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Space

In the vastless black, a slow ripple was formed and then a strange trimaran like vessel emerged from a ripple that burst outward from it. The pilot was a female of her species, with smooth gray skin and small, dark, but intelligent eyes. Her hands had three fingers and her head, large ears. If one didn't know better, it would be assumed she resembled some sort of strange rabbit. She manipulated the controls in her pod and sighed with relief that the mission had been a success.

"This is Kistor's Hope, calling base. Warp flight successful," she said into her mic. She knew it would take a few moments for them to receive the message, let alone reply.

"Good to hear Kistor's Hope," Control responded, "I bet it was one wild ride."

"It was. So far, I don't seem to be suffering any adverse effects. I'm beginning deployment of the communication array now," she said, flipping a few switches and deploying the array from the ship's cargo section.

So far, everything was going well. They had anticipated everything in the complexities of faster than light flight travel in order to get her beyond the bounds of her solar system with hope of returning home. The most important part was to come. She waited as she felt the ship's mechanical mechanisms extract the array from it's hold. Finally, the device passed the cockpit and unfurled.

Ok, she thought, taking a deep breath, here goes nothing.

"Visitors to our world, we know you are out here. We have spotted your vessels for years, observing us. We assume you mean no harm. If you did, you would have brought it long ago. Our world of Kistor is in dire need of help. Something has gone wrong with our moon, causing massive tidal shifts and millions have died. We need your help. If you can come to our aide, and you are indeed peaceful, please help us." She stopped the recording and then began broadcasting it.

She leaned back in the seat and set the signal to broadcast on a loop for the next 10 hours. If no one responded, she was to return home. It was a shot in the dark, but if they were out here, they should hear their call.

* * *

The Raptor slowly crawled towards home. A few days had passed since they had found themselves stuck practically on the other side of the quadrant. At first, it seemed hopeful, but the engine deterioration was continuing to get worse. They had to drop from warp two to warp one, pushing their return time from two weeks to three and a half weeks.

Everyone was also still dealing with the fallout from the outbreak of the Polywater Virus that had caused some rather erratic behavior among the crew. Since they were so far out from Confederation space and not on alert status, Harry had allowed a little laxness on the vessel just to let the crew get back into the swing of things.

It didn't help matters when the replicator system completely failed, due to someone coating its central relay with a multitude of jellies, which no one caught until it shorted out, cutting power on Deck 2, save for engineering. With not much else to do, the signs of the internal damage to the ship were slowly fading away as panels were replaced and general cleaning was carried on.

Harry Martinez walked the decks, just observing the general progress. He promised that no questions would be asked and no charges were pressed if his ship was put back how it was before the incident. It was nice to see the crew was taking care of the problem.

"Captain," he heard Fara call out to him and he turned to acknowledge her as she jogged up to him.

"Morning, Chief," he smiled at her, "I suppose you have something to tell me?"

"Well of course! If it wasn't for this bucket constantly falling apart, I wouldn't have anything to talk to you about," Fara chuckled. "First of all, how's your morning so far?"

"As well as to be expected," Harry replied, "hopefully you have something good to tell me."

"Maybe. I think I might be able to eek out a few more points of warp factor to help us get home a little quicker," she said, "I figured you might want to know."

"Well Chief, that is surprisingly good news for once." Harry replied, his smile widening. "Getting home a few hours sooner is better than nothing."

"I do try," Fara grinned. She glanced around the corridor. "Other than that, how are you?"

"What you mean about..." he said pointing to himself and her

"Yeah."

Harry blushed a little. "I can't say...it's not easy to forget."

"No kidding," Fara said blushing as well.

Suddenly a crewman came around the corner.

"Very well Chief, if you think you can get those few more points of warp factor out of those engines then do so," Harry said, trying to sound official as possible and giving her an apologetic look.

"Sure thing, Commander, I'll get right on it." Fara said, nodding and heading back to engineering.

Harry looked on after her as she disappeared down the corridor and then turned and headed for the bridge.

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

Title: Kill the Moon

IDP 2020

FOTR SPECIAL 10

Episode 3C

Written by Vakash Darkbane

Edited by Saurex Conoway

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

After a quick stop by the replicator for a cup of coffee, Harry arrived on the bridge and headed for the Captain's chair that Lt. Commander Rivas vacated. "Anything of note, Mr. Rivas?"

"Not really," he replied, "it's been pretty smooth sailing sir, and not even a blip on the long-range sensors."

"Well, I suppose that's to be expected," Harry said, taking a sip. "Shouldn't be too trying of a day."

"From past experience, that means we aren't completely out of the woods," Rivas grunted.

Harry raised his cup in agreement with his first officer. "Can't really debate that," he chuckled.

Harry suddenly felt disoriented. He cleared his head and noticed he was sitting in the pilot's seat of a shuttle. He had no idea how he got there. He didn't even remember getting in the shuttle. He quickly called up the coordinates on the flight controls and stopped when he noticed the nameplate on the console.

Angel Island.

"Angel Island?" Harry muttered to himself. "Angel Island...."

Why did that seem so familiar?

Suddenly, a proximity alarm went off. He quickly brought the ship about and in the forward viewer in front of him was the Raptor, slowly being pulled down into a swirling vortex of a spatial anomaly. It came back to him; he was looking at something from the past. Was he dreaming? Was this some sort of hallucination? Everything seemed real enough. He tried to hail the Raptor, but the console refused to respond. He tried to override the controls and signal the ship as panic welled up in him. He swore they had overcome this, hadn't they?

Two clawed paws rested upon his shoulders and he found that he couldn't move. There was a mirthful laugh, bordering on the edge of menacing, as someone spoke into his ear. "Right now you are feeling helpless...aren't you Commander?"

Harry tried to speak, but he couldn't.

"You normally don't feel fear...do you? Anxiety...yes...worry....yes...but not fear of the unknown...fear of the inevitable."

Harry's heart sunk as he watched the Raptor disappear into the maw of the vortex.

"It must be quite unsettling," the voice whispered, "in fact, I can hear the little animal brain in that skull of yours screaming in absolute horror. I wonder...if I let you go...if I wouldn't hear it come bubbling out of you in one great, gushing, howl."

Harry wondered who this entity was and how they were probing his mind, why he couldn't move.

"Oh, in good time Commander...I will make myself known to you soon enough," the entity said, patting his shoulders in a nearly affectionate manner. "See you in a flash."

Harry felt control of himself returning and he quickly leaped out of his chair and promptly knocked the duty roster out of Terri-Lu's hand, sending it bouncing off the science console, startling Lt. O'mara.

"Captain what are you doing?" Terri yelped, a bit shocked.

Harry blinked and quickly looked around, getting his bearings, feeling the eyes of his shipmates on him. He quickly walked over and picked up the pad containing the duty roster.

"Sorry Lt. Lu," he muttered, "you startled me."

"I'll say," Terri said, still a bit in shock. "I just asked if you could sign off on the roster so I could file it."

"Yes, yes of course," Harry said quickly, looking it over and signing off on it with the stylus before handing it back. "Mr. Rivas, can you take the con? I'm going to head down to sickbay."

"I think you'd better," Rivas said, getting up from his station. "You seem a bit shocky."

Harry nodded and noticed he was shaking a bit. "I know this sounds off, but I've been here the whole time haven't I?"

"Sure have. You finished your coffee, did the normal reports, and then assaulted our Communications officer," Rivas said flatly.

"I'm sorry, I thought...it doesn't matter," Harry said warily, "I'm going to get checked out. If all goes fine, I'll be back."

Later, Down in Sickbay

Dr. Okan scanned Harry with his tricorder as he relayed his experience to him. Harry had his tunic off as Dr. Okan checked all his vitals.

"Do you always have to keep it so warm in here?" Harry asked. "It's like a sauna."

"When I'm not expecting guests, yes." Doctor Okan replied. "I'm from the coastal regions of Nerra province, and we like it warm."

"Have you found anything about what caused me to have that little episode?" Harry asked.

"Well, based on your brain chemical analysis, you obviously experienced something, but it could have just been a waking dream. Have you been sleeping well at night?"

"Of course I have. I've never had issues with sleeping," Harry replied, "I don't daydream when I am working. I'm the captain of this vessel. I have to keep an eye on everything."

"You aren't imbibing in any substances I need to know about while on duty, are you?" Okan asked.

"Of course not! Besides, I think that tricorder would have told you that!" Harry protested.

"There are some things that can't be spotted within a twenty-four hour period that can still cause hallucinations, but I've seen your medical history. Aside from mild aspirins, you don't really use anything else. I still have to ask."

"Well you are wasting your time Doctor. The only recreational thing I have is a nice beer or wine on occasion," Harry said, getting up, sounding highly annoyed. "The only thing I drink too much of is soda."

Dr. Okan scratched his head in thought. "Are you working yourself too hard?"

"How could I?" Harry groused "Who is right now? You were organizing what looked like blood cultures when I came in here."

"It's actually mold cultures for antibiotics." Okan said flatly. "I am studying Rakaelian molds to see if I can manufacture a natural antibiotic that performs as well as a manufactured one."

Harry slipped on his tunic and looked over at the various little trays full of red spores. "I am not one to talk, but you need to get out more Doctor."

"I tried. It didn't work out too well," Okan sighed as he recorded his findings. "If you experience any more episodes, you know where to find me."

Harry sighed heavily. Maybe he was losing it. Wouldn't that look great on his record. Barely had a command for a few months and already going space crazy.

Harry arrived back on the bridge more frustrated than anything.

"So? Do you check out?" Rivas asked.

"Apparently so or I wouldn't be back. Doc doesn't think there is anything wrong with me," Harry grumbled, "let's just focus on getting home and I'll try not to abscond anyone else."

Suddenly Jakar's station sounded an alert. "Captain, I have some sort of object approaching at high warp on a direct intercept course."

"On screen," Harry ordered.

The screen switched to show a strange, massive, multi-colored energy orb rushing toward them.

"Any readings on that object?" Harry asked O'mara.

"I'm detecting a massive amount of energy sir, but it doesn't appear to be any type of ship," O'mara responded.

"Ms. Lu, try hailing it," Harry ordered.

"Hailing frequencies open, transmitting universal greetings on all bands," Terri reported after a few beats. "No response to our hails yet."

"The object is increasing its speed and it will intercept in a few seconds," Rivas said calmly.

"Yellow alert," Harry said, "Mr. Land, adjust our course to avoid a collision."

"Not a problem," Land said as he made a few adjustments to their navigation. "New course laid in."

"No good, Captain, it has matched to intercept," Jakar reported.

"Bring us to all stop," Harry ordered. "If whatever it is is trying to make first contact it's sure got a strange way of doing it."

The Raptor dropped out of warp at the same time that a massive energy net spread out in front of the ship, blocking their way.

"Any attempts at communication?" Harry asked.

"None as of yet, Captain," Terri reported.

"Analysis, Ms. O'mara," Harry ordered.

The beleaguered avian worked her controls with a look of frustration on her face. "Whatever that is, it appears solid. I c-c-can't determine the composition."

"Ok, Mr. Land, let's try to go around and see what it does," Harry said, pondering.

"No argument there sir," Land nodded, "engaging warp drive now."

The Raptor banked to the side and moved parallel to the net before blasting back off into warp space. However, the energy net quickly collapsed back into its orb shape and chased after it.

"Captain, it's still in pursuit," Jakar reported.

"Ok," Harry nodded, "Mr. Land, increase our speed to warp five."

"Skip, you know Engineering will..."

"I'm aware," Harry waved, "I'm the one who caused the stress to the core. Do it. If it can't keep up then we won't have to stay in it long."

Land shook his head. "You got it," he muttered as he increased the Raptor's speed.

The ship shuddered slightly as they accelerated.

"We are at Warp 8," Land announced.

"The object is closing on us again sir," Jakar said, again sounding a bit frustrated. "It will intercept in three seconds."

"Suggestions?" Harry said. He was out of ideas, but no one had anything to suggest.

The orb caught back up to the Raptor and unfurled into it's net form, this time enveloping the Raptor and knocking it out of warp space.

"We're trapped," Jakar reported.

Harry was now feeling a bit frustrated. There had been no contact, but now this thing had his ship ensnared. "Not for long, engage attack mode and make a hole."

"Gladly, sir," Jakar replied, activating the ship's attack mode.

The Raptor's ablative armor plates materialized and covered its hull as its weapons turrets became visible. It soon unleashed a barrage of cutting beams, phaser and torpedoes at the barrier, but even under the horrendous barrage, the barrier remained.

"All direct hits, no damage detected," Rivas reported.

Harry was taken aback. Usually a barrage like that would tear through just about anything. Suddenly a bright blinding flash filled the bridge. Once everyone's vision cleared, they saw a rather large coyote standing on his back legs, dressed in a rather bright and garish frilly shirt, a waistcoat, and a broad brimmed hat with an obnoxiously large feather.

"Abandon all hope ye mortals! There be dragons here!" He shouted, puffing out his chest.

Everyone just stared at this figure in disbelief.

"Ah! You can barely comprehend what you see before you then. If you know what's best for you, you should scurry home before you encounter wonders your little minds couldn't possibly begin to comprehend."

