Subject: Better The Devil You Know 1
From: [email-masked] (Paul Hubbard)
Date: Wed, 10 Aug 1994 23:40:58 +0000
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative

From: [email-masked] (Paul Hubbard)

Better the Devil you know.

By P.D Hubbard.

Prologue:

Anna O'Halloran stood beside the rail peering out over the sea. 
It was a warm afternoon, not a cloud in the sky.  Quite nice for
the time of year, she thought.  Taking the holiday to get away
from it all was a stroke of genius.  A few days in the southern
states, enjoying New Orleans.  Then a tour of the gambling dens
of Cuba, winning a little, losing a lot.  Now, finally, the last
leg of her trip.  If she had told her friends that she was coming
home on a fifth rate tramp steamer, they would have called her
all the fools under the stars.  However, getting away from it all
was the idea and staying clear of the usual tourist haunts,
seeing things that others would not see.  A good idea all round.

Some sort of commotion broke the spell.  Looking up, Anna noticed
the observer in the crows nest shouting to the bridge, pointing
to something not visible from this side of the ship.  'Probably
a Whale' she mused to herself.  The shouting got shriller. 
Finally, Anna decided to go and have a look, after all, most of
the ships crew were over the other side of the ship looking. 
Pushing her way to the front of the crowd, she finally got a look
at what was causing all the fuss.

Up on the bridge, the crew could not believe their eyes.  Some
sort of a tunnel had opened in thin air, directly in front of the
ship.  Zig zagging had no effect, it was almost as if the ship
and the phenomenon were magnetically linked.  The hole grew
bigger, looking more ominous by the minute.  Lightning bolts
seemed to whirl about inside the opening.  Someone ordered full
astern, the ships screws biting into the water, trying to claw
her away from the gaping hole, but to no avail.  The water was
dead calm, where was the horizon?  A call came up from the engine
room.  The boilers were at bursting point, they were loosing the
fight.  The ship started to slip towards the hole.

Down on the deck, the crew started to drop.  Anna's lungs ripped
at her throat, trying to claw the rapidly diminishing oxygen. 
The air was being sucked into the hole with a whirling shriek. 
With her last spark of consciousness, dark fingers blurring her
sight, she saw the front to the ship enter the hole.

