Subject: FRONTIER: The Adversary?

SD 80415

>He knew what he was thinking was silly; androids don't get upset, or 
>lonely, or depressed.  Still, Keanu walked over to that one table, took 
>the seat opposite Houston and said, "Hi."


Houston turned from the window, "Hello, Lieutenant."

"I don't mean to intrude but, you look lonely." Keanu's new eye looked at  
Houston as he had never seen her before, an aura of light and power 
signatures.

"Well you could say that I am lonely, Neil is working in engineering."

Keanu suddenly felt guilty. "How about a drink?"

She thought about it for a second, "Ask the bartender if we could possibly 
have two glasses and a bottle of the New Orleans wine."

"Sure," Keanu went to the bar, "Cralk, could I have a bottle of your New  
Orleans wine? A good year."

"I've got a bottle of 2218, they say it doesn't come any better than that."
Cralk said as he looked under the bar.

"That will do nicely, and give me two glasses please."

Cralk produced a bottle from under the bar and pulled two glasses from the 
shelf. Keanu noticed the look of warning from Cralk as he took the drink 
back to the table.  Sitting back down at the table, Keanu set down the 
glasses and tried the bottle with corkscrew.  The cork remained stubbornly 
embedded in the neck of the bottle.

"Let me try," suggested Joanna.  As he handed the bottle over, she studied
the screw carefully and twisted the cork out in a single swift motion.  
Then she poured wine into both the glasses, handing one to Keanu.

As Keanu lifted the glass to his lips a not-bad-looking brunette passed 
their table.


JOANNE CALIDAN'S QUARTERS

Joanne had only her uniform for clothes, she went to the replicator and 
replicated herself a floor length, revealing Tholian silk dress that 
showed exactly where her Trill spots went. She tied her long dark blonde
hair back into a ponytail, and left for the party.

By the time she reached the party Keanu look somewhat drunk, the bottle at
his table was nearly empty. Joanne emerged from the crowd at the door. When
Keanu saw her his mouth hung open, his throat turned dry. He took another
drink to stop his eyes wandering down the neckline. He knew she had 
breasts, but had never seen quite so much of them, in public before. Her
cleavage was complemented by the delicate brown spots that wandered from
her shoulders deep into the multicolour fabric.                          

Keanu passed out. Kzark stood at the bar, he turned to see Joanne emerge
from the crowd, his eyes bulged at the sight, he looked farther down the
dress, it was worse. It flowed around her hips and thighs like a coat of
paint. The fabric was translucent enough to reveal the shape of her legs
underneath.

She approached the bar, "Could I have a Samarian Sunset please?"

"Coming right up," Cralk said reaching under the bar.

Kzark moved closer. "Replicated Tholian silk? I could get you the real
thing for a small..."

Joanne cut him off. "Get out of my face, troll, or I will have to rip your
ears off and make you eat them," Joanne said taking her drink from Cralk.

The small Ferengi looked worried and decided to move away. Joanne could
tell she was going to like it on this ship.


SHUTTLE BAY

The shuttle bay was deserted. Under the small fighter's power plant, a
puddle of clear liquid formed. It grew larger and larger until it was able
to turn into its natural form. It had been feeding off the fighters plasma
conduits to provide it with energy. The plasma creature moved, slowly at
first as if it was not sure how to use its own limbs. It reached the
air-vent and moved inside.


2-BACKWARD

Joanne Calidan moved over to the table where Houston and Keanu sat. "May I
join you?" She asked Houston as Keanu was in no state to answer.

"Yes, please do." Houston said pointing to a seat and looking at the
Trill's unusual violet eyes.

"Let me introduce myself, I'm Lt. Joanne Calidan," she extended a hand.

"I am Lt.Cmdr Joanna Houston." They shook hands.

"Are you and Keanu... mates?" asked Joanne.

"No, I am merely his superior."

Joanne turned red, "Sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"Joanne, I am an android. I do not get embarrassed."

Keanu started to move, "I think I've had too much to drink."

"I did not know Trills are so susceptible to alcohol," Houston said looking
at Joanne.

"We're not, it's just Keanu. We should take him to his quarters."

"Very well, Joanne." They both stood and took an arm each and pulled Keanu
to the door.


KEANU'S QUARTERS

They lay Keanu down on the bed, "We should undress him don't you think?" 
asked Joanne.

Houston hesitated as her interests conflicted with her programming.  In 
afew brief microseconds her interests won out and she smiled at Joanne.
"Yes, I think we should."

