From deeper within the ship, a soft chuckle resounded, too low for the rescuers to hear, resonating from something dark that lurked deep inside its lower decks. It sniffed the air and was instantly fully aware of every biological function of the rescuers - their heart beats, the sound of their breathing, the warmth of their bodies - all these things it longed to caress, to pull from them, to rip from their souls, while listening to their screams of agony and dispair, and knowing that the agony would continue for days, weeks, even months, before it allowed them to expire in paroxysms of delicious terror.The soft echo of footfalls paraded through the room, at first almost unheard, and Zander knew once again that they were not alone. "Wh-what was that?" Zander exclaimed sheepishly as his heart began racing even harder. He looked around only to realize no one else seemed to hear anything. "Come on guys" Voleron said, "We still need to find Milmar! You know we'll never hear the end of it from the Klingons if any of the bloodwine goes missing."****The creature, a wisp of inky darkness, moved in the shadows towards the lighted figures, shifting from shadow to shadow, moving from wall, to ceiling, to conduit, into the ventilation and out again, but always moving, inexorably, towards the figures in the light. It could FEEL their essences as it grew closer, patiently waiting to touch them, to feel them, to absorb them, as its essence yearned to drain all that they are into itself, to consume them, and with a single touch, turn them into its food.
The lights began to flicker throughout the station as the entity made its way through the walls hitting relay after relay, panic set in as Voleron realized the air was getting thinner, as he saw a thin whisp of smog fill the halls.
“Nebular gas!” He shouted realizing the decks were slowly filling filling with a haze that scattered the light of his flashlight.
A dilemma occurred to the creature - it sensed two distinct sets of food, in two different directions, two distinct sets of warmth and life on which it wanted to feed - and solved it by watching the gas from the exterior of the ship permeate the structure, then proceeding to mimic the spreading gas by dividing itself into two entities - both with the same, inevitable goal of consuming the life of its targets. It parted ways with itself with an almost gleeful sound, as it proceeded in separate directions to hunt down its food, as it did before.
“Do you think the others are okay?” the cadet asked; which was not the correct answer to the most lethal nebula gases.
Th’val groaned and threw her PADD down, “If they weren’t, exactly what aid would you render them when you’re this close to dropping out, cadet? Quit daydreaming and focus, I cancelled all your other appointments this evening.”
“What, even my therapy session? I can’t help it sir, it’s this storm and the darkness; I keep imaging things crawling through the station, hunting people, multiplying like a virus-” The young Betazoid buried his face in his hands, hiding from the PADDs around them as Th’val rolled her eyes and moved onto reciting the next set of questions to the imaginative cadet.
From deeper within the ship, a soft chuckle resounded, too low for the rescuers to hear, resonating from something dark that lurked deep inside its lower decks. It sniffed the air and was instantly fully aware of every biological function of the rescuers - their heart beats, the sound of their breathing, the warmth of their bodies - all these things it longed to caress, to pull from them, to rip from their souls, while listening to their screams of agony and dispair, and knowing that the agony would continue for days, weeks, even months, before it allowed them to expire in paroxysms of delicious terror.The soft echo of footfalls paraded through the room, at first almost unheard, and Zander knew once again that they were not alone. "Wh-what was that?" Zander exclaimed sheepishly as his heart began racing even harder. He looked around only to realize no one else seemed to hear anything. "Come on guys" Voleron said, "We still need to find Milmar! You know we'll never hear the end of it from the Klingons if any of the bloodwine goes missing."****The creature, a wisp of inky darkness, moved in the shadows towards the lighted figures, shifting from shadow to shadow, moving from wall, to ceiling, to conduit, into the ventilation and out again, but always moving, inexorably, towards the figures in the light. It could FEEL their essences as it grew closer, patiently waiting to touch them, to feel them, to absorb them, as its essence yearned to drain all that they are into itself, to consume them, and with a single touch, turn them into its food.
The bulkheads in the corridor outside rattled as Th’val and her cadet (whose name she never bothered to learn) sat on the floor of the biology lab surrounded by PADDs, patiently waiting for engineering to fix the power. “Sounds like someone’s knocking, I should go see who it is?” the cadet ventured, only to be greeted by Th’val’s glare at finding yet another excuse to procrastinate from the set assignment; “who knocks on an automatic door?” Th’val replied “It’s just engineering taking their merry time changing some lightbulbs, just concentrate on the question: name 20 photosensitive lifeforms capable of consuming most humanoids with a single touch.”
