Star Trek Battle #2 - Mind Over Matter

[DaBomb]

I can't think of any fanfiction other than Star Trek that I actually want to do. So, I'll modify this again.
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Domonic Frakes; well, that would be "Captain" to any respectful person from any respectful race (though there weren't too many of those, it seemed), as he had accomplished all that was required for that title, as well as the duties that came along with it. Some would say Frakes was rather young for Captaincy; obviously someone in Starfleet command thought so, because instead of the natural progression of going from a youthful Commander on a science vessel to a starbase or a large ship or helping with the immediate need to rebuild the Federation, Frakes had been sent to colonize planets. Domonic assumed it was his expertise in evolution, geology and planetary formation that had made him a suitable candidate for prowling star systems for planets to colonize, but almost everyone in Starfleet knew that such a job would need a commander who enojyed such work. Frakes wouldn't, but he had accepted the job nonetheless.

His job envoled moving to an uninhabited planet - or at least one devoid of humanoid, advanced life - and then creating a small base and living area. His ship, a monstrously large vessel named Artisan, would carry around almost all of the technology and parts required to build a small living area, a sick bay, a mine and a power generator. The rest of the technology would actually come from his ship; he would eventually have to dismantle the rear quarter or so of the vessel, though it was of course designed for this purpose. After leaving around 100 colonists to keep the fire going on the planet, Frakes would signal Starfleet for more colonists to come. It sounded simple, but when was creating another earth ever simple?

Frakes was summoned to the office of Admiral Cain, who had a temporary position at the Stardock 21 while his new ship was being created. The dock consisted of one main spinning base, where the ships docked and their crew disembarked, along with 3 manufacturing areas, where actual ships were created. The Artisan was docked and almost ready for departure, having taken minor damage from a plasma storm, and having used the majority of its dilithium crystals.

After a brief turbolift ride, and several minutes on a massive moving platform, he was allowed into the office. Frakes saluted his superior, then seated himself on the opposite side of the clearglass desk.

Cain wasn't old either; he was one of those youthful, yet very high ranked officers. Perhaps 5 years ago, this would have seemed very peculiar; after the war with the Maquis, and with the Maquis collaboraters in the Federation, many of the older, hardened officers had been killed or court martialed, leaving the young to fill in. The admiral was around 30, possibly a little less, but already he was acting like some of the wrinkled and bearded admirals Frakes had seen at the academy. Perhaps this was only skin deep, though.

"Good morning, Captain. I trust you are enjoying your stay at this dock," Cain cordially welcomed. He stood, and moved to his replicator. "Something to eat? Or perhaps to drink?"

"Please," Frakes smiled, "Vulcan blackbean coffee." As a captain, one always had to know exactly what one wanted.

"You like the foreign stuff, then," Cain replied, "I can respect that. I prefer the home grown that I'm used to." Cain ordered a black coffee, and both materialized into existance inside the replicator.

"You can't get too many home grown beans now, unfortunately," Frakes sighed. Perhaps he shouldn't have soured the otherwise pleasant conversation. "I generally enjoy the fruits on the known universe, anyway."

Cain placed both beverages upon the table, letting his diffuse better. Apparently some replicated goods, such as coffee, were not materializing properly. "Hopefully you won't have problems making the switch to life on a colony, what with your taste for the unknown or abnormal."


"Is that why you called me here, sir?"

Cain picked up his coffee, but neglected to take a sip. "Yes. Once you arrive upon the planet, you need to begin searching for Teracyl."

Frakes looked off into a bland corner of the room for a brief moment, thinking. Suddenly his head snapped back toward Cain. "Teracyl? That's used to destabilize space, as I recall. And is also very difficult to use for that purpose." His coffee remained untouched.

"Of course, that isn't the purpose for this," Cain nodded, noting the knowledge of the Captain. "Teracyl, when separated using electrolysis, yeilds a substance which is also very prominent in the bloodstream is the aliens known as the Valtor. It can be used to imrpove the immune system of those aliens." Cain finally had a measurable amount of his drink. "The Voltar, knowing how weak the Federation is at this moment, are offering to form a non-agression pact if they received 120 isotonnes of the substance within 2 years."

"How do they know about our state?"

"I'm sure everyone knows, and that is why we need planets like the one you are colonizing to become part of a defensive perimeter," Cain said, "Therefore, I order you to put especial emphasis on weapon and shield systems, after the mining of the Teracyl is complete."

The comm system activated, and a metallic female voice interrupted. "Captain Frakes to Dock C One 12, please."

Frakes shot a quick look to Cain, who nodded, dismissing him. Domonic stood, and said, "Thankyou, Admiral."

"Thankyou for your time, Captain," Cain smiled, "I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again in the future."

[DaBomb]

Frakes arrived at his ship at the exact point that the cargo bay doors had closed, indicating to Domomic that the Artisan had been loaded with the neccessary parts to build a new planet, or at least the beginnings of one. Observing his ship, and the shuttles which had deposited their cargo, Frakes tapped his golden communication badge, and asked to be beamed aboard. Only a second or so passed before an indigo glow washed over him. It took only as long for him to appear upon the transporter pad, where he greeted the transporter chief and moved to his bridge.

"Officer on deck!" was the cry as Frakes emerged from the turbolift. The Captain nodded with the grin, indicating that they could seat themsleves once again.


