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Halloween |
Episode
Synopsis
An
awayteam are sentenced to death. When they escape their imprisonment
they are immediately followed by something a lot scarier than a death sentence.
Brief
Note
With
the cancellation of the reboot project, my original plans over what
to do with yet another special, a one which I really don't like, have
had to be tweaked a little. Like with True Q this episode has been
merely formatted and had some small edits made to it.
Original
Written
27th,
29th & 30th October 2001 3rd
February 2002
Episode
Based In
October
2377
Friday
the 30th:
The
Doctor appeared in his office in Sickbay. He quickly checked his
memory banks, it was the day he had to teach a class on biology. He
sighed, then headed towards his desk. He picked up his mobile emitter
to place it on his arm. He headed out into the corridor and he walked
down until he got to the next door to his right. The door opened and
he stepped inside.
The room was pleasantly quiet and peaceful. The Doctor smiled. He pulled the chair at his desk out, and collapsed into it. He sighed happily and gently swiveled in the chair. Silence was broken with the sound of the door opening again, and of course the loud noise that sounded like two girls chatting like nobody was around to hear them.
The Doctor groaned and he looked down at his computer.
"Hiya Doccy!" a girl's voice yelled.
The Doctor looked up to see Naomi & Kiara.
"Hello Kiara, I hope you both did your homework," the Doctor said as he pretended to read the computer screen.
"Homework? What homework?" Naomi said innocently.
The Doctor groaned again. "I gave you ten questions on biology to answer," he said.
"Oh that homework," Naomi said, she and Kiara walked away quickly.
"Well, where is it?" the Doctor asked.
Kiara and Naomi stopped in their tracks. "Well, er, we'll give it to you when the others arrive," Naomi muttered, and they both rushed to their desks. They brought out a PADD each and they started working on them.
B'Elanna, Tom & Bryan came in. B'Elanna was carrying Duncan. "I don't see why you can't carry him," B'Elanna was saying.
"He doesn't like me, everytime I pick him up he punches me in the arm," Tom said.
"He's only a baby, Tom. He's probably just playing with you," B'Elanna said as she placed Duncan gently in the mini play area near the desks. Tom pouted as usual.
Danny & Ian came in carrying a baby each. They put each baby into the mini play area with Duncan. One of the baby's hit the other baby in the arm. She started crying. Danny picked her back up.
"Kyle, what have I told you about hitting your sister?" Ian said.
The lad giggled and he started clapping his hands. Danny put the girl back into the play area.
"See ya later Doc," Danny said, she and Ian walked out.
Kyle hit Duncan in the arm. Duncan growled slightly and he pushed Kyle. Kyle started crying.
"Duncan! Bad boy!" B'Elanna snapped. Duncan smiled at her and he started playing with some red blocks.
"We'd better get to duty, B'Elanna," Tom said.
"Yeah, see you later Bryan, Duncan," B'Elanna said. She and Tom walked out, passing Morgan.
"Morgan, have you..." the Doctor started to ask.
"My name is Lena now," Morgan said. Kiara, Bryan & Naomi burst out laughing. She tried to ignore them, but got angry when they got louder. "It means brave and angelic!" she yelled.
"Sorry Lena. Angels don't drink, and they certainly don't bad mouth people," the Doctor pointed out.
"I have never bad mouthed people," Lena muttered.
"Yes you have," Kiara said.
"Shut up, you life wrecker!" Lena yelled.
"See what I mean," Kiara muttered.
"Actually I was complimenting you," Lena said.
"Lena, pick on someone your own age," the Doctor said.
"Ok," Lena said. She turned on her heel and walked straight back out.
"Fine! Lets start the lesson, sit down everyone," the Doctor said.
"Can I storm out too, Doccy? I still haven't finished these questions," Kiara asked.
"My name is not Doccy, and you're staying here," the Doctor replied.
"Damn," Kiara muttered.
Holodeck
2, that night:
The
audience cheered as a costumed Tom and Harry hurried onto the stage
to join Lena and company's band, also dressed up for the occasion.
"What did you think folks! Were you all glad that James and Craig didn't sing much," Tom said loud enough for everybody to hear.
"Hey, don't mess with me, I have a knife," James said.
"Yeah, and I haven't had my main course yet," Craig said, gesturing to his vampire fangs.
"Oh, like Tom's going to be scared of a plastic knife, and a guy dressed up like a vampire," Harry said.
Tom walked over to Craig and James. Tom then snatched the mask off the top of James' head. "You know, weren't you suppose to wear this on your face. It would've saved us from nightmares, I know it's Halloween but this is ridiculous."
"Tom, what's it like hosting the show?" James asked.
"Fun, why do you ask," Tom replied. James stole Tom's microphone, then he punched him in the face. As usual Tom went down and stayed there.
"Because it looks like I'm taking over for tonight," James smirked.
Harry groaned. "But Tom's better than you."
"Does any of you want to replace Harry?" James asked.
"I wanna host the show again," Lena said.
"I take it back," Harry stuttered.
Meanwhile
in the Mess Hall:
About
fifteen people were watching the show via a small TV that Neelix had
put near the door.
"You gotta love that guy," Tani said as she drooled over the TV, or so it looked.
"Yeah, Harry's so cute," Emma giggled.
"No, not him, James," Tani huffed.
"He's not cute, Harry is!" Emma squealed.
"No, James is!" Tani yelled.
"Actually Craig's kinda cute," an unknown girl said. Everyone turned to look her way, she cringed. "I was only joking," she stuttered.
Kiara, Bryan and Naomi walked in. Naomi had dressed up like a witch, Kiara in a Starfleet uniform with Captain's pips, plus she had an auburn wig on, and Bryan had dressed up like a ghost.
