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The air was tense on the bridge of the Intrepid. Terri had the klaxons muted because they were starting to unnerve her. The indicator lights washing the bridge in red were bad enough. On-screen, the enormous creature moved in its impossible way through space, with them just barely keeping up with it. She was surprised that it could even travel at warp speeds. Surely, for a living thing to do so, it had to have some sort of tremendous way of generating energy.

"Load a full spread of torpedoes," Terri ordered. "I doubt we can kill that thing, but maybe draw its attention away from any planets."

"Aye," Baxter replied. "Full spread, armed and ready."

"Fire," Terri ordered

The Intrepid fired a full spread of torpedoes that soared toward the entity. It paid no mind to them, until they exploded against its surface.

"Confirmed hits for all torpedoes, but the damage is negligible," Baxter reported.

"Any change?" Terri asked Lt. Plex.

"It has stopped advancing...I think we have its attention."

"Good. Fire again," Terri said.

"Torpedoes away!" Baxter announced.

A few moments passed until the weapons were seen impacting on the entity. Suddenly, the creature was enveloped in darkness once again. It was rapidly approaching their ship.

"Mr. Munro, get us out of here, any course! I don't care where we're going, just outrun that thing!" Terri barked, getting back into the command chair.

"You got it," Munro said, quickly plotting a course and launching the ship into warp.

"The entity is still in pursuit," Baxter reported. "Less than a few meters before contact!"

"Push it to warp seven! Maybe we can outrun it," Terri said.

Ensign Munro nodded and increased their speed.

Baxter nodded her head. "It's falling behind now."

"Bring us around the instant it stops following us," Terri said. If they could keep it distracted from its potential next meal there would be time to find a solution.

"It's stopped pursuing us," Baxter reported after a few moments. "It's returning to the Delta 3B system."

"Well, that settles it. Let's get it to change its mind again," Terri sighed. "Bring us around Mr. Munro. Baxter, load another two spreads of torpedoes and fire as soon as it drops that shroud."

======================================================

The Immunity Crisis Part 2

Episode 17

IDP 2020,2021

By Vakash Darkbane

Edited By: Saurex Conoway

======================================================

Land couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned and then finally gave up, sitting on the end of his bed and glaring at the ground.

"Nnn...what's wrong?" Nova said groggily, sitting up and wrapping her arms around him.

"I'm not sure." Land admitted. "Something's not right about...any of this."

"What makes you say that?"

Land stared hard at the wall, trying to put words to his feelings. "It's my friend, Harry, something is not right."

"Your Captain?" Nova asked.

Land nodded.

"What makes you think there is something wrong?"

"Because I can see it in his eyes. He's hiding it well, but I know him." Land said, sighing. "He wants to hurt that thing out there."

Nova's instincts as a counselor kicked in. She scooted closer, resting her head on his shoulder as she tightened her hold on him.

"What else?" She asked gently.

"It's Commander Lu as well," Land said. "There's something up with her too...I just don't know what." He remembered their little confrontation back in the transporter room. He remembered she seemed on the verge of tears before he dematerialized. He remembered that, for a fleeting moment, he felt regret.

"You two know each other well?" Nova asked.

"I thought we did," Land frowned. "I feel like I'm watching two people careening toward something terrible and all I can do is just sit here and watch. Harry, worries me the most."

"I'm sure if the crew feels he is putting them in danger, they will let it be known," Nova said reassuringly.

Land grabbed onto her hand as she nuzzled him, running her other hand along his chest.

"You don't know Harry," he said with a slight smile. "He has a way of manipulating people. He can make you believe in him...even if he is wrong. That's what worries me."

* * *

Terri had taken a few moments from the bridge to just get a small break. Playing cat and mouse with the giant space monster was fraying her nerves. She stood at the sink in the Ready Room's head and splashed some water on her face. The stickiness of the earlier tears was still on her face. She needed to get that off.

She wanted to be mad at Land, but she couldn't bring herself to it. He was right. She had been terrible to him and she had no one to blame but herself.

She sighed, glaring at her reflection. "What were you thinking, Terri girl? After everything you did you thought he'd be willing to listen? Nope." She sighed. "After all, you are the one who forgot to get her shot...ONE time...after telling him not to worry about it." She looked down at her abdomen. "Sorry, kiddo, but your mom screwed up...big time."

Her eyes went back to the mirror, where she held her own gaze.

"If we all make it through this, I have a lot to make up for. I just hope he can forgive me...that's alI I can do for now."

Suddenly the comm chime sounded and she hit her combadge.

"Yes?"

"Commander, Captain Martinez is wanting to speak to you," Baxters said.

"I'll be over in a moment."

"Aye, sir."

She quickly fixed her hair, dried the water off her face and then headed for the bridge.

"So, what's the plan, sir?" Terri asked sitting in the captain's chair seeing Harry on the main viewer.

"We need to try to stop it from moving in on that world if possible," Harry responded from the bridge of the Raptor. "Have you contacted Fleet HQ for reinforcements?"

"Most ships are spread out too far. It would take them days to get here," Terri replied.

Harry sighed. Even with the last invasion less than a decade ago, the Admiralty still hadn't learned their lesson.

"Then it's just us," Harry grunted. "If either of us is going to have luck destroying that thing, it's with this ship, even with us being hobbled."

"I wouldn't advise it, sir. It can move at least warp five, possibly a little faster, damned if I know how." Terri huffed. "It doesn't like torpedoes, that's for damn sure. We've managed to kite it out away from Delta 3B by at least a few lightyears." Terri paused for a moment. "I don't think it's overly intelligent. It reacts to things that happen to it. Doesn't really show any thought or planning in its actions."

Harry drummed his fingers on his chin thoughtfully. "What about that shroud?"

"It's some sort of energy field," Terri replied. "I'm not sure if shields would help against it."

Harry steepled his fingers.

"Captain...I don't like that look," Terri said on the screen.

"We need to know what we are dealing with. So far, we know it can kill a starship. We know we can hurt it when the shroud is down. I can assume that Kensach would have tried to examine the entity in some way when she encountered it. You said the ship had deployed some probes, correct?"

"Well, yes it had," Terri responded.

"Standard procedure, but why more than one?" Harry said.

"Maybe the first one malfunctioned," O'mara said from her station.

"Right," Harry nodded. "They would have tried again, wouldn't they?"

"Of course. Who wouldn't?" O'mara shrugged.

"Have you tried attacking when the shroud is up?"

"We did. It didn't do any good," Terri replied. "It was like they were duds."

Harry tried to think. He knew Nora well. He knew that she loved exploration and she had been responsible for several first contact missions. He took a deep breath, cleared his thoughts, and put himself on that bridge beside her.

She would have been intrigued and excited about discovering something new.

What would she have done next?

The probes...probes were not ,, typically ion charged to pass through shielding.

She didn't have her shields up. Why would she? She didn't know what the thing was. How could she?

Probes needed to be fired at close proximity, especially the Class 7s. Probes and photon torpedoes didn't have any type of energy shielding.

"Captain?" Terri prompted him.

"In a moment, Number One," he muttered.

What happened had to have been sudden. What he knew of this thing now, knowing what it can do, how it could move, it would have been on top of them in moments. There wouldn't be time to raise the shields.

Harry's eyes opened, his face locked in grim determination.

"I have a plan," he said, standing up out of the command chair. "I believe that, whatever that shroud is, I think our shields can protect us from it."

"Sir, if you don't mind me saying, that's a hell of a lot to assume," Terri said doubtfully.

"I never said it wasn't. It's just a theory." He hit his com button. "Fara, I need a shield generator rigged to a photon torpedo,"

"I'm sorry...you want a what with who now?" Fara said over the com

"You heard me. Meet Jakar and O'mara in the forward torpedo bay. They'll have instructions for you. Martinez out."

"Sir?" Jakar said doubtfully.

"It's simple. I need you to remove a warhead from one of our photon torpedoes and put in a shield generator. Can it be done?"

"Yes..." Jakar responded, "I think."

"O'mara, can you get a decent scanner rigged inside that casing too? I know we don't have any probes, but think you can get something thrown together?" Harry asked.

"Probably, it wouldn't be that hard. I'd have to go by my lab and grab some things," O'mara replied.

"Excellent. Gather whatever equipment you need and meet Jakar and Fara in Torpedo Bay One. You've got about a half-hour before we need it," Harry ordered.

"Understood, Captain," Jakar and O'mara said as they left the bridge.

Ambassador Kolnoz clapped. "Keptin, watching you in action is quite something! You are quick to find a solution to our little problem."

"I haven't done anything yet, Ambassador," Harry said humbly before turning to face the viewer. "Commander Lu, you keep on doing what you are doing. Keep that thing distracted. I have a plan. We're going to get a probe inside that shroud and get some readings. If we can understand it better we can deal with it properly."

"Understood," Terri said, looking at someone off-screen. "We've lost its attention again. We'll stay in touch."

Land entered the bridge and walked up to his console without a glance up at the screen as he relieved Ensign Rosa.

