"Bug hunt - part III" 
by Sogh T'Kang 
First officer - IKV Jachyoj 
http://come.to/tkang


*** Reactor level, D'Alaan 27 ***

The group of enraged Klingon warriors followed HoD Aram 
and Sogh T'Kang.  It was easy following the florescent trail of 
blood the wounded creature had left behind.  Every few 
hundred meters, the Klingon keepers of the alien space 
station found in the edge of the Klingon Empire -  hundreds 
of thousands of parsecs away from the nearest Federation 
Starbase, would find another massive hole burrowed through 
the metal super structure and bulk heads of the station.  It 
was as if these creatures knew where they were going and 
were not going to be stopped by solid metal bulk heads that 
their secretions could easily dissolve with their natural acid.

T'Kang could feel the temperature rising the closer they 
came to the massive reactor core that supplied the massive 
D'Alaan Station with power.  He speculated it was the 
warmth and heat the reactor provided that was drawing the 
creatures towards them.  Little did the bear-like warrior know 
how wrong he would be.

"Shhhhh!" HoD Aram whispered back.  "We are growing 
near to their lair.  I can hear movement up ahead. . ."

The tension in the adjoining corridor grew, even as the 
warriors prepared their weapons and fell silent at the HoD's 
orders.   T'Kang glanced up ahead and tried to make out 
what ever he could see in the dark, gloomy lighting their 
lanterns and torches provided.

"Be careful my HoD. . ."  T'Kang warned.

Aram swallowed and nodded his understanding.  Then 
slowly the brave teenager began to creep up on the last 
melted opening before the main reactor chamber.

T'Kang followed closely, his disrupter fully charged and 
ready to fend off any attack these hideous alien creatures 
would attempt.  When Aram reached the rim of the opening, 
he paused to take a steadying breath before proceeding 
inside.  T'Kang followed, right on his heals, and the rest of 
the warriors followed him.

Inside the main reactor room, the five creatures could be 
seen huddling around the pulsating reactor core.   One of the 
multi-tentacled creatures, the injured one, appeared to be 
laying on it's side.  The others were pressing their bodies 
next to the reactor, grappling the surging power source with 
their octopus like limbs, as if beckoning to the source for 
nourishment or needed energy.  If T'Kang didn't know better, 
he would swear they were trying to feed off the thing.  The 
next thing they knew, it was as if the creatures began to give 
birth.  Literally hundreds of tiny creatures sprang off the 
larger creatures, scurrying away and disappearing 
throughout D'Alaan station like so many tinny rats.  The 
larger, 'mother' creatures continued to 'feed' off the main 
reactor, converting the energy in a procreational manner.

"I see them!" one of the warriors foolishly called out.  Before 
long the others had trained their weapons on the ugly 
creatures and prepared to open fire.

"NOOOOO!" yelled HoD Aram but it was too late.

A barrage of disrupter fire illuminated the reactor chamber as 
dozens of Klingon warriors opened fired with so much zeal, 
one would have thought it was a changeling they were 
assassinating. 

The creatures screamed out in pain.  A high pitched whine 
filled the room with such intensity, it caused the warriors pain 
just to listen to the screeching above the sounds of disrupter 
fire.  T'Kang pressed the HoD to one side, seeing one of the 
creatures turn to mount a charging attack.   Both he and the 
HoD just got out of the way in the nick of time as a half 
dozen warriors were trampled and smashed under the 
powerful crushing blows of the creature.

Another of the mother creatures attempted to scurry away.  
Many of the Klingon warriors present tried to follow the 
escaping creature, but it was too quick.  And with the 
distraction the attacking alien was causing, they were unable 
to stop it from escaping to another deck.   In all, three of the 
mother creatures escaped along with hundreds of the 
smaller offspring.  The wounded one, who's blood lead the 
warriors to the main reactor, had apparently expired from it's 
loss of blood.  The fierce attacking beast was finally over 
come thanks to the determination of the many frenzied 
Klingon warriors, but at the cost of nine of the HoD's best 
men.    Once the attacking beast was disposed of, the 
reactor room grew eerily quiet for a few seconds.