The SS Cotopaxi slowly slid into the hole.  It almost looked like
she was entering a brick wall, section by section disappearing
from sight.  Finally, as the rear mast entered, the hole closed
down upon itself.  Nothing was left, just the blue sky and placid
sea.  A week would pass, the ship would be posted as overdue,
then finally missing without trace.  Nothing would be seen of her
again.....or so people thought.

~~~ Blue Wave/RA v2.12 [NR]
--
| Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own.
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
From: [email-masked] (Paul Hubbard)
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Subject: Better The Devil You Know 2
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Better the Devil you know
By P.D Hubbard

Part 1.

"First officers log, Stardate 48455.6.  The Enterprise is
currently on a mapping expedition of the 'Hobbs' sector.  Little
is known about this area with the exception that it consists of
a small cluster of suns, each with six planets apiece, a real
rarity.  We are currently having technical difficulty with the
ships sensors at the moment due to a sporadic fault with several
sensor pallets.  Engineering has promised me full sensor sweep
operation by the time we arrive at star system number six. 
Someone in Stellar Cartography has one hell of a sense of humour. 
The unofficial label for number six is 'Hades II',  I will have
to have a word with them later.  Meanwhile, all is well, and
that's how I want to keep it.  End Log...."

"Will......"

Riker turned and faced Troi.  "You rang!!!!!!!", he smiled at
her.

"Will" she said again in a quite tone.  "Don't go too hard on the
Cartography department.  They don't choose the designated names,
besides, a little bit of fun now and then would'nt go amiss".

He sighed.  "I know....., it's just that this mission is really
starting to get to me.  Nothing happening, nothing amiss. 
Everything is so efficient around here that I can't even find a
speck of dust anywhere".

"And whose fault is that????", she replied, "I remember the last
inspection tour when you nearly took that young Ensign's head off
with that mouth of yours over a bit of fluff on his uniform. 
Since then, everybody's been working overtime keeping the ship
clean and tidy".  She paused a few seconds then continued.  "Look
Will, relax.... nothing will happen if you want it to".

"Is that you or you in your councillor capacity speaking?"

"Its me, besides you know where my office is if you need it".

Riker grimaced, weighed up the options, then decided to let it
go.

"I Guess your right, as always......".  He smiled again the
relaxed deeper into the con.

BLOOP!!!!! "LaForge to bridge...."

"Bridge here Mr LaForge, go ahead".

"Sensor pallets are now back online.  It was just a small glitch
in the system, nothing to worry about......."

"What was the cause of the fault Geordi?????"

There was a embarrassed silence from the other end.

"I'm waiting Mr LaForge" said Riker.

"Well, ulp, the sensor fault was caused by.............."

"Spit it out Geordi........"

"...caused by a discarded sandwich in the multiplexer unit" he
replied wearily.  "I guess that one of my staff left it here
whilst working a double shift on the last inspection.  I'm sorry
Commander, it won't happen again".

"I'm sure it won't Mr LaForge, especially since I will be
personally giving your engineering staff a lecture on cleanliness
at work.  Riker out".

The channel closed.  Riker looked pleased with himself.  Deanna
looked accusingly at him.

"You really enjoyed doing that, didn't you....come on, don't lie
to me, I know you too well...."

"Was it that noticeable?????".

"So noticeable" she replied, "that I didn't need to sense it. 
You really can be incorrigible at times".

"That's why I'm first officer" he replied with a grin.

Data was looking puzzled.  Something was not right with the
sensor reading from system six ahead.  He doubted that the errant
sandwich would have a permeant effect, but something was
definitely amiss with the reading.  He queried the readings with
his onboard data storage, could find no matching readings from
a past encounter, then decided that the best thing was to inform
the senior officer on duty.  He swirled in his chair and faced
Riker.

"Sir, sensors are reporting a anomaly from system six up ahead. 
However, I do not trust the sensors at the moment because of the
cleared fault".

"What sort of sensor readings Data???"

"According to readings, there are large amount of ferrous metal
in orbit around planet number six.  Sensors read the metal as
mostly plain Iron to Steel and Steel laminates with a few modern
alloys sprinkled in.  The presence of plain Iron is why I feel
that the sensors are still inaccurate".

" I agree, Iron is hardly likely to be used for space vessels. 
Continue on this course towards system six.  We will find out
then".

"Aye Sir"

                              ____________

Tree's whizzed past at a alarming rate, the wind whistling past
his ears.  There was no doubt about it, Picard was having the
time of his life.  His horse, Bessie, was showing no signs of
flagging.  Several branches shot by ominously close, almost
taking is hat off.  Then suddenly, the trees cleared and Picard
found himself on a open plain with a glorious vista.  He turned
the horse in a tight circle and drew up.

"Whoooaaaa, easy old girl".  The horse obliged him.

Another rider shot out from the same clump of trees and headed
towards Picard.  As the horse got closer, Picard could make out
the features of Beverley Crusher, her long red hair billowing in
the slipstream.  She closed then drew up alongside him.

"One of these days" she said, "your going to loose your head
going through that thicket like that.  It was murder for me to
try and keep up with you.   I can fix most wounds but loosing
your head is not one of them".

"The Holodeck program would not allow that, and you know it..." 
replied Picard.

"Yes, true, but one day you will be riding for real and there
will be no computer watching over you to make sure you keep your
head down.  Just think of me as a Cassandra reminding you of your
mortality.  Besides, my back is killing me, I think this horse
has a flat!!!!".

"Why didn't you ride side saddle and take the bridle path?"

"Side saddle my dear captain, is for cissies" she replied,
"besides, I like a good ride in the country any day.....Race you
back to the stables?".

"Yes, why not.." and with that he leaned over and slapped the
horse hard on the hind quarters.  The horse took great exception
to this and shot off at a rate of knots.

"JEAN LUC....    I'll kill you...!!!!" screamed Beverley as she
shot off, hanging on for dear life.

Picard's chuckling was cut short by his communicator badge
cheeping.  "Bridge to Captain Picard".

He slapped it.  "Picard here, what's the problem number one??"

"Sorry to disturb you Sir, but sensors have picked up a large
amount of ferrous metals in orbit around planet six.  We are
fifteen minutes from entering the system.  Are you coming up to
the bridge to have a look?"

"I'll be up shortly number one.  I just have to put Bessie back
into her stable".

"Good ride Sir?"

"Very good ride Will, and the good doctor enjoyed herself as
well, with the exception of a stiff back".

The silent sound of a eyebrow on Rikers face, raising itself was
all too evident over the comm line.

"Very good Sir, Riker out".

Picard paused for a few moments, looking at the view one last
time.  Then, taking up the reins, he cantered the horse back to
the stables.

End of part 1

~~~ Blue Wave/RA v2.12 [NR]
--
| Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own.
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
From: [email-masked] (Paul Hubbard)
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Subject: Better The Devil You Know 3
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From: [email-masked] (Paul Hubbard)

Better the Devil you know.
by P.D Hubbard.

Part 2

The Enterprise slowly entered the vicinity of system six and
approached planet number six, dubbed Hades II.  The sensors were
still giving the strange metal readings and the addition of
amounts of free oxygen and nitrogen in the vicinity of the metal.
Finally, the Enterprise eased her bulk into orbit around Hades
II and slowly approached the anomalous sensor co-ordinates.

"Coming up on target Sir" said Riker, "Sensors show there is
something there but I'm not too sure".

"On screen" replied Picard.

The screen illuminated.  At the centre of the screen, a jumble
of long objects was visible, lumpy, irregular.

Picard turned to Data.  "Mr Data, are sensors still giving the
same readings?".

"Yes Sir, all sensor readings have been consistent up to this
point".

"I'm not at all surprised, looking at those objects out there,
take us closer".

The Enterprise slowly approached the first object, the outline
becoming discernable as the distance decreased.  The object
slowly resolved itself into a old wooden sailing ship, adrift in
space, sails unfurled.  The bridge crew were dumbfounded.

Riker turned to science 1.  "Can you get a laser reader on that
target, illuminate the name...".

A few seconds passed.

"Ship name is the 'Atalanta', frigate......Sir, I have another
one,...all metal construction.....laser reader gives name as 'USS
Cyclops', some sort of cargo ship".

