Chapter Text
As they made their way down the maintenance corridor towards Section 23, the girls froze at the sound of a chilling voice singing, “Bonnie-kin, bonnie-kin, I see you! Bonnie kin, bonnie-kin what will you do?”
Twesata remarked with a grimace, “I think I just peed myself.”
“Me too.” Ashley replied as she scanned the corridor looking for any sort of movement in the shadows.
Moving further down the corridor, Nelia raised her hand in a halting gesture. “He’s vented plasma into the corridor.”
“I can jam the plasma nodes with a tetryonic pulse.” Twesata replied as she made the necessary adjustments on her tricorder. Pressing a button, she grinned as the plasma nodes shut down, “Well…what do you know…Dr. Cyllo’s lecture on wave interference came in handy after all.”
“Good to see you did more than fuck the other cadets in the back storage closet during classes.” Shelana teased as she took point, leading the team down the corridor. Then, spying movement, she called out, a phaser blast barely missing her as she dodged and returned fire. “One o’clock!”
“I think I winged him.” Ashley panted, catching her breath as she and the others reached the door to Section 23—the old communications center. “But God was he fast!”
“He’s a hologram.” Nelia explained, “Kind of like…what do you humans call it…a will of the wasp?”
“Will o’ the wisp.” The former gunnery chief chuckled briefly, her laughter dying out as her eyes fell on the door, “I’ve got a bad feeling about what we’re going to find on the other side.”
“I do too.” Shelana grimly replied as she spoke to her old friend, “You picking up anything on your tricorder, Twes?”
“No life signs.” The Betazoid scientist grimly responded.
“I’m opening the door.” Nelia cautioned, “Be ready for anything.”
“We’re ready.” Both Ashley and Shelana replied in unison as they both crouched while pointing their weapons at the door.
“Twes…Rana…flanking positions.” Shelana commanded, gesturing for the two scientists to take up positions in cover on either side of the door. “Now, Nelia!”
“Shit.” Nelia swore as she saw a humanoid body lying in the middle of the room. “Girls…I think I’ve found Ara.”
“God dammit.” Ashley swore as she gazed down on the battered body of the former dabo girl, a gaping wound on her chest.
Shelana growled angrily as she knelt down beside the body, “It wasn’t enough for him to set his phaser to a setting that would cause the maximum amount of pain before killing her. No. He had to beat her up first.”
“That synthetic bastard’s going down hard.” Ashley vowed through clenched teeth as the door slid shut and everyone heard the crazed ERH’s sing song voice.
“Bonnie kin, Bonnie kin, all dressed in red. Bonnie kin, Bonnie kin, soon you’ll be dead.”
“I see him!” Rana shouted as she launched a weak biotic throw, surprising the crazed hologram, causing him to miss as he fired his phaser.
“Not bad.” Shelana called out in praise as she fired her phaser.
“Didn’t think I had it in me.” The asari scientist replied as she dived behind a console, dodging a phaser beam.
“Bonnie kin!!”
“I’ve set up a photonic scrambler.” Nelia declared as she activated a small device. “But for it to work, we’ll need to get him closer.”
“Leave that to me.” Ashley responded as she took a deep breath and popped up out of cover, “Hey…light bulb! Over here!”
“They sent you! My little Bonnie-kin!” The insane hologram ranted as he took the bait and charged towards the human woman, “To stop my work. To change my program! But you won’t survive to do it, my little bonnie kin!”
“Now!” Ashley shouted, diving behind cover just as the hologram fired his phaser.
Activating her device, Nelia called out to her team. “Everyone! Fire and don’t let up until I tell you!”
“What have you done, my Bonnie kin!” The hologram cried out, seemingly in pain as he was caught up in the scrambler field. “No! I must complete my task!” He shouted as energy beams from four phasers converged on him. “No!! Bye, Bye my Bonnie kin!”
Ceasing their fire as the hologram derezzed, dropping a mobile emitter where it stood, the four women looked down on the tiny device. Kneeling down, Twesata picked up the emitter. “I think we can use this to take out the Devedians in the computer core.” There’s a subroutine embedded in the emitter that emits a low level scrambling field. It’ll disrupt any time vortices in the room, keeping them from calling in reinforcements.”
“That, in combination with our adjusted phasers and Rana’s barrier, should get the job done.” Nelia nodded her head as she turned to her teammates, “So, girls…ready to finish this?”
“Yeah.” Ashley replied as she looked down on Ara’s dead body. “We owe it to her.”
“And to Lorox and anyone else the Devedians killed.” Shelana grimly added.
“Then, let’s go.” Nelia commanded, pointing to the door that accessed the computer core, “Time to slay some monsters.”
“Twes!” Rana shouted in panic; eyes agape as she witnessed her Betazoid companion’s life energy being slowly drained away.
