Runner Up 3 20501.26

Dark Night - Lt[JG] Aaron Dayune

© 2005 by Federation Space and the author pen named Aaron Dayune

"Course correction, now bearing 185."

"Good work Samantha, keep it steady now... we are almost ready to begin covert docking," Marcus looked to the young medic wearing a large smile upon his face.

"Are you going to tell me about this mission yet? I am curious to know why a medical staff member would be required to go on a black-op..."

"I will tell you in due time. Right now, it's not important for the mission: plus if we get caught now, it's better you know little than know more."

The runabout glided towards the station, it's engines running on minimal power as it's mission, and that of its occupants, dictated that there be no trace of incursion onto the facility.

Looming ahead was the Ominous classed Star Base, it's outline looked to be much like a squid: long and sleek, but perhaps without the appendages coming out the bottom. The difference between this Star Base and the many others that the Federation used, was that this one was a mobile platform; capable of moving system to system on sublight engines or even warp power.

"I've never seen this before," Samantha stared out the viewport, catching only a piece of the huge station.

"And I doubt you ever will after today," Marcus chimed in, the lighting of the consoles reflecting on his face.

"Why is that?" she asked, a most inquisitive look fell upon her face.

He sighed, still smiling as he inputed information into the runabout's systems,

"See, sometimes Samantha, with a huge organization like Star Fleet... sometimes you have to think of it as a living organism. It has a head, a torso, two arms, and two legs, and each of these parts work with the others: if you want to walk somewhere, the head sends signals of where to go, the torso twists with the arms to create forward momentum and keep stability, while the legs move one after the other."

"Okay, and what does that have to do with why I'll never see the specifications for this Star Base in official records?" she still looked confused as ever, and Marcus wasn't sure that his answer would satisfy her.

"Because, sometimes, not everything works so harmoniously. Communication deteriorates, signals get lost in the shuffle, and sometimes you have an appendage that starts working on it's own, not listening to the other parts."

"So, like a rouge arm?"

"Yeah, sort of. While one hand is doing something to benefit the whole body, the other hand is secretly doing something else that it only thinks will benefit the whole."

Silence soon slid it's serpentine form into the air surrounding the two operatives. Samantha had no idea what was going on: only that she volunteered for this operation because she thought it was not only her duty, but that it would be an honor to serve the Federation. But now she realized, that she was going up against the same institution which had borne this operation: it was Star Fleet against Star Fleet. What made it even more confusing, and slightly eerie for her, was that she wasn't sure which side were the good guys, and who were the Rouge agents.

"Okay, initialize the active camouflage armor," he said.

"Active camouflage systems are now running," Samantha looked over at another bright console with numbers running across an outline of the runabout, "operating within standard parameters."

"Good, we are almost ready to board... here comes the moment of truth," Marcus paused, verifying several displays before giving his final order, "Take the cloaking device offline."

"Alright," her well-trained cream colored hands swirled in front of her, pushing the multi-colored display that lay before her, "cloaking device offline."

Still, she wasn't sure, and now it was starting to bother her. Before, Samantha had regaled the idea of doing a covert mission. And perhaps, she was too enthusiastic, letting her imagination of adventure and intrigue get the better of her. The cloaking device was Romulan, granted to Star Fleet Security to use in this operation alone, and to be returned to them upon successful completion of this mission. The key word was successful completion, and doubt was now settling on the young medics mind.

"Well, now we wait. Go put on your disguise, and I will finish getting ready myself. We've only got another," he peered at the chronometer, "15 minutes before we are fully docked and prepared for the covert insertion."

Samantha nodded to the raven haired man as she rose from her seat, moving to the back of the runabout where her scientist disguise awaited her.

• * * * * * * * * * * *

Most of the time, transporter beams were accompanied by a shimmering light: a side effect of the energy used to transport objects or persons. But with the runabout's upgrades, both Samantha and Marcus seemingly just materialized out of nowhere on the station.

"Okay, got your PADD?" Marcus glanced at her, his uniform was a military fatigue: she assumed used by the Marines... but she had never seen those particular garbs used by any Marine she had ever known.

"Ah, yeah... right here," she produced the data pad, inserting a card into the side of it. A map soon emerged on the screen, and she huddled beside the Lieutenant Commander, "can you see commander?"

