Parasite

[Chirakis 1]

Executive Officer's Log, Stardate 238607.28

Chirakis Kirel, Commander, SI-5

Sky Harbour Aegis

Parasite

 

The screen before her cast an eerie glow around the Federation Standard word parasite. It was midnight, Aegis relative time. Third watch, or half way through what terrans called graveyard shift, and most on the station who submitted to its artificial time would be resting. But with the current situation not many aboard Aegis were resting, least of all Cdr Chirakis and the base personnel who had been working for over 33 hours to stop whatever it was from making holes in the hull.

Parasite: a symbiotic relationship where one organism benefits at the expense of the other.

 

A run down the illuminated page and alternative definitions, as well as a host of synonyms in various languages, appeared, most of which conjured images well beyond the bounds of their present problem. They also brought to mind a relationship Kirel felt she would rather do without.

 

All-devouring, all-engulfing, bloodsucking, conspiratorial, grabby, grasping, indolent, leechlike, lupine, mealymouthed, predatory... The list continued, but she stopped indulging her over-active imagination in favor of focusing on the problem at hand - which was considerable.

 

"Computer, replay from twenty-two thirty-five hours." The wall display, paused mid-way through the departmental meeting, instantly returned to that point. The conference room table displayed prominently mid-screen, SubCommander Jorahl sitting at the position normally occupied by Cdr Chirakis, Kirel having taken the chair reserved for the station commanding officer. The Ambassador's presence anywhere on the station had been notably lacking for the past few days.

 

A deeply concerned weariness seemed to cloud SubCommander Jorahl's usual command presence. His phrasing was more clipped and the pauses between thoughts a bit longer than normal, as though he were weighing every word. "It has been theorized - correctly I believe - that these holes are being created by a lifeform, most likely a parasitical one picked up from the space beings we recently encountered....

 

"We have found biological evidence. The problems that remain are many still. We can only detect them from a subspace wake when they make sudden movements... or when they decide to take a bite out of the station." Here he paused to run his gaze around those assembled at the table in the control tower conference room.

 

"They seem to be breeding quickly. And, we have no known way to stop them yet."

 

Silence. All eyes rested on him, as though waiting for his proposed solution while fully realizing he had none.

 

Taking a forward lean to rest his arms on the table and motion to those assembled, he continued, "Which is why we are all here. We have a lot of data collected from the space beings as they passed through this area. We've not had time, however, to fully look into that. Seeing that those things didn't seem to be eaten alive by these...fleas...I assume they had someway of dealing with them. Science, medical.... we need you to figure out what we can do to match what they did... or what we have to do ourselves."

 

"Sounds more like bacteria or viruses to me, actually," Dr. Lepage suggested. But before he could continue, another voice interrupted.

 

"Fleas?" The gravelly voice of Ambassador Drankum projected easily through the silence and all eyes turned toward the door. "Bacterial fleas?" Making no move towards the table, the Ambassador rested on his cane, his face a mask of disgust - at what, Kirel had no idea. Nor did she care.

 

"The movement seems to indicate a higher level of life form," Jorahl responded to Dr. Lepage.

 

"The thing is, we have something out there eating our hull. And we know there are those... beings who are immune to them. So what we have to do is figure out what makes them immune and how to apply it to the station. Sounds like finding an antibiotic or vaccine for a new disease, albeit on a larger scale." Lepage.

 

"With only the small problem that this facility is made out of metal alloy and not blubber." Drankum again. But a valid point.

 

"Which means finding the creatures? Or have we enough information from the original scans?" Kirel.

 

"So far, our scans have not been accurate or lasted long. So, we need to increase the sensors to target these beings as fast as possible." Jorahl.

 

"I want someone to review the records to ensure that no traffic that left this area could possibly have had contact with our viral fleas." Drankum. Taking control again. Without reviewing the data, without adequate knowledge, without even so much as setting his foot in the control tower for the past....

 

"Shipping lanes are informed," Kirel responded as the recording continued despite her thoughts. She reported as she would to any superior, a gut reaction from years of competent commanding officers. "A perimeter is established around Aegis. And the joint allies, along with anyone in the path of the creatures, have been warned."

 

"The problem is we didn't have a...perimetermater when the whale things first showed up. We also do not know if anyone else had contact with them before they arrived. That's a question, too. This facility has alloys from numerous species. Any information on if the fleas like a certain dish for dinner or do they just see everything as a buffet?"

 

A well-aimed hit paused the recording. She knew the rest. Her main objective had been not so much to review the information as it was to observe the work of a larger form of parasite, and to weigh if perhaps her judgment of his thoughts and words was clouded by her own prejudice. And it definitely was. As much as she detested him, he had valid points. As much as she doubted his ability to command, he had the uncanny ability to intrude at his most opportune time, cut her down, and take his position at the fore to negate or belittle her strategies.

 

It was time to rethink her own - if and when the present situation was resolved.