"Who, and what, are you? Identify yourself," Harry asked.

The coyote walked up to him and looked him in his eyes. "Mmm you don't recognize me? A shame. I follow your people out into the stars and provide a little nudge here and there and you don't even know who I am? That's gratitude for you, I suppose."

The doors to the bridge opened as the security team started to enter, but the coyote simply glanced at the doors and a smaller version of the net sprung up before them, keeping them back.

"That wasn't very nice, Jakar. If I wanted to play with your friends, I would have invited them up here," the coyote said, snapping his fingers and forcing the doors to shut. "What I am is not really of your concern. As to whom, I am Coyote, or it's at least one of my many names, but some of you would know me by that name."

Jack Land had already extracted his phaser from the hidden compartment in his console and set it to stun. He quickly got up and aimed it.

"Captain, you really need to tell your people to chill out," Coyote said, glancing at Land before he could fire. Suddenly Jack was encased in ice and frost. He fell to the deck with a sickening thud. Terri screamed and ran over to him.

"Tsk tsk? Stunning me? Seriously," Coyote laughed, "that little toy wouldn't have done anything to me."

"That's enough!" Harry snapped. "What do you want from us?"

"Like I said, chill out and we'll talk," Coyote said. "Call off your little dogs, calm down, and be good little children and listen."

"Can I at least get him to sickbay!" Harry asked, gesturing to Land.

"Don't try any tricks and you may. I know what you are doing before you do," Coyote replied with a grin.

"Call off the security teams Jakar, have them stand down." He tapped his combadge. "Doctor Okan to the Bridge. We have a man down; get up here immediately."

"See? I can be perfectly amicable when everyone wants to act like adults," Coyote sneered, shrugging then nodding at Land on the ground. "He will be fine as long as your Doctor gets here quickly."

Doctor Okan arrived with nurse Twila in tow and quickly scanned Land's still form. Terri stood up and got out of the way and allowed them to do their work.

"He's alive," Okan reported, "just barely...I need to get him to sickbay. Computer, three for emergency transport to sickbay."

"Acknowledged., The computer responded and the three of them disappeared in a swirl of transporter energy.

"Now that's done, let's have a little chat," Coyote said, snapping his fingers. He and the remaining bridge crew disappeared in a flash.

When the blinding glare cleared, Harry looked about and saw that they were in a box in a large, dark and columned room. Jakar, Terri, Rivas and O'mara were also there, also trying to figure out where they were. Above them, on a raised platform, several cloaked figures started to file in and fill seats that were above them. Several armed guards in body armor stepped out with rather nasty looking firearms.

"Captain, where are we?" O'mara asked.

"It looks something I saw in a museum, a courtroom, although they hardly dispensed what you'd call justice back on Termia," Harry mused.

"How long ago was this?" Rivas asked.

"Several hundred years ago, before there was a Confederation," Harry said, "there was an electromagnetic pulse that pretty much threw the majority of the planet into chaos and lawlessness."

"Well, it can't be much worse than Corneria has been," Rivas said.

"You would be surprised," Harry said dourly. "Nobody make any sudden moves. If this is what I think it is, we are in grave danger."

"The accused will stand and be silent!" One of the guards ordered.

Harry nodded at the others and they did so.

"The Honorable Judge Coyote will now preside over your case."

The figure walked in, dressed all in black, but they all recognised him as Coyote, although draped in a bright red rope and an archaic judge's cowl.

"You are all accused of being barbarous races who, for the name of exploration, have pushed yourselves out into the universe to spread your chaos. How do you plead?"

"What is the meaning of this charade Coyote?" Harry demanded.

The guards fired a burst of rounds over their heads, causing them all to dive for cover. "THE ACCUSED WILL BE SILENT!!"

Coyote just laughed in amusement. "Mind your manners Commander. You will address me in the manner proper to one of my status."

Harry got back up, looking over at the others to make sure they weren't hurt. O'mara had molted badly and was whimpering and shaking in terror. Harry slowly stood back up and said nothing, but his disdain was quite evident.

"Now then, if we are done with the bravado, please allow me to continue," Coyote grinned. "Even though you mongrels all have this pretence of being peaceful, you are all from species that predicate war. You Rivas...your whole planet has a long and bountiful history of war that lasted from the dawn of time to the last decade. Corneria's whole history is a glorious tapestry painted in the blood of its.own people. And you, little birdy," he said pointing at O'mara, "inherently violent, until your people moved past it, fighting amongst the forests of your world for mates, territory, and whatever reason. You echidnas, oh my, do not even get me started on your atrocities! Of the three species present, your list of infractions go back the farthest. You care to fill your little friends in on your barbarism. I am sure even they would be surprised. Oh do respond! I'd love to hear this."

"I am well aware of the history of my people, but that is what it is, history. We have long since moved past such things," Harry said.

Coyote grinned a rather manic, deranged and unsettling grin.

"Is that so?" He then started to laugh gleefully. "Oh my Commander, do go on you spin such wonderful lies."

Harry scowled, but contained his retort and instead asked, "What is it you want from us?"

"Ah, now you are asking the right questions," Coyote smirked, interlacing his fingers, resting his chin on his hands. "I want you to prove to me that my observations are not correct. I want you to show me you live up to these ideals your Confederation holds so dear. You see, I have watched over your species since you climbed out of the slurry of what was left of your progenitor race eons ago," he then whistled. "Little did I expect, you little monsters would even surpass their limitations of cruelty. So, what I want is for you to prove me wrong. I want you to show me that you are capable of better," he chuckled, "because so far I haven't seen much other than a few glimmers here and there."

"How do you intend to do this," Harry asked, "because apparently whatever we are doing hasn't satisfied your curiosity yet."

"In the words of your mentor," Coyote said, standing up and leaning forward, grinning maniacally, "I want to play a game. The rules are simple; prove to me that you creatures are capable of acting beyond your base natures and can uphold your precious ideals you all aspire to. Do this, and I will let you go on as you have. Fail me, and with a snap of my fingers it all ends, for all of you. You'll be right back to the most primitive times of your civilisations, where hopefully you'll do better."

"How do we know this isn't just some threat," Harry said. "All this could be trickery, an illusion, the powers you demonstrate could be nothing more than parlor tricks."

Coyote grinned. "You want a demonstration? Very well." He said slowly, raising his paw and snapping his fingers.

Harry found himself on a desolate, burned out world. He clutched at his throat. He couldn't breath. It felt like his very skin was burning off from some sort of radiation.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I forget you mortals are so fragile," Coyote said, "apologies."

With a wave of his hand, Harry's pain immediately subsided. His wounds healed and he could breathe again.

"Where are we," Harry asked, "where is my crew?"

"They are unharmed," Coyote said, strolling around nonchalantly. "As to where, this is the beginning."

"Beginning of what?"

"You."

Harry looked up at the sky. The stars were all wrong, a single small silver moon with dark blemishes hovered above, illuminating everything around them. The landscape was scorched and barren. A dark sea stretched out before him in the distance. He looked down and noticed that he was standing in some sort of slurry, at least ankle deep, and steam was emanating from some sort of underground source or even whatever the radiation was that had burned him. Obviously Coyote was protecting him.

"Come here," Coyote said, stopping near a raised caldera of some underground spring and motioning for Harry to approach.

Harry reluctantly walked over to the natural pedestal and looked within. It was dark and murky and smelled terribly. It bubbled and rolled and seemed like a slurry of organic materials.

"I have stood by the gates of this world since its inception, watching it, guiding it, influencing it," Coyote said, his voice taking on a nearly paternal tone. "Hoping someday it would produce something wonderful. It did once, but your progenitors failed due to my haste to advance their place in the universe. When given a chance to encounter a life form outside of their own, they butchered it." He sighed, "and they paid dearly for their hubris when it's friends showed up and retaliated with total extermination of their race and everything else on this planet." He smiled sadly. "So, what was I to do but to try again? This little puddle, right here, is where it all started, well, for you at least."

"Are you claiming you created the echidna race?" Harry scoffed.

Coyote shrugged. "If you want to call me God, I wouldn't deny it," he then looked up and glared at Harry, "I see. You still think this is mere trickery."

"I don't believe in gods, or supernatural entities. They are myths, stories, legends, nothing more." Harry said. "This could be advanced holographic technology, hypnosis, drugs...anything."

Coyote sighed. "You are being watched, my good captain, and if you insist on trying to be so obtuse, between myself and my peers, then perhaps I need to make myself clear." He reached up and brought his hands together and with a magician's flourish he pulled out what looked like an enlarged double helix of DNA like a handkerchief. "I don't think you quite understand just how small you are. This strand of DNA is the very essence of you." He said gripping the ends between his fingers. "And now I will," with a quick motion, there was a pop, and Harry felt a weird nauseating shift in his body and rapid pain as he rapidly grew a few inches. After the pain subsided, he noticed his fur color was now red and his whole body felt wrong, his face felt different, "unravel you."

Coyote growled, continuing to snap the helix. Harry again felt his body shift again, rapidly. His fur was now a darker brown and his hair was long and white. His spines were longer and things felt like they were in the wrong place. Now he had a pair of breasts. He gasped and heard even his voice change. There was another pop and then another. He felt more and more rapid changes. The pain was becoming excruciating and the worst part was he was conscious all the way through it. He was quickly turned into a creature on all fours, looking nothing like himself and even as he felt his own consciousness slipping from him he screamed for Coyote to stop, and with that it did.

Harry looked around and noticed the pain was now a fleeting memory. He was himself again.

"I get it, just stop please," he gasped, "this is just cruelty for the sake of it. You've made your point."

"Good," Coyote said, "now that we understand each other, I suggest you run along on your merry little way. Your challenge awaits," Coyote said, snapping his fingers.

Harry found himself back on the bridge once again and his crew ran up to him, concerned.

"Remember Captain, I am watching," he heard in his mind.

"Sir, are you ok?" Jakar asked.

"I'm fine," Harry said impatiently, "what about you?"

"All present and accounted for," Rivas said with a bit of relief. "What the hell happened?"

"We had a one-on-one and it wasn't the most pleasant of matters," Harry said as he looked up at the Raptor's viewscreen. The net suddenly balled up and blasted away in its energy sphere form. "Ms. O'mara, can you look into the historical cultural database and look up this Coyote?" Harry said. "Maybe there is something buried in there somewhere about him. Make it your number one priority."

"Of course sir," O'mara responded, "it may t-t-take some time."

"Take all the time you need," Harry said.

"What do we do in the meantime, sir?" Jakar asked.

"Resume course," Harry sighed, "we are going to have to take this in stride. Whatever Coyote has in store for us, I feel we're going to run directly into it. Mr. Munro, ahead warp factor four."

"Aye," Munro said from the con.

"Is Jack alright?" Harry asked.

"Ensign Land is recovering in sickbay," Rivas replied.

"I'm going to check on him. You have the bridge, Commander," Harry said.

Rivas nodded and Harry headed for sickbay.

* * *

"Hey Harry, how are you doing?" Land said meekly as Harry entered sickbay.

"Good, better now that you are still with us," Harry said, gripping Jack's paw, it felt cold.

"What's his condition doctor?" Harry asked.

"He's recovering from severe hypothermia, however; other than a little tissue damage, he'll recover." Dr. Okan said. "However, it's nothing beyond my talents to heal."

"See? I'll be back in action in no time," Land smiled weakly. "So, who was that asshole?"

"Still working on that, amigo," Harry said, "he's some sort of advanced lifeform of immense power that's never been encountered before."

"What did he want with us?" Land asked.

"He wants to test us," Harry sighed, "we have to prove we practice what we preach."

"Well, if it's so all powerful, doesn't it see what we do anyway?"

"I think it's looking for something specific. He wouldn't say what, but it could be the end of everything if we mess this up." Harry sighed, "all kinds of fun."

"Sounds like we should put our best foot forward," Okan surmised.

Harry nodded.

"Terri-Lu to Commander Martinez," Terri's voice said over his badge.

"Martinez here, what's up?"

"Captain, we've picked up some sort of distress call on a long range subspace frequency."

"I'll be right up," Harry said before turning to Land. "You get better. I have to get back to the bridge."

"Count on it buddy," Land smiled, giving him a thumbs up.

* * *

Harry got back to the bridge and went to Terri's station. "So what do you have?""

"It's just a single message, very brief, and repeating," Terri said. "The speaker sounds distressed. The universal translator is still studying the language."

"Source?" Harry asked.

Terri tapped a few buttons on her console commands. "System Beta 6, also known as Kistor," Terri read the entry on the system. "It looks like it's prewarp, somewhat primitive really."

"Helm, how close are we to the Beta 6 system?" Harry asked.

"A few light years," Ensign Munro responded.

Harry drummed his fingers on the back of Terri's seat. "Get that language figured out and we'll check it out."

"Aye sir," Terri nodded, getting to work.

"Helm, alter course for the Beta Six system," Harry ordered.

"Course altered," Munro reported.

"Captain, I will remind you that we do have to be cautious. We can't just jump in unless they meet the requirements for first contact," Rivas spoke up to his right.

