Investigating The Tiburon - Part III

Posted on 07 Aug 2026 @ 12:50am by Commander Madelina Barnes & Lieutenant JG Shay Mitchell & Commander Camila Di Pasquale & Lieutenant Ranul Frex & Story Teller

3,793 words; about a 19 minute read

Mission: Acceleration
Location: Tiburon

===Bridge===

Camila watched the other two teams move out, then took a deep breath as she drew her tricorder with her left hand and her phaser with her right. "Let's go, Commander," she said as she headed for the turbolift location indicated on her tricorder.

Maddy fell into step beside Camila, matching her pace as they moved toward the turbolift. The corridor swallowed their footsteps, the air thick with a stillness that didn’t belong on any functioning starship. She kept her voice low. “I know derelict ships are supposed to feel quiet, but… this is different. The whole place feels off. Like it’s holding its breath.”

Her eyes swept ahead, a hand resting near her phaser in case it was needed. The Tiburon felt wrong. And the deeper they went, the more that wrongness pressed in around her. There was no telling what they were going to encounter along the way.

When she arrived at the turbolift, Camila pressed it and waited for it to come. "This ship isn't supposed to be derelict or only have ten life signs," she said. "We need to check to see if the escape pods were launched, too."

Maddy nodded, jaw tightening as the turbolift doors stayed stubbornly shut. “You’re right. A ship this size should have a crew complement of eighty‑nine. Even in a worst‑case emergency, escape pods, shuttles—hell, even improvised evacuation—would’ve been the logical move.”

She glanced down the corridor again, as if expecting the silence itself to shift. “But only ten people left behind? That’s not an evacuation pattern. That’s… selective.” Her voice dropped further, instinctively cautious. “Either something prevented the others from leaving, or something decided who stayed. We can check the pod bays next. If they’re gone, we know the crew tried to get out. If they’re still here…” She exhaled slowly. “Then we’ve got a much bigger problem.”

"Unless it was piracy," Camila said. "There's no sign of battle or mutiny, though. Not yet, anyway. We'll find out more on the Bridge and since the turbolift seems to be out of order, it's the Jeffries Tubes for us."

She moved over and knelt down to an access panel and began to remove it. "I hope you don't mind climbing a few decks, Commander."

Maddy stepped up beside Camila as the panel came free, the faint metallic clink echoing in the quiet corridor. The cramped opening of the Jeffries Tube yawned before them, all conduits and dim amber lighting. “I don’t mind climbing,” she said. “Comes with the uniform, and I can use the exercise.”

She rested a hand lightly on the bulkhead, peering into the vertical shaft. “You want to go first,” she asked, though she was quite sure she already knew the answer, “or shall I lead the way?”

"I will," Camila said as she entered the access hatch and began to climb upwards after activating her wrist lamps. "It's colder in here than I expected," she noted as she looked upwards.

“Cold’s an understatement,” Maddy murmured, exhaling a thin cloud of breath she hadn’t expected to see after she followed Camila into the Jeffries tube. She steadied herself on the rung and followed Camila upward, the metal chilled.

As she climbed, her mind worked just as steadily as her hands. “If it’s this cold here,” she said, voice echoing softly in the tube, “I’m starting to wonder if the rest of the ship’s experiencing the same drop.”

Her wrist lamp, which she put on before entering, swept across conduit bundles and junctions as she ascended, searching for any sign of frost, malfunction, or tampering. “Environmental controls don’t fail in isolated pockets without a reason.”

"They don't," Camila agreed. "Computer, increase temperature in Jeffries Tube seventy-two to twenty-two centigrade," she ordered it as she continued to climb,

"Unable to comply." Came the response immediately.

“Well… that’s strange,” Maddy said, voice carrying a low note of concern. “Environmental controls don’t just ignore a direct command. If the computer won’t comply, it either can’t… or something’s preventing it.”

"Maybe it will obey you," the Security Chief suggested. "You do have a higher rank and position."

Maddy huffed a quiet breath that might’ve been a laugh if the situation weren’t so bizarre. “Worth a shot,” she said, shifting her grip on the rung as she braced herself in the narrow tube.

She lifted her chin slightly, directing her voice upward toward the nearest audio pickup. “Computer,” she ordered, crisp and clear, “increase temperature in Jeffries Tube seventy‑two to twenty‑two centigrade.”

The response came instantly, the familiar female monotone echoing off the conduit walls. “Unable to comply.”

A chill that had nothing to do with the cold crept down Maddy’s spine. She arched a brow, the expression sharp even in the dim glow of her wrist lamp. “Well,” she murmured, “so much for rank.”

Her breath fogged faintly in the air as she climbed another rung, mind already turning over possibilities. “If the computer won’t listen to either of us, something’s interfering with environmental control… or with the computer itself.”