The first officer, Commander Burke, a sandy haired fellow with a bright smile and a normal build, rose from the command chair and relinquished it to his Captain. "Almost the way you left it, sir."

Frakes sat, and his hands began to feel the fabric of the chair. "I'm glad I asked for this chair to be kept," he laughed, "What has been changed, Burke, since we docked?"

Burke had compiled a thorough list of the improvements and modifications made to the Artiasn, but he mentioned only the most important verbally: "After an engine recalibration, and several changes to the warp intermix chamber, we can now travel at Warp 8.7, with 2% more efficiency." He noticed his Captain was scanning the room, and the officers. Perhaps he was also taking mental notes on the performance of his first officer, too. "Next, after several days' worth of demolition, we created one large cargo bay on deck 11 rather than the 3 significantly smaller ones. Cargo bay 6 has also been enlarged."

"Thankyou, Commander." Frakes said. "Helm, set course for the Balaryan star system, warp 7."

***

6 days had passed without incident; the Artisan was running smoothly at cruising speed, and was roughly two thirds of the total distance. With a little luck, Frakes and his crew could be orbiting their destination by the end of the week. To pass the time, Frakes had been studying the crew rosters (to gain familiarity with those who worked under him), perusing all data about the planet he planned to colonize and finally, using the holodeck. There was only one of these rooms on the ship, since therev was really no need for one, so Frakes had to make most use of the time he was able to book.

The warrior was closely related to a human, but bore several distinguishing traits. Its skin was leathery and worn, as if kept in the sun for far too long, and the alien posessed stubby legs and overly large arms. In the right arm it held a simple longsword, and in the other, a shield.

Frakes, donning medievil garb, raised his curved scimitar and dealt several blows to the alien, incapacitating it by aiming for several nerves. Frakes was disappointed: the adversary had not put up a fight. "Computer," he called, standing inside the stone house, "Raise skill to level 3."

The alien on the ground disappeared, and another, physically indentical to the original appeared in front of Frakes. The latter assumed the proper defneisve position, and waited for an attack. The alien quickly aimed for the legs of Domonic, who parried, and then attempted at stab toward the chest area. Frakes again parried, and even scored a minor swipe to the torso of his foe. Again it came at him, slashing and snarling, forcing Frakes closer and closer to the corner of the arena. Eventually the captain found his back was pressed again a wall, and the creature was becoming more confident and agressive.

It sent it sword in the direction of Frakes' neck, but the blade stabbed into the wall, giving Domonic Frakes the chance to strike. As he rolled from the corner, he slashed the belly of his adversary, whirled around, slashed the back of the creature's legs and finally stabbed in the ribs. Frakes dropped his sword and realized he was panting heavily. This was only a holodeck simulation, but it was as real as any fight like this could be. "End program," Frakes said, "Save file."

[DaBomb]

Pallas Prime lay only a handful of light years away, but scans and information had been pouring in about the planet and its neighbouring worlds. Frakes had quickly scanned a padd displaying the preliminary scans of the planet; he already knew it was class "M", rich in Teracyl, surrounded by 6 moons, and had only simple plant life, but the pass revealed several interesting differences between Pallas and Frakes's own world, namely that the atmosphere had very little airborne moisture, and water made only 22% of surface area on the planet. The rest was mainly flat, arable land, along with several mountain chains. Compared to earth, Pallas was relatively small planet, but the moons that orbited it would allow for further space to colonize, if needed. Apparently, thousands of years ago, someone had used those moons for the said purpose of spreading and enlarging territory.

As they approached, the emerald world that lay before them grew, until it was too large for the viewing screen to display completely. Frakes marveled at its beauty; the delicious variations of green colour that was the land, the pale blue mountains and the occasional patch of water. Suddenly the muscles in the Captain's neck tensed uncontrollably, and suddenly Frakes found himself staring at his combat opponent, with its tough skin and lengthy arms. He felt no sword in his hands, and so Domonic reached down to his sheath, but found no weapon. The creature gnashed its teeth, raised its sword and charged.

"Captain?" Frakes was startled back onto his bridge by the voice. He found his first officer, Burke, standing beside his with a puzzled expression. "Is something wrong? Should I call sick bay?"

Frakes shook his head. After he brief pause, he said: "Perhaps I'll go to my quarters. Please continue scanning, and inform me when we are in orbit." Frakes left the bridge via the turbolift while his first officer accepted his orders and ordered another round of scanning.

[DaBomb]

He seated himself upon his bed, taking in a clearing breath as he did, and shut his eyes tighly. The abscence of visual images allowed Frakes to concentrate, and to empty his mind of what he had just seen. He had no idea of why the hallucination - which had come and left so suddenly - caused him so much anguish and ill feeling. Yeah, that's what it was - just a simple hallucination. After much silent contemplation, he settled on the idea that it had felt, deep down, utterly real. The mind was a powerful tool, and Frakes possessed a powerful imagination to go with it. Nothing could have convinced Frakes that it hadn't been real - except for the voice of Burke from behind him.

Being a Captain who had seen many strange and almost incomprehensible beings with technology far beyond the wonders of the mind (even with a powerful imagination), Domonic Frakes did not discount the possibility of alien intervention, but endeavored to ignore such thoughts. It was a simple colonizing mission - one that Frakes knew he needed to get back to - and the chance of an unknown force controlling him was all but impossible.