"I am aware of Confederation policy in regards to first contact. If Ms. O'mara spots a warp signature when we arrive, then we'll go from there. If not, we will continue on our way," Harry paused and quickly made a note on his ship's log via one of his command consoles. "If we have the opportunity to do so, we should make the attempt though. It's not like we are getting home any sooner."

* * *

The lone voyager leaned back in her chair. She took out a photo of her children and smiled. Once this was done, she'd be back home with them. She had already brought the ship around for the return trip home. She had about five hours left and then she'd call it quits.

Just trying to pass the time, she put the photo away and flipped through the photo's of the ships their satellites had captured. They didn't look like warships. They had varying pastel colors on their hulls and often seemed to follow a similar design of nacells, saucers, and some sort of secondary hull in varying configurations.

She hoped whoever they were they would respond.

* * *

"Captain," O'mara said, "I think I found something on our guest."

Harry, intrigued, got out of his chair and went over to the science station as O'mara turned to the library computer access terminal in the wall.

"I-I-I've located several instances of a being by the name of Coyote in the cultural database of several worlds in the Confederation and a few of beings similar in nature to those references in others."

"Really now? Show me what you have," Harry said, looking over her shoulder.

"Well, the first instance actually came up in Termian ancient mythology, predating the settlement of Termina. A few ancient pictographs and ancient paintings scrolled into view. "He is apparently a trickster god that often leads heroes to great peril or great reward. I read a few of the accounts, or at least some summaries, and his actual intent is never quite clear. If anything, it seems more an analogy for an individual's hubris than anything."

"Hmm, never heard of him," Harry said, "however, mythology isn't really my strong suit."

"Also, the ancient spacers that lead the echidna expedition to this part of the galaxy were also named informally 'Coyotes'. I also n-n-noticed this," she quickly keyed in another command, bringing up another ancient painting, but this one was from Avia. "There was a similar being with the same name on my world, except he would lure unwary avians to the ground with promises of riches and devour them. But, in another story, he stopped a group of land predators from climbing up into the trees to devour us during the long night." O'mara shrugged. "So he's either a hero or villain. I've also found similar characters in Cornerian, Altairian and other mythologies."

"Fascinating," Harry said. "I will have to do some reading. Can you put your findings on a datapad so I can read into this."

"Y-y-yes sir," O'mara replied.

Harry read the stories, as time passed. O'mara was right. Whomever, or whatever, this being was, was either this so called mythical being or something pretending to be it. After what he experienced, it was definitely something far beyond what they understood as life in their own scope of experience. He could do without Coyote's attitude, if anything that really got under his skin. That, and whether this Coyote was leading them to doom or some great discovery, that was the thing nagging him at the forefront of his mind.

Harry didn't believe in gods. This thing may have thought it was, and possessed the ability to teleport anywhere, anytime, at will, in a way that seemed magical. Harry had to remind himself that his ancestors that were terrestrially bound so long ago would see a creature like Coyote as a god. Then again, the Nebulons they encountered, had proved they were capable of similar feats. However, he was sure Coyote was not on the same level as them. He may possibly be even more powerful.

He Looked up from his reading as he heard a computer terminal signal.

"I detect one warp signature," O'mara reported, looking up from her sensor scope. "It's fairly recent," she said as she put her eyes back to the scope and zoomed in on the trail, following it until she saw a single chrome trimaran type craft. "I think I found it."

"On screen," Harry ordered.

O'mara hit a few commands and soon the vessel and its accompanying communication array appeared on the screen.

"Any update on that broadcast?" Harry asked.

Terri worked diligently at her station, trying to decipher the language of the message. The universal translator was struggling a little with it.

"Still working on it, sir," she replied, "but the gist of it does seem to be a distress call. Something about their moon causing tidal shifts. They are specifically asking the visitors to their world for help."

"Get that translator running and we'll introduce ourselves," Harry said. "Apparently, our observation ships were spotted by them."

"That's unusual," Rivas frowned, "most of the time when that happens they are written off as hoaxes. This lot seems to be a bit more accepting of the thought of life on other worlds."

"Well they've qualified for first contact. We just need to be able to talk to them," Harry said, leaning back in the command chair. "If there is anything we can do to help, we can do so."

"I'm trying sir...we are almost 80% there," Terri responded, "I need to make sure we get this right. Their language is complex and it would be very easy to mistranslate."

"Take your time," Harry said patiently. He looked up and saw Land at the rear door. Terri looked up at him and smiled, relieved.

"Are you back in action Mr. Land," Harry asked.

"Yeah. Doc said I could return to duty," Land said.

"By all means," Harry said, motioning to the helm.

Land relieved Ensign Munro and took his post.

"I think I have it, Captain," Terri said triumphantly.

"Good. Mr. Land, since you are catching up, Mr. Munro should have left a set of coordinates of a vessel we are planning on intercepting."

"I got it, Skip. Just let me know what we're doing," Land responded.

"Take us in Mr. Land, nice and easy," Harry ordered. "This is first contact. We don't need to frighten them."

"I might want to mention that this thing has four phaser turrets facing forwards. That's going to be kind of hard to hide," Land said.

"What do you suggest then?" Harry asked.

"I dunno," Land shrugged, "let them know we're here and slowly approach from behind, let them see our underbelly, might be a bit less intimidating."

"Ok, we'll try it that way," Harry said. "Adjust course appropriately. Ms. Lu, open hailing frequencies."

* * *

"Kistorian vessel, greetings from the Confederation Starship Raptor. We have heard your message and would like to welcome you aboard," came a voice over her speakers.

The lone voyager looked up through the canopy at the gunmetal grey hull of the Raptor as it loomed over her own ship, dwarfing it.

"If you wish, we can bring your vessel on board our own to meet face to face. Please respond if you can understand this message." The voice came over her speaker.

The lone voyager scrambled about to activate her own communication equipment.

"Yes! I understand you! This is Kistor's Hope. Thank you for responding," she responded, "please, we need your help, the sooner we can talk, the better."

"Very well Kistor's Hope. Disengage all maneuvering systems and we will bring you onboard," the voice responded. "Stand by please."

A beam of light enveloped her ship and what looked like some sort of large cargo door began to roll up, exposing the interior of the ship. She felt her ship shift as the beam began to slowly and gently maneuver her vessel into the Raptor's shuttle bay. After a bit, she felt it contact with the deck and she started to unbuckle her restraints, feeling the pull of gravity on her. She reasoned that they must have some artificial means of generating gravity.

She was nervous. She never expected to get a response, let alone the respondent be able to communicate with her so clearly. She checked the atmospheric readings. The oxygen levels were a little low for her species, but no worse than being in a high altitude. She grabbed a digital recorder and attached it to her suit. This had to be reordered. This was first contact with extraterrestrials. It was definitely an event worthy of recording.

* * *

Harry, Dr. Okan, O'mara and Terri Lu waited for the pilot to exit the craft.

"Are they ok?" Harry asked quietly.

Dr. Okan glanced at his tricoder. "They are moving around in there, probably just getting ready. As to their actual health, I won't know that until I get a full bioscan."'

"Very funny Doctor," Harry grunted.

Okan shrugged.

They heard what sounded like a mechanical seal being popped.

"Here they come, get ready," Harry said.

A hatch in the vessel's side opened and the voyager cautiously stepped out, testing the gravity before she approached. Terri readied the baton-like universal translator and spoke into it, letting the speakers in the bay play the transmitted signal.

"Welcome on board the Raptor. If you give us a few minutes, we will be able to speak to you one on one," she said, then angled it gently towards the humanoid approaching them.

The pilot of the silver craft looked over at the speakers at the projected voice.

"If you could tell us your name and speak towards the device in my hand," Terri explained, "it would be a great help. It is merely a communications aide and will not hurt you."

The figure spoke. It was quick and sounded almost like a melodic chirp. "My name is Karna P'rnfr." They all heard the response.

Terri looked over at O'mara who was helping her calibrate the settings via a recorder.

"We need a bit more phonetic structure," O'mara nodded. "K-k-keep them talking."

Terri nodded before addressing the newcomer again. "Are there any other members of your crew on board? They are welcome as well."

Karna listened and then responded. "No, I am the only one. Can you help us? Our world is in danger."

"We would be glad to help you anyway that we can," Terri responded. "We just need to get our instruments set so we can understand each other."

Karna seemed to understand. "Why are some of you different from the others?"

"We are from several different worlds," Terri responded right when the translator completion indicator lit up. "Can you understand me now?" Terri asked politely.

"Yes..." Karna replied, looking very startled. "Why do your mouths move out of sync with your words?"

"It's a side effect of our translating device," Terri explained, "just ignore it and you will get used to it."

"Fascinating," Karna marveled. "How does it work?"

"It's complicated. If you wouldn't mind speaking to my Captain, we'd be glad to help," said Terri.

"Greetings Karna, I am Commander Martinez," Harry said. "So, tell me, what is going on with your moon?"

* * *

Fortunately, Karna had brought an extensive collection of data that her people had compiled on her vessel's storage banks. Fara, Terri and O'mara worked on extracting the data. Karna submitted to a medical bioscan from Doctor Okan and she was given a clean bill of health. After that, Harry gave her a tour around the ship.

"This ship is way different than the ones we've seen. Why is that?" Karna asked.

"Being honest with you," Harry said, trying to not worry his guest, "this ship is more for defence of our interests than exploration."

"It's a warship?"

"Primarily yes," he said, "we are a bit off the beaten path at the moment."

"What happened?"

"We had an emergency and we had to do a warp jump while in free fall about a star. We got catapulted quite a way from home," Harry explained, deciding not to scare her with tales of the Polywater Virus that nearly killed the crew. "We were on our way home when we picked up your signal."

"How fast can this ship travel?"

"Roughly eight times faster than your own," Harry replied. "We have ships that can travel faster. That's putting it simply."

"Amazing, I still have one question. Why the need for a warship if your Confederation is peaceful?"

"There are threats we face from other civilisations that, despite our best efforts, continue to remain actively hostile towards us," Harry said.

"Are they far from here?" Karna asked.

"Yes. Your world sits in our own territory, so you are protected on all sides. We were observing your world in hopes that once you reached a certain point in your development we could welcome you into the fold," Harry explained.

"So, will you be able to help us?"

"We're analyzing the data on your ship. As soon as my crew gives me their appraisal of it we will try to help you to the best of our abilities." Harry said reassuringly. "It's going to be a big enough shock to your world that we contacted you. We'd better have some sort of plan if we're going to help."

"I am sorry," Karna said, "I am just worried. I have young ones back home and they are as safe as they can be."

"I understand," Harry replied. "We have good people on this ship. I am sure we'll have something in the next hour."

* * *

Conference Room

The command staff of the Raptor sat about the briefing room table as O'mara explained the data they obtained from Karna's ship. Karna was seated near the end of the table by Harry.

"From the data we were able to retrieve from the ship, it seems like the moon's internal mass is unstable and shifting around as, you can see...here." She hit a button on the display and the radar images showed the strange shift in the moon's mass. "It's very strange. I have never seen anything like it before."

"Any theories?" Harry asked.

O'mara shrugged. "It could be some sort of tectonic activity, but it's too rapid. Possibly some sort of subspace distortion that the Kistorans instruments can't detect."

"I am just going to throw a wild idea out here..." Fara said. "I know it sounds crazy, but it looks like something is moving in there."

"I mean...maybe." O'mara said. "That would be a little outside what I know."

"That would be surely something if it was," Okan said excitedly. "A life form of that magnitude has never been seen before."

"It'd make a hell of an omlette if it--ow!" Land yelped,then glaring at Jakar, who'd slapped him upside the head. Jakar merely sat like nothing had happened, although there was a slight smirk peeking through his normal grimace.

"Well we won't know what is going on until we get close enough to examine it," Harry surmised.

"I suggest we start on the moon. We had an outpost there. We sent another team to investigate, but they went silent a few months ago." Karna spoke up. "Another team was sent to look into that. We could check up on them?"

"Easy enough," Harry nodded, "I suppose we should dispense with the formalities and dive right in. I hope you'll be our familiar face to help bridge relations."

"I'll do my best Captain, but I'm a scientist, not a diplomat," Karna said warily.

"That'll do just fine. Anyone else have any better suggestions?" Harry asked.

No one replied.

"Alright. Mr. Land, set a course for Kistor's moon. Meeting adjourned."

* * *

It didn't take long for the Raptor to reach Kistor's moon.

"Jakar did you locate the other vessel?" Harry asked.

"Aye, it's about 100 meters away from the base," Jakar reported.

"Very good. Relay the coordinates to Mr Land. We're going to set down." Harry said. "Ms. O'mara, can you find us a good solid piece of rock to set down on?"

O'mara looked at her instruments. "The moon's composition is mostly granite and iron, even with the instability we should be fine."

"Very well. Blue Alert. Mr. Land, take us down."

"Should be a piece of cake," Land said confidently. "Big rock, manageable gravity, no ion storms, way easier than last time."

The Raptor's landing struts extended and it slowly began to descend to the moon. It startled the Kistorian crew on their ship as it passed overhead and set down not very far off from it.

