Chapter 3
The USS Thunderchild, an Akira class vessel had received the runabout’s distress signal several hours ago. It had taken them some time to pinpoint its exact location, but eventually they were able to determine that it came from J’Tuguisa 5. The captain ordered a course for the planet at maximum warp. As the helmsman changed the course, the commander asked the captain about the rumors he had heard about that system, he too had heard the rumors about ships disappearing and how no sign of the crew were ever found on the planet.
“Unfortunately those rumors are true, we have never been able to explain it. I just hope we get there on time”. The captain answered.
“What is out ETA to J’Tuguisa 5?” he asked the helmsman.
“2 hours 5 minutes sir.”
The entire crew had gathered at the beam down site. Their time was nearly up. The scene was very confusing for all of them. Timothy Barns hopped towards the site. The tattered remains of his clothing, which had since been ripped to shreds when his thighs expanded, still hung around his long and powerful legs. There was very little sign of the captain in the kangaroo that stood before the group. Somehow he was still able to speak, but by the minute it was getting harder and harder. As he looked at his pouch, and at the smaller kangaroo and small fox that sat in it, he realized that ‘he’ was no longer an appropriate pronoun. The smaller kangaroo climbed out of the pouch, holding a small Black Panther. He too was just barely able to speak, but was able to inform the other of who he was. The small panther that he was holding, which by her size was definitely a kitten had tried to speak, but without luck. The two roo’s were able to tell the rest who it was. The small female fox climbed out of the pouch and stood beside the smaller kangaroo. The fox was too small to be an adult so everyone assumed she was a kit. She was just barely able to say her name. The 4 of them looked at the scene before them. A large white rabbit stood on top of a pile of clothing, it appeared to be slowly shrinking. A Cardassian vole, looking completely freaked out stood beside the rabbit. The group looked as they saw something flying towards them. It landed softly on the ground observing the group.
“A swan?” the kangaroos asked. The swan nodded its head, it was able to speak the word
“McKinley” so everyone knew who it was. Running into the area, a huge bear like animal, which the group identified as a wolverine managed to say it’s name;
“William King”. The small panther ran up to the cougar that walked in, and started rubbing against him, purring. Instinctively the cougar lied down and allowed the panther to climb on top of him. The tiny otter that had been following him just barely managed to say his and the cougar’s name. A large alligator lie in the sun, enjoying the heat from it. Opening her large snout, revealing her incredibly sharp teeth, she just barely managed to say her name.
They all sat there waiting for rescue, as their changes completed and took hold. They all tried to speak, but were unable too. The scene was very strange. The sounds of all the different animals making sounds filled the air. Everyone has having more and more trouble controlling their instincts, but for the moment were ‘holding it together’
Timothy became aware of a sound behind her. She could hear someone or something approaching her position. Her ears were twitching like mad, trying to figure out what it was. Her nose instinctively twitched, as she became aware of a scent, not an offensive scent but a scent that was somehow familiar. She turned around to see what was going on. Standing several meters in front of him was another kangaroo. The roo immediately hopped up to her and started to sniff her. She stepped back a bit, surprised by the sight of another kangaroo on the planet but more so because she could tell that it was male. It was embarrassing enough for her to now be a she, but having a male of the species suddenly standing before her was almost too much to bear. Backing up even more, she was annoyed by how the other roo started getting closer and closer to her. The other kangaroo wasn’t the only animal to approach the group. A pair of foxes walked towards the group, and walked towards David Spartan. David wasn’t sure how to react. She was young enough that she needed someone to take care of her. Her instincts were telling her that it was safe to approach the two foxes, but her intelligence told her that no matter what, she had to stay at the site and wait for rescue. The two foxes, sending her apprehension at their appearance, slowly walked towards her. They started making barking and ‘yipping’ sounds. David was shocked; she could understand them! But she was still determined to stay there, her body may have become an animal’s body, but her mind was still a human mind. To just, surrender to instincts, would not be an option, she couldn’t just give up. She was curious as to where the foxes came from, and since she could understand them, she decided to take advantage of the situation and ask them where they came from. As Ensign Soatome continued to rub up against Bob Backburn, the two of them heard a sounds coming from behind them. Soatome hopped off Backburn’s back and the two of them slowly walked towards the source of the sound. To their surprise, they saw a large cat standing before them, another cougar, a female cougar at that. She stood there, staring at the two of them. Soatome’s instincts kicked in, telling him that the female was a source of something she needed. The female walked up to her, and rubbed up to her, while purring. While her mind was telling her to resist and that, this was an animal, and despite what had been done to her body, she still had a human mind, and was not about to lose herself to instinct. The female cougar seemed to sense this, but persisted. It scared her when she realized that she could understand the sounds she made. She was telling him to accept fate and let go. Backburn could also understand the female. It was shocking to him, to