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File #5 - "Discovery"

"Captain's Log...

Stardate: 180106 point 8

The Warrior has sustained heavy damage from an unprovoked attack from an old Excelsior Class Federation starship called the U.S.S. Victorious which seemed to emerge from a random neutrino surge in space.

Our internal systems have also been damaged from neural-electrical discharges from the body of Commander Shon Tempest which was recovered when we discovered the derelict U.S.S. Republic.

Doctor Kevin Rayne... my friend has been lost in the line of duty during this assault and Nurse Onya has taken over chief medical duties for the Warrior.

She informs me that Commander Shon Tempest's neural pattern has shown significant degradation since the incident, which has severely weakened his liftsigns. She has also found indications of a second neurological pattern within the Commander's cerebral cortex which appears to influencing the neurons within the white matter of his brain.

This leads us to conclude that some external intelligence may have been influencing the unconscious body of the Commander, manipulating his body through firing specific neurons in his brain and neurological system.

Just like a puppeteer would control a marionette...

It appears that this neuro-electric "link" cannot be forcibly removed without disrupting his entire body's neuro-electric impulses which are responsible for controlling every major function of our organs.

Nurse Onya is convinced that given time, she may be able to adapt a Benzite medical technique to purge the excess neuro-electrical energy, providing we can find the source of these impulses.

Commander Val'sha has been running continual subspace scans but this vessel is neither a science ship or in considerable shape to be able to pinpoint these.

Therefore Commander Val'sha is leading an away team over to the Victorious in order to use their internal sensors to locate the source of this neuro-electric energy.

---

Commander Val'sha stared at her tricorder as she slowly heard her own breathing inside her environmental suit.

The corridors of the Victorious were almost completely black, apart from the beams of light cutting through the darkness like a knife and the occasional illumination from some spark as she walked down the corridor.

Had she been human she would have found the whole experience to be "creepy" as Kiska would have put it.

Vulcans did not find anything "creepy".

But underneath all that Vulcan training and emotional suppression, she did find it unsettling. It reminded her of her Kolinahr ceremony on Vulcan when she was just an adolescent. She had been a turbulent youth as most Vulcan children could be before they discovered the path of logic.

She remembered standing before the old Vulcan master, feeling decidedly uncomfortable when he asked her about why she felt the need to be such a bully to the other Vulcan children.

She said that it was about dominance, being the first, the best and the most respected student in the school.

But the Master shot her down with the revelation that it was about fear. That fear was controlling her and that was what she must learn to control or it would control her.

After a few weeks... her fear vanished and she emerged a totally new and ordered Vulcan.

"Kinda creepy, isn't it Commander?" asked Zant who walked slowly behind her. The only sound being that of their magnetic boots clamping onto the deck plating.

"I would keep your mind on the mission" snapped Val'sha as she continued forward. "Otherwise you will allow emotional distractions to cloud your judgement?"

"I-I'm sorry C-Commander" replied Zant almost immediately.

Val'sha continued on, underneath her emotional suppression, she had grown to appreciate Zant's company and his youthful insights, as well as his sometimes incompetence. He was always willing to learn and that was what she liked about him. "Embarrassment is an emotional response and you would do well to guard against it." she retorted.

"Of course, C-Commander"

They stopped as they came to a door, a large double door which had a nameplate stamped on it.

Main Engineering.

Zant gripped his Type-3 Phaser Rifle close to his chest. He could feel his heart pounded as Val'sha continued to work on the door panel, taking it off in order to access the manual release under it. There was a small blue glow from the isolinear circuitry inside as she took it off to indicate that the door was still receiving emergency power.

"Warrior to Away Team..."

Zant nearly jumped three feet in the air as the communication system activated and the silence was replaced with the voice of their Captain. His antenna smacking into the top of the badly designed Starfleet Environment suit as they shot up, like a rabbit's ears in surprise.

"Eh... Um... Zant here sir?" he said, as Val'sha continued to work on the door.

"What's your progress?"

"Well Captain... We've eh... reached Engineering and Val'sha is attempting to open the door. Eh... How are you?"

Val'sha shot him back a look that could have curdled cream for that last line. Obviously she would need to remind him about Starfleet Communication Protocol when they returned back to the ship.

"We're fine Mr Zant... Just keep the Commander safe and get back here as soon as possible. We are still working on repairs and are very short handed. Warrior out."

The door hissed open just as he finished his conversation with the Captain and Main Engineering's emergency lighting made the room somewhat visible with a flickering blue and green hue of the classic consoles of the Excelsior era.

Zant was also exclusively relieved to find that there was nobody in the room as they entered.

"Ensign, download the ship's mission logs and I will focus on the internal sensors."

"A-Aye Commander"

Zant proceeded to the far edge of the room, his body only illuminated by the gentle glow of the consoles and the slight blue glow of the warp core itself.

He accessed the internal database almost immediately. It looked as if the whole ship's manifest had been copied and downloaded by another system, there were only a few number of files and an open log entry.

Without thinking... he pressed play.

On the monitor in front of him, an aged alien of a species he had never seen before filled the screen. His head had distinctly equine features, with an elongated nose, large nostrils and sunken eyes. His face was tired, his hair was greying and he looked as if he had been fighting a losing about for years.

The voice filled the empty sound of the room.

"Captain's Log:

Stardate: 171011"

The transmission fizzed and cracked from the damaged data as Val'sha came over to scold the Ensign for doing something that may give away their presence here.

"Pzzt... The Victorious herself is quite a catch and a somewhat mysterious trophy at that. It appears that she was the result of a top secret research experiment conducted by Starfleet in the early part of the 24th Century."

"Ensign... What are you doing?" asked Val'sha as there was a slight tone of alert and irritation in her voice.

"I-I'm sorry Commander... there was an active file and I must have played it by accident."

"Pzzt... Her " *crackle*" was essentially causing the "temporal bubbles" we were experiencing throughout this region of space. Commander Tempest and *crackle* Muraco are attempting to investigate the drive itself and... Pzzt...."

The playback had totally lost cohesion and switched back to a small display of the logo of the Federation.

"I did not recognize his species..." remarked Commander Val'sha, intrigued by this mysterious figure. "All records show that the Captain of the vessel was human."

"Stardate 171011" muttered Zant, putting pieces together in his head. "That was almost twenty years ago? Infact, the Republic was reported missing in 2397, the same year this log was made! That can't be a coincidence?"

"Indeed" replied Commander Val'sha. "I have rerouted power to the internal sensors. The neural energy readings that we detected in Commander Tempest are coming from all around us. The pattern is within the ship itself."

"What!?"

"We should alert the Warrior to what we have found."

"Yes Co--- Behind you!" shouted Zant.

Commander Val'sha was immediately picked up by what could only be described as a massive beast. She struggled to free herself from his massive grip but his large hands easily dominated her tiny Vulcan frame.

Zant immediately went for his phaser but the creature swung round his other massive claw to smack back the Andorian, sending him flying into a wall. Zant felt himself feel very sleepy as the concussion took hold of him, making it insanely difficult to concentrate.

He had just a few seconds to see Commander Val'sha struggle against the bulky beast, a creature that was covered in powerful muscles, with a feral, demon-like face and the a dark violet tint to much of the fur that covered his body.

Although Zant could also make out another detail as he struggled to tap his emergency communicator and request an emergency transport.

That creature, with murderous intent in his eyes and a ruthless, feral expression...

...was wearing a Starfleet Uniform!?