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Don't Fear the Reaper
Chapters Three and Four
Chapter Three
Deanna groaned as she awoke. Her head was pounding, but she could remember everything that happened.
She could remember being picked up and squeezed by a three-legged creature that spoke to her mind. It sent it's thoughts to her as any other telepath would, then she heard Mriana's shrill shrieks. She could not make out what her cousin was saying, but she could sense her terror.
Then she was tossed aside like a useless object. After that she was not sure what had happened next.
"Mriana?" She sent telepathically. She would have called allowed, but she knew that would be useless to her cousin for she could not hear anything with her ears, but with her mind, she could hear quite a bit. "Mriana?" She tried again.
Deanna got no response, so she tried to sit up to look around and see if she could spot her cousin. When she moved pain stabbed through her head and she moaned with pain then laid back down.
When she got the courage to move she tapped her comm badge. "Troi-Riker to Security."
*Security here.* She was expecting Worf, but instead she heard an unfamiliar voice.
She disregarded her surprise and continued. "Counselor Mriana LaForge is missing. I believe that species abducted her, but I am not sure."
*Noted. We'll search for her. If she's still on board, we'll find her. Security out.*
Deanna was not sure how to take the officer's reply, but with the pounding in her head she thought it best to call Sickbay next. "Troi-Riker to Sickbay."
*Sickbay here.* Came Beverly's familiar voice.
A familiar voice, Deanna thought. "I need some help getting to Sickbay."
*Are you hurt?* Beverly's voice was filled with concern.
"I'm not sure. My head is pounding and it hurts to move."
*Don't move. I'm on my way.*
There was now silence on the comm badge. Deanna laid and waited for Beverly to arrive.
A few minutes later Beverly arrived with her tricorder in hand. "You have a contusion and a mild concussion. I'm going to have to get you down to Sickbay. Can you walk?"
"I think so." Deanna's head pounded harder as she nodded her head and she was wishing she had not done that.
"Can you tell me what happened?" Beverly asked.
"As much as I can remember."
Deanna did her best to tell Beverly what happened as they headed for Sickbay. The throbbing in her head made it difficult to concentrate.
"You have no idea where she is?" Beverly asked.
"No, but I can still sense those creature on board."
A few minutes later the two arrived in Sickbay. "Lie down and rest while I get ready to attend to your injuries." Beverly ordered.
Deanna did as she was told. With how she felt, she was not about to argue with Beverly about any instructions she was given.
"Mr. Worf, you were ordered to stay here for observation." Beverly overheard a nurse telling Worf.
"What's the problem?"
"He wants to leave Sickbay."
"Figures. He's another one of my uncooperative patients."
"I have been observed long enough. I must get back to duty."
Beverly quickly scanned him. "Well, the signs of shock are gone. It's against my better judgement, but I'll dismiss you."
"Good." Worf stood and immediately left Sickbay.
"Not very friendly." Stated the nurse.
"That's just Worf. You'll get use to him if you spend much time around him." Beverly informed her.
"Doctor, you need to see this!"
"Alyssa, can it wait a little bit? I have a patient that I really need to attend to now."
"Yes ma'am."
Sickbay had become so demanding in this crisis that Beverly felt her head was about to spin. She was glad there was another doctor aboard, but it was taking it's toll on both of them.
"I'm back." She said reassuringly to Deanna.
"You think she is alright?"
"You mean Mriana?" Beverly asked.
"Yes."
"You can't sense her?"
"It hurts too much to try, so I've quit trying."
Beverly frowned. She did not like the fact that a simple task for Deanna was now difficult for her.
"I can still hear them though, but it doesn't help any."
"I'll see what I can do to ease some of the pain." Beverly replied. "In the meantime, I want you to rest in Sickbay."
As Beverly was giving Deanna a hypospray to ease her pain, Deanna agreed to rest in Sickbay. She did not feel she had much of a choice. The room spun and her head throbbed with pain with even the slightest movement.
When Beverly was finished with Deanna she went to see what Alyssa wanted. "So, what's going on?"
"Come back to the morgue and I'll show you." Alyssa replied.
Beverly followed Alyssa to the morgue. Alyssa pulled the shelf of the body of species 8472 out and showed her the charred creature.
"Amazing!" Beverly exclaimed. "The burn is almost gone!"
"Yes."
"It's like it's regenerating or something." Beverly scanned the creature. "It is regenerating, but it still registers that it is dead."
"Its way of decomposing?" Alyssa asked.