* * *

Deck 3, Forward Airlock

"Are you sure you don't want to take your phasers?" Rivas asked as Harry, O'mara and Karna suited up. "We don't really know what we are walking into down there."

"Your concern is noted, but I really don't think going to that ship armed would make the best of impression," Harry said. "That crew could be on edge enough as it is."

"If you say so," Rivas said. "It's standard procedure to go armed on any away missions, regardless of context."

"I am aware of the regulations, Commander, and I'll note it in my log, but it's my decision."

"Have it your way." Rivas shrugged. "Just keep a com channel open just in case we have to beam you out."

"Of that you won't have to worry," Harry said, putting on his helmet and checking the coms. "I will keep an open channel the whole time."

"Good luck." Rivas nodded.

Once the Raptor's forward gangway settled, Harry, O'mara and Karna exited and made their way towards the shuttle. Harry noticed O'mara was a bit unsteady on her feet as they bounced along the surface. "Having trouble, Lieutenant?"

"Not used to low gravity, sir." O'mara said.

"Just imagine you're in a pool of water," Harry suggested, "it's sort of like that."

"Not a big s-s-swimmer, sir."

Harry just chuckled to himself as they carried on, It didn't take too long for them to reach the outer hatch of the shuttle. It was similar to Karna's, just larger, all chrome with smooth surfaces. It showed signs of a rough landing and the ground was a bit scared up from the event.

Karna hit a few buttons on the arm of her suit. "Shuttle Tyrnas, this is Karna of the Kistor's Hope, don't be afraid. I came on the vessel that just landed here. Please respond."

There was a brief pause and then the airlock opened and they stepped inside. After it was pressurised, they removed their helmets and entered the vessel. They were met by four Kistorians with weapons pointed at them. Three of them appeared to be male, one was female.

"Step in, keep your hands where we can see them," a voice came over Harry's com.

Both him and O'mara did so.

"Captain Doirya, it's Karna," she objected, "you know me."

"Yeah I do," the leader said, keeping her weapons trained on them. "I also know for damn sure I wasn't expecting visitors today!"

"l understand that, but I am with friends. Look at them! I am unharmed and they came to help us."

"I assure you we mean you no harm," Harry said as reassuringly as he could. "My ship answered your call for help and we have technology that far exceeds your own. I assure you, if you use those weapons on me, I will die and any chance you had of us helping your people will die with me." Harry spoke sternly, like a teacher reprimanding misbehaving students. "Now I suggest you have a little faith, lower your weapons, and let us help you."

The three other Kistorans looked to Captain Doirya, who stood in thought and then nodded for them to lower their weapons. Harry let out a relieved sigh.

"May my friend and I use our devices to take some readings?" He asked.

Doirya seemed hesitant. "Let me see one, hand it to her," she said, motioning to Karna.

Harry slowly reached down to the belt and removed his tricorder, handing it to Karna, who handed it over. Doirya opened it warily and looked cautious upon seeing it activate. "What does it do?"

"It scans objects with subspace pulses so we get readings down to the subatomic level. It's directly tied into our ships onboard computers and sensors," Harry explained, trying to stay patient and understanding.

Doirya looked it over suspiciously and eventually handed it back.

"Thank you," Harry said through his suit speakers, taking the tricorder back. He then checked the suits bio scanners and saw the air was clean and breathable before he removed his helmet. O'mara followed suit. "Now that's over, I am Commander Harry Martinez, Captain of the Confederation Starship Raptor. This is my science officer, Lieutennant O'mara."

"Commander, I am picking up an awful lot of radiation in this craft," O'mara said worriedly.

"Radiation," Harry frowned, "from what?"

"It's probably our cargo," Doirya replied.

"Cargo?" Harry said, raising a brow.

"We brought highly refined nuclear warheads to deal with any threats we couldn't stop. Hence the weapons," Doirya explained.

"Ah...I see. Well let's not be blowing off any bombs until we have a better scope of the situation?" Harry suggested. "Karna tells me there is a research base that went silent. Let's go check that out." Harry said, sticking his helmet back on and sealing it. "I suggest, since you all brought the guns, you lead the way."

Doirya glared at him and started shouting orders at her small crew. They started to seal up their own suits.

"Commander, are you sure b-b-baiting her like that is wise?" O'mara asked over the suit-to-suit transmission channel.

"I know the type. If I don't stand up to her she'll be waving that gun in our faces the whole time we're here. Would you rather have that?" Harry replied.

"N-n-no."

"Then don't worry about it."

* * *

A good walk later, the group of seven drew near to the research station. The lights were out and the lunar vehicles seemed abandoned.

"What type of power source does that place use?" Harry asked.

"Nuclear core and solar cells," Doirya replied, "I wonder what happened."

Harry tapped the control arm on his suit and used its onboard camera to zoom in on the station. He spotted some sort of white substance all over the base. In his mind's eye, it appeared to be webbing, but that made no sense at all.

"There's some sort of substance all over the base," he reported, "it looks like a web, but I'm not sure. We'll have to scan it when we get closer."

They cautiously approached the seemingly abandoned research station and the closer they got the more apparent the webs became.

"What is that stuff Lieutenant?" Harry asked.

"It's a type of silk...exactly what it appears to be," O'mara replied. "With as much of it as there is, I would hate to see what made it."

"Karna," Harry asked, turning to her, "was there any life discovered on your moon before?

"No. Our probes always showed it to be barren and lifeless," Karna responded.

"I would say that assessment may have been remiss," Harry mused.

"Maybe they are from another world. You showed up after all," Doirya added. "The main hatch should be on the other side of that building. Let's go." She motioned in the direction with her weapon.

Harry opened a com channel to the Raptor. "Martinez to Raptor."

"Rivas here. How can we help Captain?" Came the wolf's voice over the helmet's com.

"We've seen some evidence that we may not be alone on this moon. Can you keep an eye out for anything that might be crawling around?" Harry asked.

"Crawling? What the hell does that mean?" Rivas replied.

"I think you'll know when it makes itself present," Harry replied. "Keep those scanners open won't you?"

"Sure thing, Captain. We'll keep the transporter charged." Rivas said.

Harry got an uneasy feeling from all this. He could feel the hairs of his neck standing up. This situation was not ideal, but he was trying to play this as cool as he could. They approached the entrance to the compound and found that the airlock was opened.

"No atmosphere, Captain," O'mara reported.

"We'll have to try to restart the environmental systems once we get inside," Doirya said exasperated, "that little device tell you if our people are alive?"

"I'm not detecting anything, living or otherwise," O'mara said solemnly. "Sorry."

"Anything unusual?" Harry asked.

O'mara checked her readings. "There is an unusually high amount of silicate inside the base, but that could be dust contamination from the airlock being opened."

Suddenly the ground shifted under them and shook violently. Everyone was tossed about. It lasted for several minutes before finally subsiding. The ground cracked around them, damaging the lunar base. Harry checked on everyone and then called his ship.

"Commander, report."

"Massive earthquake," Rivas replied, "we're fine. The ship's system protected us from most of it, although one of the landing struts is damaged."

"Understood. If the ground becomes too unstable don't wait on me to get the Raptor space borne again," said Harry.

"I don't think you'll have to worry about that captain," Rivas responded.

Harry helped the others get back to their feet. Everyone seemed unharmed.

"I suggest we get in the base before it's completely destroyed," Doirya groused, "and we lose any information they may have discovered." She called to her men and they headed inside the crumbling structure.

Karna looked at Harry a bit worried. "Do you think it's safe?"

"Not particularly," Harry said, "but we don't really have much of a choice."

The base's interior was utterly choked with the webbing and it hindered their movement as they moved. It seemed to be heavily damaged as well. The whole scene was eerie and Harry felt as if they weren't alone in the ruin. He glanced over at O'mara, seeing a few feathers filling the base of her helmet, indicating she was at least feeling the same. They pressed deeper into the base as Doirya led them presumably towards the power center. The deck was ruptured in some places and Harry highly doubted this place could hold a breathable atmosphere in its current condition. He took note of a few things that seemed to be hastily assembled barricades and pointed them out to O'mara.

"I wonder what happened to the crew?" Karna said quietly.

"I am sure we'll find out soon enough," Harry replied flatly, checking down a collapsed corridor with his light.

"Sir, I'm detecting some slight movement other than us," O'mara said quietly.

"Where?"

"I am having trouble locking onto it."

"Captain Doirya! Our scanners are picking up movement around us. Might want to keep a heads up," Harry said, toggling his com channel.

"Appreciated Captain," Doirya replied, "but we don't have much further 'till we're in the engineering bay."

"This place looks pretty badly damaged," Harry noted, "do you think any of it could be made operational?"

"The habitat is made of reinforced poly duranium," Doirya responded. "It's supported by a suspension system that should protect it from the earthquakes. It should be fi--" she suddenly let out a loud scream.

"What?" Harry asked, moving up to her. His eyes fell on what Doirya had spotted. On the ground lay a severed arm in the remains of a pressure suit sleeve, ragged bone and muscle exposed to the world. Harry quickly panned his light around and spotted what appeared to be seven humanoid shapes wrapped up in the web against the walls in the atrium they had entered.

"How many people were up here Captain?" Harry asked, counting the forms.

"Seven," Doirya replied.

"I think we found the crew," Harry said grimly, scanning the forms and not detecting any life from them.

A look of grim determination crossed Doirya's face. "Let's get to engineering," she said, moving forward.

"I'm really starting to think not bringing the phasers might have been a bad idea sir," O'mara said a bit wairily on their private suit to suit com.

"I hate to say it, but I may have to agree with you on that," Harry replied, moving forward as she fell in behind him. He glanced over to Karna, who seemed a bit worried and was glancing around wairily.

Time seemed to slow down and everything stopped. He found himself alone in the atrium, now free of cobwebs or anything else.

"You are wasting time Captain," he heard Coyote's voice around him.

"Well feel free to jump in at any time, since you seem to know everything," Harry snapped back, severely annoyed as he turned to leave only to see Coyote in front of him, dressed in his garish outfit again.

"I could, but that would cause you to fail," he smiled.

"Then leave me alone and let me work," Harry growled, pushing past him.

"Such rudeness! Do I need to remind--"

Harry spun around and marched right up to Coyote's sneering face putting his visor a millimeter from his snout.

"Remind me of what? That you're a bully? Torture me again for laughs again? Sure, if that's what gets you off! I don't care what you do. Now, get out of my way and let me work," Harry hissed.

Coyote said nothing, but he grinned in amusement, vanishing in a flash.

* * *

Harry found himself back in the atrium. The group was getting further ahead of him, although they hadn't seemed to have noticed him falling behind.

"Captain? Are you ok?" He heard O'mara ask over his com.

"I am fine. Our friend just paid us a visit," he said, moving up to join the rest of them. "He told me we are stalling."

"Does he want us to blunder through th-th-this thing?" O'mara stuttered.

Harry sighed and shook his head. "Possibly. Don't worry about it. You are doing a great job. Just keep scanning away."

"Th-th-thanks," O'mara smiled although she looked borderline terrified.

They made their way deeper into the base, finally entering the vast engineering bay. Doirya and her crew started working on the reactor to get it operational again. Thankfully, the webs were absent from this section of the compound.

After about twenty minutes power was once again surging through the station. Doirya had Karna start to seal off the damaged sections of the facility. Once everything seemed secure and a breathable atmosphere was detected, they all removed their helmets, save for Doirya's crew men.

"I want you three to go retrieve the explosives as planned," she ordered, "and make it quick."

"Do you think that's necessary?" Harry asked.

"I have my orders. I am sure you would understand that," Doirya replied flatly.

Harry merely grunted and nodded as the other three Kistorans' headed for the airlock at the back of the bay. Harry's com signal went off and he acknowledged it. "Martinez here."

On the bridge, Command Rivas continued from the captain's chair. "I thought I'd let you know that nightfall is rapidly approaching." He glanced over at the status monitor to his right. "Maybe in the next hour. What's your situation?"

"We found the crew. Something killed them. We've got life support restored and O'mara keeps detecting weird anomalies, but she can't pinpoint anything," Harry said.

"I can see the crew of the Kistorian vessel is heading back to it," Rivas noted, "is there something we can assist with?"

"Negative. They have their orders and are retrieving the nuclear arms I am sure you are aware of," Harry replied.

"Yeah, they are about the hottest thing out there," Rivas smirked, "you might need to get a good decontamination scrub when we are done with this or you might start glowing in the dark."

"I'm very aware of the risks," Harry replied.

"You realise if they bring those things into the base we won't be able to beam you out." Don said singing off on a duty roster that Terri Lu handed him and handing it back to her. "Radiation plays hell on the confinement beams we wouldn't be able to get a steady lock."

Harry was quiet for a moment, then sighed. "In for a penny, in for a pound I suppose."

"You got that right Captain," Rivas said. "Our repairs are coming along. Fara says she might be able to keep the struts from being damaged the next time a quake hits. She's adjusted them to bear the load a bit better."

Good job Fara, Harry thought to himself. As of late, she was a lot better about getting on repairs than she had been.

"I do have one request: can you beam over some hand phasers? I have a feeling we may need them."