Another voice came in from science 2.  "Sir, your not going to
believe this but I have two aircraft.  Both appear to be old 20th
century 'Tudor 4s'....".

"Are you sure" replied Picard.

"Sure as sure can be.  I study these old aircraft as a hobby,
that's a pair of 'Tudor 4s' over there, no doubt about it".

Science 1 called in.  "More Sir, Ion skimmer 'Sea Queen',
freighter 'Milton Iatrides', Yacht 'Revonoc', freighter 'Marine
Sulphur Queen', freighter 'Cotopaxi', Sir, the list goes on and
on.  There must be hundreds of ships and planes here".

Riker turned to Picard.  "What in hell's name are they all doing
here?".

"Unknown number one.  Keep scanning the names of all objects. 
Mr Worf, dispatch a subspace message to Starfleet Command, attach
sensor reading to the message packet.  Mr Data, your talents are
required.  Go through all available computer records and try to
find out where all these ships and planes came from".

"Aye Sir".

"Number One, senior officers meeting at .8.  I expect some
answers then.  Anything comes up, I'll be in my ready room".  

"yes Sir" acknowledged Riker.  Picard strode off the bridge.

                              ____________

The senior staff meeting resembled something of a riot. 
Conjectures and counter-conjectures were being bandied about. 
Only Data sat back from the others and reserved his thoughts
until the meeting started.  He was amazed at how quickly humans
would jump to conclusions, often wrong ones at that.  He would
have to write a small subroutine to investigate this phenomenon
further.

The door opened and Picard entered, looked around, then took his
place at the head of the table.

"Mr Data" he started.  "have you been able to trace the origins
of the ships and planes currently in orbit around us?".

"Most of them Sir" replied Data.  "Many of the names are quite
historically notable.  The 'USS Cyclops' for instance.  Her
disappearance made the then United States Of America examine
their methods of obtaining Magnesium for their  fledgling weapons
program.  The 'Kaiyo Maru 5', disappeared whilst investigating
similar disappearances off the coast of Japan.  The 'Sea Queen',
a twin Ion skimmer.  That vessel disappeared only four years ago. 
All of these ships and planes have one thing in common.  They all
disappeared whilst travelling in areas like the Devil Sea and
more interestingly, the Bermuda Triangle".

"The Bermuda Triangle!!!!!!".

"Yes Sir. a triangular area, each corner defined by the islands
of Purto Rico, Bermuda and Flo...."

"Yes Data" cut in Picard.  "The salient points if you please".

"Little is known about the area with the exception that since the
time of Columbus, ships and latterly, aircraft, have been
disappearing in the confines of this area.  No survivors or large
items of wreckage have been found.  Testimonies from people who
have been lucky enough to survive have been remarkably similar,
a green fog, no discernable horizon, all navigational aids
becoming defective.  These are the hallmarks of the area".

"When was the last documented disappearance?" said Riker.

"Last year Sir, the Atlantis survey ship 'Le Enfant' disappeared
whilst conducting magma surveys for the new continent project. 
Last reported message was 'Sky clear, weather perfect'".

                              _____________

Ensign Cortez was stumped.  She had been working over the control
console in Auxiliary engineering for the last fifteen minutes,
trying to trace a power drain in the system.  She had worked her
way from the core to a small service conduit where the
fluctuations were emanating.  

A stray smell of sulphur wafted across her nose.  

"That's odd.." she thought.  Using her sense of smell, she traced
the faint odour to a storage room.  She paused for a few seconds,
mentally tossing a coin weather to call her superior, then
decided against it.  If whatever was causing the smell was
dangerous, half the alarms over the ship would go off.

The door slid open and she strode into the store room.

A red glow emanated from the far wall.  Cautiously, she moved
towards it, tricoder in her hand, scanning.  Nothing was
registering.

Green slime slowly slid down a wall panel.  Suddenly scared, she
turned and bolted for the door which slammed shut just as she
reached it.  The room suddenly became unbearably hot as a
perverse, heavy breathing suddenly became audible.  Slowly, she
turned, to face it's source.  A strange shape stood silhouetted
in the dim light.  

'My child', it hissed.  'I have come for your soul!!!!!!'

The muffled screams of Ensign Cortez were drowned out by the
engine core.

                              ____________

In the conference room, Riker was going over a sticking point
with Data when Troi's eyes suddenly went wide.  

"D....down in.....engineering..Ensign Cortez......", she blurted
then promptly passed out.

"SECURITY TO ENGINEERING!!!!!" shouted Picard, then bolted out
of the conference room, rapidly followed by Riker and Worf.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the storage room, only to
find two security men already there.

"We tried the door already..." said one security man, " but it
seems to be jammed....."

"Worf.." said Picard pointing at the door.

Worf sauntered over and grasped the door seals.  His muscles
ripped and he grunted as the door was slowly forced open.  The
door parted a inch and a  jet of sulphur smelling steam escaped
into the corridor.  Straining, he slammed the door hard against
it's stops, pulled out his phaser and then cautiously went
inside.  Picard waited.

"SIR!!" he called.  "It is unwise to come in....."

Picard pushed past the security guard and went inside.  Nothing
appeared to be out of place.  The he turned and spotted the body
of the young Ensign sprawled on the floor.  A security man stuck
his head in, spotted the body, made gagging motions, turned and
promptly threw up on the deck outside.

