Fallen Heroes Part III Chapter VI
Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 7:44 pm
And we're back with a chapter so new my keyboard's still smoldering! As always, I will upload it in four parts, with a new chapter segment released every Friday. Here's the first segment. Enjoy!
P.S. If you're new to this story, start by reading Fallen Heroes Part II from Prologue to Chapter VI, then Part III from Prologue to Chapter V. It's okay. I'll wait while you read it. It's fine. No rush. Chances are you'll read a lot faster than I can write.
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Captain Stephan Rinckes is lost in thought, figuring out how to get as many members of his crew as possible to survive. For now, he’ll have to focus on keeping the three officers riding the turbolift with him safe. “Discard your combadges”—he plucks his combadge from his jacket and tosses it to the floor—“so they can’t track us once we’ve left the turbolift.” The others do as he says.
Commander Erin Crow and Lieutenant Tony Blue stand side-by-side, shoulders touching for the smidgeon of comfort it brings. “We should switch turbolifts at the earliest opportunity,” Crow says.
Doctor Chris Kingsley leans against the wall and looks at Rinckes and Crow. “You two are the only ones with the authority to cancel the auto-destruct sequence. The S’Prenn will stop at nothing to control you.”
“The sooner we get to shuttle bay 4, the better,” Rinckes says, operating the turbolift LCARS display, which shows a cutaway diagram of the Achilles. “We’ll switch lifts on deck 5, section 14.” From the corner of his vision, he sees Tony has grabbed a tricorder. The lieutenant is typing into it while frowning. On the rear of the tricorder, a small depression houses an emergency transport unit. “Could that transport me and Erin to shuttle bay 4?”
“Yes, sir,” Tony says, “though configuring one of these is a bit of a—”
With an ear-piercing screech, the turbolift grates to a halt, a maneuver so rough its four occupants hit the deck. Rinckes bangs his head against Kingsley’s knee but is up in an instant. For a second he fears the incident has blinded him, but the lift has simply gone dark, its power cut. “Everyone all right?”
A vertical strip of light two meters high starting half a meter above the floor draws their attention. Pallid fingertips slip through from top to bottom, prying the turbolift doors open inch by inch.
“Phasers!” Rinckes shouts. He and his underlings back up against the lift’s wall to keep as much distance between them and the wriggling fingers. Rinckes presses the fire button on his phaser and shoots the first pair of hands, causing them to retract from the doorway. At least the S’Prenn experience pain via their host, which serves them right. Another pair of hands appears without delay. There must be a horde of S’Prenned crewmembers behind the door, and they have the distinct advantage of holding the high ground.
Kingsley and Crow assist Rinckes by firing at the slowly widening gap through which dilated pupils and foaming mouths grow visible.
“Surrender,” one of the taken—a young woman—growls. “Do not postpone the inevitable or we will tear Blue and Kingsley to shreds.”
To hear the S’Prenn speaking these vile words through the disfigured officer disturbs Rinckes to the core. In a violent act of mercy, he kills her and her puppeteer with a well-aimed shot. Even though he has no alternative, shooting his own crew goes against everything he stands for as a starship captain. How he wishes he were on the bridge, leading his faithful subordinates, instead of being trapped like a rabbit in its hole with predators digging their way in.
“S’Prenn incoming!” Crow shouts, adjusting her aim at the foot-wide arachnids scrabbling through the gap to tumble into the lift or sneak up the door slabs.
“Concentrate on the S’Prenn,” Rinckes says. “I’ll handle the S’Prenned.” If anyone should carry the burden of harming former shipmates, it should be their captain.
Despite Kingsley and Crow’s incessant firing and Tony’s valiant attempts to stomp any S’Prenn within range, the trickle of S’Prenn crawling in swells to a wave. With a decisive thud, the S’Prenned men and women open the turbolift doors fully. Two of them die by their captain’s hand in a single sweeping phaser hit. It’s hard to make a proper estimate from this low angle, but Rinckes guesses there are at least ten of them in the corridor. Two S’Prenned security officers jump into the turbolift together, arachnid and humanoid arms extended. Rinckes manages to shoot the first, who slumps to the stained carpet upon hitting the floor, eliciting a scream from Tony, before the second grabs the captain’s wrists.
“You will join us,” the mutated officer says, saliva dripping from his fangs. He pins Rinckes against the wall, which is alive and moving with spider legs. “You will be our captain again.”
