Telekinetic Terror

Telekinetic Terror

by Hoshissis

Rating: PG (may be PG-13 later)
Genre: Angst/Friendship

Disclaimer: Characters belong to Paramount, and the author is making no profit at all from this story.

AN: Special thanks to Blackcat and Stub for beta-ing and offering advice and ideas. AN2: This story is pre expanse, so it has no baring on the present season three.

Chapter One

It had been three days since that god-awful skirmish with yet another hostile alien ship, which had nearly finished them off. If it hadn’t had been for Capt Archer’s quick thinking, Malcolm’s keen eye and sharp trigger finger and Trip’s skilful repair work, Enterprise’s mission would have come to a short and untimely end. All thought as to what had provoked the attack were put aside as Trip quickly set up a repair schedule to get damaged systems back on line as soon as possible, weapons and sensors being a top priority, in case whoever had attacked them decided upon a repeat performance.

Finally normality was slowly returning, with repair work well underway. God he was shattered, aching in places where he didn’t even think muscles existed. All Trip wanted to do was throw himself onto his bed and sleep. Who cares that he was dirty and smelly from crawling through all those Jeffries tubes, realigning what it seemed at the time to be just about every broken conduit, burnt fuse and connector on the ship. Having a shower just seemed like too much hard work at the moment, especially when his bed looked so comfy, warm and inviting. So he stripped off to his boxers and climbed in, snuggling down under his soft plump quilt that Momma had made him bring, relaxing his tense and aching back for the first time in days. //If anybody buzzes me in during the next few hours, they are certainly going to know just what being cranky is all about// he thought, before turning the light off and closing his eyes.

------------------

He was sitting on the end of the pier, soaking his feet in the warm Florida Keys waters, drinking in the glorious rays of the early morning sunshine. //Mmmmmm….. This is what it must feel like to be in heaven// he thought.

Buzzzzzz, buzzzzzz, buzzzzzz…….

//Shouldn’t be any mosquitoes around here// he thought, turning on his side and swatting his hand at where he thought the sound was coming from.

Buzzzzzz, buzzzzzz, buzzzzzz……

//Damn Mosquito// he thought, bringing his hand down fiercely catching something strangely solid in the process. “Buzz off you damn pest.”

“Excuse me Commander, I didn’t quite catch that,” queried Captain Archer’s voice, startling Trip out of his dreamlike slumber. “Sorry about that Captain, I wasn’t quite awake there” mumbled a rather embarrassed Trip. He realised it was his comm. link that had been buzzing, and it was that, which he had touched in his effort to swat the mosquito in his dream.

“Don’t worry about it Trip,” chuckled the Captain. “Sorry to disturb you, but we’ve come across a rather interesting derelict that I thought you would to see.” “Just give me five minutes to freshen up and I’ll be there,” he yawned, hopping out of bed. //I suppose three hours is better than nothing// he thought, as he glanced over at his clock on the way to freshen himself up in the bathroom.

-------------------

Ten minutes later, Trip strolled out of the turbolift onto the bridge. “Captain, you wanted to see me?”

“Arrr Trip Tpol’s scan’s have found something rather interesting.”

Commander Tucker walked up to Tpol, Malcolm and Captain Archer. They were grouped around the operations table, scanning a large derelict space station, which was in orbit around a small planet in a nearby solar system that they had recently entered.

“The object seems deserted,” said Tpol, directing her response to both the Captain and Commander Tucker. “I have scanned the station – while the oxygen level falls on the low side for humans, it is still within tolerable limits. Gravity is in place but all other systems seem to be off line or non-functional. I haven’t detected any bio signs, but the sensors are having difficultly penetrating the hull in places. I have detected a small power source radiating from one of the lower decks, though.”

“It could be the generator, Tpol. That is in the vicinity,” said Trip, whose interested had certainly been piqued by this new discovery.

“No, this source is not strong enough for that. It is most curious indeed, it seems to be acting independently from the rest of the ship, while also changing position intermittently.”

“What do you think Trip, wanna take a look?” chuckled Captain Archer, who knew he didn’t need to ask where Trip was concerned.

“Yeah!” replied Trip.

“Right then, Tpol, Trip, Malcolm and Hoshi, meet me in the Shuttle bay in 10 mins. Travis, you have the bridge.”

-----------------------

Ten minutes later the shuttle pod was easing out of the bay on its way to investigate the space station. On board Captain Archer was piloting the pod with Tpol next to him checking various readings. Malcolm, Hoshi and Trip were just seated behind them contemplating what was ahead. Hoshi seemed just slightly nervous and on edge, so Trip was trying to distract her and make her laugh with some idle chatter.