There was little left of Ensign Cortez's uniform.  It had been
stripped from her back as her skin had been flailed from her
torso, a large pool of blood slowly crept towards the wall. 
Green slime covered the body in patches and her face at the point
of death was twisted in a grimace of agony.

Death was no stranger to the senior officers present.  The scene
however left a nasty taste in the mouth and Riker was feeling a
little queasy.  Another security man attempted to cover the body
with a sheet which promptly started to soak up the blood.

"Worf" whispered Picard, his face ashen.  "Get a forensic team
up here immediately.  I want to know who done this.  When
forensic has finished, release the body to medical for a post
mortem.  I want to know what she died of, and finally, when the
body has been removed, I want this place scrubbed out, floor to
ceiling.  Remove the table and chair and have them disintegrated. 
I expect a full report as soon as possible".  He turned and
walked out.

"Aye Sir" said Worf, then turned and looked at the body, suddenly
realising for the first time that his neat little world had
developed a flaw.

End of part 2.

                                      

~~~ Blue Wave/RA v2.12 [NR]
--
| Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own.
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
From: [email-masked] (Paul Hubbard)
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Subject: Better The Devil You Know 4
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Better the devil you know.
by P.D Hubbard.

Part 3.

Beverley Crusher hated doing post mortems, especially when it was
someone you knew.  On a ship of over a thousand, it was difficult
not to.  Ensign Sandra Cortez was no exception.  She had been a
enthusiastic member of the drama group and was well respected by
everyone who knew her personally.  A terrible waste.

The body of Ensign Cortez was laid out on a gurney, ready for
examination.  Doctor Cody stood by, ready to assist Crusher with
the biopsies.  With a sense of forbidding, she peeled back the
sheet.

"Computer.  Start recording.  Time 20:42 hours.  Post mortem of
Ensign Sandra Cortez, Engineering staff".  She paused for a
second, suddenly feeling nauseous.  After a few more seconds, she
continued.  "Exterior of body in a badly lacerated condition. 
Little or no skin left on both sides of the torso with congealed
blood pockets covering the affected area.  A sample of the slime
covering the body has been dispatched to the labs for analysis. 
A large gash is visible, extending from the base of the neck to
the pubic region.  Weather this is the cause of death is at this
point debatable.  Starting to examine wound close up".

Crusher took a scraper and slowly cleared the dried blood from
the wound.  A foul smell started to waft up from the body making
her wince in disgust.  Suddenly she stopped, gently parted the
skin and looked into the uncovered cavity.

"Oh my God.........her heart has been removed".

 She pottered around for a few minutes more, examining the area. 
Finally, she started to stitch up the gash and called in a
orderly to remove the body to stasis.  Then, after finalising her
report and sending the samples to the laboratory, she scrubbed
up and vomited in the sink.

                              ____________

"Your report Doctor?" started Picard.

Stopping first to look around the room, Beverley Crusher grasped
her PADD and started to read the report.  The effect on the
officers present was not kind.  Troi immediately started to look
sick and Geordi shuffled nervously in his seat.  A killer on
board was the last thing to be expected.  

Riker cut in.  "Doctor, are you telling us that someone flogged
the skin off Ensign Cortez, then gutted her and left her to
die?".

"That is essentially it.  It is doubtful that Cortez felt this
happening.  She was, to all intent and purposes, dead by the time
the flogging had finished".

"Thank god for small miracles.." whispered Geordi.

Beverley continued.  "A large amount of, for want of a better
word, green slime, was removed from the body and sent for
analysis, results are not available at this time.  That's all".

Picard collected his thoughts then addressed Worf.  "Mr Worf,
have security come up with anything???".

"Very little Sir.  There are no traces of anybody being in the
room with Ensign Cortez.  The computer records indicate that a
period of three minutes elapsed between Ensign Cortez entering
the room and the arrival of security, no one went in or out
between those times.  Due to the short timescale it is highly
unlikely that a murderer had time to remove any clues, yet we
cannot find any.  No hair, fingerprints, nothing.  A tricorder
was found in a battered state in the room and has been sent to
engineering to see if any clues are obtainable on it.  However,
I am very doubtful of this".

"Geordi?"

"My staff have been testing the tricorder to see if anything was
recorded on it.  All we retrieved is a sound recording of Ensign
Cortez's screams, that really upset my staff.  However, a
radiation trace was found on the exterior of the tricorders case
and is currently being analyzed".

"Will?"

"At this point, whoever done it was either clever or not human. 
I can't believe that anybody on this ship would do something like
this.  It gives me the shudders just thinking about it".