With his wrists held above his head, his handphaser aimed at the ceiling, S’Prenn scratching at his back, and moments from being taken over by a heartless creature that will subdue his will and identity to serve the Altonoids, Rinckes stares into the ghostly face of a man who would’ve given his life to protect his captain. That man is still in there somewhere, struggling in vain against his S’Prenn master. The security officer’s blanched complexion, opaque eyes, and protruding fangs notwithstanding, the captain discerns subtle Coridan peculiarities around the mouth and eyebrows. “Ensign Munroz,” Rinckes says.
A hint of recognition crosses Munroz’s features.
“You did all you could, Ensign.”
Rinckes flips the phaser so it lies flat in the palm of his hand, points it at Munroz’s scalp from above, and presses the trigger button with his ring finger. Munroz dies in a flash of light, freeing Rinckes just as two S’Prenn clamber onto his shoulders. The arthropod duo raise their palps at each other, presumably to battle over who gets to control the Achilles’ captain. Competing for dominance, they creep toward Rinckes’ neck.
While bright phaser beams shine in from the corridor, Rinckes slams himself backward into the wall to rid him of these clingy arachnids, to no avail. S’Prenn are persistent.
Tony, also the persistent type, clutches the two S’Prenn with his bare hands, rolls them into a ball, and dropkicks them out through the open doorway. He follows up with a yell that’s part annoyed huff, part war cry. “I’m so fed up with them!” S’Prenn blood covers his face, sleeves, and pant legs.
Before Rinckes can express his gratitude, a mildly surprised blonde woman appears in the doorway. “I’m not fond of them either,” she says, her phaser rifle’s barrel fuming from activity. “Ensign Marian Horsch reporting, sir. Corridor is clear.”
The same cannot be said of the turbolift they’re in; its deck is lined with S’Prenn—half of them dead. Rinckes lets Horsch pull his senior officers into the corridor and protects them by firing at everything that moves on the walls and floor.
The ensign hoists her captain out last. S’Prenned officers are lying everywhere, narrowing the hallway, filling it with a burning stink. Most of them were shot by Horsch and her three fellow officers, who are currently firing into the turbolift to ensure nothing follows them out. Horsch, in her mid-twenties and built like a gymnast, is the only security officer of the bunch; her colleagues—two men and one woman—wear science division uniforms and carry their phaser rifles with less confidence than their de facto leader.
“This way to the escape pods, sir,” she says.
Rinckes collects a phaser rifle from a dead officer and passes it to Tony. There should be a weapons locker nearby for them to upgrade from handphasers to rifles. A wise precaution, because he wonders how long it will take for the S’Prenned to risk returning fire. “Thank you, Ensign Horsch, but we’re going elsewhere.”
“S’Prenned bridge officers have made it no secret you’re going to shuttle bay 4. It’s on every wall panel. I strongly recommend you come with us or at the very least choose a different shuttle bay.”
“Not happening.” He opts to keep the reasons for this particular shuttle bay’s importance secret. All it takes is a S’Prenn accessing one of his confidants’ memories and his strategy becomes common knowledge. He learned that the hard way when he told the bridge crew which shuttle bay they should meet up in. “Computer, recognize voice pattern Stephan Rinckes. How much time until auto-destruct?”
“Ten minutes and thirteen seconds.”
Crow exhales through her teeth. “We’ll never make it scurrying through Jefferies tubes.”
“We’ll have to chance riding another turbolift,” Rinckes says. Based on his familiarity with this deck, he determines which lift will get them there quickest. Provided they can get there fast enough, he is willing to share this information with the group. “The one in section 7 should suffice. Agreed?”
“Oh, please,” Kingsley says. “I’m done with turbolifts for today.”
“It’s our only shot,” Crow says.
“Fine…”
Horsch scratches her chin, smearing it with S’Prenn blood. “At least let us escort you there.”
“Negative,” Rinckes says. He sets off, signaling his senior officers to do the same. “Your orders are to evacuate. Head to the closest shuttle bay if you think it will increase your odds.”
“With respect, we’re with you, Captain.” Horsch and her team catch up with them. “It’s the least we can do.”
Rinckes pauses to remind her of the chain of command’s application in crisis situations. However, after staring the four junior officers in the eyes and seeing their determination and allegiance, undeserved as they may be, he nods his approval. “Double file. Take point, Ensign.”
