CHAPTER 10: Seconds, please!
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"Food-food-food-food-food-food-food-food-food-food-food-food–– FOOD!" Shippo shrieked as he tripped over Ensign Hampton and sailed over the fire pit––
Yes- "shrieked" is definitely the right word here, and yes: Shippo sailed straight over the fire. Get it? Ship… sailed ! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Bad-dum psshhh!
––tackling poor Crewman Sharppe who was just about to stand up to see who was shouting "food-food-food!"
BOOM! "OOOF!" "OUCH!" "GOTCHA!" "HEY!"
Sherri Hampton did not like hitting her face on the rocks around the campfire. She recovered almost instantly and reached for the type-II phaser on her belt. She was about to raise it when she saw that the newcomer was the size of a large stuffed doll,and was already pinned to the ground by Sharppe and Simmons. Freddy had dashed for the rifles, and Sven, being the Andorian that he was, had immediately (and I do mean immediately) positioned himself to block whoever may have followed Shippo. And none too soon.
Andorians are inherently violent and have short emotional fuses. Sven had somehow managed to get some control over that, and that control had contributed to his early promotion (Captain Ramon had specifically mentioned that at Sven's promotion ceremony in 2374). But that didn't make him immune to anger-explosions; it made him a reservoir, his emotions the water. And he hated being ambushed. When he tried to prove his skill with the phaser rifle in the jungle-scenario holo-program, he counterattacked an unexpected ambush by using the rifle as a staff. The computer failed him when it registered few phaser hits against the projected targets; Sven beat the crap out of the holograms with the butt of the rifle instead of firing it at a wide-dispersion setting like the program was designed to detect. His normally blue face was violet with anger when he blasted off at the computer techie who made the program. After being restrained by security personnel, and having a talk with both the ship's counselor and the captain, followed by a year on probation, he finally learned some self-control. After the Breen assault on Earth within a year of his first promotion, he had become somewhat paranoid and never went anywhere without a phaser rifle if he could get away with it.
Now, four years later, his paranoia remained unchanged. When Shippo made his entrance, Sven was ready to jump. And jump, he did.
Inuyasha was right behind Shippo all the way with Kagome riding on his back and Kouga on his flank ("on his flank" right next to him OR just behind him and to the side). Sango and Mirouku were barely keeping up.
Shippo is unable to use his fox tricks because of his overwhelming hunger.
"Stop where you're standing!" Sven snarled at Inuyasha and Kouga, both of whom looked… well… disheveled (I like big words) and gaunt, but tough nonetheless. Sven knew he was outnumbered 2-1, but an Andorian can take on uneven odds.
"Out of the way, buster. We're hungry!" Kouga was pissed that this little blue creature with antennae standing in front of him thought it could stop them. He swung at Sven, who stepped back just in time. Kouga and Inuyasha advanced on him. Cancel that: Kouga advanced on him, while Inuyasha feinted and moved in toward the campfire where the food-smell was coming from. Two of the people wearing the camo-jumpsuits moved to intercept him, wielding devices that sort of looked like the weapons that the weirdoes-in-black (the Bureau of Paranormal Phenomena agents) were using a week ago. Inuyasha remembered how they had bested him using long poles and things that Kagome called 'guns'. But these people were tense and ready, unlike the weirdoes back then who seemed more self-confident or scared than anything else. This is new, Inuyasha thought.
"Wait!" Kagome called. Her voice was notably weaker and her blue eyes echoed her desperation. Kouga looked up when he heard Kagome's voice––
––and Sven took advantage of that moment to nail Kouga in the gut with his fist. Kouga doubled-over with a grunt. Sven didn't know this, but Kouga's normally satisfied stomach was empty (and, therefore, contracted), so the solid impact of his punch went right through, and hit another weakened muscle. Meanwhile, Freddy, Hampton, and McKaskey turned their attention to Inuyasha just as Mirouku and Sango caught up. "We're only looking for food! We haven't eaten in days! Can you help us?" That got everyone's attention. All of the Starfleeters looked at each other for a moment. Simmons responded first after secretly scanning each one of the newcomers with her tricorder, which showed that their vital signs (heartbeat, breathing, adrenaline level, etc.) were erratic. Simmons, looked each one of them in the eye, and she knew instantly that they were telling the truth. She saw the cold the hands of hunger and desperation gripping each and every one of them. Finally, she spoke.
"Well, why didn't you say so?" Simmons said casually. "McKaskey and Hampton, prep six kabobs!" she barked over her shoulder. "Sharppe! Freddy! Get these guys some salad while they're waiting!" Her commands were followed by a series of 'Yessirs'. Kagome was suspicious at the lieutenant's sudden friendliness, though.
Mirouku was staring at the lieutenant and barely heard what she said. She was tall and commanding with a strong, athletic build. Her straight, light-brown hair flowed smoothly over her shoulders and around her breasts. Her waist–– SMACK!
Dumbass pervert. Sango felt insulted when she noticed Mirouku doing his eye-thing again.She grabbed him by the ear and dragged him until they were behind a large tree several meters away, where she slapped him a few more times and told him off for gawking at the hostess just after she saved them from starving to death.
And while all that was going on, Lt. ch'Shree had taken the time to scan each guest with the tricorder. His scans confirmed the following:
The girls were human, albeit undernourished
The guy with the earrings was also human but he had an anomalous right hand.
The redheaded little one was… unusual to say the least; he had foxy attributes, but Sven did not need a tricorder to figure that out.
The one with the white hair and the one with the body armor had attributes that were way off the scale for humans:
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Body Temperature: 313.79 degrees KELVIN
Blood Pressure: 240 over 180
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These readings (of Inuyasha and Kouga) easily matched the Klingon norm. (And so the story begins) But why would there be Klingon agents on this side of the Federation? Sven made a mental note to report this to Captain Ramon as soon as reasonably possible. At least the Klingons were allies with the Federation. Maybe they had their own intelligence service scouting this region for some other purpose. Who knows?
Lunch was delicious, and the Starfleeters were very hospitable to their unexpected guests. Until the end of lunch, and that's when things got interesting…
"Well, I guess we'll be going now. Thanks for lunch, guys!" Kagome was quite content to have her backpack restocked with munchies, and her stomach restocked with food. It had been a while since she had eaten anything that resembled REAL food! (keyword: resembled. You know what they say about replicators food right? "It's just not the same as the real thing") Everyone said good-bye and the gang went on their way.
They hadn't gone far when Kagome felt something slam her in the back of her head. She tried to turn around but her body didn't respond. She tried to run but her legs didn't work! She wanted to scream, but her throat seemed to have closed up! She felt a breeze on her face as her eyes closed involuntarily, but she was unconscious before she hit the ground, dropping Shippo and crushing him with her body. Mirouku and Sango went down similarly at about the same time. Inuyasha's hair dissipated the blast before it could affect his nervous system, but when he turned around, his unprotected face took another hit, and he went down backwards. Kouga was hit squarely in the neck; he never had a chance. When Shippo tried to wriggle out from under Kagome's weight, a hand grabbed him. He felt something tickle his neck, and then everything went black.
As the Starfleeters administered hyposprays that would block (NOT "erase" because that process could permanently damage someone's brain) the newcomers' memories of this event, Sven ch'Shree revealed his findings. Simmons decided against blocking Kouga and Inuyasha's memories, because if they were Klingon agents, they might need those memories. They couldn't just leave the locals where they were now sleeping. Transporter relay microchips had been hidden in the hyposprays. When the order was given, the natives and the girl in the school uniform vanished in a sparkle of blue light…
TO BE CONTINUED…