BLOOP:  "Bridge to Captain Picard",

"Picard here"

"Ships sensors have detected a small city on the planets surface. 
It appears to have no life forms present.  However, traces of a
power source are registering on the sensors".

"Acknowledged, out.." replied Picard.  "Will, form an away team
and get down there.  It may be that the clues we are looking for
are in the wrong place.  Dismissed".

Riker stood up.  "Worf, Geordi, Data, with me.  Lets go".

                              ____________

Troi strolled down the corridor to her quarters.  It was late in
the day and she had a backlog of reports to clear along with a
condolence message to Ensign Cortez's family.  The away team had
beamed down and there was little to do until they returned.  

She cocked her head to one side.  A strange whispering chant
seemed to emanate from somewhere.  Troi took a few more paces and
stopped to listen again.  The sound had stopped.  She paused a
few more seconds, then shook her head.  'It really is too late
in the evening' she thought as she continued down the corridor. 
Reaching the end she turned the corner and stopped dead.

The lighting appeared to have failed along this stretch of
corridor.  Turning, Deanna tried using the comm panel to inform
engineering of the problem.  The panel was dead.  She paused for
a few seconds more, then carried on down the corridor.

                              ____________

Picard was sitting in his ready room.  He had'nt eaten in over
20 hours and food was the order of the moment.  Picking up his
current piece of reading material, he flipped along the pages to
the point he left off whilst munching on lettuce sandwiches.

A whispering noise started up, coming from every direction.

Picard turned in his chair and stopped dead.  A strange glow was
starting to form at the far end of the room.  After a few
seconds, it resolved itself into the figure of a old man, clearly
in agony, pointing at Picard.

"Oh my.....Father.........."

"Jean Luc" hissed the voice.  "Leave this place, go......, save
yourself and your crew before they suffer my fate, my
agony.....".

"Father, you know I cannot do that......"

"GO.......Go while you can.  The devil himself has promised to
drink your blood at his banquet.  Save yourself my son.  Already,
it is too late for the Betazoid........".

"What do you mean?.....Oh my God...Troi".

A blast of air cowered Picard into submission, blowing away the
figure of Picard's father.  Picking himself up off of the floor,
he raced out of the door, grabbing a phaser as he went.

                              ____________

Troi walked to the end of the corridor.  A smell of sulphur
suddenly sprung up from nowhere, the chanting got louder.  A
green slime started dripping down the walls onto the floor.

Ensign Cortez stood at the end of the corridor.

"Sandra...." exclaimed Troi.  "Your dead!!!!!!!"

The form of Ensign Cortez slowly glided towards Troi who was
rooted in fear on the spot.

"I have come for your soul, Deanna..." cooed the wraith.

Finding her voice, she addressed the figure.  "You can't have my
soul.  You don't exist .There is no such thing as ghosts".

At this, the form changed into a demon, it's pointed tail
whipping behind its back and it's voice altering to a low
thunder.

"Maybe you would like to feel the lash of my tail...." it
growled, then screamed a horrible demonic scream.  "I want your
soul for my collection.  Come Deanna, you know this is what you
want.  I can feel your heart yearning for it's release into a
eternity of suffering and torture".

The demon reached out to her, it's clawed hand glistening in the
half light.

"Noooooooooo" she screamed.

Suddenly, a phaser burst hit the demon.  It staggered back and
shot obscenities at the newly arrived Picard, then slowly advance
again.

Picard upped the phaser to kill and fired.  the shaft of light
hit the demon and threw it back against the bulkhead.  It lay
there, stunned for a few moments, then picked itself up off the
floor and advanced again on Picard.  A wind picked up and
billowed around Picard and Troi.

"You fool Picard.  You think you can hurt me, the devil himself. 
Hurting me does nothing, it only tortures the souls I have
collected.  Already I have plans for your father.  His soul will
burn a thousand agonies..."

"The dead are gone and buried.." cried Picard.  "The living are
more important", and with that he opened fire again on the demon,
holding the trigger down.  The demon flew back in a hail of fire
and vanished, the lighting returning to normal.

Troi staggered to her feet and looked in the direction that the
demon had disappeared.  "Where is he?" she asked.  

"It appears" replied Picard, " that our demon is, to quote
Dickens, more gravy than of grave.  Come on, we've got to get to
the bridge and warn the away team".

                              ____________

The Turbolift doors parted allowing Picard and Troi onto the
bridge.  Going to the communications panel, Picard tried to call
the away team.  No response was forthcoming. 

"Sensor sweep.  Where is the away team?" called Picard.

"The away team is still registering on the sensor's Sir but
someone or something is blocking our communications planetside. 
we have no way to contact them".

He turned to Troi.  "It appears that someone is desperate for us
not to give the game away".

End of part 3.