They reached over and started to strip Keanu of his clothes. Keanu didn't
object, he started to undress them. Houston's black dress fell to the floor
along with Joanne's multicolour silk, they both stood naked before him.
Keanu suddenly sobered. 
 
Keanu looked at Houston, then at Calidan. Her violet eyes were stunning, he
noticed that she was shivering with the cold. The rooms temperature
controls must be on the blink he thought, "Get in or you'll freeze to
death."

"You'll just have to keep us warm then, Maren," Joanne said as she 
slipped beneath the sheets. Joanna followed but got in on the other side of
the bed.

As Keanu lay there with Joanne on his right arm and Joanna on his left, he
had a feeling it was going to be a long night. 


ISHARA'S QUARTERS

Ishara sat on her bed, preparing for the party. The creature watched her
from the air-vent. It decided to make its move. Ishara heard something and
turned. A large green creature stood before her, as she reached for her
phaser on the table beside her bed, two large green bolts of plasma raked
her body. She never reached the phaser. The creature moved back to the
air-vent.


SICKBAY

As Ishara's telepathic screams resounded in her head, Ruth doubled over in 
sympathetic agony, her glass clattering to the floor.

"What is it?" asked Neil, grabbing her by the shoulders.

She looked up at him with tearful eyes, "Ishara.  She..."  Ruth hesitated, 
trying to bring back into focus what had disturbed her so much.  "Pain, so 
much pain," she mumbled.

Neil sat Ruth down on a bed, grabbed a medi-pack and a phaser and sped out 
of Sickbay with the words, "I'll be back," hanging on the air.


2-BACKWARD

Ramsay felt a sudden twinge of pain behind his eyes, it stayed for a few 
seconds, then faded.  "It's nothing," he said with a puzzled expression, to
concerned on-lookers.  He picked up his glass and took another sip of the 
excellent New Orleans wine, and the sensation seemed to disappear 
momentarily.


ISHARA'S QUARTERS

Neil burst into the room to find Ishara sprawled on the bed, two long angry
burns traversing the course of her stricken body.  Not waiting to meet the 
same fate as her, Neil scooped her up and raced out, seconds ticking 
agonisingly by in his head.  Fortunately for him Sickbay was not far away, 
because he couldn't keep this up for long.

As he bundled into Sickbay with the lifeless form of Ishara and laid her 
quickly onto a bed, Ruth took over for him with professional speed.  
Exhausted, he tapped his wristcom and said, "Sykes to Ramsay.  We have a 
casualty down here, the assailant may still be aboard."  He caught his 
breath while the stunned captain was lost for words.

Ramsay eventually replied, [I'll see to it straight away, Doctor.  Ramsay 
out.]

Sykes nodded and got up to see if he could help Ruth.  She was holding a 
tricorder over Ishara while simultaneously trying the cortical stimulators.
The tricorder played its incessant death whine indicating zero life signs, 
while Neil attempted to restart Ishara's heartbeat and respiration.  
Eventually he found himself looking at Ruth, their eyes conveying the 
helplessness they both felt.

Ishara was dead.


2-BACKWARD

Angus stood up and walked to the bar, the Romulan ale was finished and he 
still wasn't drunk.  He felt that this was a problem which needed solving 
soon.

Cralk walked up to where he was standing, "Were you wanting a drink?"

"You must have read my mind, four pints of Zmaspotovian Trestrop ale if you
please."

"Are you sure?  I have some very nice wines behind the counter."

"No thanks, I had a look through your list and I didn't find anything that 
particularly appeals to me."

Cralk looked momentarily puzzled, "List?  What list?"

"I have a detailed catalogue of your wines in my security database."  Then 
seeing Cralk's stunned expression he added with a wry grin, "Surely you 
didn't think you'd gotten your little stash past me?  I'm the security 
chief, it's my job to know everything that's onboard."

"Everything?" Cralk asked guiltily.

"Right down to that little box of Bolian fudge that you keep in your 
wardrobe."

Cralk's eyes widened, "How do you know about *that*?"

Angus grinned, and tapping the side of his nose said, "Trade secret."

It was then that Ramsay approached him with a seriously worried expression.
"Angus, we've got a problem.  Dr. Sykes says someone's been hurt, and 
whoever's done it could be on the loose.  Take a security team and find out
what's going on."

Angus called over to Patrick and Leana and hastily explained the situation,
he then tapped his wrist-comm, "Gurney, get down to level two, and take a 
weapon, we have a possible intruder on board."

[I'm on my way sir.]

