Star Trek: Kodiak - The Forest Of The Lost V by MWaterhouseAuthor, literature
Literature
Star Trek: Kodiak - The Forest Of The Lost V
As it had turned out, Grant had been far more exhausted than he had thought. Sleeping on soil and unnaturally sharp leaves was far from restful, and the extent of that was only revealed when his back touched the collection of blankets that made up Rosa's mattress. She had wept before falling into the arms of slumber, holding on to him tightly, and Grant had tried to strike a balance between warmth for his friend and a chilled shield to keep any idea of romance away. When he opened his eyes now, she was laying beside him, clutching his arm, head resting on his shoulder. Daylight beamed in through the window, daylight that felt so real it fooled him for a second. It was warm, and Rosa was warm, and … He moved her hand gently and slid out from beneath her, propping up her head with a pillow. He stood up, but a murmur from behind him held his feet. “Orson?” He looked around at Rosa. She was gazing up at him sleepily. “You always did rise early.” “Some things never change.” She
Star Trek: Kodiak - The Forest Of The Lost IV by MWaterhouseAuthor, literature
Literature
Star Trek: Kodiak - The Forest Of The Lost IV
Grant sat on a bench in the laboratory while Jon … Lieutenant Jon Langer in reality, listened to his heart beat, checked his temperature, the dilation of his eyes … everything that could be checked. Lieutenant Oaken, or Lillia, was standing beside Rosa, and they were watching silently, occasionally conferring. Grant let his eyes wander around the room. For a laboratory, it wasn't particularly sterile or sealed, but for what seemed to be a medieval laboratory, it was incredibly sophisticated. The tools were fine, and a couple of centuries ahead of the construction itself. It was a testament to the ingenuity of the small community, and the management of their resources. He folded his arms at that thought. Thirty five people … and they had built a home, and were seemingly independently maintaining it. Metal work required miners to get the raw materials, and the tools he was looking at were free of rust. Steel, and very pure steel. “Orson?” Langer murmured. “Yeah?” “You … have you
Star Trek: Kodiak - The Forest Of The Lost III by MWaterhouseAuthor, literature
Literature
Star Trek: Kodiak - The Forest Of The Lost III
Grant followed T'Vet as closely as he could, still exhausted, but willing himself onwards. His legs were burning, his back was aching, but he couldn't stop. Fake as The Living Plain was, it was real enough to tire him out. Everything about it was indistinguishable from a class-M planet. The gravity was a little lighter than Earth's, but without equipment he couldn't be sure. The trees were massive, only redwoods were comparable. T'Vet held up his hand, slowing down. Grant practically collapsed against a tree trunk, gasping. T'Vet crouched in front of him, holding out the skin of water. “It is not far.” Grant put his thumb up. The water had taken on some of the taste of the leather, as real water would. He regarded the world around him for a moment as he rested, the bark of the tree. The flowers he could see were unknown to him … but he was no botanist. He picked one anyway. “Moonmoth rose … excellent choice.” Grant looked up at T'Vet's smile. “It's a beautiful flower.” It truly
Star Trek: Kodiak - The Forest Of The Lost II by MWaterhouseAuthor, literature
Literature
Star Trek: Kodiak - The Forest Of The Lost II
Rosa folded her arms in front of the graves and breathed in the sweet scent of the planted wildflowers, hoping that it would calm her nerves. She stared at the grave in front of her, and lay the white moonmoth rose beside the headstone. “What would you do?” She kept Orson's grave neat, as much as she could with her duties as their de facto mayor. There were no creeping weeds or burrowers threatening the soi. She always insisted to Peter, who tended the cemetery, that Orson's plot was her responsibility. She looked up and down the plots, at Sandra's grave, Jack's grave, Theryn's grave, Shelby's grave, Shen'Zahr's grave, Nikolas's grave, Amelia's grave … all of those in their community that had been taken by the plague, or accidents, or by things that were rumoured to lurk in the Great Forest around them. Too many for a community as small as theirs, and there were yet more, older graves. Olamide, the town's first mayor. Erin, Rosa's old friend, who had been slain in the same
Star Trek: Kodiak - The Forest Of The Lost I by MWaterhouseAuthor, literature
Literature
Star Trek: Kodiak - The Forest Of The Lost I