Marcus' face turned suddenly serious while he pulled her to the side of the corridor as another scientist approached; his voice low,

"See, I am a Major. You have to call me Major. If anyone else hears you call me commander, we are done for. Got that?"

"Yes... sorry," Samantha was looking at the floor as the other scientist walked by. The scene no doubt looked like a Marine Officer belittling one of the scientists, something she was briefed on, and apparently happened often on this station.

"Alright," he paused a moment, making sure that the threat of discovery had passed, "sorry Samantha, but please try to remember where we are..." with that, he turned and started marching down the corridor, having obviously seen the route they needed to take from her PADD.

Quickly, she followed in behind Marcus, having to add an extra step or two to keep up with his strides. The corridor's walls were white, and glossy, whereas the deck surface was also glossy but black: and it reflected the image of her near perfectly. Very suddenly, Samantha became subconscious of the fact that she was wearing a skirt.

Looking up and around, to take her mind off of the obvious, she noticed that some of the walls changed into windows as they moved down the hallway. Most of the windows gave sight to test chambers: filled with new phaser weaponry that was being tested on different materials or even medical facilities where samples of skin were being treated with new healing substances. As they approached a security checkpoint, her nerves started to fray.

"Identification badge please Major," the Marine looked Marcus up and down, but being only an enlisted Corporal, he didn't ask any more questions than he had to of him.

"Thank you sir," the Marine moved aside, allowing Marcus access to the corridor ahead.

Then the Marine looked at her, staring for a few moments at her well defined face and perhaps making a note of how much makeup she had put on. Then, his eyes drifted downwards to her chest, pausing only for a short minute until he looked down at her shoes.

Samantha closed her legs tightly together as she realized that the man wasn't looking at her shoes, which elicited a laugh from him and a scowl from her.

"Identification badge," he held out his hand. Still polite as ever, she grabbed the badge from her chest pocket and neatly placed it in his hand.

"I haven't seen you before on the base. What section do you work in?" he asked.

"Biological and Genetic Research and Testing." The answer was brief, as Marcus informed her it should be.

"A bio-tech hey?" he was still holding the badge which he now held raised up to her face as he compared the picture to her, "How come I haven't ever seen you come through this way before."

Samantha stuttered, her mind drawing blank. She hadn't really been prepared for the situation, and now realized that his suspicion was rising,

"Umm, well, see..." she started before Marcus' hand came into view, ripping the badge from the Corporal's hand and placing it back in her pocket.

"You are wasting my time Corporal, and if you waste anymore of it, I'll remind you that PFC's don't get a cushy job guarding security entrances," his voice was commanding and threatening all at once. It's deep tone resonated in her ears as the guard quickly stepped away, "Now does she have security clearance or not?"

"Yes sir, she does. Sorry sir," the man now shied away, but gave a harsh look to Samantha as she stepped forward and, with Marcus, started down the new corridor.

Once well away from the checkpoint, Marcus slowed down and looked at her as he kept walking,

"That was close," he gave her an encouraging smile.

"Yes... very," she managed a weak smile back to him, doubt entrenched in her mind.

• * * * * *

"So, now that we have a moment to talk, perhaps you can tell me a little bit more about this mission," Samantha stared hard at Marcus as he dragged a body towards the back of the storage room.

The body was a possession Marcus had acquired after successfully navigating a second security checkpoint. After walking away from the checkpoint, and down a passageway, they came upon some unknown male. Apparently, the Marine, no longer an unknown male, happened to have been one of Marcus' friends in the Academy, and upon seeing him, immediately recognized him and approached. Samantha was sure of the man's naivety, as he should have remembered that it was a "secured" station, and only Marine personnel were allowed aboard, save for the civilian scientists.

After talking for a few minutes, and making sure the coast was cleared, Marcus politely planted one of his fists into his old friend's soloplex, and then as his friend collapsed, brought his knee up to connect with the man's chin: knocking him unconscious. Immediately after, Samantha helped drag the body to the storage room, where she administered a long-term sedative, and thus, why they were in the room now.

"Well," he strained as he lifted the other man behind some boxes, "obviously, it's a mobile research facility, operated by the Marine Corp. Now, not everyone knows about this station, it's only the higher echelons of the Marine bureaucracy that know about it aside for the personnel working it."