"Trick or treat!" they all yelled in unison as they held out three large bags.
"Aren't you a little old for trick or treat?" Tani asked.
"So, you are too, and that didn't stop you," Kiara replied. Tani stared at her with a puzzled expression on her face. "Oh sorry, I thought you had a mask on," Kiara said. She, and the other 'teenagers' giggled.
"Hey! That's not funny!" Tani moaned.
"She was right though, you're a little too old for trick or treat," Neelix said softly.
"I'm four," Kiara said.
"Yeah, and I'm nearly one," Bryan said.
"And I'm six," Naomi said.
"Yeah but you all look like teenagers," Neelix said.
"Trick or treat!" Naomi yelled.
"Fine, you and Duncan are our only kids," Neelix said and he walked over to the replicator.
"Would you lot shut up! Harry's talking," Emma yelled.
VTV:
"Ok,
it's time for VTV News," Harry said. "As usual we have
more rumours than news I'm afraid. Firstly one rumour has it that a
crewman has changed his name to Evil C to hide his weapon stash, and
Emma is the one stealing from it. Over to you Morgan... oh sorry Lena."
The screen changed to show the Mess Hall. Everyone but Emma and the guy sitting next to her were staring at the camera, some waving. Lena was too busy facing away from the screen to watch the TV.
"Hey cool, I can see myself," Lena said. She looked back at the screen. "Er, thanks. Supposedly Tom started that rumour, so it's no rumour that Tom is going to get a chain-saw hacking any minute," Lena said.
Emma stared at her with widening, innocent eyes. "Chain-saw??" she said in a small squeaky voice and she ran out of the room with an evil grin on her face.
"Oops. Oh well, lets speak with Mr Evil," Lena said and she walked over to the man sitting next to Emma's empty seat.
"It's Evil C," he said.
"Ok nice, I'm an angel," Lena said as she pointed at the angel writing on her top. Everyone burst out laughing again. "What? Oh to hell with it. Is the rumour Harry mentioned true?"
"No, not exactly. A few months ago we went to the holodeck to try out the new... exercise program where you can choose who you want to kil...train with," Evil C said.
"Really? Excuse me," Lena said and she rushed out. The screen changed back to Harry.
"Er, thank you Lena. Rumour Number Two, well this one isn't new but Tani has given us more information about it. Everybody knows about the Lena fancying James rumour, so lets go and speak with Captain Janeway about it. Over to you, er whoever replaced Tom," Harry said.
The screen changed to show James & Kathryn in the Ready Room.
"What, that sick rumour's still going around!" James snapped.
Kathryn stood with her hands on her hips while scowling in his direction. "You better not go near my daughter."
"No probs, I'm not Craig," James muttered.
In: "Kim here, would you please ask her the questions I wrote?"
"Oh fine. Do you think this rumour is... true.... ugh, that's a stupid question," James grumbled.
"Of course not, my daughter has taste," Kathryn growled.
"So ends that interview," James said before leaving in a hurry.
In: "Captain, you can insult him after VTV Live."
Kathryn shrugged her shoulders.
In: "Tani to Janeway. If she has taste then why did she go out with Craig?"
"Tani! Is this true!" Kathryn screeched.
In: "Yeah, and how dare you insult James!"
The screen quickly changed back to Tom who was looking rather nervous. "Ok, that one didn't go well, did it? Ok, Rumour Number Three, I think everybody knows about this one, people think that Harry fancies Emma. Lets go speak with Emma."
The screen changed again to Emma's quarters. Emma stood with a bag in her arms, in a trance as she stared at a screen on her desk.
Craig walked up to her. "So, what do you think?" he asked. Emma didn't reply, she was in a world of her own. "Er... never mind, lets go back to Harry," Craig muttered.
The screen changed back to where Harry was with an unimpressed look on his face. Jessie was looking around with a frown as if she were confused. "Oh, like he's gonna answer me." She looked towards the camera abruptly. "So what made you think you were immune to Tom's gossipy crap show?" Harry stared blankly in her direction. "Hosting it? Yeah that worked out well."
"Oh yeah? What was that other rumour about, you know the one about you making out with James in Sickbay and in turbolifts. Oh and what about the incident in the Game Sphere the other week..." Harry said.
Jessie stared at him angrily, and she blocked the camera view with her hand. "Don't watch this, don't listen to him!" she yelled. Everyone heard a banging noise, and another sound that sounded like somebody falling onto the floor.
The screen changed to a smirking Tom. "There you have it, yet another rumour. Spread it around. Okay, that's all for VTV Live, we hope you'll all be coming to the Halloween party on the Holodeck tomorrow night. Bye."
The
next day:
The
Bridge:
"Captain,
we've entered orbit over Huirnej," Tom said, he had a black eye
still from last night.
"Good," Kathryn said. Harry's console started making beepy noises.
"Captain the Huirnes are hailing us," Harry said.
"On screen," Chakotay ordered.
The viewscreen changed to show a dark red skinned man with yellow eyes and black hair.
"I'm Captain Janeway of the Starship Voyager," Kathryn said.
"I am Turit. We welcome you to Huirnej," the man said.
"Thank you Turit," Kathryn said.
"How may we help you?" Turit asked.
"Our crew is in need of food supplies. May we beam down and visit your marketplace?" Chakotay asked.
"Our Markets are open to all visitors, and your crew may stay here for as long as they wish," Turit said.
"This seems too good to be true, I wonder what the catch is," Tom whispered.
The
Conference Room:
Kathryn,
Chakotay & Turit were sitting at the table, while Tuvok stood nearby.