Horsch nods back, telling him in one look she accepts that her gesture of loyalty may have sealed her and her team’s fate. They may not be able to change the hell they’re in, but they will tread fire and brave the flames to serve their captain once more.
* * *
Lieutenant Tony Blue and Ensign Marian Horsch lead their group into the fourth consecutive corridor filled with S’Prenn and S’Prenned. Directly behind them, Captain Rinckes and Commander Crow provide covering fire with the phaser rifles they procured. Also armed to the teeth, Doctor Kingsley and the three science officers cover the rear. This ship will soon blow itself to dust, so they are purposefully running toward danger while letting loose with their phaser rifles.
“Two lefts and two rights and we’re at turbolift 7-K,” Horsch says. Tony is sure nobody but him heard her in the din of combat.
“Press on!” Rinckes shouts. Moments ago, the captain had instructed the ship’s computer to raise lighting levels, hoping to thwart the S’Prenn by using their photosensitive skin against them, even though the interior lighting is in subpar condition throughout the ship, but the abominations residing on the bridge had had the foresight to lock out voice commands on such systems. And so, the hallways are poorly lit as usual. This renders intersections a challenge because they have the tendency to conceal threats until they’re on top of you. There are few crewmembers remaining who haven’t escaped or succumbed to a S’Prenn yet, and when they spot their captain being rushed past, they take it upon themselves to assist in expediting his journey and defending him from their positions.
These acts of support are becoming rare, and Tony is on the verge of instinctively shooting anyone wearing a Starfleet uniform, because most of them belong to S’Prenned individuals. He and Ensign Horsch clear a path by firing on sight at every enemy approaching over the carpet, bulkheads, and ceiling. Hitting their targets while running is quite demanding, so Tony mainly sticks to the left while Horsch handles the right. S’Prenn or S’Prenned who make it past their line of fire have to be picked off by the captain and the XO. It’s not ideal, but it’s effective for now. That is, until screaming erupts from the officers bringing up the rear. “Man down!” Kingsley shouts.
Tony sneaks a peek over his shoulder. A growing number of S’Prenned are after them, oblivious to how many they have to sacrifice to a tactic this insane, banking on the difficulties of their preys having to shoot in the direction they’re fleeing from. A quick headcount proves the home team is one officer short.
Refocused on the hallway ahead, Tony espies a S’Prenned woman clumsily taking aim with a phaser rifle. She hesitates, unwilling to hit the captain or the first officer. Doing so would ensure the Achilles’ destruction. Before she can reconsider, Tony ends her existence, repressing a pang of guilt over having to take two lives at once: that of a former colleague, and that of the S’Prenn controlling her. Both are victims to mind control in one way or another.
Behind them, horrific screaming indicates the loss of a second member of their team, sounding increasingly distant as the group pushes forward. “Dammit!” Kingsley says. “How much farther?”
“Not much!” Horsch replies.
Survival instinct prompts Tony to cast another look over his shoulder, in time to see two S’Prenned men leap from the darkness and tackle the science officer beside Kingsley to the ground. The young woman shrieks and reaches out for the running officers, who have no choice but to abandon her because the other S’Prenned are gaining on them.
Horsch signals the group into a right turn. As they swing around the corner, three S’Prenn jump out at them. One is too close to shoot, so Tony dives away in a reflex, and the spider soars past his head. Just as he wonders if Rinckes, Crow, and Kingsley can deal with the airborne S’Prenn, he notices many doors in this stretch of hallway have opened for S’Prenned to come stumbling out, forcing the group to slow down to eliminate these new targets.
“Hurry up, people!” Kingsley says, firing wildly at their pursuers.
“You don’t have to remind us.” Tony does his utmost to maintain a steady pace, but the complication of moving past rooms with opened doors has made clearing a path more taxing. He glances into the first room on the left.
Rinckes shoves him forward. “We can’t afford the delay, Lieutenant.”
“I know, but how else can I—”
Horsch screams as a S’Prenned technician emerges from the opposite room. She attempts to point her rifle at him, but he strikes her in the temple with a hyperspanner, knocking her out cold. As soon as she hits the deck, the merciless technician plants a foot in the small of her back to guard her until a S’Prenn accepts her as its new host.