The lights began to flicker throughout the station as the entity made its way through the walls hitting relay after relay, panic set in as Voleron realized the air was getting thinner, as he saw a thin whisp of smog fill the halls.
“Nebular gas!” He shouted realizing the decks were slowly filling filling with a haze that scattered the light of his flashlight.
A dilemma occurred to the creature - it sensed two distinct sets of food, in two different directions, two distinct sets of warmth and life on which it wanted to feed - and solved it by watching the gas from the exterior of the ship permeate the structure, then proceeding to mimic the spreading gas by dividing itself into two entities - both with the same, inevitable goal of consuming the life of its targets. It parted ways with itself with an almost gleeful sound, as it proceeded in separate directions to hunt down its food, as it did before.
From deeper within the ship, a soft chuckle resounded, too low for the rescuers to hear, resonating from something dark that lurked deep inside its lower decks. It sniffed the air and was instantly fully aware of every biological function of the rescuers - their heart beats, the sound of their breathing, the warmth of their bodies - all these things it longed to caress, to pull from them, to rip from their souls, while listening to their screams of agony and dispair, and knowing that the agony would continue for days, weeks, even months, before it allowed them to expire in paroxysms of delicious terror.
The soft echo of footfalls paraded through the room, at first almost unheard, and Zander knew once again that they were not alone. "Wh-what was that?" Zander exclaimed sheepishly as his heart began racing even harder.
He looked around only to realize no one else seemed to hear anything. "Come on guys" Voleron said, "We still need to find Milmar! You know we'll never hear the end of it from the Klingons if any of the bloodwine goes missing."
****
The creature, a wisp of inky darkness, moved in the shadows towards the lighted figures, shifting from shadow to shadow, moving from wall, to ceiling, to conduit, into the ventilation and out again, but always moving, inexorably, towards the figures in the light. It could FEEL their essences as it grew closer, patiently waiting to touch them, to feel them, to absorb them, as its essence yearned to drain all that they are into itself, to consume them, and with a single touch, turn them into its food.
The bulkheads in the corridor outside rattled as Th’val and her cadet (whose name she never bothered to learn) sat on the floor of the biology lab surrounded by PADDs, patiently waiting for engineering to fix the power. “Sounds like someone’s knocking, I should go see who it is?” the cadet ventured, only to be greeted by Th’val’s glare at finding yet another excuse to procrastinate from the set assignment; “who knocks on an automatic door?” Th’val replied “It’s just engineering taking their merry time changing some lightbulbs, just concentrate on the question: name 20 photosensitive lifeforms capable of consuming most humanoids with a single touch.”
The lights began to flicker throughout the station as the entity made its way through the walls hitting relay after relay, panic set in as Voleron realized the air was getting thinner, as he saw a thin whisp of smog fill the halls.
“Nebular gas!” He shouted realizing the decks were slowly filling filling with a haze that scattered the light of his flashlight.
From deeper within the ship, a soft chuckle resounded, too low for the rescuers to hear, resonating from something dark that lurked deep inside its lower decks. It sniffed the air and was instantly fully aware of every biological function of the rescuers - their heart beats, the sound of their breathing, the warmth of their bodies - all these things it longed to caress, to pull from them, to rip from their souls, while listening to their screams of agony and dispair, and knowing that the agony would continue for days, weeks, even months, before it allowed them to expire in paroxysms of delicious terror.
The crew lowered their weapons seeing mstfrancis in dire pain. His moans, became silent as he drifted into a fugue state from lack of wine, eventually the only thing that could be heard were the air recyclers softly humming, as the crew recognized there was nothing more terrifying than that of the silence of the station.
The soft echo of footfalls paraded through the room, at first almost unheard, and Zander knew once again that they were not alone. "Wh-what was that?" Zander exclaimed sheepishly as his heart began racing even harder.
He looked around only to realize no one else seemed to hear anything. "Come on guys" Voleron said, "We still need to find Milmar! You know we'll never hear the end of it from the Klingons if any of the bloodwine goes missing."