"You need not worry about our shapeshifting ability, Captain, it is against our laws to shapeshift. Our shapeshifting abilities have been responsible for many crimes on our world," Turit said.
"Fascinating," Tuvok said.
"You think everything's fascinating Tuvok," Kathryn said.
"Indeed Captain," Tuvok said.
Kathryn groaned. "Anyway, how many teams can we send down to your markets?"
"As many as you need, Captain," Turit replied.
"Thank you, Turit," Kathryn said.
"Please, just call me J'Hal," Turit said.
The
planet's surface
"I
wonder if this place has a store that sells chain-saws," Emma said.
"I certainly hope not," Lilly muttered.
Emma, Lilly, Harry, Tom & Triah entered the busiest part of the market, not far away was a back alley. Little did the five know a man was watching them from there.
Triah sighed. "This place is too dusty, they really should get this place cleaned up," she said. The others rolled their eyes simultaneously.
A woman walked up to Lilly. "Hello young lady, could I ask assistance of you?" she asked softly.
"Depends, what is it?" Lilly asked.
"My husband, he's in need of medical care, and there's no doctor around," the woman replied.
"I could help him," Tom boldly said, puffing his chest.
"Yeah, lets go," Harry said. He, Tom and Lilly followed the woman.
Triah tried to pull Emma with her. "But I saw a cool knife!" Emma protested.
The five away team members followed the woman to the back alley.
"Why are we going in here?" Tom asked.
"My husband was trading something in here when he fell ill," the woman replied and she continued down the alley. The away team reluctantly followed her.
The woman stopped and she turned around to face the away team.
"He was here just a minute ago, he mustn't be far. Please just wait here," the woman said and she walked away.
"This is a little suspicious," Triah muttered.
"A little?" Lilly said.
Everyone heard the sound of footsteps coming up behind them. They all turned to see who it was. A man, just a little older than the woman they met, was walking towards them. He walked straight by them and up to the wall. He turned back around to face them.
"Where is she?" he asked them roughly.
"Who?" Tom asked.
"My wife, she said she'd be back," the man replied.
"Are you the sick husband?" Triah asked.
"So she's told you, I take it you're here to help me," the man replied.
"You don't look ill," Lilly said.
"That's because I'm not," the man said.
"Then we should go," Tom said. They all turned around and headed out. The woman was in front of them.
"Please don't leave, my husband needs you," she said. She walked up to the man.
"But he said he isn't ill," Emma pointed out.
The woman glanced at the man briefly. "But you were ill before," the woman said.
"Don't worry about me," the man said in an unusually threatening voice. Suddenly the woman screamed and she fell to the ground. The away team saw blood coming from her back, and that the man had a bloody knife in his hands. He looked at the members of the away team evilly. He clicked his fingers and a strange shield surrounded Tom, Harry, Triah & Emma. Lilly narrowly escaped it.
"She was really starting to get on my nerves," the man said. He closed his eyes as he started to glow. In a matter of seconds he had shapeshifted to look like Lilly. Moments later she herself dropped to the ground unconscious. The man wiped the blood from the knife onto Lilly's hands and face, he then put the knife into her right hand.
The shapeshifter then kneeled down next to the woman and he continued to stab her with the knife. He finally stopped and he stood back up. He looked at the woman evilly. Her blood shot eyes were still open like she was staring right at him.
Tom slammed his hand against the shield, while Harry hurriedly brought out a tricorder. "You scumbag, she's..."
"Somebody help!" the man yelled as he changed back to his normal form.
Everyone heard more footsteps, and they quickly turned around. A few people were rushing towards them. They stopped suddenly when they saw the woman's dead body.
"I saw that girl, she killed my wife," the man said, pointing to Lilly. Everyone gasped in shock.
"No she didn't, you did it!" Tom yelled. "She's not even unconscious."
"You would say that, you're her accomplices," the man said as he broke down into tears.
"What happened here, exactly?" one alien asked.
"I heard a scream, so I went to find out what was going on. And I find that girl stabbing my wife. I knocked her unconscious to stop her but it was too late," the man replied.
"That's a load of crap!" Emma growled.
"And then these lot came and attacked me. I put them behind a shield to stop them," the man said.
One man went up to Lilly and he knelt down. He took the knife away from her hands.
A group of men in police type uniforms came into the alley. One pulled Lilly to her feet and he dragged her out of the alley. The man got rid of the shield, and the other police type men dragged them out of the alley too.
Voyager:
"Come
in," Kathryn called.
Chakotay, Tuvok & J'Hal walked in and they stood in front of the desk.
"Captain, there's been an incident on the planet," Chakotay said.
Kathryn sighed as she gently placed her coffee mug onto her desk. "Can't we have one day without something happening?" she muttered.
"Lilly has been accused of murder," Tuvok said.
Kathryn stared at him in shock. "Lilly? I thought that'd be too messy for her."
"She was found near the body, unconscious with a knife. The victim's husband witnessed it, and he managed to knock her unconscious to stop her," Tuvok said. He frowned, "I believe you are getting mixed up with Triah again."
Kathryn rolled her eyes, "youngish girl with one character quirk, what's the difference?"
"The rest of your away team were said to have attacked the victim's husband not longer after the murder," J'Hal said.
"This cannot be possible. I didn't send anyone capable of murder," Kathryn hissed. Tuvok's eyebrow raised slightly, she caught it and scowled. "Snip it."
"The husband was a witness," J'Hal said.
"Has anybody spoken with Lilly yet?" Kathryn asked.
"No, Captain," Chakotay replied.
"She has been sentenced according to our laws," J'Hal said.
"What's her punishment?" Kathryn asked.
