"Bug hunt - part II" by Sogh T'Kang First officer - IKV Jachyoj http://come.to/tkang *** Sickbay *** The EMH holodoc was moving around franticly. The Captain's condition was steadily worsening. It was like Mec had simply given up. He was no longer putting forth any effort to fight the alien life form that was infiltrating his body. The long, pulsating tentacles that protruded from his skull were now nearly a meter long each. They whipped around from the base of Mec's forehead like the arms of an Octopus. The Captain's life signs and metabolic rate was pegging the medical scanner, even after the holodoc injected him with enough hypo to knock out an elephant. The EMH heard a cracking sound. A horrific noise of human bones splitting in half. Looking at the Captain, he could see Mec's chest begin to bow outward and distort, even as the ribs began bursting one by one. . . "My goodness, what is happening to him?!" the EMH declared. All of his programmed knowledge from the accumulated medical libraries of all of Starfleet were of no help in diagnosing the Captain's condition. No one had ever experienced a mutation like this before. "Doctor, what is happening?!" Lieutenant Stanton declared as she entered sickbay and found the EMH gawking at the thrashing Captain Mec on the examination table. The holodoc came out of his state of amazement at the Lieutenant's comment. "I. . . I don't know. The alien seems to have planted some sort of seedlings inside the Captain's body. They appear to be gestating at a phenomenal rate." "Isn't there something you can do? Mec is in agony!" Jane nearly shouted in an emotional tone. "I tried slowing down his metabolism, but it didn't appear to help. . ." the EMH stated still holding the hypo in his hand. "What about putting him in stasis? To give us more time to examine the samples I gathered?" Stanton asked holding up the glass jars of alien goo and blood. "Stasis?. . . Yes. It's worth a try. Computer, erect a level ten force field around Captain Mec and initiate a static transporter stasis field." The Computer acknowledged the holodoc's orders with a tone and the erection of a force field around the Captain's examination bed. Soon a glowing stasis field enveloped the Captain and his alien tentacles that projected out of his head. Slowly all movement stopped. The EMH smiled, as the stasis field seemed to be working. "Computer, lock on and transport Captain Mec to stasis chamber number two. Initiate full metabolic reduction and maintain." Another acknowledgement tone from the Computer, followed by Captain Mec dematerializing and rematerializing inside the stasis chamber completed the orders. Both the EMH and Lieutenant Stanton moved to the adjoining room and checked on the stasis chamber Mec was sent to. "That appears to have stopped the progress of whatever is happening to the Captain." the holodoc stated, "Good idea Lieutenant." Jane nodded. "I gathered samples of the goo that was on the Captain's face, and while there, one of the creatures attacked us. T'Kang and the others managed to wound it. I think this is some of it's blood." The EMH seemed pleased to have the samples as he took them from Stanton. "I'll get on these right away. They may give me some answers as to what is happening to the Captain." Jane watched as the EMH took the samples and walked to the lab. Glancing into the stasis chamber, she looked at the frozen Captain John Mec, and the three massive alien tentacles protruding from his forehead. "Hang in there Captain. We haven't given up on you just yet. . ." she sighed. ***** HoD Aram, T'Kang and the other Klingons on D'Alaan station gathered on Red Level. "Hear me brother warriors!" Aram called out to the mob like crowd that had a savage look of something out of a Frankenstein movie as they held their bat'leths and burning torches. "I am HoD Aram. There are beasts hidden on this station. Large, horrible beasts that I have witnessed with my own eyes. We managed to wound one in the hidden levels below. We made it bleed from our Klingon weapons and it ran away in fear!" The youth rallied the crowd. "We must track it down, find it's lair and kill it and all of it's kind. Are you with me?!" T'Kang frowned even as the crowd of Klingon warriors began to cheer at the HoD's words. He knew his commanding officer was right, and that exterminating these beast-like creatures was the Klingon way. He was also glad the men were accepting the young teenage boy, and son of Duras, as their leader. But T'Kang's time at Starfleet Academy and serving on board three different Starfleet Starships had made him amiable to accepting new life forms and seeking other alternatives to genocide as the ultimate answer. Still, he had a duty to serve his commanding officer, and at the moment, HoD Aram of the Klingon Defense Force was it. "Then let's go and seek out these beasts and show them what it means to face Klingon warriors!!!" HoD Aram declared, leading the charge of angry, riled up warriors down the corridor. T'Kang strengthened his grip on his disrupter riffle and stayed on the HoD's heal. As First Officer, it was his duty to stick with his commanding officer and watch out for his well being. The mob made their way to the lower levels, and soon entered the sealed off secret hanger deck. Carefully they searched the entire deck where the five alien vessels were found, but no sign of the creatures was found. Finally one of the warriors called out. "Over here!" T'Kang and HoD Aram went towards the voice of the warrior. When they arrived, there was a large hole, big enough for the massive creatures to crawl through, bored through the bulk head. The warrior that found the opening reached out and touched the exposed metal of the wall. "They must have burrowed through the bulk head some how. . . Aaaaaaahhhh!!!" The warrior pulled his hand back as he touched the sticky wet liquid gel that lined the opening. It was an extremely caustic acid that the creatures must have secreted to burrow through the wall. The warrior's hand had melted down to the nub of his arm before anything could be done. To stop the progression, T'Kang removed his d'k tahg and cut the warriors hand off at the wrist. They watched as the reminder of his hand was eaten by the savage acid from the alien secretions. "Watch yourselves men." HoD Aram called back, "Do not touch the edges of this opening or your own limbs will be consumed as well." The wounded warrior wrapped his arm up in a cloth and was excused to report to sickbay to get it treated. Mean while the rest of the mob-like warriors carried their weapons and torches and followed HoD Aram and T'Kang into the depths of D'Alaan station. The hunt was on. And now the stakes were much higher, as the creatures were free and loose to travel throughout D'Alaan Station with this new found ability to melt solid metal bulkheads with their secreted acid.