Crow takes aim to shoot the man, but Kingsley drags her along. If he hadn’t, one of their chasers would’ve grasped her by the collar.
With Horsch out of the picture, Rinckes takes her place by Tony’s side. “Crow, Kingsley, forget about our six. All eyes forward!”
Phaser blasts from their four rifles zoom ahead to neutralize S’Prenn after S’Prenn, damaging the corridor even further. Wall panels explode, dangling light fixtures go dark, fresh char stains besmudge carpet and bulkheads. Tony’s mind goes blank as he loses himself in battle, selecting and subduing targets in an increasingly trancelike state—a blessing, considering the mayhem that surrounds him. His training kicks in to protect his psyche and adrenaline takes care of the rest. Despite Horsch’s fate, he forgoes checking every room he passes, feeling as if he is on rails, progressing through a holodeck shooting range, improving his score with each successful phaser hit.
Not knowing how he got there, Tony makes it to the final intersection along with his companions. “To the right!” he hears himself shout.
Only then does he see the S’Prenn crawling over Rinckes’ spine to his neck. Crow is behind the captain and raises her rifle before dismissing the idea to shoot at it. Instead, she squeezes her digits around the S’Prenn and tries to throw it away in mid-run. The S’Prenn thrashes its spider legs and bites her fingers. Startled, she lets go of it, allowing the furious arachnid to latch onto her face!
Where Tony and Rinckes take the required right turn, Crow goes straight ahead, desperately clawing at the S’Prenn attacking her. Kingsley trails her, trying to free her from the S’Prenn, which is coiling its legs around her neck to twist its scaly body closer to her brain. In her panic, she collides with the doctor, causing them both to lose their balance and sending them tumbling. Broken from his trance, Tony is once again inclined to slow down and assist.
Rinckes prevents this with a simple command: “No going back!” He’s right. The S’Prenned officers have followed Crow and Kingsley into the wrong corridor. This tragic diversion may have saved his and the captain’s lives. Sad as it may be, their singular objective remains: to reach turbolift 7-K and ultimately shuttle bay 4.
Tony has always been reasonably adept at estimating the passage of time—an instinct that stays intact during combat. How many minutes do they have left until the Achilles vaporizes in a matter/antimatter explosion? Tony settles for seven at most.
P.S. If you're new to this story, start by reading Fallen Heroes Part II from Prologue to Chapter VI, then Part III from Prologue to Chapter V. It's okay. I'll wait while you read it. It's fine. No rush. Chances are you'll read a lot faster than I can write.
=====================================================================================================================================================================
Captain Stephan Rinckes is lost in thought, figuring out how to get as many members of his crew as possible to survive. For now, he’ll have to focus on keeping the three officers riding the turbolift with him safe. “Discard your combadges”—he plucks his combadge from his jacket and tosses it to the floor—“so they can’t track us once we’ve left the turbolift.” The others do as he says.
Commander Erin Crow and Lieutenant Tony Blue stand side-by-side, shoulders touching for the smidgeon of comfort it brings. “We should switch turbolifts at the earliest opportunity,” Crow says.
Doctor Chris Kingsley leans against the wall and looks at Rinckes and Crow. “You two are the only ones with the authority to cancel the auto-destruct sequence. The S’Prenn will stop at nothing to control you.”
“The sooner we get to shuttle bay 4, the better,” Rinckes says, operating the turbolift LCARS display, which shows a cutaway diagram of the Achilles. “We’ll switch lifts on deck 5, section 14.” From the corner of his vision, he sees Tony has grabbed a tricorder. The lieutenant is typing into it while frowning. On the rear of the tricorder, a small depression houses an emergency transport unit. “Could that transport me and Erin to shuttle bay 4?”
“Yes, sir,” Tony says, “though configuring one of these is a bit of a—”
With an ear-piercing screech, the turbolift grates to a halt, a maneuver so rough its four occupants hit the deck. Rinckes bangs his head against Kingsley’s knee but is up in an instant. For a second he fears the incident has blinded him, but the lift has simply gone dark, its power cut. “Everyone all right?”
A vertical strip of light two meters high starting half a meter above the floor draws their attention. Pallid fingertips slip through from top to bottom, prying the turbolift doors open inch by inch.