****
The creature, a wisp of inky darkness, moved in the shadows towards the lighted figures, shifting from shadow to shadow, moving from wall, to ceiling, to conduit, into the ventilation and out again, but always moving, inexorably, towards the figures in the light. It could FEEL their essences as it grew closer, patiently waiting to touch them, to feel them, to absorb them, as its essence yearned to drain all that they are into itself, to consume them, and with a single touch, turn them into its food.
The bulkheads in the corridor outside rattled as Th’val and her cadet (whose name she never bothered to learn) sat on the floor of the biology lab surrounded by PADDs, patiently waiting for engineering to fix the power. “Sounds like someone’s knocking, I should go see who it is?” the cadet ventured, only to be greeted by Th’val’s glare at finding yet another excuse to procrastinate from the set assignment; “who knocks on an automatic door?” Th’val replied “It’s just engineering taking their merry time changing some lightbulbs, just concentrate on the question: name 20 photosensitive lifeforms capable of consuming most humanoids with a single touch.”
From deeper within the ship, a soft chuckle resounded, too low for the rescuers to hear, resonating from something dark that lurked deep inside its lower decks. It sniffed the air and was instantly fully aware of every biological function of the rescuers - their heart beats, the sound of their breathing, the warmth of their bodies - all these things it longed to caress, to pull from them, to rip from their souls, while listening to their screams of agony and dispair, and knowing that the agony would continue for days, weeks, even months, before it allowed them to expire in paroxysms of delicious terror.
The crew lowered their weapons seeing mstfrancis in dire pain. His moans, became silent as he drifted into a fugue state from lack of wine, eventually the only thing that could be heard were the air recyclers softly humming, as the crew recognized there was nothing more terrifying than that of the silence of the station.
The soft echo of footfalls paraded through the room, at first almost unheard, and Zander knew once again that they were not alone. "Wh-what was that?" Zander exclaimed sheepishly as his heart began racing even harder.
He looked around only to realize no one else seemed to hear anything. "Come on guys" Voleron said, "We still need to find Milmar! You know we'll never hear the end of it from the Klingons if any of the bloodwine goes missing."
****
The creature, a wisp of inky darkness, moved in the shadows towards the lighted figures, shifting from shadow to shadow, moving from wall, to ceiling, to conduit, into the ventilation and out again, but always moving, inexorably, towards the figures in the light. It could FEEL their essences as it grew closer, patiently waiting to touch them, to feel them, to absorb them, as its essence yearned to drain all that they are into itself, to consume them, and with a single touch, turn them into its food.
A shadowy figure was slithering along the floor of the Jefferies tube, headed straight for them. @Zander_Hawk and @Voleron set their phasers to stun, fully prepared to use the kill setting if needed.
It moaned as it came, winding snake-like down the tube, the hideous moan getting increasingly louder and clearer as it came. It would only be moments before it was upon them.
"Fire on my mark," whispered Voleron, raising his phaser. Zander's quickly followed, and they could barely keep their hands from shaking as the creature crept closer, ever closer.
Then, a beam of light struck it, and Voleron shouted "Hold your fire!"
In the dim light, the pained face of @mstfrancis could barely be discerned on the creature.
"Wine?" It moaned, clearly suffering. "Did someone say "wine?"...
(I tried keeping it to two sentences. I failed. They keep growing in the editing phase.)
From deeper within the ship, a soft chuckle resounded, too low for the rescuers to hear, resonating from something dark that lurked deep inside its lower decks. It sniffed the air and was instantly fully aware of every biological function of the rescuers - their heart beats, the sound of their breathing, the warmth of their bodies - all these things it longed to caress, to pull from them, to rip from their souls, while listening to their screams of agony and dispair, and knowing that the agony would continue for days, weeks, even months, before it allowed them to expire in paroxysms of delicious terror.
The crew lowered their weapons seeing mstfrancis in dire pain. His moans, became silent as he drifted into a fugue state from lack of wine, eventually the only thing that could be heard were the air recyclers softly humming, as the crew recognized there was nothing more terrifying than that of the silence of the station.
"Don't forget to close the hatch," Voleron said to Zander, continuing: "we don't want Milmar to steal our emergency wine rations before the storm is over." After some time of crawling through the Jefferies Tubes, Voleron turned a corner and screamed only as a Mountie can because of what he saw...
A shadowy figure was slithering along the floor of the Jefferies tube, headed straight for them. @Zander_Hawk and @Voleron set their phasers to stun, fully prepared to use the kill setting if needed.