"Murder is a serious offense. She will be sentenced to death tonight, she will be burned alive," J'Hal said.
"But you haven't got any other proof that she did it," Chakotay said.
"We have a witness," J'Hal said.
"Yes, but not all witnesses tell the truth," Tuvok said.
"He is the victim's husband. Why would he lie?" J'Hal asked.
"I don't know. But even if Lilly did do it, what was the motive? Lilly's not the kind of person that could kill," Kathryn replied.
Chakotay looked unsure, "you said the same thing about James."
"What part of snip it don't you understand?" Kathryn snapped. "There's always a reasonable explanation whether it's Halloween or not."
"Captain, I think I know what you're suggesting. I doubt mummys, vampires or ghosts were responsible," Tuvok said. Chakotay laughed to himself.
"We've had all those already Mr Tuvok, so why not?" Kathryn asked.
"Kathryn, I think you've had enough of that coffee," Chakotay said. He tried to take the coffee mug away but Kathryn glared at him in such a way he backed off.
"I cannot continue with the investigation Captain, once we've already sentenced her," J'Hal said.
"But... " Kathryn muttered.
"I'm sorry Captain, we will not break our own laws," J'Hal said.
The
Prison:
"This
is the second time this season I've been in a prison. It's getting
rather dull now," Emma moaned.
She, Tom, Harry and Triah were sitting either on the ground or on the bottom half of the bunk beds.
"There's got to be a way to escape," Tom muttered as he looked around. He spotted a window, the bars on it were broken so a person could climb out of it. Tom stood up and he rushed over to it. The others followed him.
"This is a little too easy," Harry muttered.
A man walked up to them. "It's a sin in our religion to escape from jail, even if you are innocent," he said.
"We're not into your religion," Triah said.
"Fine, you be sinners," the man said as he pointed at them.
"Er... tell me, what did they put you in here for?" Tom sniggered.
"I was framed, framed I tell ya! I'm not a sinner, but you be if you escape!" the man rambled. Tom climbed up onto the window sill, and he climbed out of the hole in between the bars. The others followed him. "Sinners, I be warned you," the man said.
"What should we do about Lilly?" Triah asked.
"I don't know. It's too risky for all of us to go and look for her, so only two of us will go, the other two will find a temporary hiding place," Tom replied.
"I volunteer to look for her," Harry said.
Emma popped her hand up eagerly, eyes widening.
"That place is way too mucky for my taste," Triah said.
"It looks like it's just me and you, Harry," Tom said.
"Hey," Emma complained.
"Yeah, I suppose. Lets go," Harry said.
Tom and Harry were watching guards from around a corner.
"How do we get in that door?" Harry whispered.
"Easy, I know the guards' weaknesses," Tom whispered back.
"Wow you do, and what are they?" Harry asked.
"Just like us they can't stand horrible and/or high pitched noises," Tom answered.
"Uhoh, you're not planning what I think you're planning, are you?" Harry said.
Tom quietly pulled out his own tricorder. He took a chip from it, Harry snatched it off him and he tried not to laugh.
"Disney's Greatest Hits," Harry sniggered. Tom snatched it back. "You know, some songs would be perfect for that plan of yours."
"Sacrilege. Besides I've got the perfect song to make their ear drums burst," Tom said while putting in another chip.
"What about us?" Harry whispered.
Tom pulled out two packets of ear plugs. "I keep em handy, just in case the Doc makes a speech." He and Harry prepared to put their earplugs in. Tom tapped away at his tricorder. Once he was done he pushed it closer to the guards.
"Er, something's wrong," Harry groaned.
"Nothing's wrong. It just takes a while to start," Tom whispered.
"What is it exactly?" Harry asked.
"Do you remember Craig's birthday party when Janeway sang an old Kylie Minogue song," Tom whispered.
Harry looked confused and a little worried, "no."
The tricorder kicked into action. The chorus of Can't Get You Out Of My Head started. Kathryn's voice started to sing over it at twice the volume as the song. "Ooo, I love this song! I can't... get you... out of.... my coffee!" The guards blocked their ears and fell onto the floor, writhing in agony. "Sod off and get your own bitch." Nearly all the windows in the vicinity cracked. "Laa laa laa laa!" The first guard screamed as his eardrums burst.
"AAAAGGGHHHH! This song is destroying me, now I can't remember where I live!" the second guard yelled.
"NOOOOOO! The song has corrupted our fragile little minds!" the third guard screamed.
All of the guards ran away screaming.
Tom stopped the music. He and Harry took out their ear plugs.
"Wow, that song really destroyed them," Harry said.
Five
minutes later, outside the prison:
Harry,
Tom & Lilly arrived at Emma & Triah's hiding place, a broken
down shed in the middle of nowhere.
"What was that noise?" Emma asked.
"Probably Tom's assault on the guards," Harry replied. Triah and Emma sniggered quietly to themselves.
Lilly was too busy sitting and staring at the floor. She screamed as she held her head. The others jumped and stared at her.
"What is it?" Harry asked.
"I can't get that coffee out of my head, sod off and get your own," Lilly moaned.
"We thought for a second something bad was happening," Harry muttered.
"Hey, this is bad. First I get accused of murder, next the police are putting this weird needle into my head, next I'm being sentenced to death, then I get rescued by two idiots who deafened me with Janeway singing," Lilly rambled.
"It's better than being barbecued. You're welcome," Tom smugly said.
"Keep your voice down, somebody will hear you," Harry said.
"Too late," a voice said. Everyone jumped and they turned to face the door. Seven aliens were standing there.
"Now look what you've done," Harry hissed.
