Ajescent

::Sings:: Just keep digging, just keep digging... Ok fine, I won't post the second ending...happy?

yeah man! Character interviews, concept arts, directior's cut heck the whole sher-bang!

Ok my entry is up and tommorow (here's hoping) I'll post the Alternate ending.

One percent The Commander fixed his visor and scratched his itching nose, a task made more difficult by the bitter cold setting in on his fingers. The shuttle was dead, the instruments were dead, and so were half the away team and that was only the beginning. Trying to gain a positive from an otherwise grave situation, the Commander humoured himself by watching the breath from his mouth freeze in the cold air, the weather was so cold he could actually see little ice particles form from his breath. ‘Any luck with the communications system sir?’ The Commander blinked as though being caught in the middle of a lewd act. Looking over to his right, he saw the last remaining member of his away team, a young Betazoid whom as far as he was concerned? Was as cute as a button but just as intelligent...not that he would ever think that in front of her… ‘No Ensign, I’m having a little trouble with the cold.’ He lied. ‘Right sir…’ The Ensign nodded with a tone that suggested she did not believe him. ‘Amazing first mission huh?’ He said in a vain attempt to lighten the mood. ‘Usually we try to lower the Ensigns in on missions where most of your away team don’t bite it-’ wrong choice of words…he concluded. The look of disappointment on her face showed she agreed with him. ‘Don’t worry.’ He said, trying again to improve her mood. ‘I’ll soon have this fixed-’ No sooner did he say his words did the console spring to life with static coming from the speakers… ‘Ah-ha!’ He said proudly, hinting an “I told you so” look to the Ensign as they gained access to environmental controls as well as communications… ‘Commander Vol’Darin to the Beacon, come in Beacon…’ The Commander said as he switched through the channels in hope of picking up a response. ‘Vol’Darin to the Beacon, do you read me?’ He looked over to the disappointed Ensign who had gotten her hopes up when the console sprung to life but had now returned to her down-trodden self as after 30 seconds, it was becoming apparent that their calls were going out to no one, when suddenly- ‘This Lieutenant Hirsh of the Beacon receiving you Commander, how are you enjoying the surface?’ Hirsh asked, what he thought was a reasonable question. ‘Hey Hirsh…Umm…’ The Commander mused, searching for a witty comeback as he sucked his teeth. ‘Not very well…’ ‘Why is that sir?’ ‘Well…without warning, the weather changed from Tropical to Arctic, the Shuttle is now inoperable and oh! I think our hosts might be cannibals, Mr Hirsh…’ the Commander said with a sarcastic smile to himself. ‘Why do you think that sir?’ Hirsh asked with under stable concern. ‘Well it could be because with the exception of Ms Benton and myself? They’ve eaten the entire away team…I’m not sure…’ ‘What?!’ Hirsh shouted, unable to believe his ears. ‘Funny thing…it seems the weather affects the mentality of the people here…for the half of the year when it’s tropical? They are normal happy people but when it snows they turn into flesh eating monsters…who knew?!’ The Commander said half laughing. ‘Really?’ ‘Yeah, I know…I was shocked too when I found out…’ The Commander replied tastelessly, much to the annoyance of his fellow strandee. ‘If its not too much trouble, Ms Benton and I would love for you guys to scoot on over and get us…’ ‘Umm…that’s not entirely possible sir…’ The Lieutenant replied uncomfortably. ‘And why not?’ ‘Well…whilst you were down there…we were inexplicably attacked by an unknown ship…’ The Commander frowned, that was not what he was hoping to hear. ‘Is everyone ok?’ ‘The ship took heavy damages, almost everything is out, the Captain is in sickbay…rumours are that he might not make it…to make things worse…we have reasons to believe our attackers may be coming back for round two…it would take at least 24 hours to get the ship in near working condition…’ ‘Right…’ The Commander sighed, if he had been on board the ship, he would now be in charge and be tasked with saving the life of everyone on board but from the looks of things his situation did not seem so bad… ‘How soon can you come get us?’ ‘Engineering predicts they may have impulse back online within the hour, on impulse it should take an hour to get back to the planet…we have nothing faster than that… ‘I did mention the cannibals right?’ The Commander frowned. ‘Yes sir you did.’ The Lieutenant sighed. ‘But there’s nothing we can do from up here…best you can do is hold out for a couple of hours…’ ‘You make it sound like a walk in the park…ok Hirsh…see you in two hours…over and out…’ The Commander ended the transmission and smiled brightly at the Ensign; rubbing his hands together he mentally assessed the situation and their likely hood of surviving, but opted not to air out his findings as he figured out their chances. ‘Not good is it?’ Benton asked quietly. ‘Huh? The Commander replied, momentarily forgetting he was in the company of a Betazoid…perhaps referring to her as unintelligent was not such a good idea… ‘Not good at all Ensign…’ The Commander said with a genuine smile… ‘Thought so…’ She sighed dishearteningly. ‘Well…that communiqué took about half the reserved energy the shuttle had left, which means we have about an hour of life support and environment control before we lose everything…then I’d say…based on the strength of the shuttle’s hull…the weather, our suits…? I’d say we should be able to last about 30 minutes before we freeze to death…thus leaving us with 30 whole minutes before the Beacon gets here…’ ‘Oh joy…’ She replied seemingly losing the will to live. ‘But of course that’s if the Cannibals out there don’t rip us to shred before all that happens…’ ‘Yes…thank you Commander…’ She frowned at their prospecting death. ‘Look on the bright side…at least we get to choose how we die…either we freeze to death or we get eaten alive.’ The Commander said chirpily. ‘Isn’t there an option where we get rescued at the last minute and end up living happily ever after?’ The Ensign asked, not even believing her own words. ‘Umm…I don’t think so…’ He replied stroking his chin, wondering if heard any of the last minute…’Have you your phaser?’ He asked calmly. ‘Yes sir…why may I ask?’ ‘Well…you didn’t think I was going to let them eat us without a fight did you?’ ‘Perhaps we may not need to…’ She said as her eyes began to widen with delirium. ‘How exactly?’ The Commander replied, raising an eyebrow. ‘The Beacon could save us!’ ‘You did hear every thing that was said a few minutes ago right?’ He asked in an attempt to double check his standpoint. ‘Yeah…but, but- we can’t just die like this! Someone or something has to save us!’ She shouted hysterically and began pacing up and down the frozen shuttle. The Commander paused a second to watch her as she ranted and raved hysterically, on the one hand she was facing imminent death and deserved her moment of panic on the other…? She was wasting precious air; the necessary had to be done. With a collected sigh, the Commander pulled her to himself and as controlled as possible, slapped her across the face and in return she gasped and blinked in amazement as she returned to her senses. ‘Feeling better?’ He asked calmly. ‘Yes thank you, I needed that.’ She replied, trying to reshuffle her face. ‘On the one hand, there’s a 99% chance of us dying here and only a one percent chance of error going either way…’ ‘On the other hand?’ ‘Huh? Oh sorry…“there is no other hand,” there is only the hand with the 99% chance of us dying.’ The Commander shrugged haplessly. ‘Couldn’t you at least say there was a one percent chance of surviving or something?’ ‘Well…there isn’t really but yeah…if you want…we could say that…’ ‘Good…’ She sighed heavily, suddenly looking motivated. ‘As long as there is a one percent chance? There is a possibility everything will be fine…’ ‘Umm…ok…’ The Commander replied sounding confused by her sudden motivation. ‘I expect our hosts will be here shortly…I gather they weren’t too pleased by our departure from their place. ‘Yeah…especially since they went out of their way to invite us to dinner…’ Benton replied, figuring it was best to adopt her Commander’s look on things. ‘No one said anything about us being on the menu-’ No sooner did he speak, did loud noises begin to echo through the shuttle as though some thing heavy was banging on the hull of it, with unrelenting force the unknown something eagerly on the shuttle. ‘What is it?’ Benton asked nervously, pointing her phaser in the direction of the bangs. ‘I’ll give you one guess…’ The Commander replied sarcastically. The pair stood side by side as the bangs grew louder and louder…oh what they wouldn’t give to have the Beacon beaming them up right about now…but maybe not yet, because without warning…the banging stopped… ‘What the…’ The Commander asked, narrowing his eyes with curiosity. ‘Do you think it’s gone?’ Benton asked hopefully, clinging on desperately to that one percent. ‘Not friggin likely-’ The Commander thought to himself but might just as well have said it out as he was after all standing next to a Betazoid. ‘Can you sense anything?’ ‘No sir.’ She replied shaking her head. ‘The snow is affecting my senses.’ ‘I’m going to go outside and check.’ The Commander said suddenly. ‘Are you nuts?!’ She replied, momentarily forgetting who she was talking to. ‘If the snow doesn’t kill you, that THING will- and…’ She paused noticing her Commander looking at her curiously. ‘What?’ ‘Aww…Ensign…I didn’t know you cared.’ He replied in his typical bland voice. ‘Hm! ‘She retorted and tutted at him when it became apparent why he wanted to go outside. ’Wait a minute…’ ‘What?’ ‘You are going to get yourself killed…’ She replied sternly. ’You are going to get yourself killed to save me…’ ‘Don’t be stupid Ensign; you’re cute but not cute enough for me to kill myself over you.’ ‘Nonsense!’ She shouted in return as the Commander looked at her with a raised eyebrow as though waiting for an explanation. ‘Um- no wait, that was not what I meant- I didn’t mean I was cute enough for you to kill yourself- I meant…nonsense that you think I’m cute…no that’s not it either-bah you know what I meant.’ She concluded looking deflated her own head hurting from the attempted explanation. ‘Umm…no…I was actually trying to remind you that you are speaking to a superior officer and as a result you should be careful of how you speak to me Ensign.’ He added the “Ensign” more as an emphasis of his point than anything else. ‘Oh right…I’m sorry sir.’ She said clearing her throat. ‘And as your superior…what I say tends to go…’ He said with a rarely heard stern tone to his voice. ‘Yes the plan was to go quietly into the great unknown…if I did that…there would be less people breathing the air in here, thus leaving more for one person to survive on…at least one of us will stand a greater chance of surviving until the Beacon arrives…’ He smiled what he assumed to be a genuine smile designed to comfort her and remind her everything would work out for the best, but it did the opposite as she crashed to her knees with tears streaming down her face. With a smile to himself, the Commander bent his knees so that he was face to face with her. ‘Look on the bright side…at least that one percent will increase ten folds…right?’ He asked with a smile. ‘No! I’m happy with the one percent! I won’t let you sacrifice yourself for me…’ She replied wrapping her arms around him, not wanting to let him go. ‘Well…I’m sorry Ensign…that decision is not yours to make…‘ He replied with a smile as he struggled to take her arms from around his neck. ‘As your Commanding officer…I order you to stay here…don’t worry…it’ll be fine…it’ll be just like a walk in the park…’ ‘No…’ She whispered quietly as he made his way towards the shuttle doors. She read his emotions, but there was nothing…no fear nothing…it was as if he’d planned this moment already…why didn’t she see it? She looked at him one last time as he braced himself to exit the shuttle, winking at her, he stepped outside. ‘No!!’ She yelled, chasing after him but before she could reach him the doors closed behind him. Trying every thing she could to open the doors, nothing would work. She gasped as she heard something that sounded not too dissimilar to the fizzling sound of a phaser being fired, what was happening? She rested her ears against the door to try to listen but was forced to step back by the sudden glare of melting metal, before she could realise what was happening, it was too late, he was sealing her in with his phaser fire, so that she could not get out and he could not get in. It only took a minute for him to completely seal her in and then the disturbing silence took over…but now sooner did that happen did it get broken by a series of ferocious screeches and a barge of phaser fire…she counted approximately ten shots before a final feeble one fired as a final salute, not to the approaching danger but to himself, Because from what she recalled there were hundreds of these people on the planet…and from the noise outside…it was safe to assume a majority of them were outside the shuttle and the lack of screams from the Commander suggests he did not live to suffer the painful experience. The deadly silence returned… If she couldn’t sense anything before, she sure could now…hundreds upon hundreds of beings all outside the shuttle craving one thing…fresh meat…was she to make to make her last stand here too? With a sigh of reconciliation she recognised the fact that if she were a Klingon? Today would be a good day to die. She picked up her phaser and wondered how many she could take before she was either killed or help arrived…with only 45 minutes of the originally predicted two hours passed, it was becoming more apparent that the former would occur long before anything else. With deep anticipation, she waited as the things on the other side slowly began to surround her, she could hear them “quietly” surrounding the shuttle, with her heart in her mouth she waited for it… the best possible point of entry seemed to be the windshield, realising this she aimed her phaser there, she could see their blood stained faces eyeing her wondering which bit to eat first. Concluding she was bored of waiting for her imminent death, she fired the first shot at the creature that had been grinning at her continuously the whole time, not only breaking the glass but shooting him right between the eyes. The blast from the phaser was powerful enough to send him flying into the waiting crowd who promptly jumped on him devouring him whole, whilst the others rushed through the broken window in an attempt to rush the seemingly defenceless Ensign. Not wanting to go down without a fight, she randomly fired into the crowd taking out anyone stupid enough to come close, occasionally using her arms to fight off her aggressors, but there were too many as they slowly began to overpower but not enough to get close enough to attack, still with the fighting spirit she fired unabashedly into the crowd, but eventually the inevitable happened… The bravest one, leapt at her, knocking the weapon from her hand leaving her defenceless, though she still tried to fight them off with her fists, they were not as effective, eventually the will to live escaped her as she succumbed to the horrible truth, that one percent was too little to sustain them both…

