Chapter 10
	"What the hell!  They can't go that fast.  Their
shuttle was designed for impulse speeds only," pondered
Picard.  "Ensign Ferrar, lock on tractor beam.  Grab them 
before they put a hole in my ship!"
	"Tractor beam locked on, sir.  The shuttle is 
slowing down," answered Ferrar.  "It's being pushed toward
the outer edge of the saucer."
	"Speed down to Warp 1 and decreasing," reported 
Harris.
	"They're too close," warned Wesley.
	"A few more seconds and they'll be clear of the
saucer, Captain," said Ferrar.
	"I hope so, Ensign.  Open hailing frequencies to
the shuttle," ordered Picard.
	"Frequencies open."
	"Picard to shuttle.  What the hell is going on,
Commander Riker?"  A pause.  "Riker, are you there?  Will,
answer me!"  No response.
	"Ensign Harris, life readings on the shuttle."
	"I read four humans, one android.  The humans are
all unconcious," she answered.
	"Speed and range of the shuttlecraft," asked Picard.
	".05 impulse and closing from 500 meters," answered
Wesley.
	"Sir, the shuttle has passed out of tractor beam range.
The lower engineering hull is in the way," reported Ferrar 
anxiously.
	A slight jarring rang through the hull.  A red alert
sounded as the computer calmly reported "Warning.  Hull breach
on level 14.  Loss of atmosphere.  Isolating effected areas."
At one of the rear science stations, a diagram of the Enterprise
appeared, the damaged areas flashing a brilliant orange.
	Picard tapped his combadge.  "Damage control and 
repair teams to deck 14.  Chief O'Brien, beam all five shuttle
occupants directly to Sickbay.  Doctor Pulaski, prepare for 
incoming wounded."
	In Sickbay, five shapes sparkled and materialized
into Riker, Rubino, Data, LaForge, and Aures.  Pulaski and
her staff went to work immediately.
	
	"Damage report, Mister Ferrar," said Picard.
	"Five compartments were opened to space, as well as
many bulkheads being damaged.  There were no casualties."
	"Begin repairs immediately.  Picard to Sickbay.
Doctor Pulaski, what is the condition of the survey team?"
	"Everyone is suffering from mild exposure to space.
Commanders Riker and Data and Lieutenant Rubino are suffering
from temporary blindness.  Lieutenant Aures caught the brunt of
an exploding console.  She seems to have shielded the others 
from the blast.  She's lost a lot of blood and is chock full
of plastic shards, but has a good chance of pulling through."
	"May I speak to Data, please, Doctor?"
	"Of course, Captain," Pulaski acquiesced.
	"Data here, sir.  What do you require?"
	"Please tell me what happened down there," said
Picard.
	Data related their experiences in a condensed form.
When he had finished, Picard asked, "How long until you'll
be fully functional?"
	"My optical sensors are currently functioning at 38%
efficiency.  I estimate one hour until I can safely return to
duty."
	"While you're waiting, formulate a plan to capture
one of these creatures with the tractor beam, keeping in mind
the interference generated by the planet's atmosphere," said
Picard.
	"Yes, sir.  Data out."  The channel to Sickbay closed.
	"Captain, sensors register a large object rising 
towards us from the planet," reported Ferrar.
	"Shields up.  Ensign Harris, analysis."
	"The entity is unscannable, sir.  It absorbs any
sensor beams directed at it.  Range ten kilometers and closing,"
she said.
	"Ensign Ferrar, lock on with a tractor beam as soon as
the creature comes into range," ordered Picard.
	"Tractor lock established."
	"Sir, we're being pulled toward the creature and
power to the tractor beam has increased," reported Wesley.
	"It's eating the tractor beam; forcing it to use
more power," said Picard in wonder.  Then, remembering the 
situation, he ordered "Disengage tractor beam."
	"Sir, I sense intense curiosity and great longing,"
spoke up Troi.
	"It's probably never encountered a starship before,
and certainly nothing as powerful as the Enterprise," said
Picard. 
	"To a creature such as this, we represent a pure food
source.  It must sense our great power and see it as a constant
supply of nutrients," Troi analyzed.
	"No one treats me as lunch if I can help it," stated
Picard emphatically.  "Mister Data, I trust you've been 
monitoring our situation on the Bridge."
	"Affirmative, Captain, but I require additional 
information in order to complete my plan."
	"You'll certainly get your additional data, 
Commander.  I intend to use all our resources against this 
thing to ensure we survive this misson.  Picard out."
	"Power drain on the forward shields," reported Harris.
"Down eight percent."
	"Picard to Engineering."
	"Gomez here," came back Lieutenant Sonya Gomez's
husky voice.