“Feel…” Twesata gasped, “Slipping…”
“Oh no you don’t!” Rana screamed at the monster as she put all her effort into one last gasp biotic warp, ensnaring the Devedian phantom that was devouring her friend’s life force. “No one messes with my…”
The phantom’s hold weakening under the asari’s biotic assault, Twesata, putting all her remaining energy into one final psychic attack, groaned as a trickles of blood beginning at the corner of her eyes began to run down her cheeks. “Not…today…” She moaned as Rana’s biotic attack was now joined by phaser fire from Shelana, Ashley, and Nelia, all converging on the monster’s head. “Go to hell, asshole!” The raven-haired Betazoid shouted triumphantly as the phantom disappeared into the ether, discorporated by the combined assault.
Collapsing exhausted to the floor, the lovely scientist looked up at the asari who had rushed to her side. “Your what?” Twesata teased, managing a shaky grin.
“We’ll talk about it later. When you’re feeling better.” Rana grinned back as she gently stroked her companion’s cheek, wiping away the blood trickle.
“Gonna hold you to that.” Twesata whispered before closing her eyes.
“She’ll be fine.” Nelia consoled as she took the medical tricorder from her asari teammate and ran a diagnostic over their fallen friend. “She’s just exhausted.” Her gaze falling upon Rana, the Orion team leader remarked, “You’re not looking so good either. That was a hell of a fight you two had with that thing—you did good. But, it’s straight to bed when we get back—you both need sleep.”
“Yes, Mother.” Rana bantered back, managing a shaky grin.
“Nelia…Shels?” Ashley called out, waving to her new squadmates. “You need to come over here and see this.”
Rushing to the former Alliance marine’s location, Nelia looked down at the two corpses her teammate pointed at: a human male wearing a red shirt, black pants, and boots, and a human woman wearing a pale blue miniskirt and black boots. “Starfleet…23rd century by the look of their uniforms.” The green Orion observed. “The Devedians must have brought them here from their own time through the time vortex.”
“You’re telling me that they treated those poor people like they were some sort of God damned takeout order!” Ashley exclaimed, the outrage readily obvious in her expression, “We’ve got to do something about these bastards!”
“We will.” Nelia vowed as Shelana and the others joined the pair. “But first we need to get back up to the main station and let Belen and Drake know what’s going on.”
“Right.” Ashley nodded in agreement. “If we’ve done everything we need to do here, then let’s get the hell out.”
Drozana Station—24 Hours later.
Speaking to the three spymasters sharing space on the viewscreen, Nelia inquired, “So…you’ve had time to read our reports. What the hell are we going to do about these Devedians?”
“We’ve decided on a course of action.” Franklin Drake, the enigmatic Federation representative of the triad, responded. “Report with your ship to the Beppo system. There you will meet with a special agent by the name of Daniels. He will fill you in on your mission details.”
“Our intelligence indicates that the Devedians are pawns in a much larger game.” Tal’Mera, the Romulan member of the triad interjected. “While it is vital that they are stopped, we also must ascertain the aims of their puppet masters.”
“That is where Agent Daniels comes in.” The Klingon representative, Ramir of House Pegh, declared with a grunt. “He will be able to tell you more once you arrive at the Beppo system.”
“Take care of what you need to take care of here and then get underway as soon as you can.” Drake advised, further cautioning, “This assignment will be a difficult one.”
“So we’re going to be paid accordingly.” Nelia quipped with a crooked grin on her face.
“Don’t worry.” A slight smile appeared on Drake’s face as he responded to the roguish Orion’s cheeky remark, “If you pull this off, you’ll be very well compensated.”
“What about Belen?” Nelia inquired, “We’ll probably need him for this. Having an extra engineer around doesn’t hurt.”
“You can bring your Ferengi.” Ramir harrumphed, “As far as we’re concerned, he’s part of your crew.”
“Good luck and may the Elements guide your path.” Tal’Mera remarked as the briefing ended.
Turning to her teammates, Nelia grinned, “You heard them. Anything you need to do or take care of…do it now. We’ve got twenty four hours before we take off for the Beppo System.”
“Drinks and dinner, Rana?” Twesata inquired, smiling at the asari sitting beside her.
“Sure.” Rana grinned back as she brushed her hand against her Betazoid companion’s arm. “Let’s go.”
“What about you, Ash?” Shelana inquired. “There’s a Pareses Squares match in one of the holosuites later on this evening. Wanna catch it with me? Then after we can grab some beers…maybe pick up a couple of good looking men.”
“Sounds good, Shels.” Ashley grinned, “It’ll give me time to write a couple of letters to my sisters that…Yeah…” the former gunnery chief sighed, “…I know they’ll never get delivered but…”
“The Andorian woman nodded her head in sympathy, “I understand. I’ll comm you before the match begins so that we can get good seats.” Turning to the green Orion woman standing on the other side of her, Shelana inquired, “So…what are your plans, Nelia?”