"Understood. Jakar will get them sent right over. Rivas out."

Karna was motioning him to come over. "I have to go, I will keep in touch, Martinez out." He walked over to the console where Karna was working. "Do you have something?"

"Yes...I think I found the security footage," Karna replied. "I'm trying to retrieve it so we can see what happened...up here."

"Good work," Harry said, "Ms. O'mara? Do you think you could help Karna out over here?"

"Sure, I'm ok with computers. I'll do what I c-c-can," O'mara replied.

Suddenly the hum of transporter energy could be heard and a small charger with two hand phasers materialised on a workbench by Harry.

"Captain, would you mind accompanying me to the habitat area?" Doirya asked, putting her helmet on and noticing the weapons. "What are those?" She asked.

"Energy weapons. Myself and my companion may need them," Harry said, putting the phaser into his holster. "We should be armed to help protect you as well as ourselves."

Doirya nodded in agreement. "I would appreciate it."

"I am glad that you do," Harry said, "Mrs. O'mara, we have phasers. Would you come get yours?"

"In a moment sir," O'mara said, busily working at the computer.

Harry put his helmet back on and sealed it. "I will be accompanying Captain Doirya to the habitat area. Keep an open channel."

"Uh huh," O'mara responded, focusing on her work.

Harry double checked his phaser, nodded to Doirya, and followed her to the airlock leading deeper into the installation.

* * *

The habitat area was severely damaged. The lights flickered on and off and there was a lot of broken equipment. The webbing was everywhere. It was a bit unsettling.

"So, what are we looking for?" Harry asked.

"The log module. Their main computer is in this area," Doirya said, checking down side corridors, keeping her weapon up. "So, tell me Captain Martinez, you have a first name?"

"It's Harold...Harry for short," Harry replied. "You?"

"Yuria," Doirya replied, "your name is unusual, very solid."

Harry chuckled. "It's a very old name."

"It sounds old," Doirya mused, "when this is over, I would like to learn more about your people."

Harry checked down another corridor that was filled with more webs and debris. "You will have to do a lot of learning. There are many races in the Confederation. How far until the main computer?"

"Not far," Doirya replied as they approached a door that parted as they approached. They both shone their lights down the web-filled corridor and proceeded slowly, their weapons drawn. "By what means do you talk to us," she asked, "when you speak, your mouth doesn't match what you are saying."

Harry chuckled. "It's technology given to us by the Keldryians. It uses a form of telepathy to allow us to communicate. I have used it for years, but barely understand it myself. It's a marvelous tool. It makes communication so much easier person to person. Over communications channels it just broadcasts the correct language."

"Fascinating. The best we could come up with was a computer controlled translation matrix. It's effective once it gets a hold of the language, but nothing as sophisticated as your system," Doirya replied. "That door right there, that's the core," she said, shining her light on it.

* * *

"Anything yet?" Karna asked.

"Not yet, the data appears to be corrupted, I'm t-t-t-trying to do my best to recover it," O'mara replied as she worked. "I think there was a p-p-power surge before the reactor powered down. I'll do my best to g-g-get it recovered."

* * *

The core room was just as choked with the web-like substance as the main foyer. A few lights flickered on and off, giving the place an eerie and foreboding atmosphere.

"I don't like this," Doirya muttered.

"I suggest we move quickly, but keep our heads up," Harry said, "I'll cover you."

"Sure," Doirya nodded as they moved through the webs. "I think i see it up ahead...come on."

* * *

O'mara worked the controls of the console, following the prompts on her tricorder, and she was finally able to bring up the security footage. It was grainy and distorted, but she could make out the main foyer that they had passed through. She saw the other Kistorians moving about frantically. It looked like they were trying to set up a barricade. There was no audio, but she could tell they were panicked.

"Is that the only image you can pull up?" Karna asked.

"Yeah," O'mara said, watching the picture when she saw something jump in and knock one of the Kistorians out of frame. There were more shapes and then the picture degraded. Whatever it was, it was fast. She ran the footage back.

"Karna, can you help me with these controls," she asked, "we need to see whatever that blurr was."

"I'll try," Karna said moving to help

* * *

"The logs will be accessible over here. We just need to remove the data core," Doirya said, motioning to one side of the core.

"Ok," said Harry, "I'll cover you."

Doirya moved up to the core, her eyes darting about the room. Harry was uneasy too. His grip tightened on the hand phaser and he made sure it was set at higher than normal level. He made sure he kept Doirya in sight. He had a feeling that whatever this challenge was, Coyote was beating him over the head with.

* * *

The image began to clear up and Karna and O'mara leaned in to look at the image. It was large, very arachnid-like, almost resembling a tick, but it didn't seem to be made of anything organic. It had massive pinchers on its front and eight legs that reminded O'mara of scythes.

"Oh n-n-no! C-C-COMMANDER!" O'mara stammered, scrambling around for her combadge and helmet at the same time.

* * *

Harry noticed something moving in the webbing above Doirya. His eyes focused on a dark shape and he slowly turned himself to aim his phaser, waiting till he was sure. He then saw it start to lunge and he fired. The crimson beam hit the creature and it burst into flames. However, more of the creatures dropped down from the ceiling, fleeing the webs as they burst into flames.

One tried to jump onto Doirya, but she managed to get a few shots off with her weapon. It slammed into her, knocking her to the ground. Harry blasted the creature before it could bite down on Doirya's helmet and it fled as it too burst into flames. Harry did a quick count and realized there were easily a dozen of the creatures surrounding them. They all resembled some sort of large tick with what looked like razor sharp points for legs and ferocious jaws.

Suddenly Harry saw another phaser beam and pulse rifle fire lay into the creatures. He saw O'mara and Karna firing at the creatures from the corridor they entered from. Harry quickly helped Doirya up and hauled her through the door. O'mara closed the door and sealed it behind them.

"I have no idea how long that will hold them," O'mara said wearily.

"It should for a bit," Doirya panted.

"Are you unhurt?" Harry asked.

"I'm fine," she growled, but she was smiling at him, "just knocked the wind out of me, thank you. Let's get back to the power core."

* * *

Several moments later they arrived in the engineering bay, panting and tired. They had hurriedly scrambled back with the creatures rapidly pursuing them, closing every hatch they could between them and the creatures.

Harry popped off his helmet, trying to catch his breath. "I think we found your anomalies Lieutenant."

O'mara took her helmet off as well and nodded.

"What are those things?" Doyria asked.

"I don't know...never seen anything like them before," Harry gasped as his breathing leveled off. "Whatever they are, they don't take to phaser fire too well. Any ideas Lieutenant?"

"None without c-c-closer analysis. I didn't have time to scan one of them," O'mara panted, almost sounding disappointed. "Maybe some sort of silicon based life form...although the way they ignited from phaser fire...you got me...."

"Is there something I wasn't informed of?" Karna asked Doriya. "I thought there was no life on our moon."

"There isn't supposed to be! All our probes and prior expeditions never discovered anything before," Doirya replied.

"Could they be invaders?" Karna asked.

"Possibly," Harry said, "or they just haven't been seen before."

"What do you mean?" Karna asked.

"What if they've been here all along, hibernating, until something woke them up," Harry said, pacing back and forth, "possibly triggered by some event. Karna, you said these seismic events on the moon didn't occur until fairly recently, correct?"

"That's correct," she said.

"It's possible that the appearance of these creatures and that activity could possibly be connected, however, that part I'm not too sure of yet," Harry said, wringing his hands in thought.

"It's possible," O'mara agreed, "although this situation is a bit...unusual. A s-s-similar event occurs on Oranari four. Whenever there is massive t-t-tectonic upheaval, the worlds subterranean creatures come to the surface and wreak havoc on the s-s-surface life. However, that's a Class M world...not a dead rock with no atmosphere."

"Not really an exclusionary factor, Lieutenant," Harry reminded her.

O'mara only shrugged and smoothed her feathers, scowling at the few that molted off from stress.

Doirya's communicator went off and she stepped aside to answer it.

Harry tapped his own communicator. "Martinez to Raptor."

"Rivas here. How can we help you Captain?"

"Can you beam over some transporter pattern enhancers? We may need them."

"Of course we can. I was wondering when you were going to ask," Rivas said, "so how are things going?"

"We found out what the anomalies are...some sort of insectoid, possibly silicon based life form," said Harry, "though we're not exactly sure. They are highly aggressive."

"Do we need to send a security team?" Rivas asked. "Jakar is starting to wear a hole in the deck with his pacing."

Harry heard Jakar mutter something in the background.

"We have it handled for the moment," Harry said, "just get the enhancers sent over as soon as possible."

"Understood, we'll send them over in a few moments," Rivas said, glancing at the viewscreen. Outside, the darkness drew ever closer the Kistoran astronauts they had been monitoring.

Lt. Plex, a green skinned four armed being, looked at her sensor readings from her system. "Commander Rivas, I am detecting a lot of movement on the surface."

"Is it another tremor?" He asked.

"Negative," she said, turning in her seat and activating the scope that extended out of the station. "I will put it on screen, infrared only."

The screen shifted to show a mass of cold objects moving in the darkness.

Rivas stood up out of the command chair. "There has to be millions of them!" He motioned to Terri to open the channel back to Commander Martinez. "Captain! There's a whole swarm of something about to descend onto the Kistorians outside. We just now detected them."

"Can you use the phasers to ward off the creatures?" Harry asked.

Rivas looked at Jakar, who mouthed "too close" and shook his head.

"Negatory on that sir," Rivas said.

"Transporters," Harry said quickly.

"We can't," Rivas answered, "they're carrying nuclear devices."

"DAMN IT!"

Harry grabbed his helmet and phaser and shouted for the others to join him.

"What's wrong?" Doyria asked.

"Your crew is about to get devoured! We got to get out there, fast!" Harry said, heading for the airlock.

They all quickly sealed their helmets and suits, grabbed their weapons, and headed for the airlock.

"Kreller, Donon, you need to abandon the warheads and get inside immediately!" Doirya shouted over her com as they exited the airlock.

"Why Commander? We aren't that far," Kreller responded.

"The dark is filled with the same things that invaded the base! You have to make a run for it, now!" She ordered. "We can retrieve the weapons later if we have to! Don't argue, just run!"

"Raptor, can you get a transporter lock on anything?" Harry asked desperately.

"O'bren here," came the Raptor's transporter chief's voice, "if Kistoreans can get further from the devices I might be able to get a lock it will be dicey at best."

* * *

The three kistoran crewmembers looked behind them and could see the movement in the rapidly approaching dark.

One of them screamed and panicked, dropping the device and bolting for the base. The other two quickly followed his lead. However the darkness was soon upon them and so were the creatures, despite their desperate attempt to flee.

* * *

They were about to exit the airlock when the screams came in over their speakers. Harry stopped Doriya before she could open the door and pointed outside through the viewport. Outside, they could see the terminator disappearing into the horizon and the creatures swarming about.

"Chief O'bren," Harry said gravely, "were you able to get any of them?"

"Apologies sir...I wasn't able to get a solid lock," O'bren said shakily.

Harry cursed and slammed his fist into the wall.

"There might be a chance! We can't just leave them!" Doirya cried.

"We've seen what those creatures do," Karna said, "I doubt they survived."

Doirya turned to Harry and locked eyes with him.

"I am truly sorry," was all he could say.

Doirya cursed and headed back to the engineering section. Harry watched her go, unable to bring himself to move.

"How horrible," O'mara muttered, looking a bit shaken.

"I know that if you could have done something you would have," said Karna, "I take it even with your advanced technology, bad things still happen."

"They do...no matter how much we try to prevent them," Harry nodded, trying to keep his composure. He then turned to O'mara. "Those transporter enhancers should be over here by now...you should go and set them up."

"Yes sir." O'mara replied following after him as they headed back towards the engineering section.

When they entered the engineering bay, O'mara spotted the transporter enhancers and started to work on them. Harry saw Doirya in a corner, seated on a crate, staring at the ground. He slowly walked up to her.

"Spare me your platitudes," she warned solemnly, wringing her three fingered hands. "A pup like you wouldn't understand what I am feeling right now."

"I would agree, under normal circumstances," Harry said, kneeling so he was level with her, "however, I may look young, but I know what it's like to lose shipmates and people under my command."

"Is that so? How many?" Doirya asked mockingly as her eyes met his. She could see the pain he was holding back.

"Let's just say I'm getting close to 100...most of them in one go," Harry replied a bit shakily.

"What happened?" Doirya asked.

"It was a while ago," Harry said, taking in a deep breath and letting it out. "It's not my favourite discussion, but we encountered a hostile alien life form that ultimately destroyed several ships before we brought it down. I lost all but one of my friends that day and I was barely able to save her."

"That's the short version I suppose?" Doirya asked with an understanding smile.

"Considering our circumstances," Harry sighed, "the long version would be a bit much, but another time perhaps?"

* * *.

Rivas paced around the bridge trying to ease his mind. The loss of the Kestorans frustrated him. It could have been avoided, but he supposed they had their own mission they were tasked to carry out, subject to its own risks. The terrified screams they heard over the coms still bounced around in his head. His own ship nearly averted disaster not that long ago, thanks to that strange infection that had swept through the crew. He could still recall the sound of the emergency hatch being blown on the Albion's bridge, killing their command crew.

