CHAPTER THREE

  FIRST CONTACT

  Red alert bathed the Camelot’s bridge in pulsing crimson. The unknown vessel drifted into view like a silent predator, its smooth hull reflecting no light, its shape wrong in ways the eye struggled to process. No windows. No markings. No visible weapons. Only a faint, rhythmic glow along its spine — like a heartbeat.

  “Shields up,” Captain K’sigh ordered.

  “Shields at maximum,” Philip replied from Tactical.

  “Helm, evasive pattern Delta Three.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  The Camelot banked hard, engines roaring as the unknown ship adjusted its course with unnerving precision.

  The First Weapon

  “Captain,” OPS said, voice tight, “the vessel is emitting a low frequency pulse. No known analog.”

  “Source?”

  “Everywhere,” she whispered. “It’s… surrounding us.”

  The glow along the alien ship’s spine intensified.

  “Brace!” Philip shouted.

  A wave of shimmering distortion rippled outward — silent, invisible except for the way it bent starlight. It struck the Camelot like a hammer.

  The ship lurched. Consoles sparked. Lights flickered.

  “Report!” K’sigh barked.

  “Shields down to sixty percent!” Philip said. “That wasn’t a weapon… it was something else.”

  “Define something else.”

  Philip stared at his readings. “It bypassed the shields. It wasn’t trying to damage us. It was… scanning us.”

  The bridge fell silent.

  Scanning them for what?

  ? Holographic Crew Activation

  “Captain,” OPS said, “we’re detecting intrusions across multiple decks. Not physical — energy signatures. They’re trying to access internal systems.”

  K’sigh didn’t hesitate. “Computer, activate all holographic crew programs. Authorization K’sigh Omega Seven.”

  “Holographic crew online,” the computer confirmed.

  Across the ship, emergency holograms flickered into existence — security officers, engineers, medics — all ready to reinforce the living crew.

  Philip nodded. “Good call, sir. We’ll need them.”

  ? Attempted Abduction

  The alien ship pulsed again.

  This time, the distortion wave passed through the Camelot.

  Arms screamed.

  “Captain!” OPS shouted. “Unknown energy signatures in the ready room — and the conference room — and—”

  Philip’s console lit up with a dozen warnings.

  “They’re targeting command-level biosigns!”

  K’sigh’s eyes widened. “They’re trying to take us.”

  A beam of pale, ghostly light materialized in the center of the bridge — silent, swirling, reaching.

  “MOVE!” Philip shouted.

  He smmed into the captain, knocking him out of the beam’s path. The light twisted, searching, adjusting.

  “Security to the bridge!” K’sigh roared.

  The beam lunged again — this time toward the first officer.

  Philip fired his phaser on maximum stun. The beam rippled, distorted… and recoiled.

  “Captain,” Philip said, “they’re not transporting. They’re pulling you apart. Same as the other ships.”

  K’sigh’s jaw tightened. “Not today.”

  ? Tactical Teams Deploy

  “Bridge to all tactical teams,” Philip ordered. “Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel — deploy to defensive positions. Expect boarding attempts. Holographic units will reinforce.”

  “Acknowledged,” came four voices in unison.

  The tactical squads moved with precision:

  ? Echo Team to Deck 4, outside the command ring

  ? Foxtrot Team to Engineering

  ? Golf Team to the shuttle bay

  ? Hotel Team to the primary transporter rooms

  Holographic security officers materialized beside them, weapons drawn.

  ? Camelot’s First Counterattack

  “Target that ship,” K’sigh said. “Fire when ready.”

  Philip locked weapons. “Phasers locked. Firing.”

  Golden beams nced across the void — and struck the alien hull.

  The effect was immediate.

  The alien ship shimmered, its surface rippling like liquid metal. The phaser energy sank into it… and vanished.

  “Captain,” Philip said, “our weapons are being absorbed.”

  “Try torpedoes.”

  “Aye, sir. Firing.”

  A spread of quantum torpedoes streaked toward the vessel.

  The alien ship pulsed.

  The torpedoes… slowed.

  Stopped.

  Hung motionless in space.

  Then dissolved into particles of light.

  The bridge went silent.

  “What… are we fighting?” OPS whispered.

  ? The First Partial Reveal

  The alien ship rotated slowly, exposing its underside.

  Panels slid open — not mechanical, but organic, like muscle tissue parting.

  Inside was a swirling vortex of pale light, shifting like a living thing.

  Kita’s voice came through the comm, trembling.

  “Captain… that’s not a ship.”

  Philip stared at the readings.

  “It’s alive.”

  The alien vessel pulsed again — brighter, stronger.

  And the Camelot’s lights went out.

  The Camelot Fighting Blind

  The Camelot plunged into darkness.