“Ohhh…” The lovely rogue smirked, “A little drinking…a little dancing…some dabo…and probably a lot of fucking.”
Twesata and Rana
“Thanks, Rana.” Twesata smiled at the blue-skinned asari seated across from her as she took a sip of her tulaberry wine. Her smile fading away, the lovely Betazoid recalled their recent encounter with the Devedians. “I don’t know if you were able to see what I saw when I looked into that monster’s mind…”
“What did you see?” Rana asked as she took a nibble of Romulan mollusk with Talarian greens, washing it down with a sip of wine.
“It saw us purely as food.” Twesata shuddered as she set down her wine glass, “Livestock. It felt no remorse…no regret…at what it was doing. We weren’t even worth its contempt. But…” the Betazoid empath/telepath again felt a shiver, “I felt something else too…”
“Fear.” Rana interrupted in a soft voice. “I felt it also. It was afraid of something…someone.”
“Yeah.” Twesata nodded in agreement. “Maybe that’s what Drake’s sending us after?”
“I hope not.” Rana replied, a shiver running up her spine as well, “What little I picked up from that thing…” the asari scientist shook her head, “…it scares me worse than Saren and the Reapers.”
“Sooooo…” The lovely raven-haired Betazoid drawled, changing the topic to a much happier one.
“Sooooo?” Rana grinned back at her companion as she took a sip of wine.
“Us.” Twesata smirked.
“What about us?” The asari answered back with a coy grin.
“There’s obviously something…but…I’m not looking for anything permanent. At least not right now.” The Betazoid remarked, with a flirtatious smirk.
“Same here.” Rana acknowledged, “How about this…we take things as they come and see what happens. Work for you?”
“Works for me.” Twesata responded, further tempting, “Wanna join me in my quarters? I picked up some Tiberian incense last week.”
“Oh?” Rana flirted, “What does it do?”
“It’s like floating on a cloud.” Twesata answered back with a wink, “Oh…and it’s also a super aphrodisiac. So…interested?”
“What are we waiting for?”
Nelia and Belen
“I sent Ara’s things to her sister on Terranova.” Belen announced to his Orion friend as he mixed her antarean sunrise and placed it on the bar in front of where she sat.
“And Lorox?” Nelia asked as she sipped her drink.
Shaking his head, the Ferengi bartender replied, “He didn’t have a family. His Moogie died a few years ago and no siblings. He paid his debts off—there weren’t very many to begin with…mostly what he owed me and…” the Ferengi lowered his voice to barely a whisper, “I wrote them off a long time ago.”
Smiling fondly at her friend, Nelia lifted her glass, “I promise I won’t tell anyone.”
“Thanks.” Belen’s lips turned up in a sad smile, “I’ve got a reputation to protect, you know. I’ve also arranged for his remains to be properly desiccated.”
“You’re not going to just put them up on the Exchange, are you?” Nelia inquired, knowing that the deceased Ferengi’s remains would not fetch a very high price, therefore diminishing the chances for him buying his way into the Great Exchequer.
“Of course not!” Belen protested, “I’m using a dummy corporation to purchase the remains and then donate the proceeds to the Nagus’s scholarship fund for aspiring merchants at the University of Ferenginar.”
Nodding her head slightly in approval, Nelia remarked in a low voice, “You really are a softie. So…you sure you want to come with us tomorrow? I don’t know what Drake’s got in store for us, but I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be very dangerous.”
“Couldn’t keep me away.” The Ferengi bartender grinned, “Someone’s got to look after the Princess while you girls are stirring up shit. Besides you need me to fix your drinks when you come back.”
“We do indeed.” The roguish Orion replied as her eyes drifted to a handsome human male accompanied by a very attractive Kantarean woman playing dabo.
“See something you like?” Belen quipped with a slight smirk on his face.
“Mmmm…hmmm…” Nelia smirked, giving her Ferengi friend a wink, “I think I’m going to play some dabo…see you later, Bel.”
“I know better than to tell you to behave yourself.” Belen laughed, “So have fun and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Ashley
Hi Sarah!
Just checking in with you, Sis. You keeping up with your classwork? Still planning on going to college after you graduate. You better be. I’m getting used to how things work here now—even getting used to taking the transporter to get where I need to go. I was scared to death of it at first, but now, it’s not that big a deal. Just got back from a hairy mission—we ran into some trans-dimensional ghosts that suck out your life force. Scary, huh? Yeah…it was scary for us too. We also found out that they might be the puppets of someone else—maybe the same people that made those gateways like the one that brought me here. And that takes us to our next mission. Me and my friends are heading out tomorrow. Don’t know what we’re going to find, but I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be wild. Well…I gotta go now. I’m meeting up with Shelana and we’re going to catch a Pareses Squares match in one of the holosuites and then after…if all goes well… a few beers and maybe a little dancing with a couple of good looking guys. Talk to you later, Sis. Behave!
Love, Ashley