Nige and Tumock stepped back out onto the bridge of the Knight. Captain Osagawa stood and turned.
"What have you found out, gentlemen?"
"It would seem as though a number of the Protectors have followed us up from the surface of P3R-823," replied Tumock.
"We trapped one in a Jeffries tube on Deck 15. We met another in Engineering," added Nige.
"What about the Engineering crew?"
"Mostly killed by the Protectors. We managed to beam Lieutenants Benson and Brock out, although they were both severely injured."
"We're not sure if any others survived."
"Well then it would seem that we have a problem." said the Captain sitting back down. He looked deep in thought. "All hands to red alert! Tumock, Nige, I want you to get back down to Engineering and get the propulsion systems back online. The closer we get to the Federation, the more chance there is of getting some help."
"But Captain, what about the Protector down there?!" protested Nige.
"You and Tumock will have to figure out some way of dealing with them enroute. You trapped one behind a force field. Can't you do that again?"
"The force field emitters in Engineering are non-operational, Captain" replied Tumock.
"What about a mobile forcefield emitter?" asked Beckett from Tactical. "You should be able to trap it in there"
"It may work, Captain" answered Tumock.
"Do it. Take Lieutenant Beckett with you."
"Aye sir" replied Tumock. Tumock turned and walked to the turbolift with Beckett.
"Captain" said Nige in a lowered voice. "When the first systems began to fail, I told Dinara to go to sickbay, thinking she would be safe there.... She never made it."
"We'll see if we can locate her Lieutenant. You never know, she may have got there after you."
"Possibly," said Nige, taking a few steps back. He hesitated as if to add something else but joined Beckett and Tumock at the turbolift.
"Easy Lieutenant. You took a blast to your side. You've lost an incredible amount of blood," said Kira as he pushed Benson back down on the biobed.
"How.... How did I get here?"
"You were beamed out after you lost consciousness. Nige and Tumock got you here just in time."
"How's Brock?" asked Benson looking over towards him.
"He's stabilized, but I have no idea of when he'll recover. Horta physiology is very complex."
"Ahhhhh! my side hurts!"
"I know. I'll give you something for the pain." Kira pressed a hypospray to Benson's neck.
"Ahhhh..... It's getting worse!" cried Benson "AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! HELP? PLEASE?"
"I'm going to sedate you" replied Kira pressing another hypospray to his neck. Benson stopped screaming and slipped back into unconsciousness. Kira stepped back and took a sigh of relief.
"Dr. Kira. Could you come over here please?"
"What is it, Linn?"
"I've done some scans on these things we found on Benson's and Brock's wounds. They are definitely organic and they seem to be slowly eating away more of the wound. They act similarly to Borg nanoprobes. They attack cells but instead of assimilating them, they dissolve them."
"So in theory, they should work against these aliens' organic parts as well?"
"In theory yes, but this species may be resistant to these parasites."
"Let's work on a way to inform the Captain."
Energy bolts shot across the room, lighting up the dark corners of Engineering. Tumock, Nige and Beckett had once more taken refuge behind a pair of consoles.
"We need to get this generator within half a meter of the Protector for it to work" shouted Beckett above the noise.
"I have an idea" shouted Nige. "If we place it on the floor out there, and then lure it over here we can activate it when the Protector steps close enough to it."
"And how do you propose we do that, Lieutenant?"
"You two crawl to the ladder and then climb it. I'll stand up and run to it, attracting its attention. Once on the upper level we should be safe."
"Why you, Nige?"
"Because you to are closest to the ladder. I can't possibly crawl to the ladder without being seen."
"Fine; we'll do it. Beckett, deploy the emitter. and then get up the ladder, I'll follow. Nige, wait until we get up and then create a destraction."
"Aye sir." Beckett rolled out the emitter and then made his way to the ladder. Tumock followed. They both got to the top and sat back against the wall. Nige took a deep breath and stood up. He ran across the gap and headed once more for the back of the warp core. He was about to get round the back when he felt an incredible pain in his arm. He knew he'd been hit and fell to the floor.
Nige awoke in sick bay with Lieutenant Haakon tending to his wound.
"What happened?"
"Your distraction worked. Tumock and Beckett managed to trap the Protector and main power is back on line."
"Has anyone located Dinara yet?"
"Yes, she was in her quarters. She decided not to risk going all the way to sickbay."
"Oww! My arm hurts!"
"I know. It'll get worse. It's an aftereffect of the weapon and currently there is no treatment for it. I'm going to have to sedate you, okay?"
"Okay." Haakon pressed a hypospray against Niges neck and he fell unconscious once more.