If I can actualll be motivated enough to start on my entry I may actually have it in by the dead line...erm...the dead line is still active right?

yeah right...that's what they all say...

*Boing* Its just an idea, nothing solid, might not even be ready for end of deadline. [modedit]Updated title.[/modedit]

funny thing, no word of a lie. As soon as i finished writing that post, I was struck by an idea. Might be something...might be nothing but its an idea none the less. And as for me being scared of Ms Turner...HELL YEAH you did read the presentation on the Borg right?

haha I'll admit I'm Abstaining from this month's competition because the question stomps me...I can't think of ANYTHING to write. with only 18 days left its highly unlikely I'll get something together. And I was not encouraging Ms Turner to withdrawl I was merely highlight the fact that it was possible to edit IF she wanted to so

yeah you can...(I think)

At least you entered, you have to enter to win

no but it doesn't harm your chances if its over 1000

lmao i was thinking the same thing but didn't want to say it.

congratulations to the both of you what happened to the rest of the class?

lmao. Well of course not, don't be ridiculous we would have no such thing...well not unless there's the one that launches the photon Torpedos aimed at the Romulan Embassy...whoops, I've said too much!

Can you say best-seller?

hmm...when he said "throw a cup of coffee"...note how he "fails" to mention that it actually hits someone and it was actually a pot not a cup. Though in defence of the Ensign, the recipient did deserve it...so i guess it all evens out in the end

are you suggesting some sort of a "flight of the Pheonix" style story?

wow...this is a toughy...so who's going to brave this one?

lol ignore me, i'm just fickle like that

lol and there I was thinking you forgotten about us :-)

umm...there's only 1 day left? before we're into the next challenge...?