"Don't worry. We're here to help you. You were a victim of a mass murderer, we should know. We've all been framed by him. We're lucky though, we escaped," one alien guy said.
"Who are you exactly?" Harry asked.
"We are the Seven Sinners, I'm T'Lia," one girl replied. The others introduced themselves in turn.
"Erm, if you haven't done anything wrong, why are you called sinners?" Triah asked.
"We had to escape from jail. It is a sin in our religion," Jertella replied.
"Why are you here?" Tom asked.
"Too help you catch this murderer. We need vengeance," T'Lia replied.
"But isn't that a sin too?" Lilly asked.
"Yeah, but we've already committed one sin, committing another won't make a difference," L'Rike replied.
"Another thing. The murderer knows you have escaped. He will hunt you down and kill you," Hapine said.
"But why?" Harry asked.
"I don't know. He's been hunting us for years, he is one of those special gifted people on this planet who have telekinetic powers. This has always proven to be a huge problem," S'Ra said.
"So that's how he knows. What do we do now?" Tom asked.
"We need a plan to defeat him once and for all," Firtuna replied.
"Well?" Lilly said questioningly.
"We haven't got one yet," Rerta said. "Don't worry, we have a place called the Sinners Graveyard. We always go there to hide," Rerta said.
Voyager:
Kathryn
was talking to J'Hal on her computer. Tuvok was standing beside her.
"How?" Kathryn asked.
"I do not know. All we know is that some of your away team played this foul and disruptive music to overpower the guards. They are now being treated for PTSD," J'Hal replied.
"That's strange, where did they get the music from?" Tuvok asked.
"I don't know Tuvok. Just tell him what you found," Kathryn replied while massaging her head.
"I have uncovered more evidence that may prove Miss Lilly's innocence. The Doctor scanned the knife. It did have prints similar to Lilly's, but it had a strange, almost printed quality to it. As far as we can tell the DNA was duplicated artificially," Tuvok said.
"That could mean that one of our locals took Lilly's shape and killed the woman," J'Hal said.
"And did the same thing with the away team," Kathryn said.
"Yes. Shapeshifting is a serious offensive, with murder included in the offensive, the guilty party will be punished severely. If captured of course," J'Hal said.
"But there is still one mystery. The victim's husband statement doesn't really make any sense. If a native used his or her's shapeshifting abilities, then he must've noticed," Kathryn said.
"Correct Captain. He may know more than he's telling," Tuvok said.
"We will question him again. Until then, you may send an away team to find your crewmembers, just like you requested," J'Hal said and the screen went off.
The
Sinners Graveyard:
Everyone
arrived at a small town in the middle of the woods. Buildings had
been reduced to piles of rubble, nature had retaken the land. Corpses
were lying everywhere, most had flesh hanging from their bones.
Triah shuddered. "Don't you have a more, welcoming hiding place?"
"No, sorry. We use this place to hide because it is supposed to be cursed by spirits. None of it's true though, but people still don't like to come here," Rerta replied.
"I can see why," Harry said.
"What's wrong with this place? It's cool," Emma said as she looked around.
Suddenly Lilly screamed again, and she collapsed onto the floor.
"Oh come on, quit fooling around Lilly, the song's not that bad," Tom muttered.
Harry knelt down beside Lilly. Her eyes tightly shut in a painful grimace. "Somehow I don't think she collapsed because of that," Harry said.
Triah and Tom knelt down beside her as her head slumped to one side, her breathing ragged.
"What happened?" Triah asked.
Lilly whimpered as she tried to sit up, Tom helped her. Once up she caressed her forehead. "The guards, when they inserted those needles, I saw something. They said it was part of my punishment, to see what was coming to me."
"Oh we forgot to mention that, didn't we?" S'Ra said.
"The murderer must witness the Death Ritual. Afterwards the guards put an hallucinogenic drug into your blood, this makes you witness the ritual over and over again. This is the usual torture murderers have to go through before they are executed. We still get the hallucinations," Rerta said.
"What happened in the ritual?" Tom asked.
"They poured some strange acid onto the woman. She decomposed in a few seconds, right in front of me," Lilly replied.
"Cool," Emma laughed.
"So why did she collapse?" Harry asked.
"I don't know. That has never happened to us before," L'Rike replied.
Triah jumped slightly. "Er, did you guys hear something?" she asked quietly. The others turned to face her.
"No, you must be hearing things," Tom replied.
"Come on, we have a shelter," Rerta said. He walked further into the ruins, the other sinners followed. Tom, Harry, Triah and Lilly glanced at each other nervously. They eventually followed the sinners. Emma stopped and she turned around to look towards a certain bit of rubble with piles of corpses lying on top and underneath. Emma then saw one of the corpses move as the wind blew upon them.
Harry walked over to her. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"I'm pretty sure that dead guy just moved," Emma replied as she pointed towards the corpse that had been blown in the wind.
"I don't think so, somehow. I think the wind must've pushed it. Come on," Harry said and he followed the others. Emma stared at the corpse for a few more seconds and she followed Harry.
Everyone climbed over a large pile of rubble, and then back down the other side.
Three of the corpses glowed, and they changed into three of the sinner aliens. They cackled as they looked towards the area the others walked to.
"We have them now," one alien said as he glanced at the other aliens. They smiled back at him.
Triah and Harry wandered around the rubble, carefully to avoid running into any remains.
"Are you sure that there's somebody here? Maybe Emma was just seeing some dead guys being blown by the wind," Triah said.
"It wasn't just what Emma saw that concerns me," Harry said.
A strange wind suddenly started blowing against them. It was incredibly strong, so they both stopped to avoid getting blown in the wrong direction. In a couple of seconds it just suddenly stopped like there was never any wind in the first place.