He wasn't too concerned about the creatures outside that were now crawling over the Raptor. Its hide was thick, made of pretty dense materials. However, just to be safe, he had ordered that all the viewport shutters be closed. He walked past Terri and Land, who were chatting at the back of the bridge and stopped at the science console where Lieutenant Plex was diligently monitoring the situation.

"Anything new?" He asked.

Plex glanced up at him. "Not yet. The creatures are crawling all along our hull trying to find a way in."

"Learn anything new about the creatures?" Rivas asked.

"Scans show that they are a silicon based lifeform. Beyond that, without a thorough examination of a living specimen, I can't determine anything else." Lieutenant Plex reported.

"Do you think they might find a way in?" Rivas asked.

"If they possess enough cunning, anything is possible," Lieutenant Plex responded. "Predatory species that attack as aggressively as these creatures can be very clever. It would be wise not to underestimate them."

"I see," Rivas said, drumming his fingers on the edge of the science console. "Jakar, sound general quarters. I want people on their toes. Plex may have a point."

Jakar nodded and the alert lights began to flash on the bridge. Land quickly returned to his post.

Rivas took the com. "Mr. Land, have the ship ready to lift off at a moment's notice, just in case."

"How far? Just off the ground or orbit?" Land asked, shrugging.

"I'll figure that out when the need arises, Ensign," Rivas replied curtly.

* * *

Coyote sat on the top of the Raptor's port nacelle, his legs dangling over the edge, watching the creatures swarm around and chew at the grating around the bussard collectors. He chuckled to himself, watching them work. They were very diligent in their task, which was admirable considering how overly primitive they were.

The creatures were oblivious to him. He had made sure of that shifting his form so that it was just slightly out of phase with reality. He could warn the crew inside the ship, but that wasn't the point. How they reacted was.

He chuckled as he saw the creatures finally wrench a hole in the duranium mesh and started pouring into the nacelle's interior while others tried to widen the hole, making room for more to spill inside.

The creatures swarmed all over the inside of the nacelle, crawling along the interior of the coils, the intense radiation barely slowing them down and the heat of the plasma emitters drawing them towards it. They soon started to swarm towards it, attacking the plasma emitter only to be disintegrated. They began to swarm over the perceived danger quickly, clogging the space between the warp coils.

* * *

Fara's ears twitched as they picked up the sound of an error tone from the master systems display. She walked over and activated it. The warp nacelles were reading a problem with the plasma injectors.

"Damn it! What now?" She growled, running a diagnostic.

The computer reported that there was an obstruction blocking the flow of drive plasma. An alarm sounded as a feedback loop of plasma started backwashing into the core. Fara reacted quickly, purging the drive plasma and shutting down the warp core before there was a catastrophic explosion. The lights flickered as the impulse generators kicked on, providing power for the ship.

"Engineering to bridge, we have a problem," Fara said, trying to get Knackt's attention.

"We can see that," Rivas replied, "why did you kill the main power?"

"We have something clogging the plasma injectors in the warp engines," Fara explained as Knackt finally noticed her, "if I hadn't shut down the core we probably would have gone up in a rather brilliant explosion. I am getting ready to go check it out now."

"Any idea what it is?" Rivas asked.

"It could be anything, Commander," Fara said, miming what tools they needed to Knackt. "Do you really want to take a chance with the whole system, considering what we've put it through lately?"

"Not really Chief," Rivas said, "just keep in touch and let me know if it can be fixed. I would like to get off this rock if it starts to fall apart."

"Well aware of that. I'll let you know what I find. Phoenix out." She looked over to Kanckt, who had already rounded up the tool kit. "Alright, lets go check it out."

"I swear if I have to crawl in that damn conduit again and pull out another varmint that fell into the stream, I am quitting," Knackt complained.

"Well, if it is, I'm sure the Kistorians would appreciate your expertise. We're still a long ways from home buddy." Fara chuckled, "besides, if you didn't want to deal with the mess why did you come on board?"

"You brought me here," The rat reminded her, "I was enjoying the sun and sea and fixing air conditioners and then some people in fancy pajamas dragged me to this."

"You came, didn't you?" Fara said, heading for the exit.

"That's because they said there'd be free food and booze on the trip," Knackt grumbled, following after her.

* * *

Harry and O'mara set up the transporter enhancers. Harry kept an eye on Doirya as they worked while Karna warily watched the airlock doors.

"What do those things do? They look like coat racks." Doirya asked flatly.

"Preparation for the future," Harry said, activating one of the enhancers.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Doirya growled, clearly annoyed.

"It means, I know what you are thinking about doing. I know what I would do in your situation," Harry said flatly, "and I also know that I don't want to go up in a nuclear fireball either. If you think it's necessary to recover and use those things, I want to be able to get back to my ship and I would be willing to offer you a ride as well."

"What should I do," Doirya asked, her voice cracking a little. "Those things out there killed my crew and for all I know they are what's causing the disasters back home! Of course as soon as I can I am going to get those devices and detonate every last one of them and send every last one of those things back to whatever created them!"

Harry was taken aback by the utter conviction of Doirya's statement. It sounded less hyperbole and more factual.

"Are you telling me that those warheads can do that?" Harry said, stopping his work.

"They are specially designed to destroy this entire astral body if need be, yes," Doirya replied. "Through a highly sophisticated chain reaction, they can atomise this entire planatoid in a matter of moments."

"That's astounding," O'mara gasped. She understood enough about nuclear reactions that a quick run of the numbers in her head told her of the immense power.

"You seemed shocked. I take it you didn't bother to really look over Karna's warp ship reactors, did you?" Doirya said with grim amusement. "Kistor cracked the atom a few centuries ago...and mastered it. We had no need for space travel until recently. Perhaps, in a few years, we could even match that ship of yours, or better it."

Harry and O'mara's stood, mouths agape for a moment.

"Well, I have to say I'm impressed, but do you really think blowing up the moon will be the end of your problems?" Harry asked.

"We've already made preparations in relocating our poulaces to higher elevations in order to avoid the tidal shifts."

"Really? And just how many Kistorians are on your home world?" Harry asked.

"Twelve billion." Karna said quietly.

"So, you are going to relocate 12 billion people on your world," Harry said, "and no one will be drowned when the world's oceans go haywire because there is no moon, not to mention the shower of debris that could destroy your world's ecosystem?"

Doirya chewed her lip.

"That's what I thought," Harry snorted. "Things are different out here among the stars. They aren't always what they seem. Just because something seems like a threat, you need to take a step back and look at the situation. I know you have your orders and I understand that, but there is something here, something important. We just are not seeing it."

"We don't have time for this! Everytime one of those quakes happens they are just as bad," Doirya replied. "We don't have time to sit here and argue about what should or shouldn't be done!"

Just then, another quake hit and they braced themselves.

* * *

Knackt and Fara braced themselves as the landing struts took the brunt of the shock and the deck pitched and heaved.

"Geez! That was a big one," Knackt said, seeing the Raptor's power flicker a bit, mainly because it was on the back-up generators. "How long are they planning on staying perched on this rock?"

"As long as they need to be Knackt," Fara said, regaining her footing and heading for the injector chamber. "We've got our own problems."

"Yeah, it's always something with these engines," Knackt said, "one almost could think they're cursed."

"They aren't cursed! They're...eccentric," Fara said, opening the door and stepping inside. The first thing she noticed was she couldn't even see the warp coils through the viewport. "That's weird," she frowned, noticing something seemed to be obscuring the viewports.

"What in the world is that? It looks like...dirt or...I dunno," Knackt said, peering up at it.

Fara checked the read out and it showed that something was blocking the injectors almost completely.

"What in the hell is this stuff," she wondered, noticing that it seemed to be moving and writhing, "it almost looks solid."

"What'd we do? Suck in a bunch of crap when we landed?" Knackt asked.

"What? Moon dust?" Fara chuckled and shook her head. "I doubt it. The bussard collectors would have filtered that out."

She leaned close to the window and took a small mallet out of her pocket. If this problem was some sort of dust contamination, a small tap should prove it. She took the mallet and gave the glass a quick rap. The vibration did cause a change, but not the kind she expected. Suddenly she was staring down a maw filled with what looked like razor sharp teeth and some strange beak. The creature then began to smash against the glass, which started to crack.

Fara barely found her voice, "Knackt...um...we need to...."

"Go? Yeah, I'm leaving now!" Knackt yelped, bolting for the exit.

They barely got through the door when they heard the glass shatter and heavy bodies thudding onto the deck. The computer shrieked a warning about atmospheric pressure as they booked it down the corridor. They heard the doors breach and felt a rush of air. Thankfully, the computer threw up an emergency forcefield after they passed the emitter array.

"Computer! Seal off Deck 3, section 5 through 7 immediately! Authorisation Phoenix Alpha four," Fara gasped as she ran.

"Acknowledged," the computer responded. "Intruder alert, Deck 5, section 8. Security, respond immediately."

"Damn! We didn't stop all of them," Knackt huffed.

"Come on! Let's get to engineering and seal it off before they get around to us!" Fara said.

"Right!" Knackt replied as she bolted past him.

As they ran, they could hear the things chattering and moving behind them. As soon as they got back, they sealed all the doors to engineering. The crew was on duty right now and she knew that aside from the back half of the ship, Deck 3 was mostly a ghost town. Having the doors locked, however, seemed like a good idea, given the situation.

"Engineering, what is going on down there?" Rivas' voice came over the com.

"We're being invaded! These big moon bugs are running amuck all over Deck 3," Fara snapped back.

Rivas paused for a moment. "We'll do what we can. We may have to lift off. It looks like they are trying to just pile in there."

"I have sealed engineering," Fara said, "so whatever you are going to do you had better do it."

"Mr. Land, prepare to lift off," Rivas ordered, "Ms. Lu, patch me through to the Captain. Jakar, you might want to see if you can get down there and work on clearing those things off the ship."

"Gladly sir," Jakar replied, leaving the bridge and calling for a security team.

"Channel open, sir," Terri responded.

"Captain Martinez, it appears we have a bug problem," said Rivas, "somehow the creatures have found a way to get into the vessel. We have them contained for now, but I am taking the ship into orbit so we can clear them out."

"Understood," Harry replied. "I think we are safe down here for now. I have the transporter enhancers set up already, so we'll be ready if we need to beam out. Keep me apprised on your situation."

"We will sir, good luck," Rivas said, motioning to Terri to cut the channel. "Take us up Mr. Land."

"You got it! Up we go," Land said, typing in the commands and activating the thrusters and impulse engines.

The Raptor slowly began to lift off the surface of the moon although it was still crawling with the creatures all over it's hull swarming about it.

Jakar, Sonya Jax and two others approached the forcefield that held back the creatures as they slammed against it.The field held.

"Ugly buggers, ain't they?" Sonya said, checking her phaser rifle, making sure it was fully charged.

"Yeah, they are, and the Commander ordered them cleared," Jakar grunted. "Set rifles to phase variance 1012.64." The others responded, understanding that Jakar wanted them to modulate their shots so they passed through the forcefield. "Computer, as we push the creatures back re-establish force fields to match their movement."

"Acknowledged," the computer chimed.

"Stun only for now," Jakar said, hefting his rifle. "Fire!"

The phasers fired, but as the beams lanced out the creatures burst into flames and started thrashing about. This caused Jakar to pause a moment. It wasn't the effect he was going for, but the other creatures seemed to start to back away.

"Let 'em have it!" He ordered, firing again and igniting even more of the creatures. The ones that caught fire quickly exploded into embers, leaving crunchy, carbonized chunks all over the deck.

* * *

"Fara, what's the status on the engines?" Rivas asked over the com.

"Not good! Both of the plasma injectors are full of those things," Fara replied.

"Well, is there any way to unclog them?" Rivas asked. "We may need the warp engines and the power they provide if we need to break orbit quickly."

"I am well aware of that, but the only way we could clean those things out of there is to start a plasma fire in the engine housings and burn them out." Fara said. "Much like how you'd clear out a Zork infestation on a space liner back home. However, with as rough shape as our engines are in, I wouldn't recommend it."

"Fara, you and I both know what the Captain would order if he was in my position," Rivas said with a touch of resentment.

Fara sighed. "Flooding the nacelles with drive plasma now...."

She cringed, watching her instruments and placing her hand over the nacelle cowling extender controls. It was a risky procedure under any circumstance.

"Let me know when we are in orbit and I'll start the process," she said.

"How soon till we get into orbit Mr. Land?" Rivas asked.

"About two minutes. I would like to remind you that doing this without warp power is going to severely drain our impulse fuel tanks," Land said matter of factly.

"I'm aware," Rivas said, "just get us to orbit."

Land nodded and kept his mind at the task of keeping the Raptor above the moon's surface.

* * *

Harry paced around the maintenance bay, occasionally glancing out the view port at the creatures scurrying around outside and hearing them strike the base's outer shell.

"Are you sure they can't get in here?" He asked Doirya.

