Tentaclees (Part 2 of 2) [18+]

Posted on 17 Aug 2025 @ 2:39pm by Commander Morgan Tarin & Lieutenant JG Delainey Carlisle & Lieutenant JG Nusien & Ensign Amanda Turell & Chief Petty Officer Katja Becker & Petty Officer 1st Class T'Lin

3,479 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: Episode 21 - Helix
Location: USS Galileo-A - Deck 3, Multi-Purpose Lab
Timeline: MD 07, 0810 hrs

Previously, on Tentaclees (Part 1)...

"Petty Officer, get back!" yelled Tarin who now tracked her phaser at the creature while attempting to clear her firing lane. Apparently leaving well-enough alone wasn't enough, and the Vulcan's ambitions were producing a most undesirable result. "Turell, prepare to fire on my command!"

Amanda's phaser hadn't left her hand from the moment she'd arrived in the room, she'd watched the creature the entire time the scientists were fawning over it. When they had decided to drop the forcefield the adrenaline started to course through her body again knowing what the creature was capable of. The second it began to move out of the containment chamber her hand snapped upwards into a firing position, her finger primed to depress the firing stud and shoot it with the highest stun setting the Type II was capable of.

And Now, the Conclusion...

[ON]

Katja watched as everything went sideways...again. She glared at the eggheads for messing up what would have been a simple stab and go maneuver. This was not how she wanted to die; Survived the harrowing Dominion War only to be taken out by a hungry piece of something.

"Great bird of the Galaxy, save us from blue-collars!" She growled, herself and launching forward to hypospray 'tentaclees' with enough anesthesia to take down everyone here in the room. Careful to not touch the thing as it focused on it's next meal, the hypospray came in contact with the piece-o-creature's flesh and she depressed the button of the medication delivery system with as much force as she could muster, as if the additional pressure would somehow get the meds into the thing faster. The hiss of the device was a satisfying sound - far unlike the menacing hissing of the again free creature.

Once the hypospray had delivered, Katja didn't wait around to see what the effects were. Quickly darting back to get out of the strike zone, her prosthetic leg chose the perfect moment to malfunction and buckle under her weight, and she fell backwards onto her ass.

As the hypospray hit, T'Lin danced quickly back and away but still facing the creature. She should be clear of the phaser range just in case.

Delainey’s instruments were already heading toward Tentaclees when she registered T’Lin had decided to attempt an unauthorized mind meld. Terror mixed with anger as Carlisle realized T’Lin may have just signed everyone’s death warrant because of her impulsivity.

The time between her thoughts and what came after was likely only a few seconds, but felt like an eternity. Somehow, she managed to get away, but that didn’t keep her from seeing Tentaclees now target the science officer with what could only be described as pure malice. Hot tears spring to Carlisle‘s eyes as she was certain she was going to witness an attack even more brutal than what had been perpetrated against the ship‘s chaplain.

The commotion surrounding the tentacle tip primed its heightened sense of alertness then forced a natural discharge. Something had made contact with it, and its limited nervous cortex soon became overwhelmed by the cacophony of human interaction mixed with chemical compounds. It unleashed its prowess and lunged toward the Vulcan who'd now retreated. It covered a shocking amount of distance in one coiled and muscular expenditure then became airborne after pushing off the deck plating.

In space - the air within the multi-purpose science lab - the tentacle tip rolled itself mid-spear-maneuver then bent the front of its extremity forward to wrap around the side of the blonde woman. Several rows of fangs embedded themselves into the Vulcan's waist to gain control, then it swiftly used the woman's body weight as an anchor around which to wrap itself. The subaquatic alien cocooned the science officer. To feed off her...to prosecute her primal transgressions.

T'Lin had to concentrate to control the pain and grimaced a moment while she handled that. Then she used her Tal-Shaya training and with one slightly freed hand made contact with the thing's nervous system. The technique would temporarily override the nerve control. It was what the art was all about, though it appeared to be like a human martial art, it encompassed the use of turning one's opponents nervous control against them to the point of death if need be.

Katja watched the tentacle horror slither around the Vulcan scientist and she couldn't not say something as she fought her way back to her feet. "You better bloody well hope that abomination doesn't care for grass fed, lean meat, Petty Officer T'Lin, because if it kills you it will deprive me of the reckoning I am going to reign down on you for your failure to follow orders." She growled, all pretense of self-preservation done away with. Becker was all but incandescent with rage at the ridiculousness of this situation.