say the least when he realized that he could also understand the female. She wanted them to go with her, telling them there were others. They found her offer appealing, but wanted to stay, despite the appeal of her offer, they couldn’t just abandon their lives. The admiral could tell that he was not only an otter, but, a baby otter at that. He wasn’t sure what to do. He couldn’t make it on his own. After seeing several of the others greeted by member of their new species, it didn’t surprise him when he started hearing sounds from behind him. Turning around, he saw not 1 or 2, but 4 otters standing before him. They immediately walked up to him and started sniffing him and chattering at him. He didn’t know how to react. They did not seem threatening at all. He was startled with how he was able to understand them. He could tell that at least 2 of them were female. At his now young age, he needed a female to take care of him. His instincts told him to go with them; that they could take care of him. But he also felt that he had a duty, to stay with the group. His body may have been changed but his mind was still human, and he still had a life that he couldn’t just abandon. He tried to tell this to the other otters, they seemed to understand, even telling them when they were first changed they felt the same way, but eventually accepted and that he’d be saving himself a lot of emotional hardship if he just accepted fate and went with them. But the admiral wasn’t ready. Lying down, he waited for rescue. The other otters seemed to understand his motivation so sat beside him. One of the females walked up to him, sensing that he felt hungry and asked him if he’d at least be willing to let her feed him, saying he’d feel stronger on a full stomach. The admiral was starting to feel weak, and realized he had nothing to gain by refusing, so he accepted. Commander Tagomi, sat by the transponder. His current situation fascinated him. He certainly never would have considered he’d ever end up in the body of an animal, let alone the body of a rabbit. He had tried to read the display on the transponder but his eyes had changed and his vision was considerably different now. Reading text was difficult to say the least, he look at the display, trying his best to make out the readings. The reading seemed to say,
“responding” but he didn’t know for sure. He surveyed the scene; several of his crewmen had encountered members of their new species. That was something he never thought he was going to think or say, the illogical nature of this situation was difficult to contemplate. The logical explanation for where the other animals came from was that they were afraid of them until now. His long ears perked up at the sound of what appeared to be a minor tremor in the ground near him. He turned to see what it was. He seemed to be the only one to notice it. He saw a patch on the ground near him start to shake, and the dirt crumble as another rabbit dug its way out of the ground. The other rabbit immediately made it’s way up to him. It softly chattered and grunted at him. As illogical as it seemed, he could understand what it was ‘saying’. It told him that they were not the first ship and crew to end up on the planet, and that there were dozens more, perhaps hundreds others. It - she informed him that there were a dozen other rabbits and asked him to go with her to meet them. The commander was not ready to give up, he still felt a sense of duty and felt that he had to wait for rescue, and it was the only logical action. The other rabbit, sat down by him, pawing at his fur somewhat, but agreed to stay with him until he made his decision. Dr. LeRosse sat in the sun, the warm sun felt great against her scales. She was quite content to sit there and observe the others, and see other members of their species were now finding them, and knowing that in her current form, she was helpless to do anything gave her a sense of comfort. While she wasn’t willing to give up yet, she was also ready to accept that there was no chance of getting revenge against the people that did this. She realized how much more sluggish she was in this body, and felt the need to find a body of water to swim in, or at least a swamp. Her instincts made her, to an extent, see some of the others as food, but she still felt loyalty to them and wasn’t about to try eating them. As she started to walk over to the transponder to see if she could read the display, she heard something approaching her from behind, something large and heavy. She slowly turned around, something not easy to do in her new body. Another alligator stood behind her, her instincts told her it was a male. It growled at her loudly, but she knew she was strong in her new form, and wasn’t about to let it intimidate her. He started making several other sounds at her. Sounds, which like the others, she somehow was able to understand. He told her how he, much like them, was stranded on this planet by an unknown attacking ship, and had been changed. He told her that he knew of a swamp not far away, and asked to come with him. She found the offer appealing, but she felt a duty to stay. As long as there was a chance of being rescued and ‘cured’ she was not about to abandon her life. He tried telling her to accept fate, but she wouldn’t hear it. He lay down besides her, telling her that she could change her mind, and he was willing to wait. Joseph McKinley stood ahead of the group facing the sun. He spread his wings to absorb the heat from it. It felt great. He could hear the animal sound behinds him, and could see that the others were all being encouraged by other members of their new species to join them and embrace their news forms. He could tell by the tone of the sounds that their resistance was starting to break down, well except for Captain Barns, who was still trying to get away from the male roo that was following him. As he stood there, trying to figure out what to do next, he heard a swooping sound. He looked up into the sky to see something flying towards him. As they got