"It's reinforced duranium, at least a meter thick," Doirya sighed. "We should be fine."

"So what do we do?" Karna asked.

"We can't do anything 'till daylight. My ship has taken off," Harry said, "so here we sit for now. We may as well get cozy."

"Cozy?" O'mara said.

"Well, we need rest. lf we're safe, we need to wait until the sunlight comes back and drives those...creatures off," Harry said, sitting on a crate. "Anyone got anything to eat?"

"Eat? Are you serious?" Doirya scoffed.

"Rules of survival," Harry shrugged, "we have shelter and plenty of air, the nasties are out there, food and water are all that's left."

Doirya grumbled something under her breath.

"There might be a synthesiser in the break area. I can go check." Karna said brightly.

"Lieutenant, would you mind accompanying her?" Harry asked.

"No, not at all," O'mara said, grabbing her phaser and heading off with Karna.

"How do you do it?" Doirya said after they had left.

"What?" Harry asked as he reclined against the wall.

"You act so relaxed and death is literally a few meters away from us."

"Oh, I'm far from relaxed. I'm just experienced," Harry said, rubbing his hands together. "Out there, in the deeper darkness, this becomes a regular experience. Part of the so-called fun of strange new worlds and seeking new life and new civilisations."

"You can't be serious." Doirya said dismissively.

"Honestly, we were on our way home after getting catapulted halfway across the quadrant due to my own overloading of our engine core to keep us from crashing into a star." Harry chuckled darkly. "All this while my crew and I were under the thrall of some bizarre disease that made us all act like a bunch of lunatics. Don't worry, we were able to get rid of it. We wouldn't be having this conversation if there was even a chance that could happen."

"Much appreciated," Doirya said, looking a bit horrified, "so then our situation is...."

"Oh, it's definitely raising the bar," Harry replied with a faint smile. "There is more going on than either of us is aware of unfortunately." His thoughts returned to Coyote, who was surprisingly not harassing him.

"It sounds like you deal with a lot," Doirya said.

"It's not always that way. It just seems to be a trend lately. Most of the time it's pretty boring." Harry shrugged, noticing she seemed a bit distracted. "So, tell me, what led you to become an astronaut?"

Doirya smiled and ran her hand over her head fur. "It's not that great of a story. I made a career doing it, and was on the verge of retirement when the disasters struck. I lost my mate and my home when the tidal surges began. When they called for volunteers for a possible suicide mission, I jumped on the opportunity."

"I'm sorry," Harry said softly.

"Things happen," Doirya said sadly, looking at the ground. "I have grandchildren. I am doing this for them. I want them to have a future, even if I can't."

Harry thought it over. "I take it the bombs aren't your idea?"

"No, they aren't...but I have my duty and my orders...you can understand that." She gave him a forlorn smile. "I fully intend to carry out both, unless this situation improves."

Harry scoffed. "Do you really think it will work?"

"Let me show you something," Doirya said, getting up. "Follow me."

"One moment." He tapped his combadge. "Martinez to O'mara."

"Yes?" O'mara's replied.

"Captain Doirya is going to show me something," Harry said, "we will be back shortly."

"How far are you g-g-going?" O'mara asked over the speaker.

"Not far," Doirya replied. "It's another section connected to this one, equally well protected as well. We should be safe from the creatures."

"J-j-just be careful," O'mara said sternly.

"We will," Harry assured her.

* * *

"We are now in orbit," Land reported.

"Good," Rivas said, "engineering, this is the bridge. Begin the purge."

"Roger. This might get a bit rough," Fara said, hitting the switch to open the warp nacelle vents and igniting the drive plasma.

Flames leapt from the exposed warp field grills on the Raptor's engines, instantly vaporizing the swarm of creatures in both engines. Everyone on board hung on as the expulsion of plasma shook the ship. Land struggled with the controls, trying to keep the Raptor from losing its orbit. Fara shut down the process and ran a quick diagnostic.

"Looks like we are bug free bridge," she reported, "I am going to send a repair crew down to clear the injectors once Deck 3 is clear."

"Understood. Rivas to Jakar, what's your status?" Rivas said from the bridge.

Jakar and his team stood over the smoldering remains of the last of the creatures. "The intruders have been routed for the most part, however; we are still clearing the deck."

"Any casualties?"

"None as of yet; it was just a hell of a fight," Jakar replied.

"More like shootin' fish in a barrel," Sonya muttered. The other two security officers with them nodded in agreement.

"Good. Get back up here as soon as you can," Riva ordered.

"Understood Commander." Jakar replied before turning to the security team. "Clean up this mess." He ordered.

"With what? A broom an a dustpan?" Sonya said exasperated.

"Follow standard containment procedures," Jakar grunted. "I need to return to the bridge."

"Aye, I suppose so. Come on lads, let's get to cleaning these damn things up," Sonya groused. "Remma, go get some suits."

"Right," Renma--a Catarian male--said, heading down the corridor.

* * *

Doirya led Harry over to a lift, which they boarded and then rode down to a lower level. Lights came on as they descended, illuminating a reinforced subterranean chamber with what looked like sophisticated drilling equipment

"One of the first expeditions to our moon took extensive geological samples," Doirya explained as they stepped out of the lift, "that's how this cavern was made. We bored down as far as we could until we hit not a core, but something else."

She walked over to a rack of samples, turned on a light and pointed to a jar of strange brackish orange fluid.

"The moon appears to be filled with this strange, quasi-organic sludge," she said, "it's almost like a type of oil of some sort. Initial tests showed it to be highly combustible and reactive. Further tests and scans showed practically the entire moon is filled with it. Those bombs up there," she gestured in the approximate direction of where the warheads lay, "are enough to at least minimise some of the damage to Kistor upon detonation."

"It's still a hell of a risk," Harry said, scanning the jar and musing over the strange readings it was presenting. "Thank you for showing me this. I would like my ship to take a look at it."

"Sure," Doirya replied.

The strange orange liquid reminded Harry of something, but he couldn't put a word to it. The ground beneath their feet shook again, only slightly this time, causing the power to flicker.

"We should probably go," he said, heading for the lift.

"No argument here," Doirya replied.

Once they returned to the engineering deck, Harry took the canister and walked over to the transporter enhancers.

"Sir, where are you going?" O'mara asked.

"I have a hunch and I'm getting to the bottom of this mess," Harry replied.

"What d-d-do I do?" O'mara stammered.

"You stay here and make sure they don't do anything...rash," he said, activating the enhancers.

"You m-m-mean the bombs?" O'mara whispered.

Harry nodded. "I leave the situation in your more than capable hands, Lieutenant." He activated the com channel on his suit. "Martinez to Raptor, are you available for transport?"

"We are sir," came the reply.

"Good. One to beam up."

"W-w-when will you be back?" O'mara fretted.

"When I have an answer." Harry said as the transporter beam snatched him away.

"So that's it? He's just gone?" Doriya smirked.

"Y-y-yes, for now," O'mara replied, exasperated..

"Will he be back?" Karna asked.

"Probably," O'mara said. She never knew him to run off so far and not come back. He was just going to the ship. He'd be back soon enough.

"Well, once the sun comes up I will need help getting those bombs in here. I expect some help," Doirya said to Karna.

"I can k-k-keep watch," O'mara suggested.

"Good enough. I suggest we try to get some rest. We move out at first light." Doirya said.

* * *

Harry exited the transporter room just as Fara arrived.

"I'm glad your back Captain," she said, "we've got all kinds of problems with the engines."

Harry nodded and motioned for her to follow him as he headed for a turbolift to get down to sickbay. "Let's hear it."

"That little infestation has got the nacelles all messed up. I have my crews working on cleaning out the mess, but it's going to take some time to get the job properly done," Fara sighed as they stopped at a turbolift.

"Will we have warp drive?" He asked.

"Probably, once we get all the charred creature bits out of there," Fara said as the turbolift arrived and it's doors parted. They stepped inside. Harry allowed her to enter first and then he followed.

"Get those engines back on line as fast as you can, Chief. Is that understood?" Harry scowled. "We may need warp power sooner rather than later if my guess is correct."

"Sure, I'll do what I can, you know that," Fara huffed.

The lift slid to a stop and Fara got out, but she turned back to Harry. "You know, you shouldn't scowl so much. It looks like your eyebrows are going to fall off."

She headed down the corridor towards engineering. Harry's expression softened a little as he watched her go.

"She is quite the fetching wench. I can see why you like her," Coyote noted from behind him.

"Not now," Harry hissed, heading for sickbay, but he heard Coyote fall into step beside him.

"And what do you hope to accomplish with that little jar of goo there Captain? Don't you know that your time is running out?" Coyote said tauntingly.

"I have a hunch, that is all I am pursuing," Harry said, not even glancing over at him.

"And while you are up here dilly dallying more and more Kistorians suffer and die on the world below. I'm sure they appreciate your--"

Coyote was cut off mid-thought as Harry's fist collided with his snout, causing him to stumble back into the wall. He slid down onto his haunches with a look of shock.

"Go away you insufferable son of a bitch and let me work!" Harry snapped.

"You..." Coyote gasped, blood coming out of his nose. He wasn't actually wounded, but it still startled him. "You hit me!"

Harry flexed his fingers with a smug look of satisfaction. He'd never punched a god-like entity before and he was sure that the shocked look from Coyote was more out of the sheer impudence of his action than actual pain.

"You want me to pass your test?" Harry leaned over the collapsed deity. "Let me do it my way and stop bothering me. So, would you kindly SOD. OFF."

Coyote looked hurt, but got back to his feet and straightened his outfit, smoothed his head fur, and wiped the blood from his snout.

"Very well, Captain," he sniffed. "I shall watch from afar."

He made a gesture and disappeared in a flash. Harry turned and entered sickbay where he found Doctor Okan.

"Greetings Captain, how can I help you?" Doctor Okan said.

"I need an analysis of this...stuff," Harry said, holding the jar out to Okan.

"What is it?"

"It's a type of fluid that was found under the crust of the Kistorian moon," Harry replied.

"Looks like some type of oil...hmm...how unusual," Okan said, taking the canister and turning it over. "Let's take it to the lab and see what we can find out. Follow me please."

They went down to the labs below sickbay and Doctor Okan sat the canister in probably the most sophisticated of analysis machines that the Raptor contained. It had been installed prior to the mission to study the supernova and they had been allowed to keep it on the ship afterwards. Harry was grateful for that. The Raptor was severely lacking when it came to decent scientific research equipment.

He waited while Okan set to work.

"Did Ms. O'mara make any findings on this?" The doctor asked.

"I didn't really give her the chance," Harry said. "My gut tells me we need an answer hours ago. I left her down there to make sure the Kistorian's don't blow up their moon."

"So you left her with the easy job I see," Okan said, firing up the equipment.

"Doctor, I am not in the mood," Harry growled.

"You rarely are when you bring me a problem," Okan muttered, starting to run some scans on the materials. "This will take some time. You might want to get comfortable."

"Not really feeling too relaxed. Our overseer paid me a visit and I decked him out of frustration," Harry relented.

"You are still here breathing," Okan noted.

"I think only for the sheer fact that I did it and he wasn't expecting it." Harry shrugged, "might be the only reason why I'm still here. That, and I sincerely doubt I did hurt him, but damn did it feel good."

After about an hour, on which they spent the time idly chatting, the analysis started to produce data and they began to pour over it. Harry was glad that Coyote hadn't bothered to return or start harassing him again, but he was sure it wasn't the end of it.

"What is very strange is this material is almost organic. It's almost like a type of petroleum, given how much carbon is in it, but that makes no sense due to the moon's overall geological make up. Their moon is primarily silicon," Doctor Okan said, looking over it.

Harry looked at the readout too. "Have our science teams bothered to scan the moon at all since we've been down there?"

"Yes. They have, strangely enough, readings indicating that there is quite a significant amount of some sort of fluid inside the moon. It only goes down a few miles to whatever the core is, which we're still unsure of as to composition. It just keeps shifting."

"Shifting?"

"The cause of your earthquakes," Doctor Okan replied.

"And we can't get a fix on it," Harry said deep in thought. "Doctor...I have a really crazy idea I want to bounce off of you. It's something that's been nagging at me since we got here, something I remember from a long time ago."

"What's that sir?"

"When I was younger, my mother raised Kukroos. She'd sell them. I used to like to try to watch the eggs hatch when the time came, so I'd check on them daily." Harry mused. "I know this sounds crazy, but what if that moon...is an egg and that thing is alive? What if those strange bug things are some sort of...defense system?"

"That's a fascinating theory, sir," Doctor Okan said, "might I add something?"

"What is that?"

"If it is a gargantuan egg, and something is starting to hatch, I would look for cracks, and more of this," he held up the jar of goo. "Because, if it is an amniotic fluid of sorts, it would be present at any ruptures in the surface."

"The sun will be up in a few hours and it will be safe to go down," said Harry. "Then we go looking for those cracks."

* * *

Five Hours Later

O'mara, Karna and Doirya went out as planned and retrieved the warheads. O'mara wasn't too thrilled, but assisted anyway. The three of them were able to move them into the base unhindered thanks to the light that drove the creatures away. Once inside, Doirya had the devices moved down to the drill level and connected to the base computer.