Terri's lip twitched visibly on the screen and she curtly finished with. "Intrepid out!"

* * *

A Bit Later

"Ow! Gods damn it all son of a bitch!" Fara yelped, tossing a spanner across the torpedo bay.

"That's not very productive chief," Jakar noted, calmly removing the detonator of the torpedo and deactivating it.

"Right above my mother fucking eye!" she snarled, stamping her foot in frustration.

Fara's spanner had slipped when she removed the final stem bolt holding the warhead and it caused her to slam her head into the torpedo's casings upraised hatch.

"Come here, lemme look," O'mara said, trying to stifle a laugh. "Hey hey! Stop fidgeting!"

Fara grumbled as she sat still so O'mara could examine the cut.

"You big baby! You just got a small cut, walk it off," O'mara smirked. "I think sickbay can wait."

"Sure, you're not the one it happened to. You don't have to feel it," she growled, running over to get her spanner back. She then started working on getting the engine compartment open, muttering under her breath the whole time.

"Chief, where is the shield generator?" Jakar asked. "I can start installing it while you work on the power shunts."

"It's over on that roller cart on the bottom part." Fara said. "It should mount in there easily enough, although it'll be a bit tight."

"I can manage," Jakar grunted.

"Yeah, I'm sure you can," Fara said as she managed to crack open the engine casing finally. "O'mara! You got your scanners mounted yet?"

"Of course I do," O'mara smiled. "I just happened to smuggle some compatible scanners on board a while ago for just such an occasion."

"Look at you, breaking the rules," Fara chuckled, sticking her tongue out at O'mara. "What happened to that timid chickadee I used to know?"

"I wasn't always that way Fara," O'mara sighed. "I just had to work through a lot of things."

"Been there, done that," Fara said. "I'm sure better living through medication too, right?"

O'mara nodded. "Among other things."

"Ha!" Fara cackled. "Oh you have to tell me about that sometime."

"Never!" O'mara said, flushing under her feathers.

"Ms. Phoenix, can you please connect shunt A6 and A5 to shunt J25 and J28?" Jakar asked flatly.

"Yeah yeah, one second," Fara said, quickly accomplishing the task. "Oh, you can't not talk about it now." Fara said, waving her tool at O'mara. "Cat's out of the bag. Who you've been seeing?"

"I-I-I never insinuated anything!" O'mara stammered.

"You're stuttering! That means I'm right! Come on, who is it, Michele?" Fara asked teasingly.

"LADIES!" Jakar snapped. "Can you pick this up later? We need to complete the task at hand and we have less than 10 minutes to have this ready to launch."

"Ok, what shunts do you need?" Fara asked O'mara.

"B2 through B6," O'mara said, relieved Fara had been kept at bay for now.

Fara quickly got it completed. "Ok, now all I have to do is rig the subspace transceiver to send data back to us for you and we'll be done," Fara said.

"Martinez to Jakar. How's it going down there?" Harry asked.

"And there he is, like clockwork," Fara chuckled, rolling her eyes.

"You had better be completing the modifications," Jakar said sternly.

"Don't you worry about that," Fara said, smugly shutting the engine compartment and dusting off her hands. "Done and done, you old grouch!"

Jakar glared and tapped his badge. "Yes, sir, the modifications are complete."

Fara stuck her tongue out as she bowed mockingly, causing O'mara to start giggling.

"Good. All of you get back to your stations as soon as possible. We will be engaging the entity to deploy the probe." Harry said over the speakers.

"Well, it's been fun guys, but back to the grind," Fara said, putting in the sealing bolts. She slapped the loading mechanism and gathered her tools as the mechanical arm loaded the torpedo into the launcher.

Fara, Jakar and O'mara returned to their stations a few minutes later.

"Well done, the three of you." Harry congratulated them, keeping his eyes fixed on the viewer. "I take it there weren't any problems?"

"It was a piece of cake, sir," Fara spoke before Jakar could interject. He glared as he went to work on his console.

"I wouldn't expect anything less," Harry said. "Mr. Land, ETA?"

"45 seconds. Intrepid reports she is bringing the creature out to meet us and it's shroud is up."

"Good. Stay on your toes, Land. This thing might not like us shooting a probe into it. There's a chance we might not outrun it in our current condition," Harry said.

"Don't need to worry about that from me, Captain." Land said. "I'm fully rested and recovered."

"Good, we're going to need you awake." Harry yawned, wishing he'd taken his own advice from earlier.

"Coming out of warp now. Hold onto your butts!" Land said, pulling down the warp speed lever. The streaking stars stopped and were replaced by the entity pulling back towards it's intended target with the Intrepid completing another attack run.

"This is the Intrepid. If you are going to make your move, do it now." Terri replied.

"Mr. Land, bring us within range," Harry ordered. "Jakar, raise the shields and prepare the torpedo for launch."

"Already on it, sir," Jakar replied.

"Closing to 75,000...kilo...meter...." Land said. He, Fara, and O'mara suddenly let out unearthly screams and fell out of their chairs, unconscious.

Harry started feeling very weak. Shaking, he headed for the con.

"Jakar...fire the probe...." He growled, getting out of his chair and heading for the com, seeing Ensign Land slide out of the chair and thud to the deck. "Jakar?!"

He looked behind him. Jakar looked like he was struggling just to stay conscious. Ambassador Kolnoz ran up to his station. Although he looked as if he was weakened too, Jakar was prompting him on what controls to press to get the torpedo to fire.

"We've got this, sir," Jakar growled, as they heard the torpedo launcher fire, along with the notification sound. "Bring us around!"

Harry saw it launch and he quickly changed the course of the ship, turning away from the entity. They were moving away at warp six, despite the computer's protest. Once some distance had been obtained, everyone started to come too.

"Thank you, Ambassador," Harry panted as he slowly regained his senses.

"It's nothing, Keptin," the Altarian smiled. "It's just fortunate I have spent time on a simulator on this ship and know a thing or two about it."

Harry nodded and went about helping his crewmates back to their seats.

"Doctor Okan to bridge. Just what the hell is going on up there?"

Harry staggered over to his chair and hit the com switch. "Doc, we could use your help up here."

"You and the rest of the ship! Half of the crew just fainted on me. The other half are showing signs of extreme fatigue and weakness. I'm a little overwhelmed at the moment!" Okan responded. "I'll be up there when I can."

"Sooner rather than later, Doctor." Harry said, leaning back in his chair.

He looked over to Fara and O'mara, who were both in similar shapes. "What did you two feel?"

"I don't know...it was terrible, like something was just snuffing me out." Fara said, shivering slightly.

O'mara nodded. "It was horrible...and just all of a sudden too."

"It was like all my strength and energy was just gone," Jakar grunted, still struggling to get himself to stay upright.

"Well, now we have an idea of how it got the Intrepid," Harry growled, feeling his strength slowly coming back to him. "Nasty little trick...."

"That is an understatement." Land groaned. "Let's not do that again."

Harry tried to shake the weakness, but it lingered. "Hopefully we'll get some readings from that probe."

Dr. Okan finally arrived on the bridge with a satchel and a hypospray in his hand. He grabbed Fara's arm and injected her with something. She seemed to perk up as Okan did the same for O'mara before he came over to Harry.

"Thanks doctor. What is it?" Harry asked as he was injected.

"Stimulants, vitamins, essential amino acids, it's similar to what I developed several months ago," Okan replied, "should perk you right up." He then moved over to Ambassador Kolnoz, Jakar and the others and gave them injections. "It seems to do the trick for now. Any idea what happened?"

"I'm working on it," O'mara said. "It looks like it's some sort of negative energy field. If we hadn't had the shields up, we probably wouldn't have stood a chance."

"Lovely...anything on our little experiment?" Harry asked.

"Yes, actually. It's still online and I'm receiving data now." O'mara said, working fast.

"Negative energy field?" Okan muttered, thinking about it. "I guess that's one way of saying it'll snuff the life out of a person. Maybe this thing feeds on life energy or any energy for that matter. Was there any power loss to our shields?"

Fara looked over her readings. "Yes, there was a slight power drain to the shields. It's a small percentage, but it doesn't seem to have done anything other than drain their power."

"Do you think we could possibly be protected from that shroud if we are close enough?" Harry asked.

"I dunno...maybe? I'd have to run these readings through the adaptive shield matrix," Fara said. "Give us a bit. O'mara and I might be able to come up with something."

"Doctor? Do you think your little miracle mix can be on hand if we need to get close again?" Harry asked.

"It's a stimulant, Captain," Doctor Okan said, "overuse can be dangerous. I suppose I could make some changes, but it can't be designed for continuous use."

"Good enough then. I also have some sensor readings I need you to take a look at as soon as Lt. O'mara gets done with them."

"Any idea what it is?" Okan asked.

"It appears to be some sort of gargantuan organism, but it doesn't seem too intelligent," Harry replied. "It responds to stimulus, but it doesn't seem to learn. We've got it chasing the Intrepid back and forth right now."

"We should try to study it as much as we can, something like that," Doctor Okan said, pointing at the screen, "should be studied and understood. I understand it's a threat that needs to be dealt with, but we may not have another chance to encounter anything like it."