“Eighteen more cattle have gone missing.” Rosa sighed to herself and looked up. Herald, The Living Plain's largest moon, had just crossed his apex. The light of the sun was creeping over the horizon, still hidden by the forest. She stared at the thick trees for a moment, and the shadows they cast. “You didn't hear anything?” Ovak shrugged. “Not even with my ears. There are no breaches in the fence near the farmhouse, but I have not had a chance to check most of it yet.” Rosa nodded, and patted the elf on the arm. “Laura keeping you busy?” “Somewhat. Her injuries are getting better, but slowly. Alana and John came by to check on her, they say she is improving.” Rosa hoped she was. Since their doctor had died in last year's plague, that had swept through the village unabated, the junior healers and nurses had picked up the slack. Their chief hunter had also been among the dead, as well as … She swallowed and blinked. She unslung the bow from her back and nocked an arrow. Ovak
Star Trek: Kodiak - Encore VIII by MWaterhouseAuthor, literature
Literature
Star Trek: Kodiak - Encore VIII
Grant usually kept his eyes shut when in the transporter beam, but this time he kept them wide open, ignoring his anxiety at the scattering his molecules. His crew didn't have time for it. The first thing he noticed was the light level dropping to a twilight hue. He scanned the matter stream as he began to materialise for any movement or alert, seeing none. Still, he had his phaser rifle shouldered and raised as he fully appeared on the station. The sounds around him were strange, mechanical and biomechanical whirring and beeping and shifting of flesh. He could hear surging electrical power muffled by something soft. There were chittering sounds coming from somewhere in the distance. His eyes adjusted to the low light. It was dark pink in colour, yet almost fluorescent, shining through membranes on all sides, held in place by curved metal beams. The away team were in some kind of passageway, that led onwards to a large open space. Grant glanced around. Kimmich, Kirkland
Star Trek: Kodiak - Encore VII by MWaterhouseAuthor, literature
Literature
Star Trek: Kodiak - Encore VII
Grant cracked his knuckles and gently squeezed O'Hare's shoulders as she sat at the helm. Her hands came up and squeezed his tightly. “Ready?” he whispered. She nodded. He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, and before he pulled away she turned her head and kissed him firmly on the lips, taking a hold of his neck. “Curious.” Nishenna glanced around at Gardener from the science station, and pressed a finger to her lips. “This unit has not observed this behaviour before.” “I know, but still … shh. I'll explain it to you later.” The kiss broke, and Grant stroked O'Hare's cheek. “Maximum warp, Shelby.” She nodded and engaged the engines. Grant strode back to the captain's chair and engaged the intercom. “Crew of the Kodiak, this is Commander Grant. Hazards suits on, and mask your lifesigns.” On the bridge, he, Nishenna and O'Hare triggered the program on their tricorders, connected to their suits, and masked their lifesigns. “You all know your jobs, you all know what's at
Star Trek: Kodiak - Encore VI by MWaterhouseAuthor, literature
Literature
Star Trek: Kodiak - Encore VI
Captain's Log: Supplemental We've been awake and working for thirty six hours … and the Kodiak is barely ready. The warp drive is re-connected, thanks to Gina and Atembayev. With the damage to the impulse engines, we have half power at best if we're at sublight speeds. The ship's crippled. With the computer still a mess after being purged twice, we're having to do everything manually. This … Maestro … is capable of serious, directed harm. It wanted to kill and destroy … and it did, without any way to oppose it. Doctor Shen'Zahr injected the stimulant into Grant's neck, and he felt the immediate rush through his every nerve ending. He woke up a little, fatigue being banished for another few hours. He leaned on the warp core and took a reading on the outputs. He patted it, satisfied. “Gina, what's the top speed we can expect?” She slid out smoothly from a jefferies tube. “Uh … warp three at a canter. Give me and Eramir another couple of hours and I can give you four point
Star Trek: Kodiak - Encore V by MWaterhouseAuthor, literature
Literature
Star Trek: Kodiak - Encore V
The Kodiak's engine room held a mess of debris, and two more bodies. Jean Thereaux was floating and spinning close to the door, her blonde hair smeared with blood. Beside the warp core was Casi Pereira, the engineer's mate. Grant knelt next to her. There was a phaser still clutched in her hand, and a phaser burn on the warp core casing itself. "Atembayev ... check the core." Atembayev held out his tricorder. "The integrity of the core is intact, sir. The phaser blast made it halfway through the radiation shield ... it's fixable. We're in no danger ... from that at least." Grant nodded. "She would have been my chief ... one day. She was ... just a kid." His voice rose as his fury burned. "Lindermann, Pereira, Devlin ... they were just kids!" Atembayev looked at him and lowered his voice. "I'm sorry, Commander." Gardener's heavy metal footsteps approached across the debris and blood stained floor. Grant looked up at it. "Pereira was trying to destroy the ship." "This unit's logs