"So why would you need the expertise of someone like myself, who isn't trained in these covert operations, to assist you?"

"Again, it's a research facility, hence research is done here. And it's not just limited to finding a cure for the Thylolian Flu or creating more stable warp technology," he paused as he sat on a box, wiping the sweat from his brow with the sleeve of his uniform, "They are building new kinds of weapons, armor and other sorts of devices, legal and illegal."

"So they are making bio-genetic weapons?" Samantha stopped and put her hand up to her mouth.

"Yes, that's just one of the fields they are working on," Marcus stood and started to pace a bit, "Right after the Borg Invasion, Star Fleet gave the nod for research of new weaponry. When we started losing badly, many of the higher ranking officials thought it better to follow the Armageddon Directive to the rule. So, since the Borg are partially based on previous life-forms they have assimilated, Biological weapons became reality once again. They figured that if we were to lose, then we would take the Borg with us."

"A virus?"

"Sort of, it's more like an organism that feeds off of genetic material, slowly decomposing anything protein based. Basically, it would eat the flesh right off the metal-alloys of the Borg, or the bones of Terrans, or any other race. But that's only one of the things they've created here..."

Samantha looked to him, genuine concern in her eyes, for the whole creation of such weapons was morally and ethically wrong from anything she had ever been taught.

"What else have they made?" she asked.

"Bio-ethiric weaponry is another thing. Just imagine a phaser. Now, instead of setting it to stun or kill, instead you set it for heart, or liver."

"How would you do that without destroying the tissue around it?"

"That's what a bio-ethiric weapon does in theory. It targets only the tissue that it has been set for. So, if you set it for heart tissue, it will only destroy heart tissue, which makes it a great assassination weapon..."

"Why kill someone out right and make them a martyr when you can make it seem like they just had a heart attack..." she broke into Marcus' statement, her eyes wide.

"Exactly. Not only that, but what if you didn't have to use a handheld weapon at all? What if you could just kill with a thought?"

"That's impossible, Federation scientists have been working on psionic related research since the discovery of telepathy."

"Improbable, not impossible. If one's mind is powerful enough, think of the synaptic damage that someone with powerful telepathic skills could do to another."

"They could kill someone and it would look like they went into a coma, or had a stroke."

Marcus walked up to her, and placed his hands on her shoulders. She was starting to get it now, what the research station was all about, why he needed her to come along. He needed her to bring back a detailed report on what they were doing here, and not from some Security Officer's eyes, but from a medical professional: someone who had great experience in biological research... and more particularly, brain-related research having to do with telepathy.

Samantha stood there for five long minutes, thinking about all the possibilities, of the illegality and moral ethical standards that were being broken just by doing research in these fields. It was astounding that someone would order this, that the human race would stoop so low again to use bio-chemical and parasitic warfare to further itself. She could understand the rationality behind it, when they were losing the war against the Borg, when things seemed hopeless; but now, when things were starting to get better... why would they continue the research?

"We need to get going, our target should be on the move now, and we need to capture it en route," Marcus was serious again, and Samantha had forgotten that he still had his hands clasped upon her shoulders.

Samantha pulled away from him, the conspiracy theories starting to get to her. Why should she trust him? What if he was the rouge agent and this facility was sanctioned?

"No more cover stories, no more lies, I just want the truth Marcus. What is our target?" Her eyes turned to a steely gaze, and her face elated the feelings of the horror, the sheer disillusionment of these dangerous back-room games.

Marcus sighed, knowing that if he didn't tell her the truth, that it could jeopardize the mission.

"Our target is their lead test subject for psionic and telepathic related research. She's a Beatzoid, with abilities that don't even start to rate on the Hammond's test. We need to bring her back with us before they make any further breakthroughs."

"Breakthroughs?"

"A long, long time ago, before Vulcans became the logical beings that we know of today, they were a destructive race, much like Terrans. The difference was, Vulcans have always had strong telepathic abilities. They even created psionic weapons that, when their telepathic powers were focused, could kill."

"Yes, so I have heard. Supposedly there is still such a weapon, an artifact kept secret by Vulcan."

"Now, let's take it one step further. Don't just create the weapon... but find out why some species' have telepathic powers, re-create that, and create an army with such abilities and weapons."

Samantha shook her head,

"This all seems a little far fetched."

