are gone and buried.." cried Picard. "The living are more important", and with that he opened fire again on the demon, holding the trigger down. The demon flew back in a hail of fire and vanished, the lighting returning to normal. Troi staggered to her feet and looked in the direction that the demon had disappeared. "Where is he?" she asked. "It appears" replied Picard, " that our demon is, to quote Dickens, more gravy than of grave. Come on, we've got to get to the bridge and warn the away team". ____________ The Turbolift doors parted allowing Picard and Troi onto the bridge. Going to the communications panel, Picard tried to call the away team. No response was forthcoming. "Sensor sweep. Where is the away team?" called Picard. "The away team is still registering on the sensor's Sir but someone or something is blocking our communications planetside. we have no way to contact them". He turned to Troi. "It appears that someone is desperate for us not to give the game away". End of part 3. ~~~ Blue Wave/RA v2.12 [NR] -- | Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own. Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative From: paul.hubbard@shbbs.demon.co.uk (Paul Hubbard) Path: newserv.ksu.ksu.edu!moe.ksu.ksu.edu!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!agate!doc.ic.ac.uk!qmw!demon!shbbs!paul.hubbard Subject: Better The Devil You Know 5 X-Mail-Agent: GIGO unreg at shbbs vsn 0.99 pl1 Organization: Silicon Heaven BBS (2200-0630 UTC) (44-1626-834331) V32B Date: Wed, 10 Aug 1994 23:41:03 +0000 Message-ID: Sender: usenet@demon.co.uk Lines: 293 From: phubb@shbbs.demon.co.uk (Paul Hubbard) Better the Devil you know. by P.D Hubbard. Part 4. Things had been going badly for the away team on the planet. A bad transporter fix had beamed them into the middle of a fountain which had quite clearly not registered on the transporter sensor system. Even more worrying was the loss of communications which had happened almost immediately after they had beamed down. Climbing out of the water, they scanned the area whilst drying off. Worf was not pleased. He had spent several hours the day before with Mr Hohm fussing over his hair, getting it just right. A return trip to the barbers did not appeal to him one bit. Geordi and Riker were just plain wet. The only one not affected by the water was Data. His synthetic skin was waterproof and he often conducted swimming lessons for the Enterprises Pre- schoolers, both parties getting something out of it. The children for having a 'local hero' keeping a eye on them and Data getting more information on life in general. Geordi looked up from his tricorder. "Over there commander. The power readings are being emitted from that domed structure. No life forms present". "Ok, we'll proceed towards the source. Everybody be careful, I don't want to loose anybody". They observed the local architecture as they walked over. Much of it was strange, as if different cultures had bolted on their own buildings to the existing structures. Many large concrete rimmed pits were scattered over the courtyard area. Peering down each of the holes, the scattered remains of many people was evident. "It looks like some mass slaughter house..." growled Worf. "Yeah" replied Riker, " but we can't help them now". They continued staggering over the uneven ground, finally arriving at a portal set in a stainless tristeel wall. Data scanned the entrance, finding no boobytraps or security sensors of any kind, he stepped inside the doorway. A steel shutter shot down, cutting Data off from the others. "Data!!!!!!.....Mr Worf, cut that door down". "Yes Sir". The phaser made light work of the metal surface. Finally, after several seconds, the metal sheet fell in with a great crash. Of Data, there was no sign. "I don't understand" exclaimed Worf. "There are no other exits from that room yet Data has gone". "Wait a minute....., my visor is picking something up" said LaForge. He looked at several metal surfaces for a few seconds then continued. "There is another door in the wall, directly opposite this entrance. Some sort of power emanations are escaping around the hairline gaps, I would have missed it altogether without that source". Riker came do a decision. "Worf, get cutting". "Aye Sir" Worf started to cut into the metal for a few seconds, then stopped. "The metal is much more compacted than usual. It will take time to cut through.." he said, then continued. Geordi and Riker sat down, a long wait ahead of them. ____________ Up on the Enterprise, all was not a bed of roses either. Communications was still down with the away team. Another worrying prospect was that their message to Starfleet command had been bounced back at them a few hours later. They were totally cut off from the outside world. Finally, Picard knew what to do. He turned to a young ensign. "Mr DeJano. Prepare a class nine probe and load it with copies of all log entries and sensor reading since we first arrived here. Dispatch it to the nearest Starbase to here". A few seconds passed. "Probe ready to launch Sir". "Make it so". "Probe on it's