yeah i gotta admit, i'm not too keen on my ending...oh well

welcome welcome welcome congratulations and welcome

Sanctuary With his heart pounding immeasurably, the desperate Trill ran aimlessly through the thorn filled bushes. The encroaching thorns snatching, cutting, ripping the skin and clothing of the young Trill, if only he could make it into the daylight and out of the overwhelming darkness then everything would be fine. Deep in the depths of his mind, the faces of those he’d left behind ran through his mind, was it the wrong decision he made? Leaving the helpless with THEM, his mind trying hard to forget the things that they did to him and made him do- None of that mattered now, as though working on autopilot, the Trill ran through the rough pathways cutting through the thorny bushes with sharp bits of stone piercing his bare feet. All around him whispers could be heard, their origins unknown. Had they found him so quickly? He’d only managed to escape from the cave less than ten minutes ago and already they were closing in on him, he could all but imagine the hands of his one-time captors reaching out to him from the darkness, grabbing at his muddied and blood-drenched uniform with the sole intention to take him back to the place he’d just left behind, the place where he left the others…was that the right thing to do? He could not- he did not want to answer that question now…all he wanted was to make it into the daylight and out of the overwhelming darkness. He had now been running for a while, his legs drained of what little strength they had left, his lungs unable to keep up with the heavy demand for air, he could hear his one time captors edging closer to him and no matter how hard he tried he could not get away he could not go any further, but he knew he had to keep on trying, if not for his sake then for the sake of those still held captive… Maybe the daylight he so desperately seeked was at the end of the encroaching thorns…if only he could just make it…the end was in sight and all he had to do was continue, his captors were closing in, closing in from the perfect darkness but he had to keep on trying when suddenly- A sharp light penetrated the trees, the thorns and the darkness, hitting the young Trill right between his eyes, for the first time in over 7 days he could see light and though it was painful to his eyes but it was a welcomed sight…it meant freedom was close at hand, filled with a new lease of life, energy and hope, the Trill ran recklessly towards the light, with every advancing step, the light grew brighter and brighter, making it impossible for him to see. As he emerged into the clearing, the Trill stopped completely blinded by the light he raised his arms to shield his eyes unable to look forward. But he was curious, desperate to see the source of the light…sneaking a peek, the Trill looked forward and saw six advancing silhouettes…what were they? Were they what the human captives referred to, as “angels” was he dead? ‘Identify yourself!!!’ Shouted one of the angels. ‘Put your hands up!!’ Shouted the other. The Trill squinted his eyes once again and peered into the light as it soon became apparent what they were…they were Starfleet officers…and the blinding light was a searchlight searching for them, for him…he was safe. ‘I am Ensign Dachas Rowan, I am a Starfleet officer and I am unarmed…’ The Ensign said in a trebling voice, tired and emotional unable to believe what was happening. As the Ensign edged closer to the advancing officers, every single one of his over worked and worn-out system began to shutdown, his legs slowly buckling underneath him, his entire body at verge of a nervous breakdown, all of his basic skills had been discontinued with the exception of his ability to speak and all he could say over and over again was- “I am Ensign Dachas Rowan, I am a Starfleet officer and I am unarmed.’ ‘I know…’ Said the leading officer with a smile so warm and welcoming, it finally convinced the Ensign he was once again safe. ‘Lieutenant Shield?’ Dachas said feebly, his voice barely raising past a whisper of disbelief. ‘Let me take a look at you.’ Said another one, taking a tricorder to the Ensign and scanning him. ‘I’m afraid that won’t be possible, the Captain has specifically requested to see him the moment we find him, you can treat him later.’ ‘But-‘ ‘Captain’s orders I’m afraid.’ Said another, Dachas unable to distinguish between the faces, as all he could do was focus his attention on the smiling officer who welcomed him. The following moments all seemed to mesh into one, but from what he could gather it had been less than a minute before he found himself standing in what looked like a Transporter room… ‘Welcome to the USS Haven Ensign Rowan...’ Said the woman behind the console, causing the Ensign to jump nearly out of his skin. ‘You are safe now…’ She said with a friendly smile notably lacking any traces of hostility towards the young Ensign. The bright lighting of the room, accompanied by the welcoming warmth of the place brought home to the Ensign, the possibility that maybe there was nothing else to worry about… ‘Captain Knight is in his office.’ She said, her perfect friendly smile showing no sign of wavering. ‘You… remember where it is? She asked politely, leaning over her console whilst patiently waiting for the Ensign’s reply. Dachas did not answer straight away, his left hand protectively cupping his right broken wrist, his grey eyes darting all over the room trying to reacclimatize with the ship he thought he would never see again. After what seemed like an eternity, the Ensign nodded and gingerly stepped out of the Transporter room. Outside the room, the same warm, peaceful and heavenly lighting that was in the Transporter room greeted the Ensign; the same welcoming warmth from the Transporter room caressed the Ensign’s face. As he gingerly made his way down the corridors that led to the Captain’s officer, the Ensign could feel his bare and badly bruised feet rubbing against the floor of the corridor…but he did not mind…the feeling was a welcome change to what he had been exposed to during his time with his captors, the flooring of the ship was far softer and far kinder to his feet than anything he had ever felt, the closest that he could get to describing it was walking in the clouds…but the feeling of sanctuary didn’t always last too long. Occasionally the odd crewmember would walk past the suspicious Ensign who would bury his back into the walls in an attempt to escape from them, because in his mind’s eye after being lulled into a false sense of security, THEY would leap out and capture him and return him to the darkness…but rather than judge him or attempt to harm him, instead the crewmembers would offer a smile of warmth and friendship and continue on their way. It soon became apparent to the Ensign that maybe, just maybe…on this ship…he was safe, on this ship the darkness that haunted him for the last few days had been left behind…the Ensign was keen to let that fear go but for now the odd doubt still laid in the back of his mind. Standing tall by the Captain’s office door, the Ensign chimed the bell and was signalled in. As the doors opened to the Captain’s office, it occurred to the Ensign that this was the first time he had indeed been in Captain Knight’s office, in fact this was the first time he’d formally met the Captain. Still weary of his situation, the Ensign’s suspicious eyes darted around the room trying to absorb as much information and detail as he could, from the oil painting of dancing Angels hanging behind the Captain to the perfect white of the walls, the décor and mood of the room reflected the name of the ship and to further ease the Ensign’s worries, the warm air from the Transporter room promoting peace and tranquillity in him had seemingly followed the Ensign all the way into the Captain’s office ‘Please…’ He said, indicating to the seat at the other side of his desk. ‘Sit down Ensign…’ He added, his smooth voice soothing the young Ensign who obeyed him With his fingertips barely touching their counterparts, the Captain sat back on his chair resting his elbows on the armrest, elevating his hands close to his mouth whilst placing with his left knee over his right, his eyes using what little he could remember from his short lived time as a trainee Intelligence officer to analyse the mood of the young Ensign. Ensign Rowan on the other hand did not notice any of this, his mind busy, swarming with far too many thoughts to notice anything. ‘I realise the past few days must have been difficult for you Ensign.’ The Captain said softly, drawing the Ensign’s attention to himself as he noticed the level of sympathy in the Captain’s voice. Ensign Rowan did not reply, he was distracted by the glare of the light causing Captain Knight’s uniform to shine as the Captain stood from his seat to position himself beside the desk, closer to the Ensign. ‘I dare not imagine what you’ve had to go through these past few days…’ The Captain added, smiling sympathetically as he waited for the Ensign to reply but got no response. ‘A team of Independent Investigators from Starfleet are on their way to interview you Ensign about your experiences in that cave-‘ Without warning, the unresponsive Ensign turned his head towards the Captain, unwittingly darting him a cold glare must to the displeasure of the Captain. ‘You look exactly as I imagined you to do sir.’ The Ensign said randomly. ‘Huh?’ The Captain replied, unsure what to make of the comment as the Ensign shook his head, prompting him to continue his speech. ‘They believe that not everything concerning this matter is as it seems Ensign…they feel that your abduction maybe…connected… to other abductions that are similar to yours…they say they are unsure who might be conducting these abductions…but I’m curious Ensign…’ The Captain said smiling that same sympathetic smile. ‘is there anything that you might…remember that may be of any use?’ The Captain asked. ‘No sir.’ Ensign Rowan replied, shaking his head. ‘Are you sure Ensign?’ The Captain asked again, his voice growing a little sterner. ‘Anything at all Ensign?’ ‘No sir, nothing.’ ‘Anyone any of your captors looking familiar?’ He asked, tripping over his words slightly. ‘They wore masks at all times sir.’ ‘Anything?-‘ ‘I said no sir!’ The Ensign shouted, snapping angrily at the Captain. The Captain did not appreciate the Ensign yelling at him but appreciated the fact that the Ensign had just been through a very traumatic experience so was excusable for his reaction. ‘Forgive me sir…I’m having difficulty making heads or tails from this at the moment Captain…it’s all a complete blur…I mean they forced me to murder Commander Drake in cold blood.’ The Ensign said in disbelief. ‘I know Ensign.’ The Captain replied, not hearing the last part of the Ensign’s words. ‘It must be difficult for you, I mean being Mind raped by Betazoids must have been a terrible ordeal for you…’ The Captain smiled, not noticing his exact words. The Ensign wrinkled his eyebrows and glared suspiciously at the Captain- ‘I’ve made no mentions of Betazoids sir.’ ‘Sorry?’ The Captain replied anxiously as he played back in his mind his own words. ‘Oh a lucky guess-‘ ‘Nor did I make any mention of mind rape “sir”…’ The Ensign glared suspiciously at his captain. Captain Knight swallowed hard, he realised he had been cornered both he and the Ensign knew that he could not use the “lucky guess” argument again he had to think fast. ‘I know for fact I said I was FORCED to do certain things…but I never specified how...’ The Ensign said quickly cutting off any escape routes that the Captain could use. ‘Well if there are Betazoids concerned Ensign, what other methods could they use?’ The Captain asked, his smile changing to a nervous one as he began to lose his composure. ‘I dunno sir, I find placing a phaser to one’s head works just as well.’ The Ensign replied sarcastically, he was beginning to distrust the Captain. ‘Well…whatever you say Ensign-‘ The Captain replied trying to dismiss the comment as he nervously returned to his seat. ‘I get the feeling that there is something you are not quite telling me…is there something I should know…sir? The Ensign asked adding the “Sir” for effect. ‘My dear Ensign you are clearly.- ‘Is there something I should know sir?’ The Ensign repeated, not raising his voice. ‘This is ludicrous-’ The Captain replied; now sweating profusely. ‘Is there something I should know sir? The Ensign repeated again, carefully so as not to raise his voice pass his audible whisper. ‘Surely you can’t be suggesting that-‘ ‘Is there something I should know…sir (?) The Ensign repeated yet again, this time showing some of his frustration. ‘I AM YOUR CAPTAIN-‘ He was going to finish off by saying “and I won’t be spoken to like that.” But before he could finish, the Ensign interjected by saying. ‘You won’t be a captain much longer if you are found to have taken part in the kidnapping and mass murder of over 50 people…’ The Ensign replied calmly, bringing silence to the room…so I ask you again…is there something I should know sir?’ The Captain sighed and glared at the Ensign, he did not like the Ensign but he had to give him credit, for a man who had been through hell and back he still had his wits about him and could still know when something was wrong…but for the sake of the exercise he had to keep the facade going for as long as he could. ‘You’ve lost it Ensign…you’ve really lost it…’ The Captain replied nervously. It was clear to the Ensign that something was wrong but so far he had not been able to isolate what it was when it suddenly occurred to him what was wrong… ‘You are not Captain Knight.’ He said, unsure where the words came from. ‘What?’ The Captain replied taken aback by the random words. ‘Captain Knight is incapable of sight and has to wear a visor, you don’t, I dare say it must have been one heck of a miracle to fix your eyes “sir”.’ ‘eep-‘ The impostor said. ‘And this is not the USS Haven! On the real ship, The Transporter rooms are not on the same deck as the Captain’s officer, I wished it was because it would make making my way to the Captain’s office much easier every time I arrived on board-‘ ‘I-‘ ‘SHUT UP!!!’ The Ensign yelled at the top of his voice as he stood up fixing his glared at the impostor. ‘I may not have met Captain Knight before but I did my research on him looking at his history as an officer and I saw his picture…he looks nothing like you…now its clear to see that you copied his image from my imagination…I want to know how…I want to know what the HELL is going on here!!!’ The Ensign had adopted a look not too dissimilar to a trapped rabid Fengi Tiger, needless to say it brought major discomfort to the Impostor who made a desperate bolt for the doors but was caught by a mean left hook to his jaw automatically flat-lining the impostor allowing the injured and deranged Ensign to jump on him. ‘TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON NOW!!! I WANT TO KNOW NOW!!!’ The Ensign shouted angrily in the man’s face, grabbing his collar with his one good hand. ‘TELL ME!!!’ Relax… A random voice said, appearing out of nowhere washing over the Ensign like a wave of warm water rendering him numb and devoid of any movement or need to. At ease… It said, completely depleting any fight the Ensign may have had in him. Stand up Not even daring to argue, the Ensign rushed to his feet, forgetting any injury he might have sustained. ‘What took you so long?!’ Shouted the impostor into the seemingly empty room. ‘He could have killed me!!’ He added, standing up to catch his breath and fix his uniform. ‘Relax…’ Said a woman seemingly appearing out of nowhere with a grin on her face. ‘I had you covered the whole time…’ ‘Yeah right…’ The Impostor shuffled, failing to hide his inability to believe his partner. ‘This one’s mind is strong…he keeps fighting my attempts to install ideas into his mind ’ She said with a proud smile on her face. ‘Yes…he is a difficult one.’ ‘We can barely force him to believe anything, he seems to have the upper hand by being able to create false thoughts for us to read...’ ‘You managed to convince him that his escape was real...that’s more progress than we could have imagined.’ The Impostor said with a shrug. ‘Yes…’ She replied disappointedly. ‘But he caught on to the situation much quicker than the others…’ ‘Its amazing that you’ve actually been able to penetrate his mind…you can install false images in him and convince him of certain things…you even forced him to kill his Commander and be convinced that more than one person was in front of him…’ ‘I did, didn’t I?’ She replied smiling once again as she stared at her favourite subject. ‘Though I dare say the murder was a bit of a fluke…’ ‘We are making a lot more progress with this one than we originally thought…’ He said reassuringly. ‘If you like…we can always try again tomorrow?’ ‘Yes...yes…we should…’ The End