Frakes moved to the sink, which lay on one corner of the main quarters. It was surrounded by a gleaming mirror, sparkling white tiles and perfectly polished metal. Domonic only needed to place his hands in the vicinity of the tap for the pure water to flow into the crystal sink and into his shaking hands. Frakes splashed to water upon his face, feeling the cool liquid against his unbearably hot skin, and then deactivated the tap with a simple voice command. As he looked up at the mirror, he found himself looking at the visage of an exhausted, wrinkled and shriveled man, possibly around the age of 80. A white beard clung to the chin of the face, and straggly grey hair hung from his head like seaweed upon rock.

Frakes blinked suddenly, and saw only himself, staring suspiciously at the simple mirror. "God damn it," he moaned. He tapped his comm badge: "Doctor, do you have a minute?"

"Of course, Captain," a female voice replied, "Is there something wrong?"

"I'll be down shortly."

***

The sick bay spanned 2 small rooms, and most of the surface area was covered by the medical beds, cupboards of medical equipment and the Doctor's office in one corner. Frakes entered, and noticed an Ensign sitting upon a bed, being treated by the Doctor. His name was...well, Frakes hadn't remembered the rosters as well as he beleived he had, perhaps because of his sudden hallucinations. Fortunately for the Captain, the Doctor finished her procedure seconds after he entered, and dismissed the Ensign when Frakes approached.

"Ah, Captain, what is the problem?" She was about 40 years old, clad in a pale lab coat and holding a medical tricorder in her sleek hands. Golden hair tumbled down to her shoulders.

Frakes waited until the Ensign had left. "Doctor Bennet, I have suffered from what appear to be hallucinations within the past few minutes."

The Doctor activated her tricorder and raised it to Frakes' skull. "I am not reading anything wrong," she said, "What happened? How long were they?"

"The first was interrupted, so I have no idea how long it would have lasted," he replied, "It involved my holodeck program. The second lasted only as long as I maintained eye contact with the mirror."

"I can run further tests, if you wish. Judging by your heart rate, you seem flustered enough to warrant more exams."

Frakes replied quickly, not wanting to enlarge the situation. "No...no, I will be fine."

The doctor sighed. "I can provide a neural inhibitor, if you want. Other than that, there is nothing I can do."

Frakes nodded, and allowed the inhibitor to be sprayed directly into his bloodstream. As he moved toward the door, the Doctor spoke up: "Tell me if this happens again!" she said.

[DaBomb]

As the passed through the bland corridors of the Artisan, he noticed several crewmembers along the way subtely wincing in pain due to headache, losing their bearings or staring intently at what looked like thin air. Frakes did see the old man one again, in the reflection of one of the slick black computer panels mounted on the walls, but unlike the previous occasion, the reflection did not disappear when Frakes blinked.

Ignoring the unusual actions of the crew, as well as the hallucinations, Frakes made it to the brigde in time to see the helm officer move into a standard orbit about the emerald planet. Burke was about to tap on his communication badge to call the Captain, but found the latter standing beside the turbolift.

"Excellent timing, Captain," Burke said, "We can begin colonizing immediately."

After a breif pause, Frakes acted upon a gut feeling he had. "I'd like a closer look at those moons. Begin standard scanning procedures."

The helm officer tapped several commands into his console, and soon Pallas prime was out of view, and all they lay ahead were 3 of the six moons. "Standard scanning posture," the helm officer - O'Neil was his name - announced.

"Begin scanning every inch of those moons," Frakes ordered from his chair, "Launch a class 8 probe, too."

Burke glanced at the Captain strangely, and asked to meet him in the Ready Room. Frakes agreed.

The ready room was as bland as most other rooms, with metal side panels, a glass desk, a small replicator and a small computer, all standard issue, all uninteresting. Frakes had yet to make the ship his.

"Captain, may I ask why we are scanning lifeless moons?"

Frakes ordered a blackbean coffee from the replicator, then sat down. "I realise it is unusual, but our mission is also to explore, and that is what we are doing."

"I don't see why we need to make such a thorough scan of these moons, though, sir."

Frakes ignored the lack of respect in his voice. "There may be something inconspicuous down there. Something normal scans would not notice."

"May I ask what that something would be?" Burke was standing tall before Frakes' desk.

The intercom flicked on, and a metallic voice interrupted the conversation. "Captain to the bridge."

Frakes shot a grin at Burke before hurrying out of his ready room and onto the bridge - the control centre of the ship. Lieutenent Commander Carsley moved to greet the Captain and his first officer. '"Sir, we have picked up faint readings of a subterrainian structure on the second moon."

As he spoke, Frakes seated himself. "Helm, set a course. Burke, take a party down there once we are in range." Burke nodded. "Engage!"

[DaBomb]

Something inside Frakes, not intuition, not a gut feeling...something else had made him begin searching the moons, and whether or not it was a random coincidence or or something else did not matter, becausethe Artisan had located a structure, and that was all that was to it. Frakes stayed on the bridge, trying to hide his inexplicable anguish.

In a flash of blue light, amidst a sea of sparkling particles appeared the away team, having transported successfully underground. On the wrist of each officer was a small flashlight, and in every officer's hands was a tools of some sort, whether a tricorder, a weapon, a specialized scanner or a transport enhancer. Burke stared at the flashing display on his tricorder as he scanned the area.