It moaned as it came, winding snake-like down the tube, the hideous moan getting increasingly louder and clearer as it came. It would only be moments before it was upon them.
"Fire on my mark," whispered Voleron, raising his phaser. Zander's quickly followed, and they could barely keep their hands from shaking as the creature crept closer, ever closer.
Then, a beam of light struck it, and Voleron shouted "Hold your fire!"
In the dim light, the pained face of @mstfrancis could barely be discerned on the creature.
"Wine?" It moaned, clearly suffering. "Did someone say "wine?"...
(I tried keeping it to two sentences. I failed. They keep growing in the editing phase.)
From deeper within the ship, a soft chuckle resounded, too low for the rescuers to hear, resonating from something dark that lurked deep inside its lower decks. It sniffed the air and was instantly fully aware of every biological function of the rescuers - their heart beats, the sound of their breathing, the warmth of their bodies - all these things it longed to caress, to pull from them, to rip from their souls, while listening to their screams of agony and dispair, and knowing that the agony would continue for days, weeks, even months, before it allowed them to expire in paroxysms of delicious terror.
**I couldn't get it to quote everything...**
"Don't forget to close the hatch," Voleron said to Zander, continuing: "we don't want Milmar to steal our emergency wine rations before the storm is over." After some time of crawling through the Jefferies Tubes, Voleron turned a corner and screamed only as a Mountie can because of what he saw...
A shadowy figure was slithering along the floor of the Jefferies tube, headed straight for them. @Zander_Hawk and @Voleron set their phasers to stun, fully prepared to use the kill setting if needed.
It moaned as it came, winding snake-like down the tube, the hideous moan getting increasingly louder and clearer as it came. It would only be moments before it was upon them.
"Fire on my mark," whispered Voleron, raising his phaser. Zander's quickly followed, and they could barely keep their hands from shaking as the creature crept closer, ever closer.
Then, a beam of light struck it, and Voleron shouted "Hold your fire!"
In the dim light, the pained face of @mstfrancis could barely be discerned on the creature.
"Wine?" It moaned, clearly suffering. "Did someone say "wine?"...
From deeper within the ship, a soft chuckle resounded, too low for the rescuers to hear, resonating from something dark that lurked deep inside its lower decks. It sniffed the air and was instantly fully aware of every biological function of the rescuers - their heart beats, the sound of their breathing, the warmth of their bodies - all these things it longed to caress, to pull from them, to rip from their souls, while listening to their screams of agony and despair, and knowing that the agony would continue for days, weeks, even months, before it allowed them to expire in paroxysms of delicious terror.
Upon closer inspection of the hatch to the Jefferies tubes, it appeared they were covered by some sort of crystalline web that had a faint pulsing glow to it, mimicking synapses firing. "Space spiders? Really? Ugh. Why do the sonic showers have to be down now."
While unlocking the Jefferies tube and beginning to crawl though the tubes, the metal began to creak, and faint screams were heard in the distance "Maybe Captain Milmar discovered the replicators are down... We better hurry." Zander muttered to his comrade...
"Don't forget to close the hatch," Voleron said to Zander, continuing: "we don't want Milmar to steal our emergency wine rations before the storm is over." After some time of crawling through the Jefferies Tubes, Voleron turned a corner and screamed only as a Mountie can because of what he saw...
A shadowy figure was slithering along the floor of the Jefferies tube, headed straight for them. @Zander_Hawk and @Voleron set their phasers to stun, fully prepared to use the kill setting if needed.
It moaned as it came, winding snake-like down the tube, the hideous moan getting increasingly louder and clearer as it came. It would only be moments before it was upon them.
"Fire on my mark," whispered Voleron, raising his phaser. Zander's quickly followed, and they could barely keep their hands from shaking as the creature crept closer, ever closer.
Then, a beam of light struck it, and Voleron shouted "Hold your fire!"
In the dim light, the pained face of @mstfrancis could barely be discerned on the creature.
"Wine?" It moaned, clearly suffering. "Did someone say "wine?"...
(I tried keeping it to two sentences. I failed. They keep growing in the editing phase.)
"That was me," @Voleron explained sheepishly. "I need to have a word with whoever designed these com badges. That pin on the back keeps stabbing me."