As they worked several more tremors hit, causing the whole facility to shake under their feet.

* * *

Harry and Jakar walked along the moon's surface in environmental suits.

"Sir, what exactly are we looking for?" Jakar asked.

"A crack," Harry said offhandedly, looking at his tricorder. "There was some evidence of severe tectonic upheaval in this area. I want to take a look at it."

"As you wish sir, but it seems like a waste of time," Jakar grumbled.

"It's not a waste of time. I am looking for answers." Harry said patiently, looking up and spotting a fissure. He quickly stowed his tricorder and swapped it for a light. "Over there," he said, bounding towards it. Jakar followed behind him.

One they arrived, he noticed his light was reflecting off the crystalline features of hundreds of the bug creatures as they lurked in the darkness of the fissure. All about the crevasse was the strange webbing. None of the bugs dared to move out into the sunlight. When they tried, it burned them.

"Don't get too close," Harry admonished, looking at the ground. "They don't like the sunlight...it burns them like the phaser does. They should leave us alone."

Jakar glared and kept his weapon aimed at the fissure.

Harry found what he was looking for a few moments later: the strange substance was scattered all over the area around the fissure.

"I think whatever is going on here, it's all connected," he said as he scooped up the substance, "those beasties over there and this stuff too. This moon isn't just a moon." Harry grinned. "It's alive, and more then that, it's a new life just waiting to be born."

"What about Kistor?" Jakar asked.

"I am not sure," Harry admitted. "I have a hunch it may work out in the end, but we won't know until it happens. I need to get back to the moon base."

* * *

"Are you insane?" Doirya asked, clearly startled.

"No, I'm not, but all the evidence points towards this moon being alive." Harry said.

Doirya laughed, but was not in a really amused manner. "Captain, this...thing, if that's what it is, has killed untold numbers of our people and wreaked deviation upon our world. Baby or not, I am going to complete my mission. We can't let this go on."

The ground quaked again and they all braced themselves.

"It's a new lifeform," said Harry with a note of pleading, "something neither your people or mine have ever seen before! Part of our mission is to seek out new life and I am not going to condemn it. It could be the last of its kind for all we know."

"You can examine what's left after it's destroyed," Doirya hissed.

"You don't even know if it will work! You could cause more devastation with that device than you could possibly imagine!" Harry snapped.

"I have my orders!" Doirya shouted stubbornly.

"It's an infant, a baby, and you just want to murder it before it even has a chance?" Harry growled, trying to restrain his anger at the Kistorian.

Doirya said nothing and completed the final connections to set up the detonation of the atomic device.

"Are you finished?" She glared, slamming the access panel shut.

"Fine," Harry relented, "do what you will, but I'll have no part in it. You have made up your mind, regardless of what I say. We'll provide passage off the moon aboard my ship, but I implore you to change your mind. Lieutenant, Ms. Karna, let's return to the Raptor."

"I want to stay," Karna said softly.

"Me too sir," said O'mara.

Harry looked at her questioningly. "Are you sure Lieutenant?"

"N-n-no...but I think I should," O'mara replied as a few feathers molted off her and drifted to the ground.

Harry smiled and nodded. "Very well. Keep an open com channel." He headed for the transporter enhancers. "I suppose it isn't my place anyway. I've said my peace, and it will be noted in the log. Martinez to Raptor...one to beam up."

With that, he disappeared as the transporter beam pulled him away.

"You should have gone with him," Doirya said as she activated the countdown. "I am staying here 'till this goes off. That was the plan and I am going to see it through."

"Were those your orders?" Karna asked.

"No," Doirya sighed, "I lost my husband and my youngest son to this thing. I have no desire to return to whatever may happen after this goes off."

"I'm sorry for your loss," O'mara said gently, "but are you totally sure this is what needs to happen?"

"Are you married? You got children?" Doirya asked.

O'mara shook her head, "N-n-no."

"Then you have no idea what I went through." Doirya chuckled bitterly and hung her head. "You are still just a child. And you, Karna, I know you just started a family. Don't you want a future for your offspring?"

"I do but," Karna hesitated before continuing, "even I am beginning to doubt that this is the right course of action."

"Why?" Doirya snarled.

"It...just doesn't feel right," Karna mumbled, wringing her hands.

"You believe that nonsense he was spouting?" Doirya scoffed.

"It's not nonsense!" O'mara snapped, startling the other two. "I've known Commander Martinez for some time and he doesn't just plunge into risky notions!"

"It's preposterous," Doirya said flatly.

"It's not impossible though," O'mara replied. "The Confederation has encountered many spaceborne organisms. This one is just outside of our knowledge. One like this is something new and undiscovered. We should study it, understand it. Both our peoples could learn so much!"

"Not after the cost I and my world have paid," Doirya snapped furiously.

"Look, all we have tried to do i-i-is help you and-and all you have d-d-done has fight us ever s-s-step of the way and n-n-now the one man who can help you has l-l-left!" O'mara shouted. "Would you p-p-please--"

"Well that's his prerogative now isn't it?" Doirya barked, cutting her off. "Why don't you run along after him and let me do my job you--"

"You WILL let me finish!" O'mara roared, clenching her feathered talons for the first time since her outburst with Harry while infected with the Polywater Virus.

Doirya looked genuinely startled. O'mara glanced at the counter and then at the abort button on the device as it slowly counted down.

She took a deep breath and said, "I know I am just an outsider and I can't possibly understand what you have gone through, but you are letting your pain blind you to the bigger picture. I do know this, if you murder this innocent creature, whatever it is, what does that make you? It's an ignorant act. This being...it doesn't know what it's doing. It's probably just going off instinct. Whatever put it here probably didn't mean to cause so much harm. It's just a lifeform trying to survive, no different than any other form of life out here or on your planet. The galaxy is a big, wondrous place and believe me there are a lot worse things out there. For all you know, it's very existence could be what triggered the evolution of your people. Now you want to kill it and yourself in one glorious fireball of uncertainty? Well..that's just your prerogative."

Doirya's resolve seemed to crack a bit and she backed up, leaning against the control panel.

"I think we should take the chance and see what happens." Karna spoke up, drawing their attention. "The bomb is very risky, you know it, I know it. The fallout alone could cause untold ecological damage to our world. I don't want my son growing up in a devastated, nuclear wasteland of what was," she spoke softly as she walked carefully over to Doirya and placed her hand on her shoulder. "What do we have to lose?"

Doirya said nothing. She took a few deep breaths, face scrunched in thought, eyes fixed on the floor.

"It's madness," she whispered more to herself than the other two, "the repercussions for not carrying out the mission...we could be tried...imprisoned...executed for our failure!"

"If there's no one left, who is going to carry it out?" Karna said with a motherly smile.

The ground quaked again, more severely, and the base's power began to fail. However, this time the tremors were steady and went on for way longer before they ebbed away. Through the viewports in the bay they could see parts of the crust starting to collapse nearby.

"It's starting," O'mara muttered, "we probably should get going. Now or never Doirya."

Doirya cursed under her breath. Shaking her head, she walked over to the device and shut it off. O'mara let out a sigh of relief, seeing there was only 59 seconds left on the timer.

"If you are wrong...." Doirya hissed at the others.

Just then there was a buzz of transporter energy behind them from the pattern enhancers and Harry materialised. "All of you, get over here now!" He yelled.

They all scrambled between the emitters as another massive quake jolted the structure, however; this time it was more than the base could bear. It collapsed around them as they dematerialised.

* * *

Harry led the three of them to the mess hall where the viewport shutters were open. The Raptor had moved far enough away that Kistor's moon could be seen in full view. Fissures appeared along the moon's surface and it started to break apart.

"We analyzed the substance you found below the moon's surface," he explained to Doirya and Karna. "With the right catalyst it will cause the surface chunks to, for lack of a better word, disintegrate."

They watched as something began to emerge from the disintegrating moon as it collapsed into a haze of galactic dust.

"If you had used that atomic device, it would have done more harm than good," he said, handing her a data pad that was already translated into Kistor so they could read it.

Doirya looked at the data in amazement. He was right. If anything, the nuclear reaction would have been devastating.

"Why'd it take you so long to get this information?" She demanded.

"If you want to do something right, you have to give it some time," Harry replied, seeing a winged form of a giant luminescent being resembling some sort of alien butterfly unfurling itself. Its size was unfathomable. It stretched its wings and began to drift slowly off into the cosmos.

"Why did it take so long for you to figure this out?" Doirya asked, her eyes locked on the creature in awe as it drifted slowly away into the stars.

"Because we wanted to be certain we were right," Harry admitted in hushed tones. "Now, take a long good look, because you are probably not going to see anything like that ever again."

"Everyone! Look!" Karna said, pointing to something, directing their gaze to it.

As the interstellar dust began to drift away, something caught a glint of light from Kistor's sun. Where the moon had been, there now floated another moon. It was smaller, however; it was smooth and shiny unlike its predecessor. Its surface gleamed brightly, reflecting the sunlight.

Harry heard enthusiastic clapping behind him. Inwardly he groaned as he turned and saw Coyote sitting on the bar.

"Oh very Good Captain! You passed your little test with flying colors!"

Harry held up his hand to silence the others, who seemed shocked and confused as he approached the intruder.

"I am glad to hear that. Sorry about the nose," Harry said.

Coyote took his gloves off and stowed them in his pocket, smirking as he hopped off the bar.

"Think nothing of it, Captain." He then looked over to O'mara. "Well done to you as well, fair maiden. If not for you...well...there'd be a lot to answer for."

O'mara blushed under her feathers, but didn't say anything.

"So, if we passed your little test, what was it we were supposed to do? If you are inclined to share," Harry inquired.

"Exactly what you did. The fate of that creature was never for you to decide," Coyote grinned. "It was up to them." He pointed at Doiyra and Karna. "It was their decision to save their world or doom it. All you had to do was guide them to making the decision one way or the other."

"I see," Harry said.

"You really do like messing with people don't you?" Coyote said, grinning at Harry. "Using your words to get people to do things they wouldn't imagine themselves doing? Planting seeds of doubt or encouragement and waiting for them to sprout at just the right time. Very good Captain, very good indeed. We may have more in common than you know. So, with that being said, you may all continue your little trek through the stars without my interference...for the most part."

"What do you mean by that?" Harry frowned.

Coyote smirked. "Oh, we will meet again Captain, but for now, our time is up." He took a dramatic bow. "Keep your nose clean, wash behind your ears, and remember...I will always be watching." He smiled sinisterly before disappearing in a flash of light.

* * *

Captains Log: Stardate 34804.20

It's been nearly a week, but a convoy of ships has arrived from Confederation space full of supplies, aid, and diplomats to negotiate Kistor's possible membership. In the meantime, the Raptor and her crew have done what they can to help. My people are tired, but willing to aid the Kistorians, yet very relieved to have backup. The final stages of the creature's hatching had caused no further damage to the world and despite a lot of devastation along the coastal lines that had mostly been evacuated, they would recover in time with our help.

The entity known as Coyote has done as promised and has not bothered us any further. Personally, I hope it stays that way, but I know that probably isn't the last we'll see of him. I suppose I'll deal with it when the time comes.

We are preparing to get underway, with the convoy came supplies for repairs. We can at least obtain warp six again, making the return trip home only a matter of days. I think we are all looking forward to getting back to a normal routine after all we've been through.

He signed the duty log and handed the datapad to Terri Lu, who went to transmit it to fleet headquarters.

"I don't know about the rest of you," Harry sighed, "but I am looking forward to getting back to the normal grind."

"I agree, Captain," Rivas said. "I think we've had enough adventure to last us a good while."

"Personally," Land spoke up, "convoy duty is looking really good right about now."

"I'm sure you will also return to complaining about it soon enough when we do," Jakar grunted.

"Feh!" Fara huffed, glaring at her readouts and wondering why the warp field and plasma injector system was showing some strange anomalous readings again. "At least you don't have to clean up the mess afterwards. Captain, I recommend we put in for some serious work when we get back."

"Is it anything major?" Harry asked.

"It could be," she said, watching the readings suddenly level out and scowling. "Something is not quite right with my engines and I don't like it! We have been through an awful lot of wear and tear lately."

"I trust you'll get it figured out," Harry said confidently

Fara shrugged. "I'll be in engineering if anyone needs me." She logged out of her terminal and left the bridge.

"Mr. Land, set a course for home." Harry ordered, "best possible speed."

"Aye sir," Land said, "course set and laid in."

"Engage."

The End

Deep inside the bowels of the ship, on the primary starboard plasma conduit, the dark and cramped area was lit up as superheated plasma started to leak out of a pin hole. However, a swarm of repair nanites quickly patched it. The leak was repaired and the light extinguished.

A few minutes passed and it happened again, although the hole was slightly bigger this time, if only by a few microns. Again, the repair systems responded to the damage.

The computer did as it always did and reported the anomaly in the system, as it had been doing for months.

This time the repair held for longer, but then the process repeated again, repeated itself, growing slightly larger again....

if only a tiny nearly immeasurable amount....

each and every time