"It was hot in the transporter room and cold here," Camila noted. "It sounds like an environmental control failure and makes me wonder if the crew had to abandon ship."

Maddy climbed another rung, the cold biting at her fingers even through the gloves. Camila’s words echoed up the tube, and she let out a slow breath that fogged faintly in the air. “It’s worth a shot,” she said, her voice steady despite the chill threading through her. “If anything’s going to give us answers, it’s the bridge. Whatever happened to the crew, the logs up there should tell us more.”

Her wrist lamp swept upward, catching the faint shimmer of frost along a conduit. Another shiver rolled through her, raising goosebumps beneath her uniform. “Let’s keep moving,” she urged gently, nodding for Camila to continue climbing. “The sooner we get up there, the sooner we can figure out whether this is an environmental failure… or something a lot stranger.”

Camila gave a nod and continued the climb up towards the top deck, wishing that starships would stop putting the bridge in the most dangerous part of the ship. "It's getting colder, too," she noted as she steadily climbed.

Maddy climbed after Camila, the metal rungs growing colder beneath her hands with every meter they gained. A thin, white puff of breath escaped her lips, visible even in the dim glow of her wrist lamp. The temperature drop hit her hard enough to draw another involuntary shiver, goosebumps prickling along her arms beneath the uniform.

“Odd doesn’t even begin to cover this,” she murmured, voice low but steady as she kept climbing. “If environmental controls were inaccessible to the crew that might explain why they abandoned ship. If they couldn’t regulate the temperature anywhere, things could’ve gone downhill fast. But, If they did abandon ship, wouldn't we have picked up the escape pods or even some type of a distress signal?”

"Unless they went deeper into the nebula," Camila said as she came to the access hatch leading to deck one. She pulled the release lever on it and yanked her hand back. "This is freezing. What in the hell happened here?" She asked as she pulled her tricorder to scan it and read the screen. "Minus four Celsius. We should have brought our winter gear, Commander. Ready?"

“Winter gear would’ve been nice,” Maddy agreed, voice low but steady as she shifted her grip on the rung. The sight of her breath fogging in the air made her chest tighten in anticipation. She exhaled once, a pale cloud drifting out in front of her, and another involuntary shiver rolled through her shoulders. Her wrist lamp cast a narrow beam up toward the hatch, catching the faint glitter of frost along the edges.

She took a moment — just long enough to prepare herself for whatever waited on the other side. A bridge frozen to minus four Celsius wasn’t just a malfunction. “I don’t know what happened here,” she admitted, eyes narrowing as she studied the hatch Camila was about to open. “But I’m hoping we get answers from somewhere.”

"So do I," Camila said as she popped the hatch and emerged onto the back of the bridge. It was even colder there and she stepped aside and brought her tricorder up, but her eyes told her the same thing. Three corpses slumped at their station at the Helm, Security and Operations, each wearing the correct colored uniform. The Captain's chair was empty as was the Executive Officer's and there was no one else present on the bridge. "Commander..."

Maddy hauled herself out of the access hatch right behind Camila, boots hitting the frozen deck with a dull, brittle thud. The cold hit her like a wall — sharp enough that her breath puffed out in a pale cloud before her face. She shivered, part reflex, part reaction to the sight that greeted her.

She swallowed hard, eyes sweeping the bridge as she stepped forward. There was no movement. No sound but the faint hum of systems struggling against the cold. Her wrist lamp caught a glint of something dark on the deck near the Security station. She moved toward it — slowly, carefully — but stopped short when she realized what she was seeing.

Blood. A rather large frozen puddle around the Security officer’s chair.

She lifted a hand, stopping herself from taking another step. “Commander,” she said, voice low and steady despite the chill crawling up her spine, “we’ve got blood on the deck.”

Camila headed over to here the Commander was and scanned it with her tricorder. "What happened here?" she asked no one as she looked around. "This looks like an attack, but there's no attackers. No invaders. No living crew."

Maddy stepped in closer and knelt beside the Security officer. Her breath drifted out in a pale cloud, hanging in the frigid air as she leaned forward to examine the body more carefully.

The man’s uniform was stiff with frost, but the damage across his torso was unmistakable.

“This was definitely an attack,” she said quietly, her voice steady but tight. She reached out, gloved fingers brushing the edge of the torn fabric before she carefully shifted the body just enough for Camila to see.

Jagged claw marks raked across the man’s chest — deep, uneven, and far too large to belong to any human. The wounds had frozen over, the blood crystallized into dark, brittle streaks.