That's when the first crack in the main reactor was noticed.  
A huge plume of matter anti-matter refrigerant billowed out of 
the expanding fisher in the main power reactor's cooling 
lines.   It soon began to fill the chamber as the matter anti-
matter reaction rate increased in the heated core.

"The main reactor has been damaged!"  one of the warrior's 
called out.  "It's going to blow!"

HoD Aram glanced at his first officer T'Kang.  The seasoned 
warrior shook his head.  "There should still be time to 
evacuate the station my HoD."

The teenaged son of Duras looked disheartened at these 
turn of events.   "Isn't there a way to stop it from breaching 
T'Kang?  We can't just let the station be destroyed without 
attempting to save it."

T'Kang shook his head.  "I don't think so my HoD.  Were 
there additional qualified personnel remaining on the station; 
trained Starfleet engineers that understood these alien 
systems, then there might be a chance.  But this station is 
too disorganized.  It's leadership undedicated, ill educated 
and disorganized.  There is no Chief Engineer, or Chief 
Security Officer, or Chief Operations officer.  All there is that 
can be counted on is what you see before you now.  Those 
Klingon warriors dedicated to your command.  Those few 
officers that continue to contribute to carrying out the 
Empire's commands to the best of their ability while the 
others, those like Captain Megh sit back and fail to lift a 
finger to participate in the discover process and taming of 
this alien place."

"But T'Kang, we can't just abandon the station. . ."  Aram 
argued.

"We can my HoD.  There is no saving it now.  There is 
nothing here to be saved."  T'Kang explained.

"Very well.  We must withdraw from this place.  Fellow 
Klingon warriors!, withdraw and fall back to the Jachyoj.  
D'Alaan station is lost. . ."

The rest of the warriors didn't seem to argue the HoD's 
decision.  The reactor room was already filling up with 
leaking coolant, and the main reaction chamber was glowing 
brighter and brighter with each passing moment.  It would 
only be a matter of minutes before the chamber grew too hot 
and melted, causing a huge matter anti-matter explosion that 
would likely vaporize the entire space station, even as 
massive as it was.   The only good thing about the explosion 
would be the alien creatures would finally be destroyed.

Quickly the Klingons withdrew.  While running through the 
corridors of D'Alaan station, T'Kang flipped open his Klingon 
communicator and hailed Lieutenant Stanton.

"Lieutenant!  Lieutenant listen up!"  T'Kang hollered between 
his lumbering, running steps, "There has been a fracture of 
the main reactor's coolant supply.  The entire station is going 
to explode in a matter of minutes.  You must signal the 
evacuation and get everyone off the station as quickly as 
possible."

Jane couldn't believe her ears.  "What?  Isn't there a way to 
stop it T'Kang?"

"I don't believe so.  There isn't enough time.  The reaction 
melt down has already begun.   Get everyone safely off the 
station and onto the Yeager Lieutenant.  I am evacuating the 
Klingon contingent to the Jachyoj." T'Kang explained.

Lieutenant Stanton shook her head.  "Understood T'Kang.  
I'll contact Lieutenants Reese and Teril, and let them know 
they need to beam out to the Yeager before it's too late."

"Good luck Lieutenant." T'Kang offered before closing his 
communicator.

Within a few minutes, the evacuation of D'Alaan Station had 
begun.  The Jachyoj had transported the Klingon warriors 
stationed on D'Alaan back to her holds as it disembarked 
from the station's airlocks to put distance between herself 
and the doomed alien space station.  From the bridge of the 
Jachyoj, T'Kang could see that the USS Yeager had also 
distanced herself from the failing space station.   In a matter 
of minutes, there would be no more D'Alaan 27 as her 
overloaded reactor ripped her apart and atomized her here 
deep in Klingon space.