T'Vix - Bio-Cruiser, Bridge
T'Vix, in Vulcan form, watched as whatever was happening happened. "We are leaving," she told her crew. "Take us back to normal space."
---
Captain Oroku Seifer - Earth Spacedock, Operations
As Seifer made his way through the darkened main concourse, he heard one officer scream in shock at the unintended disappearance of someone near her. Entering the main ring, Seifer found Batou bringing a console online.
"This wasn't my fault," the Captain blurted in shock, but then snapped out of it and said, "I mean, report?"
Batou got up and started accessing the controls. "Well, more than half the systems are down, and we're tracking several dampening pulse feeds coming from the cargo bays. They're causing the systems failures. Oh! You wanted me to give you those PADDs on the secret anti-Undine devices?"
"Thank you," Seifer accepted the PADDs and looked at them. "Yep. Still undetectable."
The Commander brought up two holo-images. "If we could get Power Generator 3 and 4, which are near the cargo bays, back online, they could be set into their resonance-EM modes which would theoretically block these type-dampening pulses."
"It may not stop the disappearances, but at least Spacedock will have a defense." Seifer then tapped his commbadge. "To any available officers. We need Power Generator 3 and Power Generator 4 back online and set to a resonance-EM mode. Any assistance would be appreciated, and people may or may not disappear around you."
Replies began over-air. "Suvel here. I will lead a team of engineers to Power Generator Four."
---
Admiral Quinn's Office
Krystal approached Admiral Chekov. "Sir? Where's Admiral Quinn?" she asked.
"Like most of the rest of ESD personnel," Chekov said from behind the desk in her new office, "he has inexplicably disappeared. I am temporarily restricting all travel to Sol System."
---
Captain Oroku Seifer - Earth Spacedock, Main Concourse
"Batou to Seifer. We only got one person on the mission queue; Suvel. He's down at Power Generator 4."
The Captain tapped his commbadge. "What a life saver. But why are the queues always empty? Anyway, I'll have to take care of Power Generator 3 myself."
"Acknowledged. Watch for Regalian fleaspiders. We got infested after the Ferengi ship Fortune's Gold docked with us. Next time, we need to wear protection."
Agreeing, Seifer turned to the opposite direction and was suddenly confronted by a disturbed and unnerving Captain Terry. "You're not disappeared?"
"No thanks to you," Terry spoke, with his voice slightly altered. He peered into Seifer with smokey, glowing, green eyes. "When I was in trouble, you let me get captured and transformed into this."
Seifer shook his head. "I tried to save you from extraction but was unsuccessful. That's not the same thing."
"Oh, but it is," Terry launched a punch for Seifer's head. "You've always been against Starfleet, sympathizing with our enemies. It's the base sentiment of the Seifer symbiont. You're a traitor at heart!"
The Captain caught his incoming wrist and countered with a back-hand. "And you've always had it out for me! Face it, Terry, you're not the perfect Starfleet officer anymore. You're sick now."
"Gggh!!" Terry was hit in the face, causing him to power up his arms in anger and double-force-palm Seifer in the chest. Captain Seifer went flying back into a railing.
When he looked up, Terry had inhumanly leapt up onto an upper level and out of there. "What the Grethor? So, he's off sensors then?" Seifer got up and shook his head. "Never mind. It's late and people are trying to sleep and prepare for their own plot lines."
Captain Seifer tapped his commbadge.
"Seifer to Suvel. Were you able to bring Power Generator 4 online and set it to a resonance-EM mode?"
There was no response except static.
Later, Suvel had been discovered and taken to the infirmary. Apparently an accident had occurred, severely injuring the Vulcan captain. Since then the few engineers remaining had managed to get the emergency generators running, but people were still disappearing. There were only a few dozen left on ESD, so most people remained on their ships.
As things settled, Chekov's voice went over-air. "Now hear this: All Starfleet personnel are invited to Caldos III for the memorial services of those we lost. There will be a temporary lift on restrictions for this. Proceed to docking bay 2."
The parade of individuals that marched through the main concourse toward the turbo lifts was a uplifting, despite all the recent catastrophes.
---
Captain Aeris - U.S.S. Zephyra, Airlock Corridor 3
Aeris and Winry approached an airlock which was connected to one of the large space-tentacles coming off the biobase. A green gel began to slowly spread from vieny sacks, off the tentacle along the surface of the hull.
"No help from the Infamous' extraordinary, trans-dimensional-reaching group, then?" Winry asked as the two adjusted to the suits they were now wearing.
Aeris shook her head. "Doesn't look like it. Anyway, what have we got here?"
"I've given us exo-armor," Winry explained, while adjusting a setting on Aeris' suit. "It's light-weight and resistant to psionic, toxic and energy damage. Just don't get tackled by an Undine."
The Captain pulled up a weapon. "And these?"
"Bio-molecular phaser rifles," Winry said, bringing hers up. "There's a beam setting and an unstable beam setting. The latter acts as a constant stream and creates an explosion at target; be careful with that."
The other woman then opened up the hatch, revealing the insides of the long and slimy tentacle. "Since the base is highly charged, this is our only way in sans transporters. The Zephyra, on the other hand, may not fare too well after another secretion."
"Another?" Winry then shook it off. "Never mind. Will Javan be assisting us?"
Aeris shrugged as she took position at the threshold. "There's an extra suit and rifle, if so. In the meantime, let's do this thing!"
She leapt right into the mucus-filled tube, disgusting Winry to the brink of throwing up in her own suit. Holding it in, Winry dove, feet first, right after. The two went sliding down the inside of the tentacle, until internal muscles took over passed gravity to push them toward the Undine biobase.
---
Unknown Undine biobase
In the biobase, the two were deposited into a gory, drip-filled organic corridor, lit by strips of green cells lining tubes. Two Undine officers and a unit commander, wearing tactical armor, turned a corner and began blasting anti-proton beams from their arm cannons.
Winy aimed her rifle and began firing at one of the officers on Aeris' queue. "Is this the welcome you were expecting??"
"That, and a basket of slimy cookies," the Captain replied, as the Undine officer was taken down, prompting the two to focus fire on the last two Undine.
SKKZT! Aeris activated the unstable beam, feeding it into the unit commander and an energy explosion took both enemies down. Aeris and Winry jogged passed the fallen soldiers, turned a corner and found a small hole in the wall.
"It's an exhaust pathway," the Captain said. "We can fit through it."
Winry dropped her defensive stance. "Uh, what? Are we going to live through this?"
"We'll see," Aeris suggested. "This way."
She stretched the opening with her hands, where a preliminary mucus was forced out and onto the floor. Aeris went through, followed by Winry and they both struggled to crawl their way through the non-friction tube.
Exiting, they found themselves completely slimed, but in stealth on the upper bone-structured rafters of a large experimental operation room. Below, were giant energy-fused organic, alien structures being operated on by a lone, mutant psi-master Undine. The second half of the room was a giant holding cell with hundreds of Starfleet officers standing around, contained within.
"They're from Spacedock??" Winry recognized. "How'd they get here?"
Aeris pondered. "He brought them here," she pointed to the Undine below who, while moving slow, exited the lab. "But he can also put them back. Hopefully, we still have enough personnel on Spacedock and they don't go anywhere."
---
Earth Spacedock
Meanwhile, back in normal space, at Earth Spacedock, a procession of men and women, who were some of a few last from the station, boarded the Starfleet Civilian Transport vessel Elysium in Docking Bay 2. The ship prepared to depart for Caldos III.
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