"Perhaps," Marcus held up his hand, "but it's a possibility for the future."

"And what is going to happen when we return the Betazoid to your superiors? Are the tests going to continue, but on the other side of the fence?" This time, her tone was seething and sarcastic.

"Honestly I don't know Samantha. I would assume they would run some tests to make sure she was okay, and return her to her family."

"I am really starting to dislike all of this."

"Are you backing out then?" Marcus was serious but sincere, and seemed almost worried about her.

"No... but I have questions that will need answering when we get back. Let's go, I am sure we've wasted a lot of time."

• * * * * * * * * * *

The corridors were empty, and eerily so. What had been a bustling research facility, filled with scientists coming and going, now was a ghost station; even the guards that often patrolled were no where to be seen.

"Are you sure we are in the right place?" Samantha looked over to Marcus, who's face didn't share any of her concern.

"Yes, this is the higher level part of the facility, Majors and up only. That's why there seems to be no guards, but in reality, every officer that we have passed in the hallway as done the double-take. We need to be really careful now." Again, there was no real concern in his voice, but the way he spoke, it made it seem as if the station knew what was going on.

"There," he said as he grabbed her by the arm, nearly making her squeal. The pair dodged to the left at an intersection of corridors. Marcus peaked around the corner for a moment before ducking back and motioning for Samantha to take a look.

"She's the one in the middle," Marcus spoke as she looked down the hall. Guarded by two other officers, ranked as Majors, the Betaziod woman was tall and beautiful despite the fact that she looked tired.

"That's our target, and if Intelligence was correct, they will have to walk down to this junction and turn left; which means their backs will be facing us, and we can sneak up behind them," he looked to Samantha who was now finished looking at the group, "Do you remember how to neutralize?"

"Yes, but I think I will just use my hypospray instead... just to be safe..."

• * * * * *

"Or perhaps not at all!" A voice boomed from the corridor the pair of operatives just came from, and Samantha was terrified; even Marcus swore.

The large man, dressed definitely in non-Star Fleet sanctioned fatigue, clapped his hands as he marched down the hallway with his contingent of men.

"It's been a long time Aegis..."

"Aegis?" the question was more rhetorical than anything, an echo Samantha subliminally verbalized.

Marcus crouched down slightly into his advanced fighting stance, but soon enough, both he and Sam were surrounded by Marines. With a four-way intersection, and with at least twenty troops to a corridor, there could have been over one-hundred Marines ready to take them down.

"Yes, Aegis. He has many names don't you Marcus? Or is that Jerry? Perhaps William?" the man stepped forward, his hair an reddish blond color. Samantha soon realized the immensity of the man when he doffed his overcoat, but noted that he must have participated in some genetic modifications to reach his size.

"Did you think that you could come into our highly secured station and not get noticed? With all of the sensors and other surveillance equipment?"

Aegis, or Marcus, or whoever he was didn't speak, and neither did Samantha. Instead there was a long silence as the man she had come to know as Marcus exchanged glances with the hulking Goliath that stood before her. It became apparent to her that even the personnel managing the facility could have become test subjects themselves: the overzealous management, volunteering for the mutations that would grow them unimaginable muscles and strength.

"You are quite a monster," she breathed, making the man laugh a terrible, guttural laugh.

"Yes, yes I am my dear. Interesting that you have someone working with you Aegis. Usually you are more of a solo operative..."

"She knows nothing," Marcus finally spoke up, "leave her be, she doesn't know anything."

Another man emerged from the crowd wearing a dark outfit and large black goggles that covered his eyes. He was short, much shorter than the other larger man, and scrawny, like an insect with long arms.

"Methinks he doth protest too much,"

Goliath as Samantha now decided to name him started laughing again, his gazed fixed upon her body in a way that made her flesh crawl with a sense of defilement. But a sudden epiphany soon came over Samantha, and she reached her hand into the lab coat that was a part of the disguise she choose. She could feel the two isolinear tags with her fingers: to be used for emergencies only, they could facilitate their transport back to the runabout, even if the station's shields were raised as the runabout was beneath the defense.

"It doesn't matter," Goliath finished looking at her and waved at one of the officers across from him. The Betazoid woman stepped forward, approaching the brutish looking man, "She can tell if his companion knows anything," a foolish grin played across the man's ugly face. Samantha could feel herself wretch slightly, the acidic taste reaching her mouth before she managed to swallow it back down.