  Every console died at once.

  The warp core fell silent.

  The hum of the ship — the heartbeat of a starship — vanished.

  For a moment, the Camelot drifted like a corpse.

  “Bridge to Engineering!” Captain K’sigh shouted into the void. “Dax, report!”

  Static.

  OPS’ voice trembled. “Captain… we’ve lost all sensors. Internal and external. We’re completely blind.”

  Philip’s tactical console sparked violently, forcing him back. “Weapons offline. Shields offline. We’re dead in space.”

  A pulse of pale light washed across the bridge — the alien ship’s glow intensifying.

  K’sigh growled. “They’re not done with us.”

  ? The Second Abduction Attempt

  The air shimmered.

  A cold wind swept across the bridge.

  Light twisted into a column of pale, ghostly energy.

  Philip’s blood ran cold. “Not again.”

  The beam lunged — straight for Captain K’sigh.

  “MOVE!” Philip tackled him aside, but the beam adjusted mid flight, wrapping around the captain like a serpent of light.

  K’sigh was lifted off the deck, suspended, his body outlined in white fire.

  “Captain!” Kita cried.

  A second beam erupted beside the first — this one striking Commander Fakowerfo square in the chest.

  Philip fired his phaser. The beam rippled… but did not release its hold.

  K’sigh’s eyes met Philip’s.

  “Protect… the crew…”

  And then both officers were pulled upward — not transported, not dematerialized — but peeled out of existence, their bodies unraveling into threads of light.

  The beams vanished.

  The bridge fell silent.

  ? Chain of Command Breaks

  Kita turned to Philip, voice shaking. “Lt. Commander Banks… you’re the senior officer on the bridge.”

  Philip shook his head. “Dax outranks me. She’s third in command.”

  OPS spun from her console. “Sir — Engineering is under attack. Multiple hostiles. Dax’s lifesigns are unstable.”

  Philip froze.

  “Unstable how?”

  “Fading. She’s injured — badly.”

  The deck shuddered violently.

  Kita’s voice was barely a whisper. “Sir… until she can assume command, the bridge needs a commanding officer.”

  Philip stared at the empty captain’s chair.

  He didn’t want it.

  He didn’t ask for it.

  But the ship needed someone.

  He stepped forward.

  “Computer,” he said, “note temporary command transfer. Acting Captain: Lt. Commander Philip Banks.”

  The computer remained silent — power still failing — but the crew accepted it. This wasn’t the way he imagined taking the chair.

  Philip turned to the bridge crew.

  “All right. We’re not done. Helm, try to bring thrusters online. OPS, reroute whatever power you can to internal sensors. Kita, get me anything on those creatures.”

  ? Tactical Teams Engage

  Across the ship, the tactical teams were already fighting for their lives.

  ? Echo Team — Deck 4

  Lt. Cassie Jones fired point bnk at a creature emerging from the darkness.

  The phaser beam passed through it like mist.

  The creature tilted its head — a smooth, featureless mask — then lunged.

  Two officers went down instantly.

  ? Foxtrot Team — Engineering

  Lt. Jessica Miller’s team formed a defensive perimeter around the warp core.

  “Contact!” a crewman shouted.

  A creature phased through the bulkhead — literally through it — as if the metal were smoke.

  Dax y on the deck, half conscious, her uniform scorched.

  “Protect Dax!” Miller yelled.

  The creature’s arm elongated into a spear of light.

  A holographic medic flickered — then was torn apart in a burst of static.

  ? Golf Team — Shuttle Bay

  Lt. Damian Adams’ team was overwhelmed immediately.

  Three creatures materialized at once, moving with impossible speed.

  “Fall back!” Adams shouted.

  A crewman didn’t make it.

  ? Hotel Team — Transporter Rooms

  Lt. Stephanie Hanks’ team held their ground longest.

  “Hold the line!” she shouted.

  But the creatures didn’t attack like animals.

  They moved with purpose.

  They were searching.

  Hunting.

  For command level biosigns.

  ? The First Real Reveal of the Enemy

  Back on the bridge, internal sensors flickered to life for a moment — just long enough to dispy a single image.

  A creature stood in a corridor:

  ? Tall

  ? Thin

  ? Limbs jointed wrong

  ? Body shifting between metal and flesh

  ? Face smooth and featureless

  ? A pulsing glow in its chest, matching the alien ship’s heartbeat

  Kita whispered, “Sir… they’re not machines.”

  OPS swallowed. “They’re not biological either.”

  Philip stared.

  “They’re both.”

  The deck vibrated again — harder.

  “Sir!” OPS shouted. “Multiple hostiles converging on the command ring!”

  Philip drew his phaser.

  “Tactical teams Echo and Hotel — fall back to Deck 1. Prepare to defend the bridge.”