"I don't know. Get me a specimen vial and we'll run some tests."
Alyssa went to get a vial for Beverly's sample. While she was gone, Beverly went to a computer on a near by counter to see if she could pull up more information on Species 8472, when she turned back around the species was gone.
"No, it's dead. It couldn't have just vanish or decompose that fast."
She was completely dumbfounded on how the creature could just disappear when it was suppose to be dead. "This can't be happening. It should still be here. It's dead or at least it registered as dead."
"Here you go, Doc." Alyssa paused in mid-sentence. "Where is it?"
"I don't know. It was here one minute and now it's gone."
"Beverly!" It was Deanna's voice. It sounded almost as though she were panicked.
Beverly rushed to where Deanna was resting. "Yes, Deanna."
"It's here."
"The creature?"
"Yes."
"Either we are all loosing our minds or there's something damn odd about Species 8472." Beverly stated.
"I don't think we have lost our minds." Deanna stated. "I can sense it is very close."
"That can't be." Beverly replied getting very confused. "It's dead."
"No, it's not. It may have been unconscious, but it's not dead." Deanna stated profusely. "It is alive."
Suddenly, there was a sudden screech and the creature appeared as fast as it disappeared. It was behaving like a wounded animal.
Startled, Beverly let out a scream along with Alyssa and a few others in Sickbay. "Call Security!" Beverly shouted as she tried to dodge the creature.
It screeched again and tried to attack the nearest person to it. Meanwhile, Beverly tried to find a hypospray to use on the creature so that it would at least be sedated. However, she did not know how much would be enough. She did not want to give it too much, but yet at the same time she wanted it unconscious. The trick would be to get close enough without getting hurt to administer it.
Beverly tried to get to the hypo, but everytime she came close the creature tried to pounce. Her agile legs saved her each time, but she was starting to tire.
"This can't be happening. It's suppose to be dead." She thought vehemently.
Deanna was back on the floor trying hard to duck for cover, but the creature seemed to be everywhere. Then she realized that if the creature could send thoughts, it had to be detecting their thoughts too.
"Beverly, try to block your thoughts from it."
"What?"
"It maybe sensing our thoughts too. Try and keep from letting it know what you are thinking."
At that moment Worf and a security team rushed in with phasers set to kill. Worf had explain that the setting would at least injure them, if not kill them.
They fired and the creature was once again on the deck and appeared dead. Beverly rushed over and quickly scanned it.
"It appears dead, but I'm not going to let that fool me again." She said aloud. "I want a force field around this creature and don't let it down for anything, except on my orders."
"Yes, Doctor." Came the replies around Sickbay.
She let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Worf."
"Don't mention it. Now I must return to looking for our missing crew." Worf left as fast as he entered Sickbay.
Beverly went over to Deanna. "Are you alright?"
"No worse off than I was before." She replied tiredly.
"What is that thing?" Beverly asked rhetorically.
Chapter Four
"There's more Borg coming and they are just as scared."
Will turned and looked at Picard. Picard's statement brought mixed emotions to him.
"What the hell is going on!" Will exclaimed. "I want some answers and I want them now! Geordi, have you found out anymore information on these people?"
"No, Sir. I'm still searching for more. What I do know is they come from the Delta quadrant."
"Delta quadrant?" Will asked. "Didn't Janeway and her crew just return from there not long ago?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Hail Starfleet. Let them know what's going on out here and ask for back up. See if we can speak with Admiral Janeway. There's something not right here."
"Will." Picard began. "I know this is unusual, but I think I need to remove myself from the Bridge. I'm having. I." He paused trying to find the right words. "I just think it would be best I remove myself."
Will studied his former captain. He could see Picard was struggling with what he was sensing from the Borg.
"I can still hear them. Their cries for help. Their fears."
"Maybe you should go to Sickbay, Sir." Will suggested. "I can handle things here."
"Yes." Picard replied not seeming like his usual self.
Something was wrong. Will just did not know what it was. He watched his friend and former captain leave the Bridge. The man was completely out of sorts and not his usual self.
"Sir, there's another 8472 ship powering up ready to fire on us again." Will's Security officer informed him. "Sheilds are up and at eighty percent."
"Geordi, we need more power." Before Will could finish his sentence the ship shook from one of Species 8472's weapons.
"Haul intergrity on decks seven, eight, and nine have been compromised." Came the Security officer's voice.
"Fire phasers!" Will ordered.
"Nothing, Sir. They weren't affected by our phasers."