Harry looked around all confused. "Can you tell me what just happened?" he asked. Triah didn't answer him, she was too busy staring at something in front of her. She slowly tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around to see what she was looking at. "Holy crap!" he screamed.
In front of them was one of the corpses, but it seemed very much alive. It reached out a hand towards them.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Triah asked nervously.
"Most probably," Harry replied.
They both ran back the way they came. They screeched to a halt after a while.
"Crap, what's going on?" Triah asked.
Right in front of them was Triah's school bullies, and some of Harry's childhood doctors. They all slowly headed towards the two frightened crewmembers. They didn't waste any time in running away.
Meanwhile:
"Those
two are taking a hell of a long time," Tom commented.
"Speaking of which, where did T'Lia, Hapine, Firtuna and S'Ra go?" Rerta asked. He looked at the remaining sinners. They both shrugged their shoulders.
"Maybe they went to look for Harry and Triah," L'Rike replied.
Triah and Harry ran over to the others, and they came to a complete stop.
"We have to go," Triah said.
"Why?" Lilly asked.
"First we saw this mummy thing," Triah replied.
"Then we saw some of my old doctors, and some people Triah's age," Harry said. Everyone looked at each other.
"This isn't possible," Rerta said.
"What isn't?" Tom asked.
"Some of our kind must be here using their shifting abilities to scare us," Rerta replied.
"Thank god, you're saying even that mummy thing was just some guy or girl shifting," Triah said and she sighed in relief.
"What is a mummy?" Jertella asked.
"Some of our culture's on our home world used to take the vital organs out of their dead, wrap them up in bandages and bury them. They're called mummies," Tom replied.
"Then why would mummies be here then, think about it," Lilly said.
"I know it wasn't a mummy, idiot. It seemed better than calling it a dead person," Triah said.
T'Lia, Hapine, Firtuna and S'Ra came back over to the others.
"Where did you four go?" Rerta asked.
The four looked at each other briefly, and then they looked back at Rerta. "We were looking for Triah and Harry," S'Ra replied.
"Well it would've been nice if you found us when we ran into a dead person, and some doctors and bullies," Triah said.
"Doctors and bullies? There is nobody else here beside us, so you must've been imagining it," Hapine said.
"No, Hapine. I think we have more company than you think," Rerta said.
Tom looked at the four sinners, he noticed one had her right arm behind her back.
Lilly gasped and stuttered incoherently, everyone turned to see what she was reacting to. In front of them all were a group of people.
"Right, really scary," Triah said sarcastically.
"You don't understand, that's my family," Lilly stuttered.
"Oh, I can understand that," Tom said.
Emma hit him in the back of the head. "You don't get it, do you? Those family members are suppose to be dead."
Rerta stepped forward. "You should know better than that. Shapeshifting is illegal, I demand that you go back to your usual selves," he said forcefully.
The group of Ligers laughed, then suddenly weapons appeared in their hands.
"Oh crap, not again," Lilly muttered and she fell unconscious. Harry and Emma managed to catch her before she fell to the ground.
"She's having another vision," Jertella pointed out.
"That was quick, how come you guys don't get them as often as she does?" Harry asked.
"No time to explain, we'd better go... now!" Rerta replied loudly.
Nobody argued, and they quickly went off in the opposite direction. The shapeshifters glowed and they changed into scary looking animals. They started running after them.
The gang eventually reached a large building, it had no roof, and some of the walls had started to collapse.
"In here!" Rerta yelled. Everyone ran inside, Rerta pushed some rubble against the door.
"One problem, guys. Some of the walls look like they're going to collapse any second, what happens when they do?" Tom asked.
"I wouldn't worry about that, they've been like this for years," Jertella replied.
T'Lia, Hapine, Firtuna and S'Ra headed over to the main door after Rerta stepped away from it. They turned to face the others. Suddenly they glowed and turned into completely different aliens. Everyone stared in shock.
"Haha, fooled you," one of them laughed.
"Where are the real T'Lia, Hapine, Firtuna, S'Ra?" Rerta asked.
"You needn't worry, they're in the afterlife now," another one replied.
"And so will you be," the first one said. The four started laughing evilly.
Suddenly the strong wind started blowing through the entire building. Harry and Triah looked at each other nervously. "Not again," they both muttered.
"What on Huirnej is going on here?" one of the aliens muttered.
The four aliens' eyes widened in horror. Everyone else slowly looked behind them. Most of them screamed.
"Cool!" Emma giggled. The awayteam rolled their eyes, despite the situation.
The corpse had come back, and it was looking angrily at the four aliens behind the group. It raised it's left arm into the air and the four aliens froze on the spot. The corpse raised it's arm higher and the four started floating into the air, still unable to move. Suddenly they flew towards the roof, which wasn't there, and they went flying into the sky.
The others looked at the corpse with confused expressions on their faces.
"Do not fear. I am Liria, the wife of the man who's trying to kill you," the corpse said.
"Wait, are you the one who was murdered right in front of us?" Tom asked.
"You are correct. I am here to help you," Liria replied. "But there is something I must take care of first."
Liria
was walking around the town on her own, she seemed to be looking
around for something. Jertella and L'Rike came up behind her, they
smiled at each other briefly.
"Oh Liria," Jertella said.
Liria turned around to see Jertella and L'Rike changed into two of the aliens. She quickly pushed her hand out which froze them on the spot. She then raised her other arm slowly. As she did so the two aliens started to decompose really quickly, from foot to head. At the same time Liria was regenerating the same way they were decomposing.
When the two had fully decomposed they dropped to the ground.
Liria looked like she sensed something and she ran towards the building where the others were.