  He stepped in front of the captain’s chair.

  “Bridge crew — battle stations.”

  The lights flickered.

  The enemy was coming.

  And the Camelot was fighting blind

  Sickbay was chaos.

  Dr. Sarir moved between biobeds as injured officers were rushed in — burns, cerations, neurological shock from the creatures’ energy strikes. Holographic medics flickered in and out as the ship’s power fluctuated.

  “Get him stabilized!” Sarir barked as a crewman convulsed on the table. “I need cortical stimutors — now!”

  A nurse shook her head. “Doctor, we’re running out of supplies!”

  Sarir smmed a tray down. “Then improvise. These people don’t die on my watch.”

  The lights flickered again.

  A low hum vibrated through the deck.

  Sarir froze. “That’s not the ship… that’s them.”

  ? Bridge — The Siege Begins

  The bridge doors buckled inward.

  Philip spun toward the sound. “Echo Team, status!”

  Lt. Cassie Jones’ voice crackled through the comm. “Multiple hostiles converging on Deck 1. They’re trying to breach the bridge!”

  “Hold them,” Philip ordered. “We can’t lose command.”

  The doors glowed red as something on the other side pressed against them — something strong.

  Kita’s console flickered. “Sir — internal sensors are back for a moment!”

  “Show me.”

  A single image appeared:

  Three creatures advancing down the corridor toward the bridge — tall, thin, limbs jointed wrong, bodies shifting between metal and flesh.

  Philip raised his phaser. “Everyone, defensive positions!”

  The doors buckled again.

  ? Engineering — Fight to Save Dax

  Foxtrot Team was losing ground.

  Lt. Jessica Miller fired again, but the creature ignored the bst. Dax y behind a console, barely conscious, her breathing shallow.

  “Fall back!” Miller shouted. “Protect the Chief!”

  A creature phased through the floor, rising like a ghost. Its arm elongated into a bde of light.

  Miller dove, firing point bnk.

  The creature staggered — for the first time.

  “Sir!” Miller shouted into her comm. “They reacted to that! Something in Engineering is interfering with them!”

  Dax coughed weakly. “The… psma coils… harmonic feedback… disrupts their energy matrix…”

  Miller’s eyes widened. “Banks, did you hear that?!”

  ? Bridge — Philip’s First Command Decision

  Philip heard it.

  “Foxtrot Team, repeat!”

  Miller shouted over weapons fire. “Sir — the psma coils emit a harmonic that disrupts their energy form. It’s like an EMP, but localized. We need to amplify it!”

  Philip turned to OPS. “Can we generate a shipwide harmonic pulse without frying the Camelot?”

  OPS hesitated. “Maybe… if we route it through the deflector dish and dampen the feedback. But it’ll knock out every hologram on the ship.”

  Philip didn’t blink. “Do it.”

  Kita looked at him. “Sir… that includes the holographic security teams.”

  “I know,” Philip said. “But it might save the living ones.”

  OPS nodded. “Charging the deflector.”

  The deck shook violently.

  “They’re trying to seize the warp core!” Miller screamed over comms.

  Philip clenched his jaw. “OPS — fire the pulse!”

  ? The EMP Pulse

  The Camelot’s deflector dish glowed bright blue.

  Then—

  A shockwave rippled through the ship.

  Lights flickered. Consoles rebooted. Holograms dissolved into static.

  And the creatures—

  Screamed.

  Their bodies spasmed, flickering between metal and flesh. Their limbs twisted. Their forms destabilized.

  Echo Team shouted over comms. “Sir! They’re falling back!”

  Foxtrot Team: “Engineering is clear!”

  Hotel Team: “Transporter rooms secure!”

  Golf Team: “Shuttle bay — they’re retreating!”

  Philip exhaled slowly.

  “Bridge?” he asked.

  The doors stopped buckling.

  Silence.

  Then Kita whispered, “Sir… they’re gone.”

  ? The Enemy Retreats

  OPS stared at her console. “Sir… the alien vessel is withdrawing. It’s powering up its drive.”

  “Track it,” Philip ordered.

  “It’s… it’s folding space,” OPS said. “Not warp. Not slipstream. Something else.”

  The alien ship pulsed once — a final heartbeat — then vanished into a ripple of distorted starlight.

  The Camelot drifted in silence.

  Philip lowered his phaser.

  “Damage report,” he said quietly.

  Kita swallowed. “Multiple casualties across the ship. Engineering is stabilizing. Sickbay is overwhelmed. But… we’re alive.”

  Philip nodded.

  “Then we prepare for round two.”

  He stepped toward the captain’s chair.

  And sat.

  “Bridge crew — resume stations. We’re not out of this yet.”