She swallowed, the sight sending a fresh shiver through her — not from the cold this time. “These aren’t from a weapon. They’re from an animal. A big one. One that should not be on a starship in space," Maddy said as her gaze swept the empty bridge again, the silence suddenly feeling heavier. “And whatever did this… it's here. Somewhere on this ship.”

The Security Chief looked at the claw marks and scanned it with her tricorder as she fought to keep from gagging. "I...I'm getting human DNA and...something else," she said as she looked at the readings. "I can't make sense of it."

The redhead drew her phaser in one smooth motion, thumbing the control to the highest stun setting. Whatever had torn through the Security officer’s torso wasn’t small, wasn’t subtle, and wasn’t something she intended to meet unprepared. “None of this makes sense,” she said quietly, eyes sweeping the bridge.

She moved slowly, deliberately, scanning the frozen deck for anything out of place — claw marks, tracks, blood, debris, anything that might hint at where the attacker had gone. The bridge was silent, still, and wrong. The Captain’s chair sat empty. The XO’s station untouched. No sign of movement. No sign of life.

Maddy glanced back at Camila, voice low but steady. “This has only brought forth more questions. I say we check the ready room, then start looking for the survivors.”

Camila gave a nod and turned towards the Captain's sanctum on the Sabre class ship, her phaser in hand as she returned the tricorder to her tactical belt. "I don't like this at all, Commander," she said as she led the way. "We should do a check in with the other teams."

“Yes, we should check in," Maddy said, her gaze drifting toward the ready room door, its surface rimmed with frost, the lights around it dimmed to a sickly glow. Whatever waited behind it… she wasn’t sure she wanted to see it. But they couldn’t ignore it, either. Not with the bridge already showing signs of violence.

“Do you want to call in first,” she asked, voice low but controlled, “or do we investigate the ready room?”

Her phaser stayed raised, her stance braced, eyes flicking between her companion and the sealed door. Whatever had torn through the bridge might have left more answers—or more danger—just a few steps away.

"Let's check in with the others," Camila said as she tapped her combadge. "Di Pasquale to Mitchell, Becks or Simmons. Check in, please."

Shay's voice same through a few seconds later. “Mitchell here. We’ve found empty uniforms, kelp, sand, and shells in Security. No sign of any crew. Larado and I are heading to the hydroponics bay on deck four — we’ve got a hunch the clues point toward something aquatic.”

Frex's voice came over next as he had tapped his combadge mere moments before to get the rest of the away team. "Frex to Di Pasquale and rest of away team. We've got a problem in Engineering!" Frex's voice came through. He was still scanning the creature that took Becks, but now he was firing on the creature to try and get it to let go of Becks. "We've got a creature down here that took Becks! Not only that, but as I was working on trying to restore the systems to working order, there was someone....or something that was trying to lock something in or out! They were locking down each section coming into Engineering. We could use some extra hands out here ASAP!"

Camila heard the reports with the blood draining from her face. "Mitchell and Larado, continue on. Lieutenant Frex, get you, Becks and Simmons out of Engineering now!"

She turned to Maddy. "Do we continue or do we evacuate, Commander?" she asked.

Maddy felt the weight of every report hitting her at once — the frozen bridge, the claw‑marked body, Frex shouting over weapons fire, Becks being dragged off by something none of them had even seen yet. She tightened her grip on her phaser and forced herself to think instead of react. “We came for answers,” she said, voice low but firm, “but nothing we’re seeing is making any sense.”

Her gaze flicked toward the ready room door again — frost‑rimmed, silent, ominous — then back to Camila. “Engineering clearly isn’t safe. He and his team need to evacuate now.”

She drew a breath, the cold burning in her lungs. “And we will too — once we finish what we came up here to do.”

Her eyes swept the bridge again, then locked on the ready room. “We investigate the ready room,” she said, steady and decisive. “Mitchell and Larado will check hydroponics. Once both areas are cleared, we regroup and evacuate together.”

She lifted her phaser slightly, bracing herself for whatever waited behind the Captain’s door.

Camila used her door opener override and put it back as she began to pry the door open with another small device that used hydraulic pressure to open it until it finally gave and whooshed open.

What greeted them was a large white and black striped feline on top of a red uniformed male and appeared to be eating him.

Maddy froze the instant the ready‑room door slid open, her boots rooted to the deck as a sharp gasp escaped her pale lips. The sound was small, but in the frigid silence of the bridge it might as well have been a shout — and it was enough to make the creature lift its head.

The bipedal white tiger turned toward them with a guttural snarl, its massive shoulders bunching as it rose from the red‑uniformed body beneath it. Blood stained its claws, dripping in slow, dark rivulets that froze almost instantly in the cold air. Its uniform — torn, shredded, barely clinging to its frame — still bore the unmistakable Captain’s pips at the collar.