	"We have a power drain on the forward shields.  An
alien being is siphoning off our power.  Is there anything
you can do down there to limit the power drain?"
	"Nothing I can suggest offhand, other than shutting
everything down, sir.  If there's no power, that creature 
won't have anything to absorb," she answered.
	"Captain, if we shut down everything except 10-Forward,
the creature would be drawn to that," suggested Wesley.
	"Your point, Ensign," prompted Picard irritably.
Annoyed that things were not going as planned.
	"If we then brought up shields and hit it with phasers,
photon torpedos, sensor scans, and the tractor beam maybe we
could knock it out, or at least keep it from stealing any more
of our power."
	"Like when a human overeats," came Gomez's voice from 
the Bridge speaker.
	"Make it so," said Picard.
	"Aye, Captain.  Blocking power feeds to all ship areas
except 10-Forward," reported Gomez.
	The Bridge stations' consoles went dark one by one.
Finally, the viewscreen faded to black and the Bridge lights 
went out, only to be replaced after a brief delay by the red
emergency lights.
	In Sickbay, Pulaski looked around franticly as Aures'
life monitors winked out.  The hum of the stasis field which
had been surrounding her open chest cavity faded and disappeared.
As she was enveloped in near darkness, Pulaski tapped her 
combadge.  "Pulaski to Bridge.  What's going on up there?"
	Picard answered her call and told her what was 
happening.
 	"I don't care, Captain!  I need power down here.  Aures
has massive internal injuries that require immediate attention."
	"I sympathize with you, Doctor, but I must weigh the 
safety of the entire ship against the life of one woman.  
Power will be restored momentarily.  Bridge out."
	'Damn that man,' she thought to herself, 'I'm just
trying to do my job.'
	While this was happening, the Sickbay staff had been 
scrambling around Aures' diagnostic bed under the direction 
of the Vulcan doctor, Selar.  They set up portable stasis 
field generators and were running medical scanners up and down
the comatose geophysicist.  As the stasis field came back up 
the medical scanners began to report life readings.  They were 
dangerously low, even nearer death than before.
	Pulaski came back to the bed.  She didn't like what
she saw.  "Okay, Selar, prepare to operate.  We'll need 
to replace her heart and probably her lungs as well.  We
haven't got time to match the replacements to her physiology
so we'll use full prosthetics."
	The Vulcan turned to her with a subdued look of 
alarm.  "Doctor, is that wise under these conditions?"
	"I don't like these conditions any better than you,
but we don't have much choice.  Aures has the same chances of
dying, one way or the other.  Let's get to work."
	On the Bridge, things were going according to plan.
Since the viewscreen was unpowered, Wesley had gone down to
10-Forward to report the range of the creature.  Data, his
vision nearly returned to normal,  was sitting in Riker's
chair.  As none of the Bridge stations worked now, everyone
was sitting back, tensely listening to Wesley's periodic 
reports.  "The creature's just coming into range now."
	"Ensign Ferrar, fire phasers, photon torpedos, and
lock on with a tractor beam.  Ensign Harris, full sensor 
scan of the creature.  Raise shields."
	As Picard finished speaking, blue power lanced out 
from the Enterprise as the phasers hit and a tractor lock 
was established.  The whoosh of photon torpedos leaving their 
tubes could be heard on the Bridge.  When Ferrar had fired
all available torpedos, he restored power to the viewscreen
so that the Bridge crew could see what was transpiring.
White light washed over the faces of the Bridge crew as the
photon torpedos detonated, causing them to look ghostly in the
subdued light.
	After several additional phaser beam followed the 
initial volley, the creature began to expand.  It's glow
increased to a painful incandescence, accompanied by a high
pitched whining that forced itself over the Bridge speakers.
	"Shut that off, Ensign!" shouted Picard as the entire
Bridge crew, excluding Data, covered their ears.
	"I can't, sir.  This isn't coming over subspace 
radio or any intraship channels.  This is a real-time 
transmission from the alien."
	On the screen, the alien had stopped expanding and
its tentacles were slowly being drawn against its underside.
It was no longer moving, just drifting under its former
momentum.
	"Troi, can you sense anything from it?  Is it dead?"
asked Picard.
	"No, not dead.  It appears to have gone into 
hibernation.  It will remain in this state until threatened
or it burns off all the energy it has just consumed," she
replied. 
	"Picard to Engineering.  Who's in charge down there?"
	"Scott here, Captain.  How did yer plan work?" came
back the heavily accented voice.
	"All went as planned.  You can return power to the
rest of the ship,"  replied Picard.  "And Scotty, I'm glad
you're our Chief Engineer.  Otherwise, we might not have made
it."
	"Och, 'twas nothing, sir.  Just doin' me job.  Scott
out."  
	The channel to Engineering closed.