As there was an open communcation link between the ship and the away team, Burke and his team were able to talk directly to the Artisan at any time. "Sir, these caves are made of Dretor rock, so our communication channel may have a little interference."

"Noted," was the response from above.

The away team searched through the pitch black tunnels, scanning every inch for abnormalities.

"Sir, these tunnels can't be naturally occurring," Burke spoke, "I would guess they were made by a special tunnelling device."

"A machine?" responded Frakes.

Burke stopped and carefully inspected the rock formation, then his eyes returned to the tricorder. "No. More like a drilling beam that sliced through the rock. The walls are perfectly circular, and our angle of descent has remained exactly the same. Also, I am getting energy readings."

"Explain."

Bruke tapped several buttons on the tricorder. "I-I don't know what happened. The readings have gone."

There was an unpleasant pause. "Talk to me, Commander," Frakes urged.

"There it is again...now it has gone..." Burke replied confusedly.

"Keep moving. We have a transporter lock on you if you need a quick beam-out," Frakes said. He was eager to learn the secrets of a finding that would have gone unnoticed if it were not for his internal feelings.

The away team continued along the tunnel until, instead of the harsh clap of stone under their feet, they heard the clang of metal. Burke stopped to scan the floor more thouroughly. "I don't recognise this metal," he informed, "Tricorder readings are limited. I'm turn up the scanning resolution and power."

They all moved into the metal room at the end of the tunnel, when suddenly there was an explosion nearby. Burke whirled around and saw a conduit had overloaded. It's wires leaked out in smolderingp pieces onto the floor.

"What the hell?" Burke gasped, "Captain, request beamout immediately!"

The response they received was garbled. "Can't...metal...out...respond!" was all Burke could decipher.

"Get out of here!" he shouted. As his team hurried from the metal room toward the tunnel, another console exploded in front of Burke, sending him flying back into the wall and hitting a nearby crew mate with a piece of shrapnel.

Burke remembered being hauled up to his feet and carried amidst shadows and screams, and after a blue flash, he knew no more.

[DaBomb]

He awoke with Doctor Bennet, Captain Frakes and 2 other medical crewmen above him. He was upon a biobed, with a bright light shining into his eyes and a scanner attatched to one side of the bed running across his body. He tried to speak, but he found even slight movements caused tremendous pain, though he couldn't remember why.

"He's awake," Bennet informed, "Now we just need to repair the skin damage." She activated a shining tool and rotated it in a circular pattern across his face. "He can talk now," she added after finishing the procedure.

"What happened?" Burke mumbled.

Doctor Bennet and her assistants continued working silently. "The consoles began to overload. You were caught in the blast."

Burke rasied his hand and stared at the black burns and the dried blood. The doctor told him to remain still so they could regenerate his skin.

"Why? Why did they explode?" the first office asked.

"The facility was obviously in disrepair. Perhaps it was just random," Frakes replied, "But personally I want to make sure. We're examining all our sensor records as we speak. When you are back to full health you can lend a hand," Frakes offered, "Unless you need some time in your quarters."

"No. I will be with you shortly."

***

Chief engineer Jansen and his engineering crew stood around a small console in the centre of the room, discussing their findings. Frakes was fortunate to enter main engineering as they began.

The engineering section was longer than it was wide; on one side stood the warp core, the various shades of blue mixing inside; on the other was Jansen's private office, along with multiple consoles. In the centre stood this individual console, along with two terminals mounted on either wall.

As Frakes entered through a pair of hissing doors, Jansen called him over. "Sir! We were just discussing our findings."

Frakes nodded, and moved to join the group. "What have you found?"

One engineer spoke up. "I examined the tricorder readings, and found a sudden power surge at the exact time Burke had reset his tricorder to a higher power setting, to get more resolution."

"That's what caused the explosions? The tricorder?"

The engineer noded. "It would seem so," he replied. "I don't know why the consoles would overload like that, but all the facts point in that direction."

"I don't believe we have the full story, sir," Jansen said, "I checked our sensor readings from the ship, and found momentary power traces. Also, the sensors picked up signiatures for a split second, then could find no trace of them."

Frakes knew that this could be very important. If a similar phenomenon was on the planet, it could be a serious hazard to the colonists.

Frakes suddenly received a message via his communication badge. "Captain Frakes, this is Colonist Representative and Ambassador John Kreti...why have you not begun colonizing?"

Frakes sighed. "Ambassador, we have found something of interest, and for the time being, I cannot allow colonizing to begin. You may start preparing for Stage 1, if you wish."

"My people are restless. We need to begin mining operations immediately!" came the reply.

Frakes smiled. It wasn't just him who knew of the directive to begin Teracyl mining. He would have to consult the Ambassador about that. "I apologise for the delay. Meet me in my ready room in an hour if you require the details. Frakes out."

The engineers had paused their conversation while Frakes spoke. They continued once he had finished. "I assumed the sensors were malfunctioning, so I am running a full diagnostic. But if we really want to know why 3 crewmembers of the away team were injured by this incident, I believe we will have to go back down to the moon," Janses said, "Our answers will be down there."

Frakes needed to know why this had occurred, and why the underground facility was there in the first place. "I will take an away team down there. Jansen, you will accompany me, as will Doctor Bennet and two of your best science officers."

"Yes sir."