~~~ Blue Wave/RA v2.12 [NR]
--
| Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own.
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From: [email-masked] (Paul Hubbard)
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Subject: Better The Devil You Know 5
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Better the Devil you know.
by P.D Hubbard.

Part 4.

Things had been going badly for the away team on the planet.  A
bad transporter fix had beamed them into the middle of a fountain
which had quite clearly not registered on the transporter sensor
system.  Even more worrying was the loss of communications which
had happened almost immediately after they had beamed down. 
Climbing out of the water, they scanned the area whilst drying
off.  Worf was not pleased.  He had spent several hours the day
before with Mr Hohm fussing over his hair, getting it just right. 
A return trip to the barbers did not appeal to him one bit.

Geordi and Riker were just plain wet.  The only one not affected
by the water was Data.  His synthetic skin was waterproof and he
often conducted swimming lessons for the Enterprises Pre-
schoolers, both parties getting something out of it.  The
children for having a 'local hero' keeping a eye on them and Data
getting more information on life in general.

Geordi looked up from his tricorder.  "Over there commander.  The
power readings are being emitted from that domed structure.  No
life forms present".

"Ok, we'll proceed towards the source.  Everybody be careful, I
don't want to loose anybody".

They observed the local architecture as they walked over.  Much
of it was strange, as if different cultures had bolted on their
own buildings to the existing structures.  Many large concrete
rimmed pits were scattered over the courtyard area.  Peering down
each of the holes, the scattered remains of many people was
evident.

"It looks like some mass slaughter house..." growled Worf.

"Yeah" replied Riker, " but we can't help them now".

They continued staggering over the uneven ground, finally
arriving at a portal set in a stainless tristeel wall.  Data
scanned the entrance, finding no boobytraps or security sensors
of any kind, he stepped inside the doorway.  A steel shutter shot
down, cutting Data off from the others.

"Data!!!!!!.....Mr Worf, cut that door down".

"Yes Sir".  The phaser made light work of the metal surface. 
Finally, after several seconds, the metal sheet fell in with a
great crash.  Of Data, there was no sign.

"I don't understand" exclaimed Worf.  "There are no other exits
from that room yet Data has gone".
"Wait a minute....., my visor is picking something up" said
LaForge.  He looked at several metal surfaces for a few seconds
then continued.  "There is another door in the wall, directly
opposite this entrance.  Some sort of power emanations are
escaping around the hairline gaps, I would have missed it
altogether without that source".

Riker came do a decision.  "Worf, get cutting".

"Aye Sir"

Worf started to cut into the metal for a few seconds, then
stopped.  "The metal is much more compacted than usual.  It will
take time to cut through.." he said, then continued.

Geordi and Riker sat down, a long wait ahead of them.

                              ____________

Up on the Enterprise, all was not a bed of roses either. 
Communications was still down with the away team.  Another
worrying prospect was that their message to Starfleet command had
been bounced back at them a few hours later.  They were totally
cut off from the outside world.   Finally, Picard knew what to
do.  He turned to a young ensign.

"Mr DeJano.  Prepare a class nine probe and load it with copies
of all log entries and sensor reading since we first arrived
here.  Dispatch it to the nearest Starbase to here".

A few seconds passed.

"Probe ready to launch Sir".

"Make it so".

"Probe on it's way Sir" reported the Ensign.

Several things happened at once.  The deflector grid flipped on
almost immediately and a energy beam lashed out from the planet,
hitting the probe and blowing it into a million pieces.  Caught
in the blast, the Enterprise shook violently.

Steadying her self, Troi turned to the captain.  "It appears" she
said, "that someone does not want anyone to know we are here".

"That much is evident councillor.  Scan for the source of that
energy beam".

The comm panel sounded.  "Crusher to Picard".

"Picard here Doctor.  Any results?".

"The analysis results have come back from the laboratory on the
green slime.  Much of it's composition is unknown but it contains
a strong hallucinational agent which affects the reasoning and
reality processing areas of the brain".

"How strong Doctor?".

"So strong that when we tested a sample on a volunteer. we had
to restrain him on the examining table to stop him hitting the
ceiling.  He claimed that several dead relatives and the Devil
himself was after him.  This is potent stuff captain".

"Good work Doctor".

"One other thing captain.  We took samples around the area that
Troi was attacked and found several signs of transporter
activity.  It looks like the slime is transported in from
somewhere".

"It appears that our Devil not so supernatural after all.  Keep
me apprised Doctor.  Picard out".

He turned to Troi.  "It appears that we are dealing with a not
so formidable adversary after all".

                              ____________

"Nearly through Sir" called Wolf.  A few more seconds passed. 
The inner sheet of metal started to hinge inwards, then fell with
a great crash to reveal a long, badly lit corridor.

"Good" exclaimed Riker.  "I'll lead..."

Wolf disagreed.  "Sir, as senior officer here I, as security
offer should lead".

"Not this time Wolf, lets go".

Proceeding cautiously down the tunnel, Riker could not help
feeling apprehensive.  A few hundred yards along, the shape of
a figure approaching them was starting to become visible.

"Phaser's on stun" barked Riker.

The figure got closer and closer, finally revealing itself as
data.

"Data, is that you?" called Geordi.

"yes.  The machinery used to snatch me discovered that I was not
human and let me go.  I managed to find my way back here.  Sir,
I have made a startling discovery".

"Which is" replied Riker.

"It would be better if you followed me.  It is easier to look
than to explain".

After traversing several more corridors, they finally emerged
into a large open  chamber.  At the centre of the room stood a
large glass column, filled with a clear solution.  Floating
inside was a strange looking humanoid, tethered to the glass
sides by electronic equipment and cords.  Behind him stood small
glass jars, similarly wired, but with Brains inside them.

Riker slowly circled the tank, looking first at the equipment,
then at the occupant inside the tank.  Parts of it were heavily
stitched at major limb junctions and one leg was clearly feminine
in appearance.

Geordi stood scanning the tube, a frown of puzzlement was
noticeable across his face.

"Commander" he called.  "This is weird.  The occupant of the tank
appears to be made up of pieces of different people, of different
sexes and colours.  It is alive, but barely".

A dull humming noise shot across the room and the tube in the
centre of the room illuminated followed by a voice.

"HUMANS.......Welcome.............."

"Who are you???" said Riker, addressing the entity inside the
tube.

"My name is not important.  I am the last of the Hobs.  I have
been waiting here for a eternity, waiting for your arrival".

"Our arrival?"

"YES" the voice boomed.  "Your arrival.  At last, transport for
me away from this place, and so many FRESH bodies to choose
from".