@Zander_Hawk chuckled. "You know, it probably wouldn't be as much of a problem if you didn't wear it on the front of your trunks. Or maybe if you weren't always looking for excuses to slap your com badge."
"Never mind that," Voleron exclaimed, clearly trying to change the subject. "We have to get to the Med Bay."
"Why the Med Bay?" Zander asked, puzzled. "Shouldn't we be trying to get to Engineering, or the bridge?"
"Eventually, sure," Voleron explained. "But first I need a Band-Aid."
The two made their way slowly down the darkened corridor, eventually coming to a hatch that led to one of the ship's Jefferies tubes...
Upon closer inspection of the hatch to the Jefferies tubes, it appeared they were covered by some sort of crystalline web that had a faint pulsing glow to it, mimicking synapses firing. "Space spiders? Really? Ugh. Why do the sonic showers have to be down now."
While unlocking the Jefferies tube and beginning to crawl though the tubes, the metal began to creak, and faint screams were heard in the distance "Maybe Captain Milmar discovered the replicators are down... We better hurry." Zander muttered to his comrade...
"Don't forget to close the hatch," Voleron said to Zander, continuing: "we don't want Milmar to steal our emergency wine rations before the storm is over." After some time of crawling through the Jefferies Tubes, Voleron turned a corner and screamed only as a Mountie can because of what he saw...
... "Oh Captain Voleron, glad you're calling, something is totally wrong here, everything is flickering, and..., and there are..., there are electric discharges almost..., oh, what is this, hey you..., or whatever you are, stop..., stop doing this, you can't..." Suddenly the com-signal was lost. "That was a scream we heard when the signal went off, or?", Zander_Hawk asked.
"That was me," @Voleron explained sheepishly. "I need to have a word with whoever designed these com badges. That pin on the back keeps stabbing me."
@Zander_Hawk chuckled. "You know, it probably wouldn't be as much of a problem if you didn't wear it on the front of your trunks. Or maybe if you weren't always looking for excuses to slap your com badge."
"Never mind that," Voleron exclaimed, clearly trying to change the subject. "We have to get to the Med Bay."
"Why the Med Bay?" Zander asked, puzzled. "Shouldn't we be trying to get to Engineering, or the bridge?"
"Eventually, sure," Voleron explained. "But first I need a Band-Aid."
The two made their way slowly down the darkened corridor, eventually coming to a hatch that led to one of the ship's Jefferies tubes...
Upon closer inspection of the hatch to the Jefferies tubes, it appeared they were covered by some sort of crystalline web that had a faint pulsing glow to it, mimicking synapses firing. "Space spiders? Really? Ugh. Why do the sonic showers have to be down now."
While unlocking the Jefferies tube and beginning to crawl though the tubes, the metal began to creak, and faint screams were heard in the distance "Maybe Captain Milmar discovered the replicators are down... We better hurry." Zander muttered to his comrade...
... "Oh Captain Voleron, glad you're calling, something is totally wrong here, everything is flickering, and..., and there are..., there are electric discharges almost..., oh, what is this, hey you..., or whatever you are, stop..., stop doing this, you can't..." Suddenly the com-signal was lost. "That was a scream we heard when the signal went off, or?", Zander_Hawk asked.
"That was me," @Voleron explained sheepishly. "I need to have a word with whoever designed these com badges. That pin on the back keeps stabbing me."
@Zander_Hawk chuckled. "You know, it probably wouldn't be as much of a problem if you didn't wear it on the front of your trunks. Or maybe if you weren't always looking for excuses to slap your com badge."
"Never mind that," Voleron exclaimed, clearly trying to change the subject. "We have to get to the Med Bay."
"Why the Med Bay?" Zander asked, puzzled. "Shouldn't we be trying to get to Engineering, or the bridge?"
"Eventually, sure," Voleron explained. "But first I need a Band-Aid."
The two made their way slowly down the darkened corridor, eventually coming to a hatch that led to one of the ship's Jefferies tubes...
... "Oh Captain Voleron, glad you're calling, something is totally wrong here, everything is flickering, and..., and there are..., there are electric discharges almost..., oh, what is this, hey you..., or whatever you are, stop..., stop doing this, you can't..." Suddenly the com-signal was lost. "That was a scream we heard when the signal went off, or?", Zander_Hawk asked.
