Chapter Text
The Star Beagle Adventures
Episode 1: Eye of the Beholder
Scene 10: Kranked
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Kranked
Captain Rhonda Carter sat bolt upright in her bed. She leapt into her uniform, grabbed her boots and was in the hallway leading toward the bridge. General Krank was right behind her - fully armed and armored. Only a slight body movement gave away that he, too, had dressed hastily - and there were a lot of buckles to fasten - all fastened. Her head was pounding - actually - no - the red alert klaxon was pounding her head.
She bounded onto the bridge to find all of her bridge officers lying crumpled about the bridge - all but one - her vulcan first officer, Lt. Commander Straiv, who stood up from the pilot’s console as she entered. “Report…” Captain Carter simply didn’t have time to react as Straiv discharged a phaser at her. The ancient klingon behind her reacted much faster, knocking her aside so that the beam only grazed her shoulder.
But it had been set to kill. Deadly radiation began flooding her system even from the slight wound and she lost consciousness immediately. Krank slapped her communicator and croaked, “Medical Emergency!! Beam the captain into stasis!” The phaser beam struck him squarely in the back and he went down just as the captain was dissolving into a transporter beam.
General Krank lay perfectly still. Tactically, that was the correct thing for any human to do. He could hear the vulcan entering commands in the pilot’s console, evidently unaware of the additional protection provided by updated klingon armor. The radiation was poisoning him, too, but it would take some few moments to work its way through his armor.
This was disgraceful. Krank lay still where he was. He should have leapt to his feet and braved certain death to exchange his life for that of the traitor who had shot and very probably killed his own captain. The radiation would probably kill him anyway. In a few minutes, it would almost certainly incapacitate him.
What was there to be so terrified of? Death? His time had come and gone - he should be overjoyed at the prospect of an honorable death. In his mind he could feel his mother slowly removing his primary sex organ - one tiny slice at a time - just to prolong not only the pain but the humiliation. It was that damned changeling. But it kept morphing - taking the form of his son. His wife. His mother. His first commanding officer - all just to humiliate him.
In a sudden, single movement that his body should not have been capable of, General Krank drew a mveq (small throwing knife) from his boot, whirled to his feet and hurled the knife into Dr. Tentis Uto’s skull - right into the betazoid doctor’s temple. The doctor didn’t have a chance to pick up the phaser again - had only begun to notice - hadn’t managed to turn his head.
“QI’yaH Uto!” Krank croaked, then crashed to the deck, unconscious.
Lt. Commander Straiv lay crumpled across the pilot’s console, a small throwing knife buried to the hilt in his temple.
It was only seconds later that Dr. Uto came onto the bridge to view the carnage. Aside from the dead vulcan at the pilot’s console, the bridge crew had only been stunned and remained unconscious. General Krank was holding on by only a thread. Uto ordered medical staff to beam Krank into stasis. If either Krank or Captain Carter were to have a chance, Uto knew he needed to get them back to his medical bay aboard the U.S.S. Beagle. The U.S.S. Escort had nowhere near the medical equipment needed to save their lives.
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