“Hey Malcolm, do we really need all those weapons, anyone would think we were going to war,” joked Trip.

“You can’t be too careful, Commander.”

“Tpol said it was deserted Malcolm. Don’t you think you are being a bit paranoid?”

“Appearances aren’t always what they seem Commander. I’m just being cautious.”

“Jeezz Malcolm and you accuse me of reading too many comic books and sci fi magazines – I think you are the one with the problem. Have you got a secret stash hidden away somewhere that we don’t know of?” ribbed Trip trying to rattle his friend.

Not willing to be drawn in, Malcolm just threw him the, you’ll-thank-me-later look, and went back to checking his equipment.

--------------------------------

On first inspection the space station was eerily quiet. Objects were either strewn about or lay broken on the floor and any kind of machinery had been smashed or broken beyond repair – in general the place was a mess and a wreck. This didn’t seem to matter to Captain Archer who just seemed intrigued by the whole situation. //What on earth happened here? // he quietly pondered to himself.

Malcolm, on the other hand, was deeply concerned with the whole situation, wishing he had brought more security with him. The whole scenery to him just screamed danger and since it was his job to protect everyone, he just didn’t feel prepared for what had made this mess. This concerned him even more, since Captain Archer had insisted on the four splitting up to investigate the station.

“Don’t you think we should get everyone back in one group and explore together?” suggested Malcolm quietly as he surveyed his surroundings, his every ready phase rifle on constant standby for the unexpected.

“Not yet Malcolm,” replied Captain Archer. “There isn’t anything showing up on our scanners to indicate danger, and anyway Phlox warned us we would only have a few hours before the low oxygen level starts to affect us. The quickest way is for us to split up.”

“But sir, whatever made this damage could still be here. Let me get together some more security, just as an added precaution.”

“Malcolm, I said no – you know, maybe Trip is right – sometimes you are just a bit too paranoid, you really need to lighten up,” replied Captain Archer with a light smirk.

--------------------------------

Tpol and Hoshi were busy exploring the floor above, which on reflection was in just as much disarray. Tpol didn’t seem too much concerned, she was Vulcan after all. To the untrained eye it would seem that they hardly ever showed any signs of emotion, but on the inside she was just as curious as the rest.

Hoshi on the other hand was terrified, but she was putting on a brave and strong front. The silent and eerie atmosphere was giving her the creeps but she didn’t want to show any signs of weakness in front of Tpol. She put on a brave face and carried on searching for any clues that might tell them what had happened.

----------------------------------

Trip was exploring the lower lever where the generator was housed. The room was a mess with equipment and tools spilt and thrown around everywhere. All major systems, aside from life support and gravity, were either off line or broken. Since Trip was unfamiliar with the equipment and time was off the essence, he decided to just glance quickly over each system before deciding to follow the anomalous energy reading that was fluctuating on his level. It seemed to be bouncing around, not being in one place for more than 5 minutes at a time, before disappearing and reappearing again in another direction. //Weirder and weirder// thought Trip as he walked slowly along scanning the area up above, his interest and curiosity level peaked at a high point.

“Archer to Tucker ……….. Archer to Tucker,” beeped his communicator.

“Yes Cap’n?”

“How’s it going down there Trip?”

“Well I don’t think much of their housekeeping. This place is a mess.”

“Same up here,” said Archer. “Looks like who ever abandoned this place certainly left in a hurry and quite a while ago by the amount of dust that has gathered. What about that energy reading, we’re not reading anything up here?”

“According to my scanner its right up ahead, but the damn thing won’t stay still long enough for me to get an accurate reading.”

“Hang on, don’t go any further alone. It would be safer if we approached this thing together. Malcolm and I will be right down with you in about five minutes.”

Something suddenly energized right behind Trip, knocking him to the ground. His communicator flew out of his hands and clattered to the ground.

“Sure thin.. Son of a bitch! Something’s got me ….. arrrrrrghhhhhh!” screamed Trip as he was dragged away by his legs. He tried to grab anything in sight, but it was no use. The floor flew past him to fast for him to catch on to something.

“Trip!”, screamed Archer but there was no response. He and Malcolm exchanged a worried glance. They both sprinted down to the lower level as quickly as possible, warning Tpol and Hoshi and ordering them to follow.

TBC

Continued in Chapter 2

Back to Fan Fiction Main Menu

Have a comment to make about this story? Do so in the Trip Fan Fiction forum at the HoTBBS!