“Phasers!” Rinckes shouts. He and his underlings back up against the lift’s wall to keep as much distance between them and the wriggling fingers. Rinckes presses the fire button on his phaser and shoots the first pair of hands, causing them to retract from the doorway. At least the S’Prenn experience pain via their host, which serves them right. Another pair of hands appears without delay. There must be a horde of S’Prenned crewmembers behind the door, and they have the distinct advantage of holding the high ground.
Kingsley and Crow assist Rinckes by firing at the slowly widening gap through which dilated pupils and foaming mouths grow visible.
“Surrender,” one of the taken—a young woman—growls. “Do not postpone the inevitable or we will tear Blue and Kingsley to shreds.”
To hear the S’Prenn speaking these vile words through the disfigured officer disturbs Rinckes to the core. In a violent act of mercy, he kills her and her puppeteer with a well-aimed shot. Even though he has no alternative, shooting his own crew goes against everything he stands for as a starship captain. How he wishes he were on the bridge, leading his faithful subordinates, instead of being trapped like a rabbit in its hole with predators digging their way in.
“S’Prenn incoming!” Crow shouts, adjusting her aim at the foot-wide arachnids scrabbling through the gap to tumble into the lift or sneak up the door slabs.
“Concentrate on the S’Prenn,” Rinckes says. “I’ll handle the S’Prenned.” If anyone should carry the burden of harming former shipmates, it should be their captain.
Despite Kingsley and Crow’s incessant firing and Tony’s valiant attempts to stomp any S’Prenn within range, the trickle of S’Prenn crawling in swells to a wave. With a decisive thud, the S’Prenned men and women open the turbolift doors fully. Two of them die by their captain’s hand in a single sweeping phaser hit. It’s hard to make a proper estimate from this low angle, but Rinckes guesses there are at least ten of them in the corridor. Two S’Prenned security officers jump into the turbolift together, arachnid and humanoid arms extended. Rinckes manages to shoot the first, who slumps to the stained carpet upon hitting the floor, eliciting a scream from Tony, before the second grabs the captain’s wrists.
“You will join us,” the mutated officer says, saliva dripping from his fangs. He pins Rinckes against the wall, which is alive and moving with spider legs. “You will be our captain again.”
With his wrists held above his head, his handphaser aimed at the ceiling, S’Prenn scratching at his back, and moments from being taken over by a heartless creature that will subdue his will and identity to serve the Altonoids, Rinckes stares into the ghostly face of a man who would’ve given his life to protect his captain. That man is still in there somewhere, struggling in vain against his S’Prenn master. The security officer’s blanched complexion, opaque eyes, and protruding fangs notwithstanding, the captain discerns subtle Coridan peculiarities around the mouth and eyebrows. “Ensign Munroz,” Rinckes says.
A hint of recognition crosses Munroz’s features.
“You did all you could, Ensign.”
Rinckes flips the phaser so it lies flat in the palm of his hand, points it at Munroz’s scalp from above, and presses the trigger button with his ring finger. Munroz dies in a flash of light, freeing Rinckes just as two S’Prenn clamber onto his shoulders. The arthropod duo raise their palps at each other, presumably to battle over who gets to control the Achilles’ captain. Competing for dominance, they creep toward Rinckes’ neck.
While bright phaser beams shine in from the corridor, Rinckes slams himself backward into the wall to rid him of these clingy arachnids, to no avail. S’Prenn are persistent.
Tony, also the persistent type, clutches the two S’Prenn with his bare hands, rolls them into a ball, and dropkicks them out through the open doorway. He follows up with a yell that’s part annoyed huff, part war cry. “I’m so fed up with them!” S’Prenn blood covers his face, sleeves, and pant legs.
Before Rinckes can express his gratitude, a mildly surprised blonde woman appears in the doorway. “I’m not fond of them either,” she says, her phaser rifle’s barrel fuming from activity. “Ensign Marian Horsch reporting, sir. Corridor is clear.”
The same cannot be said of the turbolift they’re in; its deck is lined with S’Prenn—half of them dead. Rinckes lets Horsch pull his senior officers into the corridor and protects them by firing at everything that moves on the walls and floor.
The ensign hoists her captain out last. S’Prenned officers are lying everywhere, narrowing the hallway, filling it with a burning stink. Most of them were shot by Horsch and her three fellow officers, who are currently firing into the turbolift to ensure nothing follows them out. Horsch, in her mid-twenties and built like a gymnast, is the only security officer of the bunch; her colleagues—two men and one woman—wear science division uniforms and carry their phaser rifles with less confidence than their de facto leader.