"Oh!" the scrawny man squealed, and Samantha had come up with a name for him too; Mantis. "Can I have my fun first?"

Marcus grunted, looking around hastily. But there was no escape, there were far too many men to take out before getting mauled or killed by phaser blast.

"Of course you can have the girl... after I have what I want," he smiled again, and she looked away so as not to be repulsed as previously.

"Take him to Sector F, run some tests on him, and then prepare him for an interrogation."

Two men moved from the crowd and approached Marcus. Unmoving, Marcus stayed in his crouched position, waiting for them to get closer. One of the men finally reached out, trying to grab the operative by the arm. His movement was quick and efficient, moving with the momentum of his enemy rather than working against it. Marcus side stepped the lunge and pushed the soldier into the wall, grabbing his arm at the same time and twisting it with malicious force. The Marine fell to the ground in pain, his arm no doubt pulled out of socket, with perhaps a few tendons torn. While this happened, the other Marine, seeing his chance, wrapped his arm around Marcus' throat. Immediately, Marcus leaned forward, grasping at the man who was now on his back: His hand reached back, grabbing the man by the back of his neck, and leaned forward only slightly more, tossing the man against the wall.

"Impressive, good to see that you haven't lost your touch. But what happens when she is endanger?"

The words were spoken and then the world seemed to become a blur for a few moments. Samantha could see images before her, save for a sudden burst of movement beside her in her peripheral vision. By the time she wanted to react, she realized there was knife-like object to her throat. Marcus shook his head, and looked over, apparently assaulted by the same force before his eyes went wide,

"Don't hurt her!"

Goliath laughed as did the Mantis; she realized it was his form that was tucked neatly behind her frame, holding the sharp chunk of metal. With hypospray still in hand, she brought her free left hand up to hold the knife where it was while she slammed the hypospray into the insect's body. A gurgle came from his mouth as the sedative took hold, and Samantha desperately held the knife from her throat as he fell to the ground.

Thankfully, Marcus rushed up and removed the blade, simultaneously grabbing the isolinear chips from her lab coat. Quickly, he placed one on Samantha as he kissed her, which felt odd to her in a moment of danger. Then he turned and threw the tag like a dagger onto the Betazoid.

"Don't look back," he said as he pressed a small button hidden in on his uniform.

"No wait, Marcus..." were the only words Samantha could say before she found herself aboard the runabout, the Betazoid beside her.

• * * * * *

"So this is your final report?" the gray haired Admiral was seating in the middle of the large desk, with two Captains to on each side of him writing notes or observing Samantha as she stood in a small rectangular box.

"Yes sir. All the information that was requested of me is contained in that correspondence sir." Despite the fact that she felt like she was being court marshaled (as she had been told it was only an 'inquiry') she held her head high, not allowing the Captain's Board to see how broken she was inside.

The Admiral passed the PADD down to his left as one of the other Captains started looking at it, no doubt reading it. The aging man sighed and rubbed ridge of his nose that sat between his eyes.

"Well, this wasn't a complete failure of mission parameters. The target was recovered and is now in our custody."

"About that..." she started before being cut off.

"If I were you I wouldn't speak for the moment Lieutenant Junior Grade Samantha Redekop. We are still trying to determine the success rate, which could be a factor for your career review."

She closed her mouth, finding that the more she spoke, the more trouble she had managed to get into after returning to Star Fleet.

"So, instead of a career review, the board is prepared to make a compromise."

"And that is sir?" she looked honestly at the men and one woman before her.

"We are prepared to fully disregard any of the negative consequences that occurred on this mission," the Admiral looked to each side, gaining nods from all four of the other members, "if you agree to another mission."

Samantha's face betrayed her, an inquisitive look begot her otherwise emotionless face. She realized that if she were to decline, that she would probably be given an honorable discharge: which wouldn't be so bad, as she could become a civilian doctor. But something gnawed at her insides, at her soul. The idea of Marcus being strung up in front of that puling knave... that genetic monstrosity nearly made her sick. She felt like she still owed Marcus something, and deep inside, Samantha knew he was still alive. Her conscience battled with itself inside her head, and she looked up, to the single light that lit the space where she stood before locking her gaze on the Admiral,

"Tell me about it..."