"Away team, respond!" Jensen said.
Heavy, panic-ridden breathing filled the intercom. "We're okay. . . .for now, I think." said Sensors.
"Are either of you injured?" Aaen asked.
"No . . . I mean, negative. We managed to get to a maintenance tube and close and lock the hatch . . . . I can hear something scratching against the metal."
Whatever it is, it's trying to get to them. Aaen reasoned, concerned. "Lieutenant Commander, how do we proceed?"
"Sensors and Communications put as much distance between you and the intruder as you can. It's unlikely to be a Borg drone. It's not like the Borg to have only one drone separated from one of their ships without a connection to the rest of the collective."
It's not entirely impossible that the collective may have figured out a way to adapt to such circumstances. Let's hope. . . . Aaen thought.
"It's getting louder!" Sensors said.
"Let's get outta here!" Communications said.
"We're moving!" Sensors said.
"Proceed to engineering. Lieutenant Aaen and I will proceed to mission ops." Jensen said.
"Okay!" Sensors replied.
"Do you two know the way to engineering?" Aaen asked.
"Um. . . no." Communications said.
"Me neither." Sensors said.
"We'll get to mission ops, and then walk you through it," Jensen said.
"Okay. That would be helpful."
"Just keep moving, and stay in contact with the rest of the away team, and Odyssey," Aaen said.
"Got it." Communications said.
"Aaen, whatever was chasing the rest of the away team is still going to be out there. Let's move. Follow me."
"Odyssey to away team: the sensor contact is approaching your twenty!" the First Officer said.
"It must have seen our helmet lights through the doors!" Aaen reasoned, pushing away from the doors.
THUD
A large, five-fingered hand–more like claws!–shot through the newly formed door crevice. Aaen was pinned to the far edge of the shaft.
"There's no gravity in here! Disengage your boot magnets! We'll use inertia to get to mission ops! HURRY!" Jensen said. Aaen quickly complied.
"It's getting through!" Aaen yelled, raising his rifle to his waist, and fired two shots as he drifted upward at approximately three feet per second. Each shot found its target almost immediately–they just rippled off!
"Report!" the Captain said.
"Shots fired, sir." Aaen took a deep breath before continuing. "No effect on standard rifle setting," Aaen said. "The intruder appears to have some kind of protective armor on its hands. Whatever the material, it absorbed both shots. The doors to this shaft on this deck are going to have to be replaced before the shaft can be used again."
"What was it, Lieutenant?" the First Officer asked.
". . . .BIG. It appeared to be humanoid. Didn't get a good look at its face. There are large scratch marks on the antigravity lift doors. I don't think the intruder didn't get into the antigravity lift. Considering how fluidly it's able to traverse each deck, I can't rule out the possibility that's tracking and likely following at least one-half of the away team."
One thousand meters. Dead end. Right turn, Drifting horizontally. The helmet lights were at a low angle, whereas the rifle sights illuminated the way ahead for so far.
"If it's humanoid, how could it have traveled so quickly between decks?" Sensors asked.
"There are some very physically agile aliens that we know of, but none of them are capable of traversing between decks as quickly as this intruder has demonstrated thus far," Aaen said.
"You sound like you think you know what we're dealing with, Lieutenant," Jensen said.
"Do you, Lieutenant?" the Captain asked.
"I'm not sure, yet, Captain. I'll be able to get a better idea of what we might be dealing with when we get to mission ops."
"Alright. Get there as fast as you can."
"Roger that."
"Just a few hundred more meters, Captain," Jensen said.
Stop at the junction. Straight up for one thousand meters. Mission Ops should be close, Aaen thought. "Away team, standby for further instructions. As soon as we get to mission ops, we'll coordinate you're getting to engineering. You'll need to work with the engineering staff to restore power so we can more effectively track the intruder, and deal with it."
"Agreed," Jensen said.
"What do you mean by. . . . 'deal with it', Aaen?" Communications asked.
Aaen reinforced his grip on his rifle, keeping it at least pressed against his shoulder–finger on the trigger. "We're gonna work with Starbase security to force the intruder back to its ship. Something tells me this is gonna be a long day."
"I was afraid you were gonna say that." Communications said.
*****
Steve H. told Jordan Foutin, "You are the next Tom Clancy. You really are a gifted writer."
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