Sorry for the colossal delay. For some reason this chapter did not want to be written at all, which is highly apparent in the length of it. However, I AM NOT GIVING UP.

Four
Introduction to the Monster

Sulu's voice broke through the seemingly endless silence as captain and First Officer stared at Chief Medical Officer in shock and a somewhat betrayed amazement.

"The enemy vessel's gone into warp, sir," the young pilot told Jim nervously. The second the sound waves passed through Kirk's eardrums, he sprung into action.

"Match the warp factor and follow them," he demanded, then grabbed Bones's arm and dragged him into the turbolift, Spock in tow. "Lieutenant Sulu, you have the bridge."

"Aye, sir."

When the turbolift doors shut and Engineering was announced as their destination, Jim let go of his CMO's arm and watched him for a brief moment. "What the hell, Bones?"

The doctor winced. "I know...I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. It was a mistake, Jim!"

"I know it was a mistake. We all make mistakes...but this one has possibly put Phiora's life in danger. I can't—"

"Captain," Spock interrupted, having stood in silent observation against the farther curve of the turbolift wall, "may I point out that Doctor McCoy's thoughtless exclamation was, in fact, just that? He is human, therefore possesses human emotions and the inability to control himself enough to ponder his words before saying them. He was only reacting in a way he saw fit, however erroneous and mindless that might have been." Bones opened his mouth to argue, but Spock talked over him. "Could you consciously punish someone for their instincts?"

Jim kept his eyes on his First Officer, processing his words.

"Not but fifteen seconds ago," Spock continued, "you said 'we all make mistakes.' Is that not what the doctor has done? He was not deliberately malicious in his actions."

Neither of the other two men was entirely sure that argument was as helpful as the half-Vulcan seemed to intend it to be, but throughout the rest of the ride in the lift, Jim silently contemplated while watching Bones. He thought it interesting that Spock wasn't as upset about this as he probably should have been. He'd seen the very present—albeit distilled—rage in the science officer's eyes when Bones made his mistake. So why was he, instead of wailing on him as expected, sticking up for him?

As the elevator came to a halt and the doors opened, Jim realized that Spock was more than likely extremely upset...but true to form, wasn't showing it.

"Is your Head Nurse on duty?" the captain asked the CMO.

"Well, yes, but—"

"Good. You're coming with us," Jim muttered, grabbing his older friend's arm and pulling him out of the turbolift. Spock followed close behind.

They needed to get Phiora out of that vessel, and there were only so many ways of going about doing that.

For some reason Phiora kept replaying the moment she was taken from the Enterprise over and over in her head as she stood within a large triangular prism that was attached like a tube to the ceiling. She couldn't help but notice the bottom of the prism-tube wasn't attached to the floor, but was suspended about five feet off of it.

Taking solace in her lack of height phobia, she stared at the ground five feet below while the incident reran in her head once more. She was just about to exit the turbolift on her way to the quarters she shared with Spock, and the lift doors opened to reveal the translucent form of a...monster. She'd barely had time to register the sight before something reached out from behind the thing and swiped at her, yet she wasn't sure it knocked her out. She wasn't sure because it literally felt like seconds between the second the thing hit her to the second she realized she was no longer on the Enterprise.

Presently Phiora raised her eyes to a creature similar to the one that took her. It was big, but not nearly as big as the one that had taken up the entire corridor back on the starship. This one was opaque, too, which meant the other one had been a hologram of sorts.

She didn't linger on the nonsense of that.

The creature was bipedal, with long arms that bent the wrong way at the elbow. It was at least seven feet tall. Its eyes were completely ink-black, protected by the occasional blink of translucent lids. It had no lips—no room for them with two pairs of monstrous fangs protruding from the upper and lower jaw—but the slowly inflating and deflating membranous bags on each side of its head seemed to quiver when it snarled absently.

To Phiora's surprise it spoke through its mouth.

"You are. With child."

That was when she knew this...thing was it. This was the leader of the AK47. The shock of knowing Spock had to endure being on this very vessel with this very beast caused her to gasp sharply and fall to her knees. She took a moment, her hands shaking, and brushed her hair out of her face. "Y-yes," she whispered, wondering if she could even be heard through the glass. "I don't know what you want from me...."

The next creature that entered the room was basically a mirror-image of the one before her, yet larger and a quadruped. A long tail wound out around it and when it opened its mouth, no words came out. Only sound. Only hideous, terrifying sound.

The biped's membranous pouches inflated rapidly and flew outward on flaps like gills on a fish. "K'Os. You. Will. Be. Silent."

The monster known as K'Os—strangely, Phiora knew it wasn't the one that took her—looked at the smaller AK47 sharply, as if startled, and slowly clamped its wide-opening bottom jaw shut.

"I am called Br'Zrk," the biped said suddenly, and with a jolt Phiora realized that was the answer to the question she had in mind. "We do not. Want anything. From you. Nor does your presence. Have purpose. For us." Then Br'Zrk's face changed. It was subtle, but Phiora could tell it was a malicious smile. It was so frightening she almost clenched her eyes shut. "We simply. Like war."

And that was when she blacked out again.

Kudos to those who guess what I based the AK47 off of in terms of appearance.