"I understand that Doctor, but I am a bit more concerned with keeping it from eating a pre-warp world at the moment."

"Captain, I think if we modulate the shields properly we might be protected from the entity," Fara said. "I can definitely do it with our ship, probably not the Intrepid though."

An alarm sounded.

"Skipper, I hate to interrupt, but that thing is moving away from the Delta 3b system. It's resumed its course," Land reported. "The Intrepid is in pursuit."

"Well, don't just sit there! Follow them!" Harry snapped. "We don't need to be falling behind again!"

"Ok, ok, pursuit course laid in," Land said, jumping the Raptor back to warp.

"Harry, I need to grab O'mara and get down to Engineering. I think we might be able to make an effective defense against that thing," Fara said.

"Get on it and keep me apprised," Harry replied.

Fara and O'mara left the bridge. As they did, Doctor Okan slid into the science station and looked at the readings.

"Captain...if I didn't know any better, this thing...whatever it is...seems to be one massive, single-celled organism." He quickly ran a few analyses of the readings. "I'm certain of it...it's fascinating that it can exist in space and move as it does."

"Yes, I am sure it is Doctor, but I am more concerned with the billions it may consume, or has consumed, on its trek through the stars." Harry said flatly. "Do you think it can be destroyed?"

"Probably. The readout shows it is composed of all the same elements everything else is made out of." Okan said, looking at the readings.

"I want that probably to be a certainty," Harry said.

Okan sighed. He didn't like being handed a living thing's death sentence. "I'll check everything thoroughly sir, but please consider that if you do wish to destroy it, we should study what we can."

Harry stared mutely at the screen. Okan sighed and left the bridge,heading down to sickbay.

"Keptin, if I may? I think it may be prudent to warn Altaria of our situation," Ambassador Kolnoz said.

"Of course, that wouldn't be a bad idea. Lt. Pery, contact Starfleet Command and update them of our situation. Assist the Ambassador in contacting Altaira."

"Of course sir, right away," Pery said as Kolnoz walked over to the communications station.

"Jakar, prep some torpedoes," Harry ordered, "maximum yield. I want to get that thing's attention next time."

"Done," Jakar said, entering the commands into his console. "So, what is the plan, sir?"

"It depends on what Fara and O'mara can come up with," Harry said. "I think to hurt this thing we might have to go inside it. If it is a giant amoeba, we need to destroy the nucleus, but we need to be able to keep that energy-draining field at bay." Harry said, typing in a few things into his command console. "And it looks like we just got handed the dirty deed."

The ship shuddered and the lights dimmed slightly as power fluctuated throughout the grid. Land's console elicited some alarms.

"Skip, we are losing power on the starboard nacelle," Land reported.

"Compensate," Harry snapped.

Land quickly re-tuned the warp field so that the port nacelle was doing more of the work. It was a risky tactic, but it would allow them to push a bit faster. The shuddering stopped and the power stabilized.

"That'll do it for now," Land said, "but Fara is going to have my ass for doing that."

"You let me worry about Fara," Harry said flatly.

* * *

Later

Okan sat in his lab, sifting through the scans and running some simulations based on them. There were a few things that had him concerned. His calculations coupled with what was on file for single cell organisms painted a disturbing picture. Assuming the numbers were accurate, this creature was close to replicating.

Wouldn't that be something to witness, Okan thought.

However, what was equally terrifying was how many lives that would take. It seemed to drain energy and then consume the organic material it encountered. The image of a planet being ravaged as the Intrepid had chilled him to his core.

He cracked his fingers and decided to get work as he hunched over his lab terminal.

"Giant bacteria," he muttered, "we just need an antibiotic. Piece of cake."

* * *

Fara arrived back on the bridge with O'mara. She looked rather pissed, but she was keeping her thoughts to herself.

"Shield modulation is set, Captain," she reported, "if you want to make a run at that thing, we can probably do it."

"How confident are you that those shields can hold, Chief?" Harry asked.

"Fairly confident," Fara said. "O'mara thinks the modulation can keep that field at bay for some time."

"At least that's what the simulations tell us," O'mara added. "Simulations aren't actual field results. However, we're about as ready as we can be, sir."

"Good," Harry nodded.

"Captain, if you don't mind, I need to get down to Engineering. I'm sure I don't need to go into details," Fara said tersely after giving her station a quick look over and noticing the warp field modification that Land had implemented.

Harry nodded and Fara quickly left the bridge.

"Intrepid to Raptor," Terri's voice came in over the com. "We have a problem."

"Go ahead Intrepid," Harry said, hitting the acknowledgement button.

"There is a Corron freighter in front of the entity. It will intercept in about five minutes. We have tried to warn them off, but they aren't acknowledging us," Terri reported.

Corrons were an insect race that was non-aligned with the Confederation, but ran routes through their territory. They were not hostile people, but they were very standoffish when it came to dealing with other races.

"Lt. Pery, patch me in through to them."

"Aye, sir, channel open."

"Attention Corron vessell, this is Commander Harry Martinez of the Confederation starship Raptor. You are in grave danger. You need to alter your course immediately or your ship and crew will be consumed by the entity closing on your position. Respond immediately, Corron vessel."

"Captain, the entity is dropping out of warp to intercept the freighter," Jakar reported.

"Raptor, we will not alter course. Please leave us alone," the vessel responded.

"Corron captain, check your readings. You should see a massive ionic disturbance appear behind you, closing fast. It is not an ion storm, it is a giant organism that will consume your vessel if you do not take immediate action."

"The entity is now within one thousand kilometers of the Corron vessel and closing fast," Jakar reported. "The entity has yet to drop the shroud."

"Corron vessel, jump to warp immediately! I repeat your lives are in grave--"

Harry was cut off as shrieking feedback came through the speakers before Pery could get them turned down.

"The Corron ship has been enveloped, Captain," Jakar said as his console signaled the ship's demise.

"Stubborn to the last, eh Keptin?" Ambassador Kolnoz said sadly.

Harry pounded his armrest. "That's it! We need to stop this thing! Ms. O'mara! Activate the shield modulation! Lt Pery, inform the Intrepid of our plans and tell them to keep an open channel! Jakar, all power to shields! We're going to stop that thing one way or the other. Mr. Land, take us into the shroud before it takes off again."

"Aye, Skip," Land said reluctantly.

"Captain! Are you sure you want to do that?" Terri said over the speaker. "Going in there, you don't know what will happen! I think you are taking an unnecessary risk!"

"I trust in my crew, Number One," Harry said as the blackness filled the forward view screen. "I don't see you coming up with any better ideas. If we don't do anything, all 4.6 billion Altarians will be that thing's dinner. I'm not going to let that happen."

"Sir, I think this is too reckless! You don't even know if your shields will hold!"

"Risk is part of the game if you want to be in that chair, Terri," Harry said, gripping his armrests. "Full ahead, Mister Land."

"All ahead full," Land said, entering the commands.

"All hands, brace for impact!" Harry ordered.

The Raptor shuddered violently as it plunged into the shroud of darkness and disappeared from sight.

Terri watched from the Intrepid's bridge and tried to hail them as the mass swarmed up around where the Raptor had disappeared and came to a stop.

"Lu to Raptor! Respond please...Lu to Raptor! If anyone can hear me, please respond!"

Static was the only thing that came back over the comms in response.

The impact had been rather violent. Everyone had been thrown about as the deck pitched and heaved as the Raptor passed through whatever the shroud was made of. Power flickered, conduits overloaded, consoles shorted out, but much to everyone's relief they were alive, meaning the shields were still up for the time being.

"Status report!" Harry snapped.

"We're in...um...," Land replied, "whatever...it is."

"Minor damage reports all over the ship. Shields holding. Damage control teams are already deployed," Jakar reported.

"How are those shields holding up, Ms. O'mara?"

"They're holding for now, sir," O'mara reported. "The power drain seems to have increased. I'm trying to compensate."

"Now this is more like I was anticipating," Ambassador Kolnoz said. He was way more excited about the situation than Harry thought appropriate. "Grappled in a life or death struggle with a giant space creature, the fate of my homeworld hanging in the balance, how exciting!"

"You are enjoying this way too much Ambassador," Harry said dowerly. "Do you even understand the gravity of the situation we are in?"

"Oh, I do, completely Keptain, but I haven't felt this invigorated or excited in ages. I'm loving every minute of this!" Kolnoz said excitedly. "This is why I chose your ship, Keptin! Something's always happening!"

Harry just stared at the Altarian, dumbfounded and completely at a loss of words.

"Captain, I'm receiving a signal from the Intrepid," Jakar reported. "They want to know our status."

"Tell them we're in and we're fine for the moment," Harry said. "Mr Land, I assume we are still moving forward?"

"We are, but I think it's pulling us toward its gooey center somehow." Jack said his gaze flitting between the screen and his own instruments.

"Don't fight it, that's where we want to go," Harry said. The lights dimmed slightly and a few alarms sounded. "We don't know how much time we got in here." He glanced over at O'mara, who seemed to be watching her readings intensely.