way Sir" reported the Ensign. Several things happened at once. The deflector grid flipped on almost immediately and a energy beam lashed out from the planet, hitting the probe and blowing it into a million pieces. Caught in the blast, the Enterprise shook violently. Steadying her self, Troi turned to the captain. "It appears" she said, "that someone does not want anyone to know we are here". "That much is evident councillor. Scan for the source of that energy beam". The comm panel sounded. "Crusher to Picard". "Picard here Doctor. Any results?". "The analysis results have come back from the laboratory on the green slime. Much of it's composition is unknown but it contains a strong hallucinational agent which affects the reasoning and reality processing areas of the brain". "How strong Doctor?". "So strong that when we tested a sample on a volunteer. we had to restrain him on the examining table to stop him hitting the ceiling. He claimed that several dead relatives and the Devil himself was after him. This is potent stuff captain". "Good work Doctor". "One other thing captain. We took samples around the area that Troi was attacked and found several signs of transporter activity. It looks like the slime is transported in from somewhere". "It appears that our Devil not so supernatural after all. Keep me apprised Doctor. Picard out". He turned to Troi. "It appears that we are dealing with a not so formidable adversary after all". ____________ "Nearly through Sir" called Wolf. A few more seconds passed. The inner sheet of metal started to hinge inwards, then fell with a great crash to reveal a long, badly lit corridor. "Good" exclaimed Riker. "I'll lead..." Wolf disagreed. "Sir, as senior officer here I, as security offer should lead". "Not this time Wolf, lets go". Proceeding cautiously down the tunnel, Riker could not help feeling apprehensive. A few hundred yards along, the shape of a figure approaching them was starting to become visible. "Phaser's on stun" barked Riker. The figure got closer and closer, finally revealing itself as data. "Data, is that you?" called Geordi. "yes. The machinery used to snatch me discovered that I was not human and let me go. I managed to find my way back here. Sir, I have made a startling discovery". "Which is" replied Riker. "It would be better if you followed me. It is easier to look than to explain". After traversing several more corridors, they finally emerged into a large open chamber. At the centre of the room stood a large glass column, filled with a clear solution. Floating inside was a strange looking humanoid, tethered to the glass sides by electronic equipment and cords. Behind him stood small glass jars, similarly wired, but with Brains inside them. Riker slowly circled the tank, looking first at the equipment, then at the occupant inside the tank. Parts of it were heavily stitched at major limb junctions and one leg was clearly feminine in appearance. Geordi stood scanning the tube, a frown of puzzlement was noticeable across his face. "Commander" he called. "This is weird. The occupant of the tank appears to be made up of pieces of different people, of different sexes and colours. It is alive, but barely". A dull humming noise shot across the room and the tube in the centre of the room illuminated followed by a voice. "HUMANS.......Welcome.............." "Who are you???" said Riker, addressing the entity inside the tube. "My name is not important. I am the last of the Hobs. I have been waiting here for a eternity, waiting for your arrival". "Our arrival?" "YES" the voice boomed. "Your arrival. At last, transport for me away from this place, and so many FRESH bodies to choose from". "Bodies to choose from??? Us???". Realisation started to dawn in Rikers head. "What about the people you have snatched from our planet". "To survive for all these years, these eons, I have had to take humans for your planet for spare parts to extend my existence. Thousand's of years ago, we came to your planet, openly to your people, our intentions plain. You banished us, spun our names into your folklore as a warning to others. Beware the Hob, the imp, the destructor. Is it any wonder we resorted to subterfuge to survive? That is now in the past, the time is the present. With your ship, and it's spare part store, I can proceed to rejuvenate my race". "The brains in the tubes behind??" enquired Data. "Yes" continued the voice. "We will again be mighty. You will be the first. The process is painless, the lobotomy will not take long". "And what about our lives" said Geordi. "We have a right to existence ourselves". "RIGHT TO EXISTENCE!!!!! Hahahaha, your puny existence would not be missed by your passing. You are nothing, food for the strong. We will win, we will prevail". Several mechanical machines emerged from the wall and started towards the away team. Wolf addressed the entity. "Your race is past. You have no place in the modern universe". "You are wrong Klingon. Your race was one of those under selection. A pity it had to come to this but never mind. Give yourselves up freely Humans, you