“This way to the escape pods, sir,” she says.
Rinckes collects a phaser rifle from a dead officer and passes it to Tony. There should be a weapons locker nearby for them to upgrade from handphasers to rifles. A wise precaution, because he wonders how long it will take for the S’Prenned to risk returning fire. “Thank you, Ensign Horsch, but we’re going elsewhere.”
“S’Prenned bridge officers have made it no secret you’re going to shuttle bay 4. It’s on every wall panel. I strongly recommend you come with us or at the very least choose a different shuttle bay.”
“Not happening.” He opts to keep the reasons for this particular shuttle bay’s importance secret. All it takes is a S’Prenn accessing one of his confidants’ memories and his strategy becomes common knowledge. He learned that the hard way when he told the bridge crew which shuttle bay they should meet up in. “Computer, recognize voice pattern Stephan Rinckes. How much time until auto-destruct?”
“Ten minutes and thirteen seconds.”
Crow exhales through her teeth. “We’ll never make it scurrying through Jefferies tubes.”
“We’ll have to chance riding another turbolift,” Rinckes says. Based on his familiarity with this deck, he determines which lift will get them there quickest. Provided they can get there fast enough, he is willing to share this information with the group. “The one in section 7 should suffice. Agreed?”
“Oh, please,” Kingsley says. “I’m done with turbolifts for today.”
“It’s our only shot,” Crow says.
“Fine…”
Horsch scratches her chin, smearing it with S’Prenn blood. “At least let us escort you there.”
“Negative,” Rinckes says. He sets off, signaling his senior officers to do the same. “Your orders are to evacuate. Head to the closest shuttle bay if you think it will increase your odds.”
“With respect, we’re with you, Captain.” Horsch and her team catch up with them. “It’s the least we can do.”
Rinckes pauses to remind her of the chain of command’s application in crisis situations. However, after staring the four junior officers in the eyes and seeing their determination and allegiance, undeserved as they may be, he nods his approval. “Double file. Take point, Ensign.”
Horsch nods back, telling him in one look she accepts that her gesture of loyalty may have sealed her and her team’s fate. They may not be able to change the hell they’re in, but they will tread fire and brave the flames to serve their captain once more.
* * *
Lieutenant Tony Blue and Ensign Marian Horsch lead their group into the fourth consecutive corridor filled with S’Prenn and S’Prenned. Directly behind them, Captain Rinckes and Commander Crow provide covering fire with the phaser rifles they procured. Also armed to the teeth, Doctor Kingsley and the three science officers cover the rear. This ship will soon blow itself to dust, so they are purposefully running toward danger while letting loose with their phaser rifles.
“Two lefts and two rights and we’re at turbolift 7-K,” Horsch says. Tony is sure nobody but him heard her in the din of combat.
“Press on!” Rinckes shouts. Moments ago, the captain had instructed the ship’s computer to raise lighting levels, hoping to thwart the S’Prenn by using their photosensitive skin against them, even though the interior lighting is in subpar condition throughout the ship, but the abominations residing on the bridge had had the foresight to lock out voice commands on such systems. And so, the hallways are poorly lit as usual. This renders intersections a challenge because they have the tendency to conceal threats until they’re on top of you. There are few crewmembers remaining who haven’t escaped or succumbed to a S’Prenn yet, and when they spot their captain being rushed past, they take it upon themselves to assist in expediting his journey and defending him from their positions.
These acts of support are becoming rare, and Tony is on the verge of instinctively shooting anyone wearing a Starfleet uniform, because most of them belong to S’Prenned individuals. He and Ensign Horsch clear a path by firing on sight at every enemy approaching over the carpet, bulkheads, and ceiling. Hitting their targets while running is quite demanding, so Tony mainly sticks to the left while Horsch handles the right. S’Prenn or S’Prenned who make it past their line of fire have to be picked off by the captain and the XO. It’s not ideal, but it’s effective for now. That is, until screaming erupts from the officers bringing up the rear. “Man down!” Kingsley shouts.
Tony sneaks a peek over his shoulder. A growing number of S’Prenned are after them, oblivious to how many they have to sacrifice to a tactic this insane, banking on the difficulties of their preys having to shoot in the direction they’re fleeing from. A quick headcount proves the home team is one officer short.