[DaBomb]

Within 3 minutes the requested officers had assembled upon the transporter pad, awaiting the blue flash to wash over them. Frakes gave the order to beam down, and soon they were upon the moon once again, this time at the opening of a large cave, which led down to the tunell Burke had investigated earlier. This time the away team was able to experience the environment and climate on the planet more; up above thin wisps of cloud littered the purple sky, while weak rays from the late-afternoon sun caused the surrounding area to glow. There was a strange abscence of vegetation in the area, though there was a river that curled and meandered nearby. There appeared to be a black, ominious weather system moving in, so Domonic Frakes would need to be swift in his investigation.

"Nothing out of the ordinary here, Captain," Doctor Bennet informed, her tricorder chirping and bleeping.

"Good." Frakes intended to give the order to move into the cave, but an unpleasant feeling washed over him, and he felt as if he was being watched. "Jansen...did you find any signs of life here?"

Chief engineer nodded, though puzzled. "Yes, there is simple plant life, along with microbes, small insects and several larger predator species."

"No, no," Frakes shot back, "Any alien life forms?"

"None."

Frakes nodded reluctantly, and his team moved into the cave with their Captain, who was ignoring his instincts as best he could. The various tricorders and scanning instruments hummed and whirred constantly, disturbing the silence of a long-uninhabited area. They stumbled upon a large opening in the tunnel, where an underground stream encouraged several weeds and mosses to grow, those these plants were black in colour, and looked dead - or close to it. As the continued onward, they passed the original away team coordinates, and followed the moves of the previous team, yet they picked up differing readings.

"Sir, I' reading energy patterns," one officer said, staring at his tricorder, "I can't localise them, though. They appear to be random."

Jansen chimed in. "I'm also picking up disturbances in the rocks," he said, "I can't make it out properly."

"Keep moving," Frakes ordered, and for several minutes, the group fell silent, concentrating on scanning.

Before they approached the coornidates of the underground facility, Frakes reminded his team to keep the tricorders on low power, to make sure no more accidents occurred. They rounded a bend in the tunnel, walked steaduly through thw shadows, and found nothing.

"What the...hell?" Frakes blurted out. "Where's the room? Where's the facility?"

Jansen tapped furiously on his scanning device. "It-it should be here!"

Frakes tapped his communications badge, which chirped upon contact. "Artisan, can you relay the correct coordinates for the facility?" There was no response, other than a slight crackling. Frakes tapped the badge again. "Burke, come in!"

"Maybe it's the rocks," Bennet noted, "We should get back to the surface."

Frakes shook his head in disagreement. "It's a minor problem. That storm looked nasty...if we don't get what we need now, we'll have to wait hours, maybe days for it to clear."

Several more minutes of searching found nothing. The tunnel continued on endlessly, it seemed, with no sign of the facility.

"Something is very wrong here," Jansen said, breaking the silence, "Could we have made a wrong turn?"

One of his engineering staff replied: "There were no turns. Perhaps this is just the wrong tunnel."

"No, it can't be!" Bennet replied, "Here! Right here!" She pointed to an area upon the ground cloaked by darkness. "I'm picking up dead cells...specifically those of Commander Burke.'

There was a pause. "He never came this far," Frakes said.

"It is here, though," Bennet shot back.

"Yet there is no sign of the facility," Jansen added, "I'm...I'm lost."

Frakes had had enough. There was something very wrong with either the moon or the Artisan, both of which forced him to delay the colonization.

"We're going back to the ship, on the double," he said, and immediately the group broke into a jog, their shoes clapping against the hard surface. Several minutes into their backtracking, the away team found a fork in the path. "This-this wasn't here!" Jansen shouted.

"Calm down," Frakes puffed, "Ensign, which way is it?"

The said Ensign consulted his tricorder before replying. "I am picking up disturbances in the left tunnel, which would indicate-"

"-our activity," Frakes interrupted, "So it's left?"

"No...well...that underground water source we passed is to our right. As far as I can tell, the left tunnel never reaches that water. In fact, it stretches as far as I can scan away from it."

The entire tunnel system had suddenly changed without so much as a sound. Either the away team had stumbled onto a different section of the tunnel, or the entire moon was somehow changing around them. Or perhaps this was another hallucination - that would at least make this experience make sense.

Frakes felt as if he was being watched again, but he quelled the feeling once more. "Can you give me an answer, Ensign? Which way?"

He shook his blonde head. "I can't say for sure. Perhaps we should split up."

Frakes quickly shot down that reccomendation. "No. It's too dangerous, consdiering how the last away team barely survived." He tapped his communications badge, and prayed for a response.

"Burke here."

Frakes let out a sigh of relief. "Can you beam us out?"

There was a second or so of silence while Burke conferred with the ops officer. "No. You'll need to get out of those caves quickly. There's a storm front that will block transporters coming in fast."

Frakes tightened his hand into a fist. "How is that possible? That storm system was easily 3 hours away."

"Sir?" Burke replied in confusion, "The storm appeared only minutes ago. Sensors show no record of any atmospheric disturbance before then."

Frakes' fists tightened. "Have your sensors picked up any ground disturbances? Tectonic activity? Changes in the tunnel system we are in?"

"Umm...none. Is there something wrong, Captain?" the badge crackled.

Frakes nodded heartily. "What is our current position, Commander? And in which direction should we proceed?"

Burke was obviously puzzled by the stream of questions. "You are 50 metres below ground level. You are heading due West. " Burke decided to repeat his last question. "Is there are problem, sir?"