"Bodies to choose from???  Us???".  Realisation started to dawn
in Rikers head.  "What about the people you have snatched from
our planet".

"To survive for all these years, these eons, I have had to take
humans for your planet for spare parts to extend my existence. 
Thousand's of years ago, we came to your planet, openly to your
people, our intentions plain.  You banished us, spun our names
into your folklore as a warning to others.  Beware the Hob, the
imp, the destructor.  Is it any wonder we resorted to subterfuge
to survive?  That is now in the past, the time is the present. 
With your ship, and it's spare part store, I can proceed to
rejuvenate my race".

"The brains in the tubes behind??" enquired Data.

"Yes" continued the voice.  "We will again be mighty.  You will
be the first.  The process is painless, the lobotomy will not
take long".

"And what about our lives" said Geordi.  "We have a right to
existence ourselves".

"RIGHT TO EXISTENCE!!!!!   Hahahaha, your puny existence would
not be missed by your passing.  You are nothing, food for the
strong.  We will win, we will prevail".

Several mechanical machines emerged from the wall and started
towards the away team.

Wolf addressed the entity.  "Your race is past.  You have no
place in the modern universe".

"You are wrong Klingon.  Your race was one of those under
selection.  A pity it had to come to this but never mind.  Give
yourselves up freely Humans, you have no other choice!!!".

"Over my dead body..." said Riker and took aim with his phaser
at the control gear surrounding the tube.  He opened fire.

"NOOOOOOOOOO" screamed the entity as his life supporting systems
were fused beyond repair.  Geordi lashed out with his phaser
whilst Data and Wolf covered the rear.

A stray phaser blast cannoned into the glass tubes containing the
last of the Hobs, scattering pieces of brains across the floor. 
The entity gurgled as his life sustaining processes shut down one
by one.

"I HAVE FAILED" it screamed into the thin air, "BUT NOT BEFORE
I TAKE YOUR PRECIOUS SHIP WITH ME.............".

"Everybody out" cried Riker as several sections of ceiling,
caught in a sudden blast from the life support equipment started
to fall.

A section of girder fell down, narrowly missing Wolf.  They
careered down the dark tunnels, the crashes of destruction
snapping at their heels,  Finally, they emerged from the
building, a large dust cloud following them, to a sullen sky, the
wind whipping around them.

"What did it mean commander?" yelled Geordi over the sound of the
rising wind.

"I don't know,....but the Enterprise is in trouble".