"Captain, sensor readings indicate that with the drain to our shields, we will only last an hour here at our current power consumption levels," she said, her eyes never leaving the data.

"Then let's get every scrap of power we can get," Harry said, hitting a button on his console. "Engineering, shut down every nonessential system you can."

"I can do that Captain, but you better like working in the dark," Fara replied.

"More concerned with staying alive. Bumped shins and foreheads are the least of our concerns at the moment," Harry replied.

"Understood. Phoenix out."

Soon the lights all dimmed and any console not in use powered down. This only seemed to make Kolnoz now even more excited as his tail whipped about.

"The lighting is very appropriate," he chuckled, grinning like a fat child in a candy shop.

"You are having way too much fun with this Ambassador," Harry sighed.

The ship suddenly lurched forward.

"Something is moving us sir," Jakar reported.

"Should I reverse the engines?" Land asked.

"Negative. Let it take us where it wants. I don't want to waste power fighting it if we can keep it at bay with the shields," Harry replied.

"If it's anything like it's smaller counterparts, it's trying to digest us," O'mara noted.

Harry suddenly felt a bit weak. "Doctor...you might want to get more of those stimulants up here shortly."

"Understood. You aren't the only one, sir. I'm getting calls from all over the ship. I'll be there as soon as I can," Doctor Okan replied. "I suggest whatever the hell it is you are planning on doing, you get it done quickly, sir."

"That's the plan," Harry replied. He hit the active channel between the Raptor and the Intrepid. "Commander Lu, we are in and we are heading towards the creature's nucleus. Shields are holding, we'll keep you in touch."

"....derstood....tor...mission is....weak," Terri responded over the speaker. "Try boo....subspace...ain."

"I'm on it sir," Lt. Pery replied. "Subspace gain increased by 75%. We should be able to get them on screen."

"Do it," Harry replied as Terri appeared on the main viewer, although it was a bit staticy.

"Much better," Terri said. "I think you should know that that thing is getting closer to the Altairia system. At its current speed, it will get there in about 45 minutes."

"Damn," Harry grunted. "That really puts the crunch on us. Any word from the Fleet?"

"I've got multiple ships responding, but they are several hours away," Terri said flatly. "No one was really expecting a giant space blob to be invading today. What's your full status?"

"O'mara says it's trying to digest us, but our shields are protecting us for now. We're having problems with people feeling weak, but we're ok for now." Harry replied. "We're making our way through the shroud towards the creature. We hope to be able to take it out once we get to it."

Terri frowned. She wasn't happy with whatever plan Harry was cooking up; it seemed too reckless, even for him.

"I am confident we will be successful," Harry said wearily, looking tired. "If we are not, I am charging you with stopping this thing by any means possible. Is that understood?'

"Understood, Captain," Terri replied.

"Wish us luck. Martinez out."

* * *

Nearly 30 Minutes Later

Nova had appeared on the bridge by now. Land glanced over at her and she smiled, looking very tired. Just then, Doctor Okan showed up with another round of stimulants and started injecting everyone.

"Any word on what we can use to kill that thing Doctor?" Harry asked.

"From the readings I have, it should be just as vulnerable to any method you can throw at it as anything else. It's made of the same elements as everything else, so it isn't too wild. Hit it in the right spot and it'll pop." He said as he went from person to person, injecting them. "It's a shame we can't study it more."

"In about forty-five minutes it's going to chow down on one of our most populated worlds," Harry noted. "I'm not too interested in studying it, especially since it's wise to our tricks and we're not going to be able to divert it again."

"From what I can ascertain, that organism has enough stored energy to reproduce. Then there will be two of them. Then four, eight, then more." Okan shrugged. "If we don't stop it now, lifeforms like us could be the minority in our own galaxy in a short time, if we survive at all."

Harry frowned. The irony of the situation wasn't lost on him and he couldn't help but chuckle. "So, we'll be playing the galaxy's immune system today?"

"That's one way of looking at it, Captain," Okan nodded.

Nova brushed her tail against Land's arm casually. He looked at her and smiled a weary but reassuring smile.

"How are you holding up?" He said quietly.

"A little scared. You?" She asked.

"Not really. Occasionally we get smaller versions of things like this back home that float through space." Land chuckled, "this one seems to stand up to weapons a little better though."

"I am going to have to see the Lylat system sometime."

"I'd be glad to take you," Land said. He was about to say something more about home when he spotted something looming on the viewer. "Skipper! You might want to take a glance at the viewer."

On the main viewer, they could see they were being drawn toward what appeared to be the creature's nucleus. The power began to flicker and an alarm sounded.

"Report!" Harry snapped.

"The power drain has increased on our shields. The pull has doubled," O'mara reported.

"Re-modulate the shields and reverse all engines," Harry ordered.

"Working on it, Captain," O'mara replied.

The ship shuddered as it pulled against the force drawing it towards the gargantuan organism lurking in the opaque black shroud it generated.

"Engineering, we're going to need more power," Harry said, hitting his com button.

"Already at max, Captain. Mains will blow if you keep fighting that hold it has on us!" Fara snapped back.

Harry pounded his armrest, grinding his teeth. "Land! Can we maybe at least hold our position?"

"Maybe, Skip." He played with the throttle controls and the engines audibly got quieter, although they were still pulling against the force the organism had on them. "That should do it for now. What's the plan, Skip?"

Doctor Okan injected Harry with a stimulant and then scanned his vitals and frowned. "It probably wouldn't be a good idea to keep these up, Captain. Your vitals are declining."

"I'll be fine, doc," Harry said dismissively. "The plan is to get us where we are. Part two is trying to figure out how to get us out of the mess I made in part one."

"I am far from a scientist, but if we destroy the nucleus of that...thing...that would pop it like the doc said, right?" Jakar asked.

"How do you suppose we do that?" Doctor Okan replied. "It eats energy. I don't think phasers will do a thing to it."

"It doesn't like photon torpedoes," Jakar grunted.

"Except that field out there drains them of their power," O'mara spoke up. "So, we're going to have to go close or go inside it."

The aft bridge doors parted and Fara entered the bridge, transferred engineering controls to her station, and then noticed everyone standing in thought.

"Oh god! Now what are we doing?" She sighed.

"We're trying to figure that out," Harry replied evenly. "How much longer do you think the shields can hold?"

"At our current usage of power, two, maybe three hours, but we'll be draining our power significantly if we try to breach that membrane." O'mara said, "unless we let it envelope us."

"It's trying to do that anyway," Jakar grunted. "It's not like we can avoid it."

"That might work," Okan said. "Invade the body, just like a virus destroying a host cell."

"Ugh, all this just sounds terrible," Fara groaned. "Look, that thing is draining our power. All the shields are doing is delaying the inevitable. It's just leaching off us like it's savoring a piece of candy trying to get to the gooey center, which is us! So let's get something done!"

"That's enough, Fara." Harry said. "We're all very aware of our situation. Doctor, you said we should be able to destroy it. Jakar, do you think we could construct a high yield antimatter explosion that could do the trick?"

"We would have to get close," Okan said. "If that thing has any sort of fluid mass inside we'd be fighting currents, eddies, all sorts of heavy shifts we aren't designed for. It could drain our power more."

"What about the Talon?" Harry asked. "It has its own core and adaptive shielding; it might have a chance to get close."

"It could, but who are you going to get to fly it?" Fara asked. "That's a suicide mission."

"I'll figure that out," Harry replied. "Fara, can you help Jakar rig an antimatter explosive that can take that thing out?"

The lights and power flickered on the Raptor. O'mara quickly remodulated the shields as everyone felt very weak.

"Sorry, but it's increased it's pull on our power," O'mara reported.

"I'll do anything at this point to get out of this mess! Let's go Jakar!" Fara said as Doctor Okan shot her full of stimulant. "Thanks. Can I get that in coffee form?"

"No," Okan said flatly as Jakar walked past them. Fara followed him out.

"Skip, it's starting to increase it's pull on us," Land said.

"Let it be. If we keep fighting it, we're not going to win."

"Captain, the Intrepid is hailing us," Lt. Pery spoke up.

"On screen."

Terri's image appeared on the screen, although it was hazy and filled with static.

"How are you holding up, Harry?" Terri asked.

"We're still in one piece. This things got a good hold of us, trying to suck us dry, but we're using our shields to keep it at bay."

"You don't look well. How is the crew?" Terri asked.

"They're managing. The stimulants are doing their job," Harry replied. "We're working on the problem."

"Do you have any way to get out of there?" Terri asked.

"No. It's got us good. We're letting it just take us where it wants us at this point. We can't fight it and we don't have enough reserves to keep the shields up indefinitely." Harry said, fighting back a yawn. "Have evacuations...begun on Altairia...if we fail?"

"They've been notified, but you just can't get several billion people off-planet at a moment's notice," Terri replied.

"Many would not leave," Kolnoz said. "It is our home and where else would we go? Many of us would rather perish with our homeworld than part from it."