Angus and the two others ran out into the corridor, towards their quarters
as Ramsay's voice called out behind them, "Attention everybody, we have a 
possible intruder on board.  Nobody leaves until we're sure it's safe."

The three security officers met in the corridor again brandishing various 
weapons, Angus with his usual phaser rifle.  "Who wasn't in 2-backward?" he
asked.

"Sykes and Sampter were both in sick-bay," Patrick told him. "Gurney was on
the bridge and Festore is in engineering."

Angus activated his wrist-comm, "Engineering?"

[Festore here sir.]

"Listen carefully, grab a phaser and make your way to deck two."

[I can't do that, the warp core's not stable, I need to keep an eye on it.]

"Then watch your back, we have an intruder loose on the ship, I think it's 
on deck two but I can't be sure."

Angus looked down the corridor and saw the turbolift doors slide open and 
Gurney walked outside.

"Change of plan, get to engineering as fast as you can," Angus told him.

Gurney did a swift about-turn back into the lift and the doors closed 
again.

Angus ran down the corridor towards sick bay, the adrenaline rush was 
keeping his head clear and he was frightened to slow down for a moment in 
case it overtook him again, "You two, check all the quarters, I want to 
talk to Sykes."

Patrick and Leana broke off and jogged into the closest room while Angus 
went through the door into sick bay.

Sykes looked up as he entered, a foreboding expression on his face.  He 
didn't say anything, just looked at the motionless draped form on the bed.
Everyone in sickbay was alert, as if anticipating an attack here.  Angus 
strode over to see just what was bugging everybody out so much.

He pulled the sheet away from Ishara's body then quickly put it back over 
her, "Can you give me a clue what did that doctor?"

"From what I can tell, they're very severe plasma burns.  She died from 
shock more than anything else.  Ruth, uh, heard her screaming."  Sykes 
glanced briefly at Ruth, who was making a visible effort at keeping calm.

Angus looked around the various patients and noticed a face that he knew, 
"Louise, you feeling fit?"

"I've felt worse."

"Sykes, take her up to the bridge, we need a full internal sensor sweep and
I don't want anybody alone while this thing's loose."

"What about me?" asked Ruth.

"Either go to 2-Backward or grab a phaser and come with me," he replied.

She considered it for just a moment before grabbing a hand phaser from a 
concealed panel under a bed.  "Never can be too careful," Ruth remarked as 
she brushed past him.


Patrick and Leana stood outside the door, Patrick tapped the open button 
and the indicator flashed red to show that the door was locked.  Patrick 
cursed and keyed in his security override and the door opened, the two 
stormed into the room and immediately noticed that the bed was occupied. 
Hearing the door open the three occupants drew the sheets about them and 
blushed furiously, except for Houston.

"Can I help you?" asked the android, keen to know what brought two security
officers crashing into a locked room.

Patrick recovered first, "Yeah, get dressed and grab a phaser, we've got an
intruder on board, someone's been hurt already."

The two women grabbed what they had been wearing and hastily put it on, 
whilst Keanu slumped back on the bed in a stupor.  Houston was first 
finished, leaving hurriedly to fetch her phaser.

Leana made an expression of distaste, "Someone take that carcass to 
2-Backward, get him out of the way."

Joanne hastily dressed Maren, put his arm round her neck and carried him to
2-Backward.

The two security officers then stormed into the next room in a similar 
manner. "Where would you hide if you were him, her, it?" Leana asked.

"Depends," Patrick replied. "What's my motivation for being here in the 
first place."

Before Leana answered she noticed something, she walked towards the air 
vent in the room and saw that there was a green crystaline residue covering
the grate.  "It's in the air vents," she said. "And it's definately an it."

                          Respectfully submitted:

                               Dale Forster
                      [Lt.] Keanu Maren, CEO FRONTIER

                    "Evil is easy, and has many forms."
                                  Pascal
                                   

                          **********************          
                          *  Allan MacLennan   *
                          *                    *
                          * [Lt.] Angus Murray *
                          **********************

             "Put your faith in God and keep your powder dry."
                              Oliver Cromwell


      S            [Captain] William Ramsay, CO FRONTIER             S
    D   A          [Cmdr] Caroline Ramsay, rodXO FRONTIER          A   D
  R       M        [Lt.Cmdr] Joanna Houston, aXO FRONTIER        M       R
A       M                                                          M       A
  W   E       "He said, `You're too late.  We're everywhere'."       E   W
    D                       Odo, Star Trek: DS9                        D