Refocused on the hallway ahead, Tony espies a S’Prenned woman clumsily taking aim with a phaser rifle. She hesitates, unwilling to hit the captain or the first officer. Doing so would ensure the Achilles’ destruction. Before she can reconsider, Tony ends her existence, repressing a pang of guilt over having to take two lives at once: that of a former colleague, and that of the S’Prenn controlling her. Both are victims to mind control in one way or another.
Behind them, horrific screaming indicates the loss of a second member of their team, sounding increasingly distant as the group pushes forward. “Dammit!” Kingsley says. “How much farther?”
“Not much!” Horsch replies.
Survival instinct prompts Tony to cast another look over his shoulder, in time to see two S’Prenned men leap from the darkness and tackle the science officer beside Kingsley to the ground. The young woman shrieks and reaches out for the running officers, who have no choice but to abandon her because the other S’Prenned are gaining on them.
Horsch signals the group into a right turn. As they swing around the corner, three S’Prenn jump out at them. One is too close to shoot, so Tony dives away in a reflex, and the spider soars past his head. Just as he wonders if Rinckes, Crow, and Kingsley can deal with the airborne S’Prenn, he notices many doors in this stretch of hallway have opened for S’Prenned to come stumbling out, forcing the group to slow down to eliminate these new targets.
“Hurry up, people!” Kingsley says, firing wildly at their pursuers.
“You don’t have to remind us.” Tony does his utmost to maintain a steady pace, but the complication of moving past rooms with opened doors has made clearing a path more taxing. He glances into the first room on the left.
Rinckes shoves him forward. “We can’t afford the delay, Lieutenant.”
“I know, but how else can I—”
Horsch screams as a S’Prenned technician emerges from the opposite room. She attempts to point her rifle at him, but he strikes her in the temple with a hyperspanner, knocking her out cold. As soon as she hits the deck, the merciless technician plants a foot in the small of her back to guard her until a S’Prenn accepts her as its new host.
Crow takes aim to shoot the man, but Kingsley drags her along. If he hadn’t, one of their chasers would’ve grasped her by the collar.
With Horsch out of the picture, Rinckes takes her place by Tony’s side. “Crow, Kingsley, forget about our six. All eyes forward!”
Phaser blasts from their four rifles zoom ahead to neutralize S’Prenn after S’Prenn, damaging the corridor even further. Wall panels explode, dangling light fixtures go dark, fresh char stains besmudge carpet and bulkheads. Tony’s mind goes blank as he loses himself in battle, selecting and subduing targets in an increasingly trancelike state—a blessing, considering the mayhem that surrounds him. His training kicks in to protect his psyche and adrenaline takes care of the rest. Despite Horsch’s fate, he forgoes checking every room he passes, feeling as if he is on rails, progressing through a holodeck shooting range, improving his score with each successful phaser hit.
Not knowing how he got there, Tony makes it to the final intersection along with his companions. “To the right!” he hears himself shout.
Only then does he see the S’Prenn crawling over Rinckes’ spine to his neck. Crow is behind the captain and raises her rifle before dismissing the idea to shoot at it. Instead, she squeezes her digits around the S’Prenn and tries to throw it away in mid-run. The S’Prenn thrashes its spider legs and bites her fingers. Startled, she lets go of it, allowing the furious arachnid to latch onto her face!
Where Tony and Rinckes take the required right turn, Crow goes straight ahead, desperately clawing at the S’Prenn attacking her. Kingsley trails her, trying to free her from the S’Prenn, which is coiling its legs around her neck to twist its scaly body closer to her brain. In her panic, she collides with the doctor, causing them both to lose their balance and sending them tumbling. Broken from his trance, Tony is once again inclined to slow down and assist.
Rinckes prevents this with a simple command: “No going back!” He’s right. The S’Prenned officers have followed Crow and Kingsley into the wrong corridor. This tragic diversion may have saved his and the captain’s lives. Sad as it may be, their singular objective remains: to reach turbolift 7-K and ultimately shuttle bay 4.
Tony has always been reasonably adept at estimating the passage of time—an instinct that stays intact during combat. How many minutes do they have left until the Achilles vaporizes in a matter/antimatter explosion? Tony settles for seven at most.