"That won't be an issue if I can help it," Harry said reassuringly. "How close are we to the cellular wall of the nucleus out there, O'mara?"

"A thousand kilometers and closing quick," O'mara said, her eyes fixed to the shield modulation. A single blue feather molted off her and drifted slowly to the floor.

"We're going to use the Talon to deliver a warhead to the nucleus of the creature," Harry told Terri, "hit it with enough antimatter to take it out with one shot."

"That sounds incredibly dangerous," Terri frowned, but she didn't look angry. She looked distressed.

"The alternative is unacceptable," Harry replied sternly.

"Skipper, we're about to make contact," Land reported.

"We're going to try to breach it's membrane. We'll try to keep in touch." Harry said. "Keep all power to the shields." Harry quickly flipped the shipwide coms. "All hands, this is the Captain. We are going to try to breach the creature's membrane. Brace for impact." He closed the channel. "All engines to full thrust forward, Mr. Land."

"Here goes nothing," Land said under his breath, entering the commands.

The Raptor plunged toward the nucleus of the creature and slammed into its membrane, breaking through it. Everyone was tossed about, alarms sounded, power systems failed, consoles overloaded, and Harry found himself face down on the floor. The lights flickered, but didn't die as some of the alarms ceased.

"Are we in?" Harry asked as he got up off the floor.

"I think so," O'mara replied. There was a literal cloud of feathers drifting around her console at this point. "Good news is the power drain is not nearly as bad. However, we have a lot less power than we did when we started."

"Bridge, this is Fara. Jakar and I are down here playing with highly reactive anti-matter capsules. So, just a thought, could you NOT knock us around like that?!" Fara yelled.

Harry chuckled to himself. At least that saved him the trouble of checking on her. "Sorry Chief, we're just proceeding with the plan."

"You mean continuing to pull this out of your ass? Yeah, I can see that plainly!" Fara snapped.

"Just hurry up with that weapon," Harry responded leaving the channel open.

"Captain, we're holding steady where we are at. Whatever was drawing us in here has released us."

"So, who's going to deliver the package?" Doctor Okan asked.

"I'm working on that," Harry said.

The ship shuddered a bit as the protoplasm inside the creature shifted.

"Sorry about that folks, adjusting to compensate," Land said.

"I would be interested in doing it," Okan said when no one leapt at the opportunity. "We could collect some samples to try to understand this thing better."

"I appreciate your enthusiasm for scientific discovery, but you are needed here on the ship, Doctor," Harry said politely.

"Pfft! Don't look at me!" O'mara said.

Harry chuckled and shook his head. He'd done enough to her. This truly would be asking too much. "I appreciate your honesty, Lieutenant."

"Sir, I will pilot the Talon. It would be my honor to do so." Jakar said over the comms.

"And lose the best gunnery officer in the quadrant?" Harry smiled softly. "Sorry big guy, request denied."

Jakar just grunted and closed the channel.

"I could do it," Land said. "I am the best pilot on this ship, so I have the best chance of getting back."

"You are also the best one to keep the ship in one piece when we try to get out of here." Harry replied.

"Skip, that's ridiculous! I can do it, you know I can!" Land protested.

"I said no, Ensign," Harry said sternly. "I will go. I got us into this mess, so I owe it to all of you to get us out of it."

Silence.

Harry took a breath, aware that everyone was likely already prepping arguments. "Look, everyone of you is vital to this ship's survivability." He stood, straightening his uniform. "Most of you know this ship better than I do. I'm just the one that makes the big decisions on what to do with it. I've put you all in danger by bringing you this far, so I will be the one to finish this." He smiled at the glum faces. "Who knows? I might pull it off. Wouldn't that be the story to tell? I've been lucky before. Anyone have any objections?"

He was met only by the ever present, distant purr of the Raptor's systems.

"Very well. Doctor, if you want your readings I suggest you equip the Talon with the necessary equipment," Harry said.

"Of course," Doctor Okan said reluctantly before slowly leaving the bridge.

Harry looked up at Land, who was staring slack jawed. "Problem, Ensign?"

"No. No problem...sir," Land said, turning back to his station. He glanced over his shoulder at Nova, who smiled hollowly. Land smiled reassuringly at her, wishing he could do more, but he had a job to do.

After what seemed like an eternity, O'mara finally spoke up. "I've got the nucleus. It's now on long-range sensors."

"Hold our position," Harry said. "Can you put it on screen?"

O'mara worked her controls silently and it appeared on the main viewer through heavy static. It manifested as a large, dark-colored blob floating in the flotsam that had to be hundreds of miles across.

Several tense minutes passed. Harry checked his readout on the remaining power. They had 10 minutes left, if that.

Fara and Jakar returned to the bridge, both looking tired and done.

"It's done," Fara announced, "even got it mounted to the Talon's underside. Doctor Okan even got his equipment on board. Now, who's flying it? Jakar won't talk."

"I am." Harry said.

Fara rounded on him. "What?"

"You heard me. You have the bridge, Chief."

"Me? What? Why?" Fara sputtered, her eyes widened in shock as she finally put it together. "Oh god...Harry...you can't...."

"Fara, I need you to get the Raptor home. Do that for me, ok?"

"Of course I will, but you had better come back!" Fara said. "You can't just up and leave like this!"

"I have to. Someone needs to destroy that thing. Fara, you take--" Harry started.

"No! No, no, stop," Fara said, her voice wavering, tears forming in her eyes. "You're getting ready to say goodbye, so just don't."

Harry softened a little. "The ship is yours, Chief."

Fara nodded, clenching her jaw and holding his gaze.

"Skip," Land spoke up, "can I at least see you to the shuttlebay?"

"That's fine."

"Captain?" O'mara said.

He turned to face her.

"In case I don't get the chance again," O'mara said, her voice steady despite a few tiny feathers molting off her cheeks, "thank you for pushing me."

Harry smiled. "You are very welcome."

Jakar nodded to Harry. Harry just smiled back. He really didn't expect more than that.

"To hell with regulations," Fara said suddenly, giving Harry an unexpected hug. "You come back to us, damnit!" She whispered in his ear, before breaking the hug and wiping a few tears from her eyes.

Land walked up beside him as he addressed the bridge at large.

"I want you all to know that I am proud to have you as my crew. We have come a long way in a short time and I couldn't have asked for any finer group of men and women than you to serve with. Good luck and godspeed."

He smiled and left the bridge with Land in tow. They got on the turbolift and headed down to the shuttlebay. Land leaned against the wall, his hands in his pockets.

"I appreciate you coming, Jack," Harry said after a bit.

"Sure, Skip. We started this together, right?" Land said quietly.

"Yeah, we did," Harry smiled. "Do me a favor?"

Land looked at him quizzically.

"Keep working in Engineering. Fara is very happy with you and I never hear anything bad. Keep up the good work." Harry smiled. "I really mean that."

Land smiled a bit. "Thanks, Harry."

The turbolift slid to a halt on Deck 4. They exited and walked down the gangway towards the shuttlebay. Land keyed in the commands to open the door and waited for Harry to pass. Harry walked up to the main launch console and keyed in the commands for the Talon to begin preflight startup.

"Jack? What's the hold up," he called over his shoulder when Land didn't follow. "I could use a hand here."

"Coming," Land called back, walking into the bay. The emergency override hatch was left open. The door crank for the emergency hatch was now riding in Land's waistband. Land stood by the console and activated the shuttle bay door. The klaxxon sounded and the door pulled up, revealing the swirling morass of protoplasm beyond the force field.

"It's strange," Harry said sadly, "we started this journey together. I...never thought it would end like this."

"Yeah," Land said, "it's definitely been interesting. Remember that bar fight back on Kategoris?"

Harry chuckled. "When you called that giant beast a douchebag when he bumped into you? How can I forget?"

They both laughed, remembering the incident.

"So..." Harry said quietly. "This is it, amigo."

"Yeah...it is." Land said, trying to remain calm while preparing to do what he intended to.

"You've always been a good friend Jack, even when you drive me nuts." Harry smiled, showing a bit more emotion than he was used to and offering his hand to shake.

"You too buddy," Land said, grasping Harry's hand, his other hand behind his back, fingers clenching around the handle of the crank. "That's why I can't let you do this."

His arm lashed out, bringing the crank across Harry's jaw with a dull crunch. Harry's eyes, bright with fear brought on by betrayal, rolled back as he lost his grasp on consciousness. Land dropped the crank to catch Harry. His own wrist throbbed, protesting against the sudden stop the crank had experienced.

"You told me once...the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one. Well, this ship, this crew, they need you a lot more than they need me." Land let out a slow breath, walking over to the console and programming in an automatic door closure. "I've got a way better chance of making this trip than you do anyway, and you know it."

Harry groaned, trying to speak, but nothing intelligible came out. Land couldn't help but smile. Harry was tougher than he looked. Land had been hoping a crank to the head would put him down for at least 10 minutes or so.

"You, sir, are just too stubborn to let the rest of us take the risk. It's appreciated, but like you told Terri," he said, quickly initiating the countdown, "it comes with the job. You take care, Harry. Catch you on the flip side."