The Titan took another hit from 8472's ship and rocked with after shocks.
"Engines are offline." Geordi also informed.
"Hail them!" Will ordered.
"No response." The officer stated. Instead the response was another attack on the Titan.
"One way or the other we will get to the bottom of this. Meanwhile, let's see how they like our photon torpedos."
"No effect."
"Damn!" Will exclaim as the battle insued.
Picard finally arrived at Sickbay. He was distressed and unable to think as the ship took another blow to it's shell and shook the ship.
"Beverly, I need to talk to you in your office, please." He requested seemingly unaware of what was happening.
She looked at him and became totally concerned. He seemed disoriented. Seemingly unaware that this was not her usual Sickbay. Unaware that they themselves were underattack.
"Doctor Sorak, may I use your office for a minute?" Beverly asked.
Doctor Sorak quickly assessed the situation. "Yes, I can take care of things here for a few minutes."
Beverly escorted Jean-Luc back to the office just as they received another shockwave of weapons attack. "What's wrong, Jean-Luc?" She finally asked when they were in the office.
It was not an easy task getting there as the ship shock from attack after attack. Beverly wondered if she should have just talked to Jean-Luc the best she could from where they were.
"Beverly, I can hear them. I can feel their agony, their fear, their pain, their deaths."
She studied him for a moment, then picked up a tricorder to scan him. "You have elevated levels of eprinephrine and noreprinephrine."
Picard shook his head. "It's not that that I'm worried about. I want to help them, but yet, I can't do that either because of what they have done."
The ship was momentarily calm again, but the red alert beacon was still flashing.
Picard heard them call his Borg name. "They call my Borg name as though they are calling me. I thought I was insignificant to them now. Just like any other human, but now, they seem to want my help."
Beverly saw him struggling with his emotions. He was fighting them very hard and seemingly finding it very difficult to fight his feelings.
"Beverly, I don't know what to do." He leaned towards her and out of reflex she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him.
The man she love was struggling with a very difficult situation. One she could not comprehend, but she wanted to help him so much. She wanted to offer him a private room and a sedative, but she knew he would not accept the offer.
Then came the words she thought he would never say, "Beverly, help me. I can't take hearing the Borg any longer. If I do, I'm afraid I'll go mad and if I try to help them, the consequences could be just as bad. You have to help keep me from doing something I probably shouldn't."
This time she did not offer, but rather she guided him back to a private room and gave him a sedative. One that she hoped will help him sleep.
"Not again!" Will said in frustration. "Get them up and running as fast as you can."
"Commander, you have the Bridge." Will informed. "I'm going to see if I can get answers else where. I'll be in Sickbay if you need me."
"Aye, Sir." Said Will's first officer as he exited the Bridge.
*The weak shall parish. All that is a threat to us will be purged.*
The message was slightly different this time. Deanna was not sure what Species 8472 was trying to communicate with her, but they were becoming very disturbing to her. She could not place any blocks up to keep from hearing the messages. Everytime she tried they would break through.
Will entered and she felt some relief from his presence. "How are you doing?"
"Better now that you are here. How did you get away from the Bridge?" She asked as she sat up slowly.
"Well, I had to see you." He finally greeted her with a kiss.
"That's not the only reason you're here." She informed him, knowing full well that he was there for more than just to find out that she was alright.
"You're right. It's not." Will replied. "I need to communicate with them, but first I need to know what they are communicating with you and Mriana."
"Mriana is missing." Deanna informed him sadly.
"We know, but I know they were communicating with her too."
She nodded again wishing she could give that habit up due to the pain she still felt in her head. It was better since Beverly treated her, but the pain was lingering.
"Can you tell me what they are saying?"
Deanna started to cry and laid her head on his shoulder. "I don't want to listen, Will. I feel it will drive me insane if I keep listening, but yet I can't block them, no matter how hard I try."
Will wrapped an arm around her and used the other hand to comfort her by petting the back of her hair. "Sh. It's alright, but I have to ask you to try and listen. Then tell me what they are saying."
"I can't."
"I'm right here. It will be alright. Beverly is here too. We'll all get through this. I really need to know what they are saying."
Deanna moved away from him and sat up straight. She tried hard to keep the tears back as she repeated what Species 8472 was saying to her. She finally ended it with, "They keep repeating it over and over again. Only the last time was a little different."
He saw that it was really upsetting her to hear this over and over again. He pulled her close and gave her another comforting hug. "We'll get through this, but I need you to hold on and try to indure the messages until we can contact them or get some sort of information on them. Can you do that?"
