Heroes and Demons: Part Three

Chapter 38: Heroes and Demons: Part Three.

Micheal Janeway's POV

I walked into engineering. I overheard Mommy talking with the Doctor about how Bini, Chakotay, Tuvok and Harry went missing. I was in the back of sickbay when I heard it, I don't think they heard me but now I am on a mission. A mission to help. I have been pretty useless on this ship and it is time I helped.

I marched across engineering and tugged on B'Elanna's uniform sleeve at the nearest console in front of the warp core. She jumped and spun around, almost hitting me in the process. It took her and Tom a few moments to calm down and realize that I was there.

"Micheal!" She shrieked. "What the hell have I told you about scaring me! Don't do it!"

"Sorry, B'Elanna. Can I help?" I asked as Tom smirked with a wink towards me and walked to the storage area of engineering to grab something.

"Help? HELP? I almost just killed you and all you have to say is 'can I help?" She said in disbelief, which I didn't really understand because that was just B'Elanna. She almost kills someone every day, how is this new? I nodded.

"Yep." I chirped with a smile. She scoffed and ruffled my hair as Tom came back with a storage container and placed it on the console they were working on.

"Fine. You can watch what we are doing. But, don't get in the way. Alright?" She said.

"Alright."

"Good. Tom?" B'Elanna asked. Tom typed in a few commands and their attention shifted from me to the container and the console's readings.

"Okay, I've initiated a polarisation field. I'm introducing it to the container." Tom reported.

"We're getting a reaction." B'Elanna said.

"It's producing a synaptic pattern, all right. Highly complex."

An orange...energy appeared inside the container but suddenly broke free, causing us to step back in alarm and it suddenly flew into the nearest bulkhead.

"Wh-What was that?" I asked as chaos broke through engineering and B'Elanna started barking orders. Tom ran back to the console and brought up a diagram of the ship.

"Whatever it is, it's cutting through the bulkheads." He informed me as his hands frantically tapped in commands.

"Let's get a containment field around it." B'Elanna ordered, helping Tom activate one.

"It's heading for deck fourteen, section C five."

"Okay, now I've got a containment field blocking it." B'Elanna reported.

"Oh. It's changing direction. It's like it's avoiding the containment field."

"Let's give it another try. Now it's blocked on three sides."

"It's changing course, heading for the open side."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" B'Elanna asked him with a flash of excitement in her eyes.

"Those synaptic patterns could be some sort of neural net." Tom concluded.

"We may be dealing with a life form."

"Bridge to Engineering." Mommy's voice cut through engineering on the com channel.

"Torres here." B'Elanna quickly replied.

"We're detecting an energy mass moving through the ship."

"Right. It broke through the sample container. Captain, it's showing the properties of a life form."

"A life form?' Mommy repeated.

"It seems to have a neural net, and it's demonstrating signs of intelligent behaviour. It's cutting its way through the ship, heading for the outer hull. It'll breach in about fifteen seconds." B'Elanna explained.

"Are there any critical systems in its path?"

"Negative."

"Then let it go. Be ready to seal the hull breach with a force field. I'll have a damage control team standing by for repairs. And let's track it on sensors when it gets out." Mommy ordered.

"Captain. It's penetrating the outer hull."

The ship jolted and I stumbled to the ground. An engineer quickly helped me up and ran off to do her other duties.

"Force field is in place."

"I'm showing the energy form one hundred metres off our port side." Tom said. I looked at the console as it showed the bright light outside of the ship, suddenly a bigger version appeared and the two joined and it disappeared again.

-----

(20 minutes later.)

Captain Kathryn Janeway's POV

"It appears to be some kind of photonic lattice." I said to the Doctor as we stood in sickbay with B'Elanna, trying to figure out our next steps.

"And it seems pretty clear that the energy form was trying to get back to it as though it's a shelter of some kind." B'Elanna added.

"Or maybe a transportation device. Their equivalent of a ship. At any rate, we had sensor contact for a few seconds, and we picked up three distinct bio-electrical patterns inside it." I continued. The Doctor narrowed his eyes at me.

"Bio-electrical? What are you suggesting, Captain?" The Doctor asked.

"We have four missing crewmen. Our best guess has been that they were somehow converted into energy while they were on the holodeck. We find no sign of them on this ship. Then we pick up three discrete patterns in that lattice when you and Bini were attacked, which I now assume are four. Four patterns that don't match anything else in that lattice, and which have biological components. I don't think it's a stretch to hypothesize that those are our crew members, converted into a kind of photonic energy."

"But what are they doing over there? How did they get there?" B'Elanna asked.

"We have good evidence now that there are photonic beings that live in that protostar. Life forms that have intelligence. We didn't know that when we beamed those energy samples on board. We had no idea that what we were doing, in essence, was capturing those life forms. We locked them in a containment field and began to experiment on them. If my people were taken like that, I know what my response would be. I would do whatever was necessary to get them back." I explained to them.

"Then you think they have simply retaliated against us?" The Doctor asked.

"Yes. These beings can manifest themselves on the holodeck in the matrix of a holo-character. That's how they were able to take our crew members hostage."