He turned and bolted for the Talon.

* * *

The gargantuan creature slowed down and dropped its shroud as it coasted into the outer reaches of the Alatarian home system. The Intrepid was hot on its tail. They tried to get it to veer off by firing a barrage of torpedoes at it, but it ignored them, despite the irritation.

"Raptor, this is the Intrepid," Terri said, opening a channel. "The entity has entered the Altairian system and we can't get it to divert."

"We hear you Terri. We're working on it." Fara replied.

"Fara? Why are you in command?" Terri asked.

"Long story. We're carrying out the Captains plan," Fara snapped, but her voice wavered.

"Shuttlecraft Talon is away," Jakar announced.

On the viewer, the shuttle headed out from under the Raptor's bow into the deepest part of the creature.

"Martinez to bridge," Harry growled over the comms.

"Captain? Why are you calling me from the shuttle bay?" She asked, confused, glancing at the control terminal to her side and seeing where the call was coming from.

"Ensign Land is in the shuttle! He hit me with a crank and took the Talon!"

"What?!" Fara barked, a bit shocked, toggling a channel to the Talon and linking Terri into it as well. "What the hell are you doing, Ensign?"

"What I'm good at, Chief. What does it look like?" Land replied, pulling on the restraints on the Talon's pilot chair. "Can we not do this right now? I'm a little busy."

"Why'd you assault the Captain?" Terri snapped at him.

"It was a helluva lot easier than trying to explain things to him," Land said, making a few adjustments. "Look, I don't have time for a court martial!"

"Ensign, you turn that shuttle around right now!" Terri snapped.

"And what? You'll toss me in the brig! We don't have time for this, Commander. This blob is gonna destroy Altairia unless I ram this bomb right up it's keester...and get out...if I'm lucky."

"But...you...you can't!" Terri stammered. "You could be killed!"

"I could be, most likely, or not," Land chuckled. "Fifty fifty shot either way. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out."

The channel became a bit more hazy. "Jonathan...I...have something important to tell you that you need to know!" Terri blurted suddenly.

"It's a bit late for that sorry," Land said, but there was no edge to his voice. "Sounds like I'm starting to lose transmission. I need power elsewhere in this tub. I may not see you again, so, before I go--"

"Jonathan!" Terri sobbed, "don't say that!"

"Terri..." he said gently, "before I go, I want to tell you you're fantastic." He gave her a mirthful grin, hoping there was enough power she could see him on her screen. "Absolutely fantastic."

Terri tried to laugh, but it came out as tears.

"And you know what?" Land asked.

Terri shook her head.

"So was I," Land said, gunning the shuttle engines and plunging the Talon deeper into the leviathan, cutting the channel off.

* * *

Harry arrived back on the bridge holding his head and asked Fara to take the con. "Turn us around, get us out of here with everything we got."

"No argument from me," Fara replied, hopping into the conn and bringing the ship around. The Raptor quickly swung around and began to slowly force it's way out of the creature. The engines screamed in protest as the ship started to slowly lurch it's way forward.

The Raptor passed back out through the breach in the nucleonic membrane a lot easier than it had penetrated it.

The ship was sluggish, hard to control and Fara fought with the controls, trying to keep it steady among the eddies and currents of the creature's protoplasm. The engines were screaming in protest. The shields were running on just barely enough power to protect them.

"Jakar? How far are we from the edge of the creature?" Harry asked.

"Twenty five thousand kilometers," Jakar yelled over the protesting engines.

"Can you spot the Talon? Is it still on course?" Harry demanded.

"Just barely on both," O'mara replied, half her attention on the shield modulation. "I barely have him on long range sensors."

The ship shifted violently.

"I can't keep her steady Harry! She's flying like she's drunk and carrying a dead elephant on her back!" Fara growled as the ship rapidly verred to port. Harry moved over to the controls to help her.

"Take the thrust. I'll fly," he said, squeezing in beside her.

Fara nodded and kept at the engines. Harry's help made her job a lot easier, allowing her to focus on the engines and power levels.

* * *

Land locked onto the nucleus of the creature and checked his readouts. Already the strange energy field that the creature emitted was draining the Talon's warp core. He'd have to move quickly. He diverted more power towards the engines and muted the audio warnings. This was hard enough without the computer nagging him. On the long range sensor he caught a glimpse of the Raptor coming about and going in the opposite direction.

Minutes to arrival turned to seconds. Soon the nucleus came into view. It was in range, growing in the shuttle's viewport. Land glanced at his power levels and cut everything he didn't need to keep the engines going, as well as shields and life support.

5,000 km to go...then 4,000 km...and now 3,000 km...2,000 km was all that was left.

The inner sanctum of the creature's nucleus was creepy, dark, a very organic red. It was unpleasant to look at, slightly nauseating. He could see energy resonating along the walls of the nucleonic membrane. Strange forms moved in the darkness, paying no attention to him. From what he could see of them, they looked like strange particles, resembling a massive DNA strand.

"Come on," he said, tightening the Talon's shield bubble around the engine and passenger compartment. He could feel the life being slowly sucked out of him as the enormous double helix of the creature's DNA loomed ahead of him.

There were only 1,000 km left. 500 km....

With a slight gasp, he released the warhead. Teeth gritted, he quickly spun the shuttle around and gunned the engines. Cool guys didn't look at explosions and if he paused to look at this one he'd regret it.

The warhead plunged toward the massive nucleus as the Talon raced back the way it had come. Land cut everything except the engines, but the shuttle was being pushed past its limits. Consoles exploded as power feed back and systems were overloaded.

* * *

"Distance to the outer membrane!" Harry yelled over the noise of the engines and the alarms.

"10,000 kilometers!" Jakar reported.

"Captain, the shields are failing!" O'mara said. "We may have less than a few seconds!"

"Fara? Can you do anything?" Harry asked, taking the chair and letting her run to her station.

Fara scrambled over to the engineering console.

"No no no no!" Fara whimpered, looking up in horror. "Main power failure imminent! We've got nothing left!"

The engine's shrill whine slowly started to grow faint. Power was bleeding out of the conduits. Consoles started to shut down.

"That's it then," Harry sighed, letting out a long breath as he felt his life start to slowly drain away. He leaned back in his seat. "We've done all we can."

* * *

The sensors gave out. Land was flying blind other than what he could see out of the canopy. He sucked in a deep breath and cut life support. The air in the cockpit would last longer if he regulated his breathing and stayed calm. The shields were starting to buckle as the power drain from the creature surpassed the Talon's ability to cope. He glanced up at the counter. It was ticking down from 10 seconds.

He could see stars faintly through the protoplasm. He was so close...he could almost taste freedom.

5....

He closed his eyes.

4....

Shakily, he held his hands over the power controls.

3....

The engine was red lining, out of coolant and on the verge of a meltdown.

2....

He would soon be on momentum only, assuming the shuttle survived the nuclear blast. He couldn't help but wonder what being melted by a nuclear shockwave would feel like.

1....

The warhead detonated. The release of the antimatter into a mass of pure matter began a simultaneous annihilation. The nucleus imploded in a blinding flash of light, akin to a supernova. Land felt the shuttle tremble as shockwaves ripped away from the explosion. His ears swiveled as the air began to get sharp. At the last moment, he threw everything he had into the rear shields and let off one final burst from the impulse drive.

There was a roar, a fierce collision, and then....

Nothing.

* * *

The creature was almost at Altaria's atmosphere when, suddenly, it grew extremely bright and exploded. The majority of it burned up in Altaria's atmosphere as a shower of bright streaks of light. It provided a tremendous sight for those on the surface.

Altairia was safe.

Billions of Altarians looked on in astonishment and wonder. The sounds of cheers echoed across its surface as the whole world's populace once facing imminent death now rejoicing having avoided it. The sky was alight with large globs of the creature's protoplasm burning up in the atmosphere, along with debris of ships and other things it had ingested.

* * *

Harry opened up his eyes. He gasped and sat up, sucking down a lungful of scorched, smokey air and immediately started to cough. He quickly checked himself. He had several very bloody lacerations, but he was mostly alive and able to move. His shoulder injury felt like it had been pulled again, but pain was good. Pain meant he was still alive. He could barely see anything other than the faint fires scattered around the bridge.

"Damage Report!" Harry shouted, coughing, trying to figure out where he was on the darkened bridge. The atmosphere was choked with smoke and the only illumination were the fires.

"I'd assume everything is damaged," Fara groaned from somewhere nearby in the darkness.

"Did it work?" Harry asked into the darkness.

"I don't know. We're blind, likely dead in the water. I think the ship's comms are down too." Jakar responded. "I had it up until we got hit by the blast."

He heard some wretching behind him. There was a slight warbling that sounded like Michelle.

"O'mara?" Harry called. "Are you alright?"

"I will be...once I...stop throwing up!"