"Indeed there is," the Captain replied grimly, "There is a very large problem..."

[DaBomb]

Frakes was what any good Captain should be: decisive. He chose the right hand tunnel, and his crew followed him without question. Their tricorder readings were disjointed and confusing at best, making the trip to the surface relying completely on luck. And like and good Captain, Frakes did not like that one bit.

The tunnel twisted and weaved, which would be impossible if the rock had been carved by the special tunneling phasers. It occurred to Frakes that one of two things was happening: either the planet was shifting naturally, or something was terribly wrong in the area. Of course, it seemed most likely that this wasn't a naturally occurring phenomenon, but Domonic had to be sure.

It didn't once cross his mind that perhaps this could all in his head.

They emerged from the cave from which they had entered gasping and panting, for they had bolted through the tunnel in order to reach the surface before the atmospheric disturbance blocked the transported. Frakes was wondering why he and his team could not be beamed through the rock, nor why the storm had moved so fast.

"Artisan, beam us up, now!" Frakes shouted while he assumed the proper beamout posture.

Nothing indicated they had been heard. Frakes repeated his orders twice more, then had all other crewmembers use their badges to contact the ship, as Frakes' may have simply broken. His crew's efforts were as fruitless. They were trapped on the alien planet, amidst unbelievable geographic changes and a ferocious storm. Frakes again followed the correct path of action, and ordered his crew to build a small camp and search the area.

A pair of engineering staff had gone to collect water from the cave stream, though they kept an open comm. frequency, should the worst happen, and were quick to leave, too.

A swift search of the immediate area showed no threatening life forms, the first piece of good news for Frakes, and there was a small gathering of trees nearby, which was the second piece. The away team took shelter under there, after fashioning windbreakers from thick sticks and finding a large hump of dirt on the outskirt of the tree gathering that would protect them from that single side.

The storm thundered in with the speed of a rattlesnake, and was much more harrowing than the severe storms he had found on earth when he was only a handful of years old. Little rain fell, but the droplets that did pattered down through the broad tree leaves and eventually saturated the away team. The real danger was the lightening, which pounded the drab surface of the planet and created distorted shadows with its light. Frakes was fortunate that there had not been much vegetation in the area, for it would have set alight and spread rapidly if hit by the electricity. One crack of lightening did reach the trees above Frakes, and managed to cause the mighty plant to sway, along with scalding the leaves. The away team was forced to douse the flames with their water, as the rain was not plentiful enough to put it out for them.

All of the crew on the planet slept at least for a few hours, though they often were awoken by the howls of the wind and the sudden spark of lightening nearby. Frakes, on the other hand, kept his eyed wide open, though he felt devilishly tired once the storm had died down and the purple sky had appeared once again.

Finally his comm. badge chirped into life, and a call from the Artisan crackled through.

"Sir! Captain Frakes!" Burke cried.

Frakes rubbed his weary eyes and emerged from behind the dirt hump, his uniform wet and saturated with clammy mud. "I'm here," he replied with a sigh, "Feel like beaming us back, yet?" He noticed that his last words had a hint of anger in them; perhaps it was simply his exhaustion, or perhaps it was a natural reaction to the horrid night and the tension that had built up inside of him.

"Beaming you out now, sir," Burke replied with relief.

Before Domonic was taken by the blue flash, he said, "Assemble the bridge crew. We will met in twenty minutes in the briefing room."

[DaBomb]

Jansen stared at his ghostly white hands as they flickered into nothingness, and a glowing sea enveloped him. After only a second or so, his hands reappeared before him, and he was upon the transporter pad, facing not the usual bland transporter room, but a flaming ruin of that room, complete with smoke bellowing from one console. Jansen began to pant, believing the ship had succumbed to the strange phenomenon below them. He heard a hissing beside him as he stepped off the pad, and noticed he was the only one that had rematerialized.

"What the..." Jansen trailed off once he came to that realization. The hissing nearby became louder, and as he turned to face its source, he found it was a damaged console overloading. He was about to charge out the door when an explosion caught him and threw him back against the wall.

***

"Lieutenant Commander! Lieutenant Commander!" Jansen's eyes sprung wide open, and he found himself not in the wreck of a room had been in before, but in the transporter pad, just as he should be. He lay flat on the pad, with the away team standing above him, shouting his name and scanning him furiously, save for one, Engineer Brent Pierce, who appeared to be almost rolling his eyes. As the Chief Engineer slowly rose, becoming more aware of his surroundings with each second, his fists unclasped and blood returned to his knuckles.

"What..." was all he managed to ask, his throat aching. Apparently he had been screaming.

"As soon as you rematerialized, you began to hallucinate," Frakes replied with a comforting tone. Jansen noticed Dr. Bennet was continuing to scan him.

"He's very shaken, Captain," she said, her fingers dancing upon the controls of the tricorder. "I'd like to get him to sick bay. Along with the rest of us."

"Doctor, we have a crisis on our hands," Frakes shot back, "I have no time for this."

Doctor Bennet sighed and shook her head. Captains were always difficult when it came to medical orders. "I don't want to have to order you, Captain."

Frakes pressed his forefingers of his left hand into his temple, as if trying to block out a headache. "Very...very well," he finally replied, obviously distracted or in pain.