"Captain, if you're right about this, then we should return the remaining life form."

"A gesture, to show we mean well. It's certainly worth a try." I replied.

"If I took the life form onto the holodeck and released it to Grendel, maybe they'll understand and release our people."

"Ordinarily, officers go through intensive training before they're put into a first contact situation but you're the only one who can do this safely."

"I'd like to finish what I started, Captain. I can do this." The Doctor insisted.

"I agree. Make arrangements to transfer the life form to a container so the Doctor can carry it. But remember, if you're holding the container, you'll have to stay in solid form."

"I understand."

-----

(AN: The following time jump truly shows how lazy I am. Haha. Not joking.)

Bini Filters's POV

"Holodeck to Bridge."

OK, something is going on. I groaned and rolled onto my back as a bright light covered my vision ontop of my closed eyelids.

"Go ahead, Doctor. What is it?"

Doctor? Captain? Whh-What is going on?

"We have them back, Captain. All three of them."

"Good work, Doctor. Janeway out."

I opened my eyes and crawled up. I way on the floor with a dazed Harry, Tuvok, and Chakotay.

"Yeah, good work. Would you mind telling me where I was?" Harry interrupted and I nodded in agreement.

-----

Kes's POV

((Captain's log, stardate 48710.5. Since the return of our missing crewmen, we've been unable to locate any further traces of the photonic aliens.))

"I am broken. Stop bothering me." The familiar voice of a complaining Bini Filters said as I entered into sickbay to see her laying down on a biobed, staring at the sickbay ceiling as Micheal and Sarah stood on either side of her with plastic swords with lights on it.

"Come on! We need to defeat the empire with real Light Sabers. Sarah sucks at being Palpatine!" Micheal complained and Bini looked over to him, horrified and sat up, glaring at Micheal.

"Palpatine? The emperor is an old shrivel man who is a sith lord, most likely centuries old and you are comparing his acting too...Let's see, Sarah! She is five and can barely walk straight without face planting herself to the floor!" Bini argued.

"Hey!" Sarah barked back and Bini gave her an apologetic look before looking back at Micheal. Suddenly, the Captain walked out of the Doctor's office and ordered them to stop.

"Please, calm down you three. The Doctor and I are having an important conversation!" She said. They all nodded and she reentered the office with him and the three continued to argue.

"You played Emperor Palpatine once. Can't you do it again?" Micheal begged.

"That was one time and I was being Darth Vader."

"But Darth Vader is a dude...and tall." Micheal said with a cheeky grin.

"He is also a cyborg. No one can tell he wears a mask for goodness sake. Get a hologram of the Emporer."

"But there is also the fact that he has brain cells."

"Brain cells?"

"You don't have any."

It took Bini a moment to figure out what Micheal meant and the shock on her face was memorable.

"You-Wh-What the-Damn you! OK, that's it. I am going to seriously injure you!" Bini growled. Micheal and Sarah grinned and started running towards the entrance of sickbay where I was. Bini jumped out of the biobed. Slightly stumbled but started running after them. They didn't seem to notice me as I stood in their way, about to stop them and managed to barely move out of their way as they entered into the corridor.

-----

Captain Kathryn Janeway's POV

The Doctor was explaining to me his relationship with a character named Freya and how his journey ended on the holodeck.

"I don't know if the being understood language or just my behaviour. It would have been interesting to pursue the relationship further."

"It's one of the most exciting aspects of space exploration, meeting new species, establishing communication, sharing differences and similarities." I said, casting a quick glance to my children and Bini was they seemed to be in a deep conversation.

"I'm sorry none of that happened this time." He replied with...emotion.

"But it did. It just didn't happen in very predictable ways." I assured him. "But if you think about it, we entered into conflict, communicated, and eventually established a peace treaty with them. I'm placing a special commendation in the logs for exemplary performance by the Chief Medical Officer during his first away mission."

"Thank you."

"I'd like to cite you by name. Kes tells me you've chosen one. Is that true?" I asked.

"I had, but I'm not sure I want to keep it. The last time I heard that name spoken was a painful one. I don't think I want to be reminded." He replied.

"Sounds like you had quite an adventure on that holodeck, Doctor."

"Yes, I would say so."

"Well, something tells me you haven't had your last one." I commented.

"Something tells me the same thing."The Doctor replied and suddenly I heard--

"Brain cells?"

"You don't have any."

"You-Wh-What the-Damn you! OK, that's it. I am going to seriously injure you!"

The shock on the Doctor's face must have mirrored my own as we turned to look at the main sickbay area, and watched as Bini shot up from her biobed, the Doctor moved forward to order her to back down but it was too late as Micheal and Sarah ran out of sickbay, barely missing Kes as all three of them ran out.

I felt a flare of anger at them and clenched my fists.

"Excuse me, Doctor." I said as politely as possible, then marched out, quickly apologizing to Kes for them as I passed her.

"Something tells me the same thing."

---End of Chapter 38: Next: ???---

AN: I am thinking of doing a chat story next. So keep in tuned for that!