He heard her vomit again. Suddenly, the power flickered back on. The ventilation returned and the smoke started evacuating from the bridge. With a gurgle, the fire suppression system kicked, in dousing the flames. Harry glanced around. Kolnoz was moving, battered, but very much alive. He seemed almost giddy, giving Harry a thumbs up as he helped Nova to her feet. She was covered in bruises, but other than that she looked fine.

"That's probably Knackt," Fara grunted as she got up. She'd been thrown over the flight control station and was cringing with each left step.

"I've got passive sensors, sir," O'mara said. "I'm picking up something metallic off our stern."

"Is it the shuttle?" Harry demanded.

"Maybe. It's inert, whatever it is," O'mara replied.

"Any life signs?" Harry asked.

"Indeterminate," O'mara replied, looking up from her console.

Harry turned to Jakar. "Get him out of there, use a shuttle, the transporter, a fucking liferaft, I don't care! Go!"

Jakar nodded and left the bridge.

The main screen flickered back to life. They could see the Intrepid approaching slowly.

"They are hailing us, sir," Lt. Pery, announced.

"Put them on screen."

"Harry, you made it," Terri said, relieved.

"Mostly. We're still figuring out how bad we're messed up," Harry coughed. "Is the thing dead?"

"Yes. You should have seen the fireball," Terri said. "The creature has been totally destroyed. Did...did Jack make it out?"

"The Talon is out there, but we don't know if he's alive or not." Harry said, avoiding her gaze. "I'll let you know as soon as we know."

* * *

Terri returned to the Raptor, leaving Lt. Baxter in command. She heard the Talon had been severely damaged. Land's condition wasn't promising. She found a gangway hatch and dropped down to Deck 2 and entered sickbay. She was moving faster than she thought, causing crew members to dive out of her way.

Nurse Twila stopped her at the door. "Can I help you, Commander?"

"Ensign Land? What's his condition?" Terri asked, trying to sound as level as possible and not doing a very good job.

"He's clinging to life," Twila replied calmly. "He was exposed to that creature's field for a long time. He's on life support."

"Can I see him?" Terri asked.

Twila opened her mouth to object, but Okan poked his head around the corner.

"It's fine, nurse, let her through," Doctor Okan said.

Twila seemed a bit confused, but nodded. "Yes doctor."

"Follow me," Okan said, motioning Terri forward. "I have him in the intensive care ward." Doctor Okan led her to a small set of stairs that led to the lower deck of sickbay that housed the more sophisticated equipment. "I expected you to come by," Doctor Okan said, "and I'm glad you did. He may not make it."

Terri chewed her lower lip nervously and nodded.

Okan took her over to a small alcove where Land lay hooked up to several machines that were keeping him alive. He was gaunt, drained, lifeless.

"Before I leave, are you injured? Is there anything I need to see to while you're here?" Doctor Okan asked.

"No Doctor. I'm fine." Terri replied.

"I will leave you be then. If you need anything, let me know."

Terri nodded as Doctor Okan left the room.

"Jack...what did you do?" Terri sobbed, leaning on the biobed. "I did this to you, didn't I?"

Land was unmoving. Only the faint whirring of the respirator and the beep of the biobed keeping track of his slowed heart. He was a mere shadow of himself.

"I'm so sorry...I shouldn't have hurt you." Terri said, wiping at her tears. "It was probably the worst day of my life. I had no idea. I was not in my right mind at the time." She sobbed. "I'm scared, Jack." She cried, laying her head on his chest. "I'm pregnant with your child and I don't know what to do! I don't know what to do! Don't leave me...please!"

Land was as unresponsive as before. She felt so lost, exhausted, devastated more than she ever had been. Her world was crumbling around her.

The door opened and footsteps approached. She tried to gather her composure, but gave up when she glanced over her shoulder. Harry was the only person she would allow to see her like this.

"Terri? Sorry. I didn't know you were here."

"It's fine," she sniffled. "I heard what happened and I wanted to see him."

Harry nodded. His eyes spotted the wet stains on the linen and back to the irritation around her eyes. It didn't take too much deduction to figure out what was going on.

"I know you two were close," he said carefully.

Terri nodded. "We were."

"What happened between the two of you?"

"I happened," Terri groaned, taking a deep breath. "Sir, can we talk off record?"

Harry nodded. "Yes."

"You would understand better than most," she said, fidgeting with her cuffs. "Look, I missed my contraceptive shot a while back and...I got pregnant. I didn't plan on it, but we've been so busy. Back when we got ambushed in the Roirishard system, I was showing the first signs and I really wasn't in my right mind at the time and I lost it with him." She whimpered, biting her lip. "I didn't even know what was going on until the three of you got back from Mustafar and Doctor Okan told me."

"I see," Harry said quietly.

"I really screwed up, Harry," she choked, sobbing and wringing her hands. "I didn't know what was wrong with me! Now I can't even make it up to him!"

"It seems to be a theme around here lately," Harry sighed. "Don't put it all on you. I'm just as responsible for him being there. If I hadn't been so determined to put an end to that thing, maybe I could have found a better solution and he wouldn't be here."

"I don't...I don't know what to do!" Terri sobbed.

"All we can do is hope." Harry said. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Where there are tears, there's hope. If he is gone, you give that little one all the love that you can and let them know their father was a good man."

Terri embraced Harry, sobbing, burying her face in his shoulder. He hurt as much as she did, maybe more, but someone needed to be the strong one in this moment. So, he held his emotions back, restrained his tears, regulated his breathing. Terri was shaking, crying uncontrollably, all in Harry's steady embrace. He knew, however, that once he was alone, he wouldn't be in much better shape.

* * *

Two Weeks Later

Captain's Log, Supplemental:

The Raptor is space worthy again. At the behest of Ambassador Kolnov, the Raptor has been given a full, long overdue, refit with options for returns if needed. Much to Chief Phoenix's chagrin, they pretty much oversaw the whole thing, only consulting her when needed regarding some of the Raptor's other systems. During that time, we've all enjoyed some R&R planet side.

I have had some time to process the loss of my friend. Captain Nora Kinsach...a death that has weighed heavily on my mind.

I find myself questioning my own decisions over the last few days. Did my choices cost me my friend, Ensign Land, who is still in a coma as well?

Maybe that is why he stopped me.

I can't help but feel responsible for the state he is in.

Ambassador Kolnoz has offered to have him taken to Altairia's premiere medical facility to treat him. Doctor Okan has tried everything to revive him, but hasn't had any success. Not seeing any hope of improvement, I think Altairia is our best option for him, better than trying to get him home, especially in his current state.

Despite our brief rest, we will need to return to Starbase 186. Commander Lu is still in command of the Intrepid until Fleet Command gets it recrewed. There is a chance they may offer her the ship. She's performed admirably and has earned the chance, though I am not sure if she will take it. She has her segment of the crew with her still, bolstered with personnel from Altaira. They were recently deployed to one of the nearby colonies with medical supplies, but the Intrepid will rendezvous with us back at Starbase 186.

Although the Raptor will be refitted and better than ever, she will be noticeably emptier. The feeling only serves to amplify my own.

Harry walked along the now pristine, almost glistening, Raptor. With it being in dry dock, and his reports to Starfleet already completed, he didn't have much else to do but wait until the Altarian fleet yards released his ship. The rest of the crew was enjoying their last remaining days of shoreleave planetside, save for him and Fara.

He walked with his hands behind his back, wincing a bit with every step. The wound in his shoulder was constantly reminding him it was there, despite the weeks of therapy since he'd been shot. The recent stress and tension only seemed to irritate the wound more.

He stopped at an intersection of a corridor, half expecting Land to be there, to show up like he always did, to distract him from his thoughts or offer to hang out or...anything. But he wasn't there.

Harry sighed heavily, sadly. The idea that Land wouldn't be around to distract anyone left Harry feeling like his guts were made of lead.

He heard footsteps coming down the hall ahead of him. With a slight, admittedly false, hope, he looked up. He saw Fara approaching.

"Is there something I can help you with, Chief?" He asked, doing his best to not sound disappointed.

"Not right now, unless you wouldn't mind some company?" Fara asked.

"No, I wouldn't," Harry said, "ships looking pretty good."

"Yeah, it is. They are going over everything with a fine-tooth comb," Fara said, putting her hands in the pockets of her lab coat. "I don't have to do anything! You should see the bin full of parts they've removed. I could practically build a functional shuttlecraft out of them if they weren't all shit."

Harry chuckled, and then winced, clutching his shoulder.

"That still bugging you?" Fara asked, noticing.

"It comes and goes," Harry said, rubbing his right shoulder. "I'm glad they are being thorough. We really don't need any more surprises."

Fara nodded. "We're also getting new systems installed. Hell, by the time they get done we'll be about as versatile as the bigger cruisers. I heard the Ambassador is insisting that we leave Altairian space with a better ship than we arrived with."

"Won't that be nice?" Harry mused.

"Yeah...I guess."

"Do me a favor? Have all those faulty parts sorted and placed under secure conditions in our cargo hold." Harry said. "I want to have evidence to use against our hidden saboteur when the time comes."

"Already on that. I even got it all labeled." Fara chuckled. "Plus the Dockmaster has a rather long list of complaints he's filing against Fleet Acquisitions for the parts, which he is more than willing to share."