***

The crew met in the briefing room 5 minutes late due to the checkup by Doctor Bennet. No amount of constant badgering could make her move any swifter. The room was a little more welcoming than the plain bulkheads of most others; the standard glass table sat in the middle, and there were the usual consoles and display panels, but it also had long couches facing the space outside and a replicator for meals or refreshments. Obviously this was meant more for contact with aliens rather than standard crew porcedures, but Frakes had used it anyway.

"As you know, the moon we were researching has suffered from an inexplicable phenomenon, and there are signs that is has spread to this ship," Frakes announced commandingly. Gasps and whispers from several crewmembers were passed around. "Jasen..."

The Chief Engineer stood, with a blinking cordical scanner on his temple. "After extensively checking and rechecking the readings I found on the planet, I have come to the conclusion that space, in this area, is being disrupted."

"You mean your engineering staff have come to the conclusion," Pierce interrupted.

Frakes ignored the lack of respect shown by the crewman. This was far more important. "How is it being disrupted?"

"Unknown, sir."

Just the reply Frakes didn't need. "Dr. Bennet, what have you found?"

The Doctor stood. "Within the past few hours, my medical staff and I have had 26 complaints of hallucinations, and two crewmembers have been taken off duty. From my readings so far, it appears these aren't normal hallucinations. I haven't been able to pinpoint any reason for it, though I have been able to rule out alien telepathic contact."

Frakes gritted his teeth. She hadn't been much help. "Is it a serious danger to our crew?"

Doctor Bennet nodded. "These hallucinations have been varied in the reactions they produce, but most of the reported incidents involved experiences that would evoke extreme fear. I am afraid multiple incidents could cause heart attacks. "

"Not to mention if someone had a hallucination while they were climbing a ladder, or something," added Burke.

"Is this being caused by our proximity to the moon?" asked Catpain Domonic.

Jansen nodded.

"Then why haven't we left orbit?"

Jasen knew the response wouldn't please the Captain. he sighed, and tried to sugar coat it as best he could. "The engines are down. The gel packs are being disrupted."

Frakes slammed his fist upon the desk. "I want to get as far away as possible from here," he demanded, "And I want to know why this is happening, and how to stop it."

Ambassador Kreti, a sandy haired man, stood, staring down at the Captain. His hands were positioned in such a way that his knuckles were resting upon the glass of the table. "Captain," he hissed, "I was promised this operation would be smooth and swift. Your mission is to begin colonizing, and that is what you will do!"

Frakes shot up to his feet. "This is my ship, Ambassador," he fired back, "And as of now, our main priority is the protection of my crew and your colonists."

Kreti laughed in disbelief. "This phenomenon is on the moon. Not on our planet."

Frakes tightened his hands into a fist. "We don't know that."

"But what you do know is that you are under a direct order to mine that Teracyl!" Kreti shouted.

Frakes was going to reply, but realised his crew were staring in surprise. The room fell silent.

The Captain sat. "Show the Ambassador back to his quarters," he said.

[DaBomb]

The meeting adjourned, and as Frakes sat in his personal chair with a deep sigh, Burke confronted him with a suggestion.

"If we decompress the shuttle bays, the force of the escaping air should slowly move us away," he informed, "It would be a long ride, though."

Frakes was about to approve of the plan when the First Officer's voice came again.

"-captain? Captain?"

Frakes blinked, and found himself still in his chair, but found Burke acting differently.

Once Burke realised Frakes had come to his senses, he began to speak: "Sir, are you alright?"

The Captain hid his confused expression. "Of course," he replied, "I was just speaking to you!"

Burke looked bewildered. Of course. Frakes had been hallucinating again. Yet he couldn't tell which experience was the real one. Perhaps what he was seeing now was the hallucination. "Well...." Frakes seemed lost for words, "Would it be possible to decompress the shuttlebays to move us from this moon?"

Burke shook his head. "The gel packs in both shuttlebays are fused," he answered, "Bypassing them could be risky, since other packs could fail."

More words Frakes didn't need to hear.

"Suggestions?" he asked. The bridge fell silent for several seconds. "None at all?" Frakes added irritably.

"There's nothing we can do from up here," Jansen finally replied, though reluctantly, "We need to find the source."

Frakes paused. He knew that his Chief Engineer was saying. "We can't risk another venture to the moon," he said, "There must be another way."

"There is none, si-"

"-then find one!"

Jansen nodded respectfully, then entered the turbolift.

Frakes was agitated at that point. "Helpless" was perhaps the most despised situation a starship Captain would ever want to be in. That, or "dead". As any good Captain would know, his irritability and poor mood may lead to incorrect decisions at a later time, so Frakes left the bridge for his personal ready room (to calm himself in solitude), after offering several words of encouragement to his crew. The last thing they needed was a lack of belief. After all, hope and belief was perhaps the greatest human asset.

The doors slid open obediently, and shut once Frakes was through the door, yet they refused to open once more when Frakes jumped at the sight of his hideous holodeck warrior and tried to escape.

The warrior approached, snarling and boasting his jaw of teeth. "You aren't real."

The creature moved closer, with a think poniard in its left hand, apparently having not heard the comment.

"Go away!" Frakes shouted sternly, more to the thoughts in his mind rather than the creature, "Get out of my mind!"

He pressed his hands to his aching temples, trying to block out the pain. "Get out!" he hissed.