Lilly, Triah, Harry, Emma, Tom, & Rerta were waiting inside a large building. They heard a large banging noise coming from the door. Rerta slowly walked forward towards the door, it broke open taking some of debris with it. Everyone gasped when they saw who it was.
"Remember me?" Liria's husband sneered.
"All too well," Tom muttered.
"Now I'm going to do to you what I did to the other Sinners I captured," Liria's husband cackled. Some blast hit him in the back, and he fell onto the ground. Liria came in after he did so.
"Liria? How did..?" Harry said questioningly.
"I used two of my husbands servants to regenerate," Liria replied.
Liria's husband dragged himself back onto his feet, and he faced Liria. "So even in death you still follow me," he said angrily. At that moment about eighteen of the aliens came into the building and awaited orders. "You lot kill them, I'll deal with Liria personally."
The aliens went to attack the awayteam and Rerta. Emma looked around and she groaned. "Damn, no chain-saws. I wish I brought mine," she said.
"For once, so do I," Tom said.
The fight started. Emma beat up a few with a sharp piece of rubble. Tom punched out any that came his way. Triah kicked a few away while she tried to evade. Lilly had picked up a large piece of wood and she kept smacking any that came near her. Harry dove to get some cover and throw things at them.
Meanwhile Liria and her husband had morphed weapons for themselves and they were beating each other up with them.
Lilly smacked one more of the aliens with the piece of wood and she stopped. "Ohno, not now!" she squealed, then collapsed. Rerta went over to her to protect her from another one of the aliens. One came up behind him and they stabbed him.
Liria's husband got knocked to the ground, and Liria was about to kill him. She hesitated slightly, which gave him time to act. He quickly morphed a strange bottle, and he threw it at Liria. A strange liquid came out of it and it went over her. She screamed and she collapsed. Her skin started to decompose again, but a lot slower.
More of the aliens came into the room, and they all managed to hold the awayteam back. Liria's husband walked up to the awayteam with an evil smile on his face.
"Now it's finally time, lets have some fun shall we?" he said and he laughed evilly.
Back
on Voyager:
Kathryn
drummed her fingers for a few minutes, steam rising out of her.
"Good god, how much more of this am I supposed to take?"
Chakotay peered back over his shoulder from the helm. "What?" He got an angry scoff in return. "Tuvok's busy, most of our people are on the surface, you sent James to top up your coffee twenty minutes ago, Jessie is Jessie, so who else is going to pilot the ship?"
"Excuse me," Kathryn said the opposite of politely. Jessie meanwhile glared into the back of the Commander's head. "You told him to take his time, and as for her..."
"I'm right here," Jessie grumbled bitterly.
Kathryn acted as though she never said anything, "she never crashed into a comet while turning around."
"What, that never happened. You're having coffee withdrawals again," Chakotay scoffed.
Kathryn's eyebrow twitched. Everyone else on the bridge cringed. "Where the hell is that double espresso mocha cappuccino with coffee foam and coffee sprinkles?" she screeched.
Jessie shook her head, "I hope you wrote all that crap down." Kathryn's cold stare was sent in her direction, making her shiver. "I'll go check on him." She hurried for the turbolift.
"Keep your hands to yourself!" Kathryn spat over her shoulder. Her eyes widened as she swung around, just missing the door closing on Jessie. "Tell him to make it a triple... gah, you bitch!"
Chakotay tugged on his sweat drenched collar. "Perhaps I should check in with Tuvok, see if he's made any progress."
"Move and I'll grind you..." Kathryn grumbled, not noticing Danny giggling rudely to herself. Something else though made her stall, "progress on what?"
Chakotay groaned.
Near
the shuttle bay:
"That
was scary," Jessie was saying. "And I thought I was used
to it by now."
James looked down at the weird foamy beverage he had in his hands with a disgusted look on his face. He shrugged it off, putting it to one side. "I'm sure she'll find it."
Jessie's eyebrow raised, "you really need to see someone about that death wish of yours."
"Speaking of which, I tried to find the awayteam and I overhead this," James said while bringing out a PADD he had in between his arm. One tap and it started playing Kathryn's singing. He tapped at it quickly to turn it off. Jessie bit her lip firmly, trying not to laugh. "That too, I guess. This though..."
"I'm pretty sure that dead guy just moved," Emma's voice said.
"I don't think so, somehow. I think the wind must've pushed it. Come on," Harry's said.
Jessie frowned, "huh, again?" James lightly nodded. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"If you're thinking we need to escape before Janeway tracks down that so called drink, yep," James replied.
Jessie smiled, then gave him a little wink.
Back
on the planet:
Liria's
husband had the awayteam in this strange prison type place. Lilly
was tied down to a wooden table thing. The others were just tied up
to the wall. All of the aliens were standing guard where the others were.
Liria's husband was connecting Lilly to what looked like an alien life support system. "Now then this'll keep you alive during the torture. This'll be sooo much fun," he said.
"You're insane," Lilly said.
"Why thanks, but I can't take credit for this torture. Our people punish people who've used their shifting abilities to kill this way. They take out each organ one by one, ending with the brain. This machine will keep you alive until the brain part, obviously it won't be able to help you there. Now which one should I take out first," Liria's husband said. He picked up a very sharp knife.
The entire building shook as something collided with the ground. A couple of the aliens rushed outside to see what it was. A building had just been crushed by a very familiar shuttle. The shuttle was not in a very good state either.
The main door opened and two crewmembers peeped out. They saw the aliens and they quickly went back in. One of the aliens went back into the building.
"Sir, two more humans have landed a shuttle on one of the buildings," he said.
"Who would be crazy enough to do that?" Talia's husband said angrily.