Maddy’s breath hitched, her phaser tightening in her grip as her mind struggled to reconcile the impossible sight. “Camila…” she whispered, barely audible.

The creature flexed its claws, lips peeling back from long, blood stained predatory fangs. Its eyes — intelligent, furious, and unmistakably aware — locked onto the two women.

Uniform and pips or not, the creature's presence drew a visceral and immediate reaction from the Chief of Security. It didn't matter if it was a Siberian Tiger or a Klingon Cob'lat, it was an enemy and her hand with the phaser in it was raising it and firing at setting three in one sweep as she stepped back. "Close the door!"

Maddy didn’t need Camila to say it twice. The instant the Security Chief barked the order, she lunged forward and slapped the control panel, forcing the ready room door shut. The heavy slab sealed just as the massive white‑striped body slammed into it from the other side, the impact rattling the frame and sending a jolt straight through her spine.

She gasped—sharp, involuntary—and stumbled back a step as the creature collapsed in a heap behind the door, its weight thudding against the floor. The XO jumped at the sound, her boots skidding slightly on the frost‑slick deck as she retreated several paces. “What… what the hell was that?” she breathed, eyes wide, staring at the sealed door as though it might burst open again, her shaking hand with the phaser coming up just in case.

Camila swallowed and slammed the door opener over the lock and twisted it hard so the door couldn't open again. "I don't fucking know....but it was wearing pips....Captain's pips on that...uniform." Her voice came in gasps as she forced air into her lungs.

Maddy’s breath hitched as Camila twisted the manual lock into place, sealing the door with a brutal finality. The thud of the creature collapsing behind it still echoed in her bones. She swallowed hard, forcing her pulse to slow, and stepped closer to the Security Chief. “Yeah… I saw the pips,” she said, voice low but steady despite the adrenaline still burning through her. “Whatever that is… whoever that used to be… we can’t leave it here.”

She glanced at the sealed door, then back to Camila, her expression tightening with resolve. “We should beam it straight to the Black Hawk’s brig,” she continued. “Containment field at full strength. Let Medical and Science figure out what the hell happened to him.”

“But first,” Maddy said, meeting Camila’s eyes, “we need to get the others and get the hell out of dodge. Frex’s team is already in danger, Mitchell and Larado are knee‑deep in whatever’s happening in hydroponics, and we’re standing only a few feet away from a total nightmare.”

"Di Pasquale to all crew, prepare to beam back to the ship immediately," Camila said as she tapped her combadge.

“Chief, this is Mitchell. Hydroponics team is preparing to beam back immediately," came Shay's voice moments later.

Maddy lifted her hand to her combadge that was steady only because she forced it to be. The thundering impact of the creature—of the Captain—against the ready‑room door still vibrated through her bones, but she pushed past it and spoke clearly. “Commander Barnes to Black Hawk—transport the stunned… individual from the ready room directly to the brig. Maximum containment field. Full security detail," she ordered.

====Main Engineering/Corridors====

Frex and the team that was down in Main Engineering were still fighting their way free and trying to make it to a meet up point somewhere on the ship. Thankfully, they made it out of Engineering through one of the remaining access points that hadn't been closed down yet. The good thing was that they were making some headway to get back to the transport location and hopefully get the heck off the ship and away from who or whatever was trying to keep them on the ship.

Frex didn't want to stay long cause there was definitely something happening here. He tapped his combadge and said, "Frex to Di Pasquale and Barnes. We've managed to get out of Main Engineering. We'll meet you guys out at the transport location."

"Copy," Camila's voice came over the combadge. She looked at Maddy. "Let's get out of here."

Frex and his group slowly made their way to the transport coordinates as quickly as they could. It wasn't an easy task to make it there, but somehow they managed to get out of the thick of it all. As they made it there, Frex pulled out his tricorder and started a scan for the rest of the away team.

Maddy nodded sharply, the decision settling over her like a weight she could finally lift. Camila’s pale, shaken face said everything she needed to know — they were past the point of gathering clues. It was time to get their people out. She tapped her combadge, voice firm and carrying the authority of command even through the lingering tremor of adrenaline.

“Barnes to all away teams — beam directly back to the Black Hawk. We'!! regroup on the other side for a full debrief with the Captain. Move now.”

The words echoed through the frozen bridge, through hydroponics, through the Engineering corridor — a lifeline thrown to every officer still fighting their way through the Tiburon’s nightmare.

She lowered her hand and met Camila’s eyes, giving a tight nod. “Agreed. We’re done here," the XO said, before tapping her combadge to request their transport out.

Camila didn't know what was going on, but was she did know was that the ship and crew was cursed and they were about to make things even worse.

Frex tapped his combadge from the transport coordinates and said, "Frex to Black Hawk. Beam us out."

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