With a gallic shrug, Katja threw herself onto the thing's...back? Did tentacles have backs? Oh, wait, focus! Katja brought the laser scalpel to bear and began slicing at the flesh that was currently consuming T'Lin's mid-riff in an attempt to get tentaclees to let go. This was going to be such a screwed up way to die.

Carlisle was frozen in horror as the scene went from bad to worse. Unlike before in the transporter room, she entered the lab with no other tools at her disposal. The only thing she had in her possession was the tissue sample she had taken moments before, the sample she was now afraid people were going to die for.

The coiled tentacle tip tightened its grip on its Vulcan prey then thrashed it from side to side when it experienced severe pain inductions along its thick posterior. A tight whip of its forward-most extremity flung the chief petty office from its back - thick lime green fluid leaked from the new lacerations in its flesh, spraying across the room's walls, consoles and occupants while it now maneuvered into a nearby corner. A chance? An opening.

Both of Tarin's hands clutched her small phaser. "Move up, Turell...point-blank and fire!" the captain urgently commanded now that the two officers possessed a clear line of sight in which to engage. The science officer's misguided stunt might cost her her life one day, but not on Tarin's watch. She depressed the trigger on her Type II sidearm and sent a searing, solid orange beam of phased energy directly into the tentacle's carapace.

A second orange beam of energy joined the first as Amanda fired, she slowly stepped forward closer and moved the beam of nadion particles up and down the length of the tentacled creature as she did careful to avoid T'Lin. She had to re-engage several times as the writhing creature pulled the Vulcan into her line of fire, eventually the concentrated phaser fire started to have an effect on it. With a flicker that ran up the full length of its tentacles it uncoiled from T'Lin and recoiled backwards, more green coloured fluid ran from the earlier cuts.

It took every one of her resources to continue to fight the pain inflicted, but as the creature recoiled, T'Lin took advantage and moved away as best as she could.

"Hold fire, ensign!" Tarin ordered after releasing finger pressure from the trigger of her own weapon. The Vulcan scientist's wounded form was now free, albeit bleeding profusely, yet the sound of ongoing phaser discharge in close proximity still continued from the security officer. A semi-frantic gaze into the tall brown-haired security officer's consumed eyes quickly followed. "I said cease fire!"

Amanda followed it backwards phaser still flaring brightly, suddenly part of its body burst bright green blood flying out in all directions, recoiling slightly as she was splattered with goop her finger slipped off the firing stud but the damage was already done; another part of the creature exploded followed quickly by another before almost its entire length exploded outwards in a flood of green blood splattering over T'Lin and practically coating Amanda in it.

Tarin's stoically closed her eyes tight just before she, too, was splattered by a burst of the alien creature's internal fluids. Her teeth grit with anger and shock at the pure display of violence. "I said 'hold fire'! That was an order!" She then focused her attention away from Turell's now-slime-coated figure and to the remains of the alien tentacle tip which seemed to be twitching on the floor of the science lab, badly wounded. "Becker, Carlisle...help it!" She couldn't let this new species of life die on her watch; perish during first contact due to actions from her crew. Carnivorous or not, it was a creature - or portion of - which deserved the right to live, just as all sentient life forms did.

As much of a nightmare as it was to be repeatedly doused with potentially deadly bodily fluids, the suddenness of it brought the counselor back to the present in the rudest of ways. She only vaguely recognized the Captain’s orders in the chaos that was the fight and the roar of blood in her own ears. It wasn’t that she was morally against doing whatever she could to save this creature‘s life, her triage training had simply kicked in, which meant she was obligated to handle the most critical injuries first, assuming she was capable of saving those lives. In practical terms, that meant tending to the badly injured science officer whose injuries looked to her to be nearly fatal, compared to treating the potentially morally wounded creature that she knew nothing about, and for all she knew, was still capable of killing them all.

In what was only a couple of seconds but what felt like an eternity, Carlisle decided she had no choice but to go to the creature first, reasoning if she were lucky, it wouldn’t attack her because up until the point the Vulcan science officer decided to act recklessly, Tentaclees had not actually attacked Delainey for taking a sample of its tissue. Perhaps it was entirely illogical to think that would somehow spare her life and allow her to do what she could to save the creature in question, but on the off chance it blamed Becker for attacking it again, Carlisle knew she had to be the one to act.