have no other choice!!!". "Over my dead body..." said Riker and took aim with his phaser at the control gear surrounding the tube. He opened fire. "NOOOOOOOOOO" screamed the entity as his life supporting systems were fused beyond repair. Geordi lashed out with his phaser whilst Data and Wolf covered the rear. A stray phaser blast cannoned into the glass tubes containing the last of the Hobs, scattering pieces of brains across the floor. The entity gurgled as his life sustaining processes shut down one by one. "I HAVE FAILED" it screamed into the thin air, "BUT NOT BEFORE I TAKE YOUR PRECIOUS SHIP WITH ME.............". "Everybody out" cried Riker as several sections of ceiling, caught in a sudden blast from the life support equipment started to fall. A section of girder fell down, narrowly missing Wolf. They careered down the dark tunnels, the crashes of destruction snapping at their heels, Finally, they emerged from the building, a large dust cloud following them, to a sullen sky, the wind whipping around them. "What did it mean commander?" yelled Geordi over the sound of the rising wind. "I don't know,....but the Enterprise is in trouble". End of part 4. ~~~ Blue Wave/RA v2.12 [NR] -- | Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own. Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative From: paul.hubbard@shbbs.demon.co.uk (Paul Hubbard) Path: newserv.ksu.ksu.edu!moe.ksu.ksu.edu!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!agate!doc.ic.ac.uk!qmw!demon!shbbs!paul.hubbard Subject: Better The Devil You Know 6 X-Mail-Agent: GIGO unreg at shbbs vsn 0.99 pl1 Organization: Silicon Heaven BBS (2200-0630 UTC) (44-1626-834331) V32B Date: Wed, 10 Aug 1994 23:41:05 +0000 Message-ID: Sender: usenet@demon.co.uk Lines: 198 From: phubb@shbbs.demon.co.uk (Paul Hubbard) Better the Devil you know. by P.D Hubbard Part 5. "Sir, communications are working again. The away team is calling us". "On speakers" replied Picard. "Riker to Enterprise". "Enterprise here. Go ahead commander". "We've had a encounter with a strange being down here who was responsible for the disappearances on Earth. He tried to use us for his own ends but we managed to put him off permanently. However, he was most insistent that he would 'exact his revenge' on the Enterprise". "Captain" said Troi, "I am sensing something from the planet..". Suddenly, the deflector grid snapped on. The officer on tactical cut in. "Captain, the ship nearest to us, it's moving!!!!!" A small ship, the 'Southern Cities' slowly started to turn on it's axis, it's bows coming around towards the Enterprise. The turn slowly ground to a halt and then the impossible happened. The ship started to move towards the Enterprise. A second ship started to turn and move. It was almost as if the Enterprise had suddenly become magnetic. "Sir!" called tactical, "I have five ships of various sizes all on a collision course with us....". "Red alert, shields up. will, we're under attack up here" said Picard, "We'll have to get back to you.......". "RED ALERT : RED ALERT : THIS IS NOT A DRILL " the computer voice intoned. Tactical called in. "Sir, the first ship is rapidly closing...". "Arm phasers and fire at will". A phaser shot lashed out at hit the old ship. Her bows crumpled inwards but she still kept coming at the Enterprise. The distance slowly closed. Another shot hit the ship, folding the plates down one side. Finally, a third shot hit home and the old wreck folded up. A second wreck crept up whilst the Enterprise was dealing with the first and squarely hit the Enterprise amidships. The shields mopped up the impact and the old ship exploded into a million bits. Shields are primarily designed as protection against energy weapons whilst deflectors only work best on distant objects. There was no way they could protect against a large metal structure which, like a old ram on a Roman galley, shot right through the hull and embedded itself in the side of engineering tearing out several decks and exposing the warp core to space. "Engineering to Bridge" "Bridge here. Go ahead". "Sir, decks 26, 27 and 28 are exposed to vacuum. Portside power coupling is down and we have a leak in the PDT tank. Going to secondary backup systems". A large explosion rocked the Enterprise from stem to stern, rolling her around. "Engineering again. Secondary systems have failed. We've lost primary warp capability and the core is overloading. Power is marginal. Shutting down core....". "Do what you can, bridge out". Tactical cut in. "Sir, portside phaser couplings are down. I have a phaser coolant leak on decks 5 and 6". "It never rains but it pours," said Picard, "...evacuate those decks and flush to vacuum.....". The viewscreen blinked into life to reveal the image of a being within a glass tube. "Captain Picard" the voice hissed but the lips did not move. "You see me so foully murdered by your hand. I will exact my revenge apon you and your ship". The screen blinked off. "Sensors have detected a tractor beam emanating from the planet surface, roughly 400 yards from commander Riker's position". "Is