The rest of the aliens dragged the shuttle's crewmembers into the building. Tom, Harry, Emma and Triah groaned.
"Oh of course!" Tom groaned.
"Oy, keep your dirty hands off me!" Jessie screeched.
"What are you two doing here?" Harry asked as the aliens tied Jessie and James up.
"We just went into the flyer to find... something," Jessie replied.
"And?" the others said in unison.
"We did detect human lifesigns, so we thought we'd land near them," James said.
"More like crash," Tom muttered.
"No we landed on a building," Jessie said.
The awayteam sighed.
"There was nowhere else to land, we could've landed on the grass but that would mean we'd have further to walk," Jessie said.
"Would you lot shut up, I'm trying to think," Laria's husband growled, pausing for a moment to regain his bearings. He was about to make an incision to Lilly's belly when Tom started tapping the wall behind him with his foot. The man turned towards his followers with a sneer. "I think it's time for the torture, don't you think?" he said to them.
Everyone but Emma, Jessie and James looked very worried, "uhoh."
Emma said, "cool!"
"Ohno, if anyone touches the hair I'm suing," Jessie complained.
Voyager:
"Captain,
the Flyer has landed," Tuvok said.
Everyone almost fainted. "It didn't crash? How odd," Kathryn said.
"Well the Flyer's landing has helped us, Captain," Tuvok said.
"Really how?" Kathryn asked.
"Well before we couldn't get a scanner lock through the planet's atmosphere. Since the Flyer is down there we can scan around it. The away team are about three metres away from it," Tuvok replied.
"Can you beam them out?" Chakotay asked.
"Yes, but not yet," Tuvok replied.
"Why not?" Kathryn yelled.
"It's going to take some time to beam them out, the atmosphere in that area is slightly toxic, making it difficult to get a lock," Tuvok replied.
Kathryn growled, then sipped on a coffee mug. "Since when?"
Tuvok waited for her to at least get halfway down, "since an hour ago."
"Smart alec piece of..." Kathryn grumbled. Craig ran in holding the horrible cup of coffee James had earlier. He spilled most of it on route to Kathryn, giving what was left to her. One sniff of it and she was like a completely different person. "Ok, fine. How long then, Commander?" Kathryn asked.
"About two or three paragraphs, Captain," Tuvok replied.
Kathryn sighed. "I should have known that you'd answer like that."
Back
on the planet:
"Sir,
we're nearing the end of the ritual. Should we..?" one of the
aliens asked.
"Yes, yes. Don't say what you're doing though. That's for later, if you know what I mean," Laria's husband replied.
"Yes sir," the alien said. He and a few others injected something into each member of the awayteam with a very sharp needle. Most of them screamed in pain. Emma took one look at the needle and she panicked, when they injected it into her she fainted.
Laria's husband was just about to continue his cutting work on Lilly when the awayteam were beamed out.
"This is so not fair! I didn't get to finish, what's going to happen next?" he said in a stroppy voice. Laria came in through the door and she smiled evilly.
"Honey I'm home," she sang playfully.
"Oh no," Laria's husband groaned.
Voyager:
Kathryn
was talking to J'Hal on the viewscreen.
"We're sending you the co-ordinates of the killer, J'Hal," she was saying.
"I thank you, Captain. You are welcome to stay here longer if you wish," J'Hal said.
"No thank you, J'Hal. We really should be getting on with our journey," Kathryn said.
"Have a short journey home, Captain," J'Hal said and the viewscreen switched off.
Kathryn looked at Naomi sitting on the helm seat and then at Chakotay. "We'll wait until Tom is ok before we set off. I don't trust her," she said.
"Good idea, Captain," Chakotay muttered.
The
Ready Room:
Tom
smiled broadly, seemingly unaware of his unimpressed and speechless
audience around him. He paused, waiting for something. When it didn't
happen he looked annoyed. "Oh sorry, I forgot: Theeee End."
Kathryn blinked a few times, then directed her ire towards Chakotay standing beside her. He looked like he was dozing off. She elbowed him a few times.
"Oh, do you need me to repeat any of it?" Tom asked with some concern.
"No!" everyone, including Tuvok urgently shouted at him.
Tom laughed it off nervously, "I suppose it was a little spooky. All those dead guys and flesh melting."
"Mr Paris," Tuvok sighed tiredly. "Was any part of your report even true?"
Tom's jaw dropped, "Tuvok, I'm offended, I really am. Why would I make up such a thing?"
Chakotay looked down at Kathryn a little groggily, "what did I miss?"
"Hopefully all of it," she mumbled.
"Your version of events are not consistent, the seven sinners served no narrative purpose, it was extremely difficult to follow. You use suddenly far too much. Your antagonist was stereotypical, the shapeshifting dead aliens made it a little farfetched," Tuvok explained.
Kathryn cleared her throat as a hint to stop, "and? When you put it like that, it sounds like a normal day on the job."
Tuvok's brow raised, he looked almost impressed. "Indeed, except for one minor detail."
Tom huffed while folding his arms. "For your information, James said he faked passing out to fool the aliens, but we both know it was to save face. Wuss, he's only afraid of blood loss when he's not the cause of it."
Chakotay tried his best not to smirk, "make that two details."
"I punched out any that came my way," Tuvok stated plainly.
"Yeah," Tom said, confused. He waited for the Commander to elaborate. When he didn't after a few minutes, and noticed a smirk on Chakotay's face, he stomped his foot. "You guys suck." He stormed off mumbling, "I did it all, I'm the hero. If it weren't for me..." The door shut behind him. Kathryn and Chakotay shared a look before allowing themselves a laugh at his expense.
THE END
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