Entr'acte ((Kent))

[Samantha_Kent 0]

The flash from outside had been like a bolt of lightning and for a moment it had seemed rather incongruous. They were, after all, about as far away from being planetside as one could get, and while the impenetrable waves of gas and dust surrounding them could easily have appeared as storm clouds, Sam knew perfectly well that they did not hold the necessary levels of charge.

 

It had been the ship -- the other ship. The poachers perhaps; Sam had left the bridge with Archie before they had really gotten a handle on the nature of their new "friends." They certainly weren't friendly, and a quick glance out the window told her that their nature had betrayed them; one of their charged harpoons had ricocheted off the power pack and sparked a reaction that had blow a huge hole in their ship.

 

She didn't know whether to be relieved or more worried. If these were the poachers, they had either disabled them or made them even madder than they'd been before, which could be a real bad thing. The Arc crew was lost and had only a passing acquaintance with this ship even in the best of circumstances -- they were outmatched at all but desperation, and they didn't have that in enough spades yet for it to really be an advantage.

 

Sam was worried about Alces, too. He gave at least the impression of knowing what he was doing most of the time, and then he burst out with the weirdest nonsequiturs -- he had sent Sam digging in the ship's stores for beer almost as soon as they'd entered the nebula -- and misinterpretations that were either some of the quickest wordplay Sam had ever heard or evidence that their XO was at best eccentric and at worst, sporadically nutty as a fruitcake. Daena had quietly expressed concern too, which made Sam feel better, though not extraordinarily more secure.

 

At least Lieutenant Phoenix, who she'd been working most with over the past few hours, seemed comparatively sane, if oddly nervous -- though she supposed she'd be nervous too if a strange door had suddenly ripped her half to shreds. She would have to try to get to know him better after they all got out of this; in between setting up a makeshift bomb he had expressed interest in Bajoran solar sail technology and had dropped hints about his racial background which had very much intrigued her; it was rare, even in Starfleet, that she encountered a member of a race about which she knew so little.

 

The ship itself was really starting to weird her out...in the last few minutes one of the mechanical "spiders" had taken a liking to her. The notes he was whistling repeatedly apparently had some sort of significance to him, one which she was at a loss to understand. He skittered about like a puppy being offered a treat when she repeated the notes back at him, but she was becoming convinced that these things had more than animal intelligence. He expected something from them, if they could only figure out the communication.

 

She wondered if it had something to do with that hatch that had nearly sliced Archie to pieces with its laser. The young lieutenant seemed convinced that there was something very important back there, and given the current circumstances she was inclined to agree with him. But what? Why would they have managed to get hold of a ship like this at the price Archie had managed if it was holding something at all valuable or worth protecting so vigorously?

 

Well... she thought with a burst of wry humor. At least now I'm not the one stuck with the safe mission.

 

She wondered what had happened to the other teams; in the recent hubbub she had almost forgotten to worry about them, although the little knot that represented her concern for Brian had never eased, merely added to the weight of the new distractions.

 

Wherever you are, I hope you're better off than we are.

 

She looked down at the small spider in the brief stillness that had followed the damage to the enemy boat. Narrowing her eyes she squatted next to it and whistled the three notes again, watching it skitter excitedly. "Couldn't just speak Standard, could you?" she muttered with an expression of mild frustration mixed with growing curiosity. "Nah...God forbid you should make it too simple."