it trying to lock on us?". "No Sir, it's not interested in us. It is being used to move those old wrecks out there.......". "Open a comm channel to the away team". "Open Sir". "Picard to Riker". "Riker here Sir, what's going on up there?". "All hell has broken loose up here. Listen, get the hell out of there, as quick as you can. Clear the city because a lot of fire power is on it's way down to you". "Acknowledged Sir. don't worry about us, just hit the target". "You have two minutes Will, we are waiting for Phaser recharge up here". "Things that bad Sir?". "That bad, move it Commander. Enterprise out. Engineering, can you spare power for tractor beams?". "No way Sir, you can have either have phaser recharge or tractor beams. Not both. We're just picking up the pieces down here". "Understood. Bridge Out. Tactical, time to impact?". "One minute, thirty seconds. Time to recharge, One minute forty two". The seconds passed. The wreck got closer and closer being pushed by the tractor beam. Then, a miracle. "Sir," called tactical, "We have Photon Torpedoes back on line". "Take aim at that wreck at fire. All tubes". Six photon torpedoes shot away from the Enterprise and screamed through the vacuum towards the wreck. They hit with a blinding flash, instantly vaporising the old ship. "Phasers charged and ready to fire Sir....". Picard wasted no time. "Lock phasers on target and fire....". A continuous phased energy beam raced towards the planet's surface, cutting through the atmosphere like a knife through butter, hitting the structure from where the tractor beam emanated. The outer structure slowly began to soften and then flow as the metal melted into molten rivers. Then, inside, a critical piece of equipment failed and the structure blew up, taking a sizable chunk of the surrounding land with it. From their vantage point, the away team surveyed the devastation. "Riker to Enterprise". "Enterprise here" came the crisp, relieved tones of Picard. "Nice shooting Sir. That should have put the Hobs out of business for good". "I hope so number one. I hope so". "Four ready for beam up". "Ummmmmm" replied Picard. "There's a problem there. Due to a lack of power, the transporters are off line at the moment. We will be dispatching a shuttle to your position for pick up". "Oh Joy. Riker out". He turned to the others. "Well gentlemen, we have a long wait ahead of us. What shall we do to pass the time????". Data looked thoughtful. "I spy with my little eye, something beginning with W ?". "Wrecked city" replied Geordi. "My go"..... End of part 5 ~~~ Blue Wave/RA v2.12 [NR] -- | Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own. Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative From: paul.hubbard@shbbs.demon.co.uk (Paul Hubbard) Path: newserv.ksu.ksu.edu!moe.ksu.ksu.edu!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!agate!doc.ic.ac.uk!qmw!demon!shbbs!paul.hubbard Subject: Better The Devil You Know 7 X-Mail-Agent: GIGO unreg at shbbs vsn 0.99 pl1 Organization: Silicon Heaven BBS (2200-0630 UTC) (44-1626-834331) V32B Date: Wed, 10 Aug 1994 23:41:06 +0000 Message-ID: Sender: usenet@demon.co.uk Lines: 61 From: phubb@shbbs.demon.co.uk (Paul Hubbard) Better the Devil you know. by P.D Hubbard. Epilogue. The Enterprise was currently on route for Starbase 312 for urgent repairs. The damage was severe but nothing that a spacedock couldn't cure. Most of the last day had been spent on the planet cataloguing the Human remains found in the pits. And it was a heartbreaking job for the teams involved. The finding of the remains of a little girl, cuddling a small dog brought tears to the eyes of the women of the Enterprise. Fourteen crew, including Ensign Cortez, had been lost on this mission alone. Fourteen people who would never be going back to their loved ones. For Picard, this was the worst part about being the commanding officer. For days afterwards, he had spent his time in the holodeck, riding Bessie, trying to put the horror out of his mind. Picard was spending the morning with his horse, getting some exercise when the entrance to the holodeck split the tree's apart and Beverley Crusher walked in. She spotted him and walked over. "Still trying to bury the thoughts?" she started. "This has got to have been one of the worst missions I have ever commanded. All those lives lost because of my actions, or inactions". "But life goes on Jean Luc. Remember, if it was'nt you in command, on this mission, it would have been some other unlucky soul who may not have been able to pull the mission off. We done alright out of this just by pulling through". "I guess your right. Best to live with it as best as you can". He paused for a few seconds then continued. "Now then Doctor, can I interest you in a quite horse ride for a hour or two?". "Why do you think I came down here?". "Computer. Run program Dancer one. Standard saddle". A computer generated horse appeared at the paddock. "Doctor, she's all yours...". And with that, they rode off. The end? ~~~ Blue Wave/RA v2.12 [NR] -- | Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own.