*Bridge to Captain Riker.*
Deanna pulled away from him so that he could answer the commander. "Riker here."
*We are in contact with Starfleet, shall I patch them through to Sickbay?*
"No, I'll take it in my Ready Room. Riker out." He replied. Then he looked at Deanna. He empathized with her. As a human, he did not know how he would handle hearing such things over and over again, but this was one telepathic race talking to another telepathic race. Still he could see it was taking its toll on her. "I'll be back to check on you later."
He kissed her goodbye and headed to his Ready Room.
Worf was not happy. How do you tell a man that his wife is not on board and has not been found yet?
"Captain, I need to speak with you." Worf's tone of voice was a little softer than his usual.
"Yes, Worf?" Geordi replied.
Worf paused. Then he decided to be direct. "Your wife is no longer aboard the Titan. We have no idea where she is, only that Species 8472 appears to have abducted her."
Geordi did not know what to say. He felt like he could collapse where he stood. His contenance changed quickly and he seemed pale. "I know she is still alive. I think I would know if she wasn't."
"Captain?" Worf said with concern.
"No, I'm fine, Worf. I just need to get back to work. Get my mind off the situation."
"Yes. That maybe a good idea."
Mriana had no idea where she really was. It appeared to be Starfleet Academy, but she knew it was not. Beside her were three other officers from the Titan and Guinan.
She was relieved to see Guinan, but was not sure why the woman was there. Why she was also brought to this place. Whatever this place really was.
Two men approached them. One looked like Boothby. He began to speak with his lips, but she could not make out all the words.
"Boothby is dead." She thought to herself. "This can't be real."
"This one is quiet." The alias Boothby stated.
The man beside him informed him she was the one who shrieks.
"She's deaf." Guinan informed them. "She can talk, but can't hear. She can read lips somewhat, but she is disoriented and maybe having trouble concentrating."
Boothby nodded. "Perhaps another form of communication would be better. She is the one who is telepathic, no?"
Guinan was not sure if she should answer that question.
"It's quite alright. We are not going to harm her." Boothby stated. Then he looked at her and spoke telepathically to her. "You are right. This is not really real. It's almost all the information we have on your people."
"Who are you?"
"I believe you call us Species 8472. You probably could not pronounce our real name."
"Why have you brought us here?"
"You we brought here out of fear. The others are here because we captured them."
"Why? You need not be afraid of me and why are you holding us as hostages?"
"We need information."
"We can not give you any information."
"Ah, we'll start simple." Boothby informed her. "What is your name?"
"I am Mriana LaForge. Lieutenant and Counselor of the Valiant."
The other man asked the identity of the others while Boothby talked to Mriana telepathically.
"Do not give them any information except name, rank, and serial number." Mriana ordered aloud.
"Easy for you. I have no rank." Guinan thought at her. Then she looked at the two men. "Nor do I have any information."
Mriana sensed an unusual hostility in Guinan. It was somewhat understandable given the circumstances.
"Who is Lacutus?" Boothby asked Mriana.
"Who?" Mriana was confused. She had no knowledge of Lacutus.
"Lacutus of Borg. You have him on your ship."
"We have no Borg on our ship."
"The Borg have been calling for him. He is on your ship." Boothby was showing frustration at her answers.
"No, he's not."
Guinan and the officers were asked aloud. "Who is Lacutus of Borg?"
"I have no idea who you are talking about." Guinan replied indignantly. She knew it was a lie, but she was not about to give these people any information on Picard.
"We are at war with these people and your ship holds one of them. We want them destroyed."
"We have no Borg on our ship." This time it was not a lie. Picard was not Borg anymore. He could still sense the Borg, but he was not Borg.
"Then you leave us no choice but to destroy your ship." Boothby replied in anger.
"NO!" Mriana screamed.
"Shall we kill them now?" Boothby's friend asked.
"No, we'll hold them as, what is it called? Pawns? Let the Titan know we have them and we'll give them agonizing deaths one by one until this Lacutus is handed over to us."
"How? They can not understand us outside these shells."
"There's another telepath on board. Contact them that way."
The man nodded. Then Boothby signalled for others to come out of hiding. The five people from the Titan were escorted to a cell.
"Admiral Janeway? I'm surpised you replied so soon." Will stated.
"Well, when I heard it concerned Species 8472, I decided I would be the best person to reply."
"Understandable."
"What's happening?"