She forced herself to focus only on Tentaclees, knowing if she looked toward anyone else, she might be frozen in indecision again. Kneeling down, trying not to slip in what felt like a river of bodily contents, she applied pressure to every wound she saw, trying to keep any remaining essence of life inside. She had no idea if what she was doing was the right thing, but even without understanding its physiology, the counselor didn’t have a lot of hope.

"Pardon me, but I believe that is not the only creature here now leaking green fluid," T'Lin commented dryly while holding her hands over the wound.

Nusien made quick work of a medical scan of the creature. The issue at hand was that no one knew anything about the physiology of this being. Let alone how to help it. He closed the medical tricorder and returned the scanner to the top of the device with two of his hands. The third raised in an effort to get Captain Tarin's attention. "Captain, sadly there is no way to save this creature's life. Its nervous system cannot withstand the amount of damage that the phaser blasts have given it. Add to that the multiple hemorrhage points. It is my assessment that at this point the best thing for this creature is to alleviate its suffering."

Hearing Tentaclees was not going to make it, Carlisle mentally shifted her concentration to the others in need. It was her triage training kicking in as much as it was her concern for the others. Nusien could euthanize Tentaclees himself, or he could let her know if he needed assistance, but for now, she needed to tend to her shipmates.

Becker meanwhile had already found her feet...somehow, and rushed over to T'Lin, limping and gritting her teeth as fire lanced up her spine from that damnable prosthetic implant. "I love my life!" she said between gritted teeth to keep from wretching right then and there. It was in her hair, dripping down her face in chunky rivulets, and splattered all over the stop of her uniform. However, Katja was a professional. She swallowed against a rising tide of bile. Puking is for sissies - Don't do it, Becker! She silently coached herself.

"Ok, Officer T'Lin, let's see what the damage is." Katja said in a slightly quavering voice as she flipped open a tricorder and administered a stabilizing cocktail into the Vulcan woman's neck.

"I believe I shall need some tissue repair," T'Lin moved her hands away from the area.

“Chief Becker, do you need assistance with Petty Officer T’Lin before I attend to Ensign Turrell?“ Delainey asked. She knew she had an obligation to offer assistance to the more severely injured science officer in case Becker needed another pair of hands. Of course, she couldn’t be sure Tentaclees’ fluids weren’t toxic, but evidence suggested, at least right now, T’Lin was more seriously injured.

"Hmm?" Becker was interrupted from her observations. "Ah, no, LT. I'll slap on a hemostatic pad and then we'll need to get her to sick bay before she goes the way of Hovar..." Katja quickly began working to get T'Lin's bleeding under control. "Petty Officer, I need you to keep me in the loop here - tell me what's going on in you so we can try to stay...stay on top of things."

"While several abdominal muscles have been breached, there is, I believe no damage to internal organs. I am not fully qualified to comment further," T'Lin replied dryly.

The captain's narrowed and judgemental eyes darted across the competing scenes surrounding both herself and the small cadre: first to the critically-wounded alien creature slowly twitching on the deck plating, then to the blonde Vulcan petty officer who'd been ensnared in the former's grip mere moments ago and appeared to be profusely bleeding. And then finally to the tall security officer in close proximity who appeared to be experiencing her own form of distress.

With both her uniform and most of her face and hair covered in the green blood like fluid of the creature Amanda nearly threw up. "It's in my mouth." she announced between periods of mild retching.

"Don't swallow, Turell. Spit it out!" That was the best piece of advice Tarin could provide until she returned to take a closer look at the woman. Right now, with the injured science officer being attended to, her priority was to address the doctor's fatal diagnosis of the dying tentacle tip. She continued to hold her phaser in her hand while she somberly walked to where Nusien was positioned.

Infamous words from a former Starfleet captain echoed in her thoughts before audibly coming to the surface. "...'May we be forgiven for what we've done here, today'," whispered Tarin to Nusien with a regretful shake of her head. "Do you want me to...?" she held up her phaser, indicating she was capable and willing to perform the final procedure if requested.

Nusien looked from the dying creature to the Captain. With a slow and deliberate movement he raised his hand toward the Captain. "Captain with all due respect I am the senior medical officer and I will put this being out of its misery. I too hope we are forgiven for all that has happened here." Once Nusien was handed the phaser he fired on Tentacles on the kill setting. In an instant the creature disintegrated as its matter dissolved. "You are released." He whispered.