The creature rushed toward the Captain, and buried the poniard in his chest with much satisfaction. As it pulled the blade out, Frakes noted the blood that trickled from its razor edge, and the burning sensation in his torso. He collapsed in a heap, and came to on the bridge, his entire bridge staff staring in fear. "Perha[s you should go to sickbay," his First Officer said, helping the Captain up.

Frakes nodded, unable to force out words. He limped from the bridge, still feeling as if a blade had penetrated his heart. The sensation weakened, thanks to Domonic's efforts to block the final elements of his hallucination, and had all but disappeared by the time he reached sickbay.

As the doors opened, an orange phaser blast streaked past, narrowly missing the Captain's shoulder. He ignored it, and proceeded normally, for he saw no phaser-wielding monster, nor any way the blast could have actually existed. The Doctor turned to meet the Captain, having heard the doors slide apart.

"What can I do for you Captain?" she asked with a hint of irritation. She obviously wasn't getting far in her work, and had assumed Frakes had entered to check up upon her progress.

He seated himself upon a biobed. "Do you have another dose of neural surpressant?"

Bennet hurried to the replicator, and returned with a hypospray in her hand. "Hallucinations?"

Another phaser blast streaked by Frakes, and this times his eyes followed the light that flew past his right ear. The Doctor noticed the slight movement.

"Are you having them even now?"

Frakes sighed. He couldn't stop them.

"Please do something," he sighed wearily - desperately - hoping perhaps the Doctor could.

Before she could spray the surpressant into his bloodstream, Frakes found himself in another hallucination.

Except this was different.

It felt as real as any of his recent experiences had been. But no elements from his life appeared here. No holodeck character. No ship. No moon. It was all alien to him.

Something was very wrong.

[DaBomb]

Dread washed over him, and his body became numb as he scanned the room with his eyes, absorbing every detail in an effort to perhaps find an element of the nightmare that would help him find where he was. It appeared to be just like any of the other hallucinations he had had, save for the lack of familiarity (which could simply be down to his imagination, anyway) and the icy knot in his gut that was governing him and his every move. Perhaps it wasn’t rational to believe solely in a simple sensation – especially considering recent events – but this deep-down feeling was all Frakes had, and no one had a right to tell him his instincts were wrong. Irrational, maybe. But not wrong.

His surroundings had elements and concepts similar to those he could find on his ship, or on many Federation planets, but the art and design was very strange. The room was curved for no reason; the roof was a simple dome, decorated by a flashing beacon locked to the top, along with several glowing blue fluids shaped in haphazard patterns. These fluids were formed in such a way that they appeared to be in a cylindrical hollow rod, one invisible to the eyes, but in actuality they were liquid, yet were held up there by themselves.

Frakes couldn’t locate a single area of the room that had a sharp, square side; the flashing console beside him was elliptical, its buttons were exact circles and the several flickering beacons were attached in seemingly random areas of the console, and resembled a melted candle. The colour scheme was one of a blue grey mix, though there were probably different colours outside of his visual spectrum, because his eyes ached constantly. And the pain from the aching remains constant, too, and Frakes never became used to it.

He groped up from the floor, which was filled with erratically placed bumps, and moved to the control panel. While most Starfleet consoles had buttons coloured for efficiency purposes, this alien panel had different shaped buttons, all of which flickered and changed colour almost faster than Frakes could detect. He pressed his forefinger against one button, and the fluid above began to move and flow. One he removed his finger, the fluid halted, as if nothing had happened.

The Captain’s first venture to this world was rather lonely and eerie at first, as the walked the curved walkways and inspected the rooms stealthily, yet found no life. Unfortunately, he did indeed stumble upon life, though his First Contact wasn’t as he would have liked.

The aliens were gathered in a single circular area, with walkways above made of pure energy providing more space. Up above, the blue fluid was arranged in a different pattern, and it moved and flashed erratically. He stumbled into the room, and found hundreds of the aliens staring at him, while up above the fluid changed to a blood red crimson.

"I-I am Captain Frakes, of the Federation-"

"-apprehend the intruder," the aliens all barked at once. Their thick cranial ridges began to discolour. "Subject must be taken alive." As they all began to approach, Frakes ran for his life.

***
Cervix, the head of security and secrecy, had been working non-stop since the intruder had been first sighted, but had not yet determined where this so-called "Captain" had disappeared to. His species, the Arankans, were often not capable of many rictons work without rest or meditation, but The Above had granted him the strength to continue and overcome his fatigue. Apparently the Federation officer had inspected and used an access panel, and had been inside the base for quite a time before being located.

Travi, a female who worked below Cervix, entered, and began interacting with a control panel. Apparently she was requesting The Above to allow her to re-check the sensor records, for it was impossible that the intruder could have entered without their knowledge. Her brother, Traki, was a high-ranking officer, who had been working on the wormholes for months. He stood at another control panel, one that flickered red and blue.

Cervix focussed once more on the problem at hand: there had been one intruder, at least, who had entered undecected. That would seem to be impossible. Arankans were not accustomed to dealing with the impossible. Nor were they accustomed to multiple rictons without recuperation, and yet here was Cervix, working long into the night.

That gave him a hint of hope.

***

Frakes had experienced a sensation like no other; his head swam, his vision became nonexistant, the surroundings fell silent and he wasn't able to feel a thing. Yet he was still aware of being moved - transported? - back to his ship from the alien base. When he awoke, he was in his quarters, sprawled upon his bed,as if he had dreampt the entire thing. But he hadn't.

It had been real.