End of part 4.                          

~~~ Blue Wave/RA v2.12 [NR]
--
| Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own.
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
From: [email-masked] (Paul Hubbard)
Path: newserv.ksu.ksu.edu!moe.ksu.ksu.edu!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!agate!doc.ic.ac.uk!qmw!demon!shbbs!paul.hubbard
Subject: Better The Devil You Know 6
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Better the Devil you know.
by P.D Hubbard

Part 5.

"Sir, communications are working again.  The away team is calling
us".

"On speakers" replied Picard.

<fizz crackle> "Riker to Enterprise".

"Enterprise here.  Go ahead commander".

"We've had a encounter with a strange being down here who was
responsible for the disappearances on Earth.  He tried to use us
for his own ends but we managed to put him off permanently. 
However, he was most insistent that he would 'exact his revenge'
on the Enterprise".

"Captain" said Troi, "I am sensing something from the planet..".

Suddenly, the deflector grid snapped on.  The officer on tactical
cut in.  "Captain, the ship nearest to us, it's moving!!!!!"

A small ship, the 'Southern Cities' slowly started to turn on
it's axis, it's bows coming around towards the Enterprise.  The
turn slowly ground to a halt and then the impossible happened. 
The ship started to move towards the Enterprise.  A second ship
started to turn and move.  It was almost as if the Enterprise had
suddenly become magnetic.

"Sir!" called tactical, "I have five ships of various sizes all
on a collision course with us....".

"Red alert, shields up.  will, we're under attack up here" said
Picard, "We'll have to get back to you.......".

"RED ALERT : RED ALERT : THIS IS NOT A DRILL  " the computer
voice intoned.

Tactical called in.  "Sir, the first ship is rapidly closing...".

"Arm phasers and fire at will".

A phaser shot lashed out at hit the old ship.  Her bows crumpled
inwards but she still kept coming at the Enterprise.  The
distance slowly closed.  Another shot hit the ship, folding the
plates down one side.  Finally, a third shot hit home and the old
wreck folded up.

A second wreck crept up whilst the Enterprise was dealing with
the first and squarely hit the Enterprise amidships.  The shields
mopped up the impact and the old ship exploded into a million
bits.  Shields are primarily designed as protection against
energy weapons whilst deflectors only work best on distant
objects.  There was no way they could protect against a large
metal structure which, like a old ram on a Roman galley, shot
right through the hull and embedded itself in the side of
engineering tearing out several decks and exposing the warp core
to space.

"Engineering to Bridge"

"Bridge here.  Go ahead".

"Sir, decks 26, 27 and 28 are exposed to vacuum.  Portside power
coupling is down and we have a leak in the PDT tank.  Going to
secondary backup systems".

A large explosion rocked the Enterprise from stem to stern,
rolling her around.

"Engineering again.  Secondary systems have failed.  We've lost
primary warp capability and the core is overloading.  Power is
marginal.  Shutting down core....".

"Do what you can, bridge out".

Tactical cut in.  "Sir, portside phaser couplings are down.  I
have a phaser coolant leak on decks 5 and 6".

"It never rains but it pours," said Picard, "...evacuate those
decks and flush to vacuum.....".

The viewscreen blinked into life to reveal the image of a being
within a glass tube.

"Captain Picard" the voice hissed but the lips did not move. 
"You see me so foully murdered by your hand.  I will exact my
revenge apon you and your ship".  The screen blinked off.

"Sensors have detected a tractor beam emanating from the planet
surface, roughly 400 yards from commander Riker's position".

"Is it trying to lock on us?".

"No Sir, it's not interested in us.  It is being used to move
those old wrecks out there.......".

"Open a comm channel to the away team".

"Open Sir".

"Picard to Riker".

"Riker here Sir, what's going on up there?".

"All hell has broken loose up here.  Listen, get the hell out of
there, as quick as you can.  Clear the city because a lot of fire
power is on it's way down to you".

"Acknowledged Sir.  don't worry about us, just hit the target".

"You have two minutes Will, we are waiting for Phaser recharge
up here".

"Things that bad Sir?".

"That bad, move it Commander.  Enterprise out.  Engineering, can
you spare power for tractor beams?".

"No way Sir, you can have either have phaser recharge or tractor
beams.  Not both.  We're just picking up the pieces down here".

"Understood. Bridge Out.  Tactical, time to impact?".

"One minute, thirty seconds.  Time to recharge, One minute forty
two".

The seconds passed.  The wreck got closer and closer being pushed
by the tractor beam.  Then, a miracle.

"Sir," called tactical, "We have Photon Torpedoes back on line".

"Take aim at that wreck at fire.  All tubes".

Six photon torpedoes shot away from the Enterprise and screamed
through the vacuum towards the wreck.  They hit with a blinding
flash, instantly vaporising the old ship.  

"Phasers charged and ready to fire Sir....".

Picard wasted no time.  "Lock phasers on target and fire....".

A continuous phased energy beam raced towards the planet's
surface, cutting through the atmosphere like a knife through
butter, hitting the structure from where the tractor beam
emanated.  The outer structure slowly began to soften and then
flow as the metal melted into molten rivers.  Then, inside, a
critical piece of equipment failed and the structure blew up,
taking a sizable chunk of the surrounding land with it.

From their vantage point, the away team surveyed the devastation.

"Riker to Enterprise".

"Enterprise here" came the crisp, relieved tones of Picard.

"Nice shooting Sir.  That should have put the Hobs out of
business for good".

"I hope so number one.  I hope so".

"Four ready for beam up".

"Ummmmmm" replied Picard.  "There's a problem there.  Due to a
lack of power, the transporters are off line at the moment.  We
will be dispatching a shuttle to your position for pick up".

"Oh Joy.  Riker out".  He turned to the others.  "Well gentlemen,
we have a long wait ahead of us.  What shall we do to pass the
time????".

Data looked thoughtful.  "I spy with my little eye, something
beginning with W ?".

"Wrecked city" replied Geordi.  "My go".....

End of part 5

~~~ Blue Wave/RA v2.12 [NR]
--
| Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own.
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
From: [email-masked] (Paul Hubbard)
Path: newserv.ksu.ksu.edu!moe.ksu.ksu.edu!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!agate!doc.ic.ac.uk!qmw!demon!shbbs!paul.hubbard
Subject: Better The Devil You Know 7
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From: [email-masked] (Paul Hubbard)

Better the Devil you know.
by P.D Hubbard.

Epilogue.

The Enterprise was currently on route for Starbase 312 for urgent
repairs.  The damage was severe but nothing that a spacedock
couldn't cure.  Most of the last day had been spent on the planet
cataloguing the Human remains found in the pits.  And it was a
heartbreaking job for the teams involved.  The finding of the
remains of a little girl, cuddling a small dog brought tears to
the eyes of the women of the Enterprise.

Fourteen crew, including Ensign Cortez, had been lost on this
mission alone.  Fourteen people who would never be going back to
their loved ones.  For Picard, this was the worst part about
being the commanding officer.  For days afterwards, he had spent
his time in the holodeck, riding Bessie, trying to put the horror
out of his mind.

Picard was spending the morning with his horse, getting some
exercise when the entrance to the holodeck split the tree's apart
and Beverley Crusher walked in.  She spotted him and walked over.

"Still trying to bury the thoughts?" she started.

"This has got to have been one of the worst missions I have ever
commanded.  All those lives lost because of my actions, or
inactions".

"But life goes on Jean Luc.  Remember, if it was'nt you in
command, on this mission, it would have been some other unlucky
soul who may not have been able to pull the mission off.  We done
alright out of this just by pulling through".

"I guess your right.  Best to live with it as best as you can". 
He paused for a few seconds then continued.  "Now then Doctor,
can I interest you in a quite horse ride for a hour or two?".

"Why do you think I came down here?".

"Computer.  Run program Dancer one.  Standard saddle".

A computer generated horse appeared at the paddock.

"Doctor, she's all yours...".

And with that, they rode off.

The end?

~~~ Blue Wave/RA v2.12 [NR]
--
| Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own.