Will explained to her the situation. He had no idea what was going on or who these so called people were. He finally concluded. "Our weapons are useless against them and we're sitting ducks with no engines."
Admiral Janeway was alarmed by the fact they were attacking the Titan. "I don't understand. We had a treaty with them."
"You may have, but apparently it doesn't go for my ship too or they think treaties are meant to be broken."
"Something is wrong. I'll take the next ship out there and see what I can do. Meanwhile, the nearest Federation ships are heading your way to give you some back up. I'm sending more information to you about Species 8472. I don't know what's going on, but I'm going to find out. Janeway out."
The Federation emblem appeared on the view screen just as the transmission was broken. Will felt even more frustrated and confused. He had even less answers than before.
Meanwhile, Worf and the rest of the Security team were battling more of the creatures. "Weapons set to kill!" Worf ordered. "Fire!"
Just as they shot one, another grabbed a security officer. This time claws dug deep into the officer's body and then he was released violently to the deck of the ship.
Worf and the others continued to battle with the creatures as others were attacked. One officer began growing tendrils out of his body. The others who were attacked followed suit.
The last creature was considered unconscious. Worf looked around and saw the fallen crew members and called for Sickbay.
Soon after, Beverly and other Sickbay crew arrived at the scene. "Unbelievable!" Beverly exclaimed.
"They fought well." Worf replied.
"No, I'm talking about these tendrils coming out of their bodies. It's like it's feeding on them from the inside."
Worf thought that was strange. "Can they be removed?"
"No, as far as I can tell we can't remove them without killing them for sure. I'll have to do further research in Sickbay to be sure though." Beverly replied. "Let's get these people to Sickbay."
Back on the Bridge the crew was doing their best to keep things going. Geordi had long since left the Bridge to help out in Engineering. So, all that was left now on the Bridge was Will and his regular crew members.
"Riker to LaForge."
*LaForge here.*
"How are repairs going down there?"
*Slow. We have a too many things happening down here. One more attack and we may have worse problems.*
Will sighed. "Do the best you can down there."
"Sir, we have four of those creatures crawling around on our Starboard bow." The officer informed Will.
"What?"
"They're on our."
"I heard what you said, but I don't believe it. On screen." Will ordered. "Unbelievable!"
The creatures had no space suits or anything to protect them from the elements. They walked on their three legs with no anti-gravity equipment. It was like they did such things on a daily bases.
"What are they doing?" A crew member asked.
"We'll have to wait and see, I guess." Another replied.
"We may not like what we see." Will replied. "Security."
Before he could finish the four creatures began ripping the outer haul off the ship. The crew and Will saw pieces of the Titan floating out into space.
*Enterprise to the Titan.*
"Titan here."
*I hear you're needing some help.* Replied the new captain of the Enterprise.
"Yes, you can start by helping us get those demons off my haul before they do anymore damage."
*We'll see what we can do.*
As the Enterprise came to their rescue and the Valiant shortly afterwards, more 8472 ships arrived and they were ready to battle.
Borg escape pods were everywhere along with one damaged cube. The 8472 was not going for just the Borg this time. They were going for the Federation's ships also, especially the Titan.
The Titan's shields were already weak and they had no engines. Will tried to think of their options while the Enterprise and the Valiant tried to ward off the enemy ships.
The Titan shook at another attack. Will wondered if that shook the four creatures off their hull, but somehow he rather doubted it.
Then before their eyes, the Valiant exploded. Geordi's ship was no more. He did not have a ship to return to after this was over. However, there was no time to inform Geordi of the loss of his ship.
"Engineering." Will called over the comm system. "We could use some engines here!"
*Just give us one minute more.*
"We don't have one minute." Riker replied in frustration.
There was a brief pause in the conversation.
"Mr. LaForge?"
*You should have engines now.* Geordi replied.
"Take us to warp, Ensign! Get us out of here! Hopefully the Enterprise follows." Will ordered. "Have torpedos ready incase we need to fire on them."
"Aye, Sir." They flew away with a blast, but not without ships other than the Enterprise following them.
"Sir, we have not only 8472 ships following us, but the Borg also."
"Keep and eye on them and torpedos ready."
"Aye Sir."
*Sickbay to Bridge.* It was Beverly's voice.
"Bridge here." Replied Riker.
*According to Deanna the message has changed.* Beverly informed. *She says they are giving more information even on our people.*
"About damn time." Riker stated. "Commander, you have the Bridge. I'm going to see what more information they are willing to give us."