Tarin watched the once-provocative, deadly and mysterious life form disintegrate into nothing. Her solemn hazel eyes shifted away from the position it once inhabited and away from the tri-pedal doctor who'd performed the final procedure. Anger started to boil into her throat - not directed to any one individual present, but rather at a situation which had rapidly spiraled out of control and led to death.

That was a lie. Tarin soon began to stare at the injured Vulcan science officer and her unorthodox blond hair. What had T'Lin been thinking, attempting to mind-meld with an alien life form with no regard for its conscious integrity?? There would be a reckoning, soon. Not necessarily here and now, considering the circumstances, but every crew member needed to be held accountable.

"Return to sickbay, doctor. There's nothing more here for you. Or any of us, now. Mister Hovar, the Enus station lieutenant and now Petty Officer T'Lin all require your attention. Counselor Carlisle can tend to Turell, here," ordered Tarin.

Nusien stood and stared at the now lifeless form. Deep within his tri-lobed brain the words of his oath, to first do no harm came unbidden to the front. Had he done harm in this instant? The answer to that question was debatable and Nusien knew that. However, to him taking a life even though it was a mercy killing was still doing harm. Slowly he handed the phaser back to the Captain and spoke softly, as if lost in thought but still in the here and now. "Aye Captain."

With the badly injured science officer being attended to expertly, and the creature no longer a threat for better or worse, Carlisle moved to attend to Amanda as quickly as she dared. Although triage rules required her to assist others first, she didn’t realize how much anxiety she actually carried with her because she couldn’t attend to Turrell before now. Naturally, the memories of what had happened to the ship’s Chaplain were fresh in her mind, particularly how quickly he decompensated. Having limited tools at her disposal at the moment, Delainey turned to the senior medical officer and offered, “Doctors, under the circumstances, I think we should beam Ensign Turell directly to a decontamination shower. I want to get the stuff off of all of us as soon as possible.“

To Amanda, she offered, “We’re going to take very good care of you, Ensign, I promise. Other than disgusted, are you in any pain or experiencing any other unusual sensations?“

"It stinks worse than a Nausicaan who hasn't showered in days," Amanda remarked, she'd already tried to wipe the green blood off her face but with her hands and uniform equally basted it was difficult. "Tastes just as bad, sticky but isn't burning or anything like that."

"I'm glad to hear that," Delainey replied, genuinely relieved, but knowing that could change at any moment because they didn't know much at all about Tentaclees' physiology. Thoughts of Hovar intruded, but she pushed them away for now. "Carlisle to transporter room, 5 for emergency transport to Medical Bay."

A short pause followed before the on-duty Operations officer responded, "This is Washington," a young woman's voice finally replied over through the commbadge network, "standby. Initiating transport...now."

One yellow- and four blue-collared crew members' physical forms quickly became encompassed in luminescent sparkling transporter shimmers. The beam-out cycle took less than three seconds to complete which suddenly left Tarin standing by herself in the multi-purpose science laboratory. The remains of the alien tentacle tip's biofluids dripped across the walls and consoles, and pooled on the deck plating's once-pristine carpet. The captain found momentary solace in this new silence, for it allowed a fleeting moment of reflection. Not enough to fully question the decisions she'd just made leading up to this small catastrophe, but it enabled her to process the totality of their situation: almost a hundred light years from Earth with no relief in sight and no higher authority to lean on to advise the most difficult of decisions. Isolated and ignorant of this new frontier, she'd have to continue finding ways to make this ship and its crew survive one the most hostile operating environment she'd ever served in.

Tarin's right hand absentmindedly reached up then tapped the commbadge on her chest. "HAZMAT team report to Science Lab 1, deck three, section 106. Decontamination protocols are in effect. This is the captain."

[OFF]

--

CMDR Morgan Tarin
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A

LTJG Delainey Carlisle
Chief Counselor
USS Galileo-A

LTJG Nusien
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo-A

ENS Amanda Turell
Security Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Mimi]

CPO Katja Becker
Medical Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC M'Lyr'Zor]

PO1 T'Lin
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Warraquim]

Alien Tentacle Tip (Tentaclees) [DECEASED]
Unknown Lifeform
[NPC Tarin]

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