"Okay, stay calm, everybody!" said the First Officer. Yeah, easier said than done. Aaen thought, dismissively. "Operations, get the flashlights in that storage compartment behind you."
"Yes, sir." moments later, two soft white lights appeared on the bunks opposite Aaen.
"Give one to Sensors, and then—"
"Did you hear that?" Jason asked the First Officer.
"What?" the Captain asked.
"—Listen!" Jason said.
"—I hear it, too!" said the First Officer.
"That scratching noise. It's getting louder!" Jason whispered loudly, turning to the main bridge hatch.
I hear it, too. Aaen thought.
"Is that door locked!" Operations said.
"Computer: seal the main bridge door!" the Captain whispered loudly.
The Main Computer chimed acknowledgment, and then a short series of mechanical clicks from the door confirmed the Captain's order had been carried out.
"Sensors, where is the intruder?" the Captain asked quietly.
"I don't know. I can't see it using the internal sensors for some reason. I'm doing everything I know how to try to detect it!"
"Okay, try–" the Captain whispered.
The scratching got even louder . . .
"Keptin! Is ev'lryone alright up der! I can't see or hear de intruder anymore!"
"Everyone to the front of the bridge! Hurry!" said the First Officer, waving everyone sharply forward. "Engineer! Hurry!" the First Officer whispered loudly and frantically. There was only silence from the Engineering compartment. Aaen reasoned the Engineer was choosing to stay his ground and hide.
"So far!" the Captain whispered. "We think the intruder is—"
BANG
The main bridge hatch lining crackled under immense pressure; thunder rolled through the bridge. The bridge filled with startled jumps of human silhouettes and subtle screams from under quivering palms over terrified mouths. . .then an eerie silence.
In the transporter room! Aaen thought.
BANG—
The main hatch's lining crackled more loudly than before. That scratching sound, again, Aaen listened . . .
BANG
"Warning: main bridge hatch seal, compromised." the Main Computer droned. The forward bridge filled with terrified gasps.
A muffled pat sounded from behind the hatch, and then Aaen looked toward the forward bridge—the hatch lining hissed and crackled.
—The hatch was inching open. Aaen heard the forward bridge fill with erratic, terrified gasps.
Oh no. Aaen thought, biting his lower lip, focusing on the main bridge hatch swinging over the central bridge. He could feel his heart rate jumping . . . It doesn't end like this, Aaen decided. His heart was beating, hard from the sudden surge of adrenaline coursing through him. But. . .what can I do? There was barely enough light coming from the tactical and sensor stations to see the central and aft bridge sections up to the engineering compartment. Aaen peeked around the corner of the foot of the bunk—most of the bridge crew were using the captain chair as a barrier between them. . .and whatever was coming in.
Aaen could feel his adrenaline level had nearly doubled in a mere few seconds as he scanned the bridge for an option. The light from the sensor station revealed a hand full of claws had fiercely gripped the edge of the hatch. Whatever was coming in, each step it took echoed through the bridge. Aaen's shoulder was burning from the wound caused by the electrical overload that had struck him. He looked down at the deck at the sidearm Jason had tossed over—the Doctor was taking cover inside of the bunk below Communications.
Aaen cringed as he rolled to his right, pulling his feet out of the medical bunk, and then gradually stood up. His left forearm felt cold but had surprisingly minimal feeling otherwise.
The intruder had slowly started for the forward bridge. Aaen crouched to pick up the type-II sidearm with his right hand, and then stopped to catch his breath. His shoulder wound caused him to feel dazed—he realized staying upright was going to be more difficult than he thought. The light coming from the tactical station was shining against Aaen's face and torso.
"What are you doing?" the Doctor whispered to Aaen suddenly. Aaen didn't feel obliged to answer immediately.
Aaen squinted, briefly, to try to get a look at the intruder. He doubted there would be another opportunity to visually identify the life form. The light from the sensor station was helping . . . Five-foot-nothing, bipedal, crouched, wearing a dark cloak of some kind.
Aaen took a deep breath. "HEY!" Aaen yelled sharply.
The intruder snapped—
Woah, ugly! Aaen smirked. A sharp, cold chill ran up and down his spine multiple times as the intruder's bright, sharp yellow plus-shaped irises glared at him coldly, bearing its inch-long teeth, it's mouth slightly open at the end of its long face. He could see the intruder's irises adjusting to look at him.
It started slowly walking toward Aaen. He sensed danger and he struggled to keep his thoughts straight and to stay calm as his legs started to weaken under him from fear and adrenaline. His grip on the sidearm started to tingle as he felt the light weight of the tool.
Aaen noticed the tool was already set to stun. He slowly took aim, forcing his left hand up to support his right on the sidearm's grip. Center-of-mass—Aaen thought. His hands were starting to tremble from the pain from his shoulder. He clenched his jaws.
He fired. A bolt of white-yellow lightning rippled against the intruder for five seconds.
The intruder continued to advance.
Aaen was wide-eyed, checking the tool's setting, increasing the power output to maximum stun.
Aaen looked at the intruder. The intruder lifted a long-barrel sidearm from a holster under its cloak, casually pointing the weapon at Aaen.
The weapon lit up as Aaen felt a bolt of energy strike him in the chest, knocking him back-first against the ventilation cover, the bridge became a blur.
"Man down!" the Doctor yelled disturbingly.
Aaen felt almost completely numb from the chin down. There was no hope of standing up, he realized. He tried to lift his head to see the rest of the bridge—the best he could do was to throw his weight left and lean his head against the edge of the bunk. The blurry, dark figure kept looking at Aaen—almost looking into his very soul, darkly—as it returned to the transporter room, closing the hatch behind it. Aaen did his best to look back at the intruder with a look of this ISN'T over, physically relaxing once the intruder was out of sight. A loud hiss filled the bridge as the hatch closed.
"Is it gone?" the Doctor asked.
*****
Steve H. told Jordan Foutin, "You are the next Tom Clancy. You really are a gifted writer."
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