"Good."

"You know, the crew is probably going to come back pretty drunk off shore leave and everything else," Fara said. "It's going to be hard coming back to us after being big heroes and all."

"That's why we're up here tending to the ship," said Harry. "They earned it. Let them enjoy it."

"I'll admit, it's been nice not having to do so much myself," Fara relented, "but I've had just about enough downtime. I think the Doc and O'mara have been researching the readings from the Talon. Jakar's doing...Jakar stuff."

"Is the Talon salvageable?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. I've been working on her, since I don't have much to do." Fara said, suddenly stretching and yawning. "I'll probably have her back up and running soon. She got banged up pretty good from the blast, but it's mostly fixable. The worst part was getting all that seared slime off, which our eggheads just had to get every last drop of." Fara sighed. "Oh yeah, before I forget, Jakar said we're all getting together in the mess tonight."

"What for?" Harry asked.

"Not sure. He just said come by at 1800," Fara shrugged.

"Sure."

There was a brief pause as they both observed the Raptor.

"I miss him." Fara muttered.

"Land?" Harry sighed, leaning against a bulkhead.

Fara drew in a sharp breath and nodded in agreement, her eyes turning down to the floor.

"I think we all do," Harry said, running a hand through his headfur.

"Do you think he'll recover?" Fara asked.

"I don't know." Harry said quietly. "He was exposed to whatever killed the crew of the Intrepid and nearly drained us for the briefest of moments. Somehow, he's clinging to life."

"Shit!" Fara barked, kicking the wall. "Damn him! Why did he go and do that to himself?"

"He said something about the Raptor, the crew, and Terri needing me more than him," Harry said quietly, resting his head against the wall and folding his arms.

Fara growled and just half-heartedly kicked the wall again.

"Do you mind? You're scuffing the metal," Harry said teasingly.

"Fuck you Harry," Fara snapped, but she was already starting to laugh. "It's duranium! You can't scuff it!"

Harry smiled at her. Fara's laughter eventually stopped and she sighed.

"I'm sick of losing people, sir."

Harry nodded as she leaned back against the bulkhead beside him.

"He was good, really good. Surprised me every day," Fara sniffed. "Never late, always got things done...hell, he was one of the only people who'd get their damn paperwork done on time!" She swallowed to mask the tension in her voice. "I don't know if he ever understood how much I appreciated him."

"I told him," Harry replied quietly.

"Thanks," Fara replied. "It's going to be really weird without him around."

Harry just nodded.

"How's Terri handling it?"

"As well as the rest of us," Harry said quietly. "She's been busy with taking care of the Intrepid's unfinished business until Starfleet recrews the ship."

"Do you think she'll come back?" Fara asked.

"That's up to her." Harry replied. "She did an admirable job captaining it. HQ might offer her the position."

"Great! Now I might lose another friend," Fara growled. "I'm proud of her, she can do the job, but...it's a bit much to deal with at the moment."

"Yup."

They were both quiet for a moment.

"I think we've bummed each other out enough at this point. Remember, 1800, mess hall. I need to finish a few things and grab a quick nap. Remember, come casual," Fara finally said, breaking the silence.

"I'll be there." Harry replied.

Fara waved in acknowledgment as she walked down the corridor.

* * *

Later that evening, Harry arrived at the mess hall of the Raptor, wondering what the occasion was as the scent of freshly prepared food hit his nose. He noticed that Doctor Okan, Nurse Twila, O'mara, Fara, Lt. Remmick and Rydel, and Sonya Jax we're present. There was a small table set out with quite a selection of food and a bottle of Saurian brandy. He saw that Jakar was the one preparing the food.

"Well, this is hardly what I expected," Harry admitted as he approached the table, "didn't know you cooked."

"Oh, he does when I pester him," Sonya said, walking up to Harry from behind. "He's pretty good at it."

Jakar grunted. "This is a special occasion. We should be grateful we have gotten through it. Grab a plate."

Sonya handed Harry a plate and Jakar scooped what looked like brisket and some rice on it just dripping with sauce.

"Stick around, 'ave a drink or two, an relax, Captain," Sonya said, doing her best to sound authoritative.

"Sure," Harry said, grabbing a beer out of the buckett of chilled bottles. "Thanks big guy."

Jakar grunted, but there was a rare smile on his face. Harry wandered over to a table that was set out and sat down to eat. Everyone else followed suit. Apparently, they had been waiting till he had arrived. Everyone else just took their places at the table around him. Fara sat across from Harry. He noticed that it was pretty casual and even though the air was trying to be festive, there was an underlying gloom. He knew what was causing it too.

Jakar sat at the end with Sonya off to one side.

"This is pretty good," Harry said to Doctor Okan after taking a few bites.

"Indeed. He won't tell me where he learned the recipe," Doctor Okan said.

"Jakar, this is great! Where'd you learn to cook like this?" Harry inquired towards the end of the table.

"That's my secret." Jakar smirked back. "I told you a while ago, I've been around the quadrant a few times. You pick up a few things here and there. When everyone is done eating, please don't leave. There is something I need you all present for. Just relax and enjoy yourselves."

Everyone started to talk amongst themselves as they ate.

"Fara, where's Knackt? Shouldn't he be here?" Harry asked.

"You think he's going to pass up hero worship on shore leave?" Fara snorted. "We'll be lucky if they don't ship him back to us in a crate in a few months. If they catch him, that is."

"I see," Harry said. "I'm surprised the lot of you stayed onboard. You all had shore leave."

"And it was appreciated Captain, but research needs to be done and if we don't jump on it, someone else will." Doctor Okan said, taking a sip from his wine glass and tipping it towards O'mara.

"Yes, the readings we got from the Talon were extensive. We have a lot to sort through," O'mara added solemnly. "It could take months to go through it all. There's so much about that creature that we don't understand."

"Even with those readings, without a living specimen we have a lot of work to do to just fill in the blanks." Okan shrugged. "Should be a good challenge."

Harry nodded. "Kai, Jenna, why didn't you take time off?"

"We were just there, Harry." Kai said. "I got my fill of power sailing on our vacation a few weeks ago."

"It's been nice just being on the ship with it being quiet." Jenna added. "That and, with Terri being gone, I have to make sure they keep the computer systems in good order."

"Ah, I see," Harry replied.

"You should go down Harry. It's really beautiful," Jenna added.

"It's a bit too humid for my liking." Harry shrugged. "I went there with J--" He said, catching himself. "I was there before."

Even though he didn't completely say the name, Land's absence was palpable in the atmosphere.

The room fell silent before Jakar's voice pushed the silence aside with his rough tones.

"That is why I asked you all to come here tonight. Land was our friend, our shipmate, and our fellow bridge officer. Honestly, he annoyed the shit out of me, but he was one hell of a pilot. We are here tonight because of his sacrifice and to honor his memory. None of you should ever forget what he meant to you...to us."

He let the silence envelop them again. There were nods of agreement around the table. O'mara looked like she was about to start crying, but was trying to put on a brave front. A single molted feather gave away her true feelings.

"We've lost a lot of people since we started this journey together and we have all dealt with it in our own way. Some of us, more so than others," Jakar spoke with a level tone. "On a ship this size, we all feel a loss when it happens, regardless of the circumstances."

He stood, all eyes on him.

"I was going to save this till the end, but I think it needs to be done now." He grabbed his glass and lifted it in the air. "I will lead us in a toast to absent friends. Will you all join me?"

Everyone nodded and followed suit. Jakar cleared his throat and began:

"In remembrance of those not here today,

To all our fellows, unwell or far away...

On Starbase 186, Don Rivas sighed, the absence of O'mara dragging heavily on him, causing him to glance at the whisky in the cabinet, but turned away, knowing it wouldn't help.

"Those who've fallen along our way, remembered fondly as yesterday...

Nova sat beside Land's bed, watching over his still form in a medical center on Altairia as machines forced his body to keep living, her thoughts consumed by the idea that there had to be something she could do to help bring him back from the brink.

.

"It's our absent friends we miss the most...

Terri Lu stood in Captain Kensach's former quarters, now bare of the former officer's belongings, and unpacked what few things she had brought, including some pictures from her quarters. She regarded the silly one of her and Land when they spent the day in a holosuite amusement park, tracing her fingers along his image as tears swelled up in her eyes and dripped onto the glass of the picture frame.

"It's to your memory, our sweetest friends, we shall drink this toast!"

"Cheers!" Everyone said at once before taking a drink.

"Well said Jakar," Harry said.

Jakar nodded. "Now, let's enjoy the rest of the night, remember the good things," he said sitting back down to eat.

This seemed to help elevate the mood. Everyone lightened up as they shared their stories of those that were not with them. Laughter soon filled the room. For one brief night, they had a reprieve from grief and memory was an ally, not a tormenter.

Life would go on, as it always does....

The End

For Mom.

May 10, 1949- September 10, 2019

"It's funny, the day you lose someone isn't the worst.

At least you have something to do.

it's all the days they stay dead."