closer, her could tell that it was two swans. They landed in front of him. Immediately they started honking and chirping at him. He was shocked by how he could understand them, but at the same time felt a sense of relief, at least there was someone he could communicate with. The two other swans told him a story about how their ship was shot down and how as soon as they reached this planet they started to change. They told him that changing back wasn’t possible and that he’d save himself a lot of grief by accepting fate and coming with them. He wanted to go with them, but wasn’t ready to give up on his life yet, but he did find their offer appealing. They accepted this, but instead of leaving stayed with him, hoping he would change his mind. William King stood before the group, watching them converse with other members of their species. The sun felt hot against his pelt. He knew that wolverines were northern animals and the temperature was too warm for him where he was. He wasn’t sure what to do. He was still determined to wait for rescue, but he couldn’t speak in his current form, and he had no idea of letting the rescue team know who he really was. As he finished that thought, he heard the sounds of someone approaching him. Turning around he saw 2 other wolverines approach him. They nuzzled up to him slightly, growling and making other sounds. He was quickly able to understand them. They told him their stories, of ending up marooned on the planet, and being changed. They told him that they knew of a place where the climate was much more suited to their bodies and to come with them so they can show it to him. But he wasn’t ready to leave quite yet. He wanted to wait for rescue. They told him that there was nothing that could be done for him, and he should accept fate. But he wasn’t ready to give up yet, lying down beside him, they continued to try to convince him. He was disturbed by, as they continued to tell him what life was like where they lived, how he found it more and more appealing by the minute. Ensign Hermann was incredibly depressed, everyone else had been ‘found’ by other members of his species, except him, and he was starting to see the other slowly moving off with the other members of their species, although they still seemed a bit resistant. He wondered what he had done to deserve ending up as a vole, an animal regarded as vermin on his home planet. He had tried walking to up the others but they didn’t seem interested in him. He finally started to lose hope of being rescued, he could see that the cougar that had approached the others was eyeing him, looking hungry, she didn’t seem interested in any of the others. He panicked and tried running, but the cougar quickly caught up to him and pounced on him. Trying to escape the cougar’s grasp, he saw her lift her paw up, her claws all fully extended. The cougar quickly swooped the paw at him.
**
The USS Thunderchild maneuvered through the asteroid field surrounding the planet, eventually attaining geo-synchronous orbit over the source of the distress call.
“Are you reading any life signs?” the captain asked of his science officer.
“It’s hard to tell, there’s too much interference to get a clear reading”, she answered.
“Very well, assemble an away team, take necessary precaution as from what the distress call indicated there may be a bio hazardous material down there” he ordered. Several crewmembers walked off the bridge and towards the transporter room. The team materialized on the surface of the planet. Their faces were covered with masks designed to filter out bacteria and viruses as well as other toxins. They had gloves on and hazard suits designed for operating in hazardous environments. There was no one in sight. They each pulled out their tricorders, scanning for life signs but couldn’t find any. They located the runabout’s transponder, which was surrounded with tattered remains of clothing. Scanning the clothing they detected odd DNA readings, but couldn’t explain it. Calling back to the ship they indicated that they couldn’t find anyone. They detected life signs, but they were all animal life signs, no humanoid life signs. Getting desperate, they tried using shuttles to circle the area where the crew could have been in, but found no signs of them, despite extensive scans. Eventually, after several hours of scans they had no choice but to give up. The ship and crew would have to be listed as another ship and crew to go missing on this planet.
Timothy Barns hopped silently along the plain. Gordon sat in her pouch enjoying the ride. The male roo hopped beside her. She wasn’t yet ready to give into her instincts, and he seemed to be accepting this. But Tim just wasn’t ready for that yet. She had accepted that she was a kangaroo now and his human life was over, but it was going to take time to get used to this, and until that happened she wasn’t quite willing to fully embrace her new body and it’s instincts. As they hopped together, she saw several other roos in the distance. They were excited to see the new roo, and all happily introduced themselves. Timothy was starting to feel more relaxed. Gordon climbed out of her pouch and hopped towards the group of joeys, introducing himself to them, then hopping off with them, playing. Timothy was pleased that Gordon was happy. The male kangaroo again hopped up to him, nuzzling him. He was hopeful that, since she had relaxed and was happy, seeing the baby happy that she would be more willing to give in to him. She still was resistant, but seemed to be a bit more willing. He finally
“came though” with the truth and told her that he used to be female, a female human to be exact, before becoming a male roo, and that he could never comfortably be ‘with’ a female roo as it felt ‘wrong’. Having learned this, Timothy thought of what to do next, he was a female kangaroo now, his mind may have been that of a Male human, but his body and instincts were that of a female roo. The male standing before him had told him that he used to be a she, would it really be so wrong to give in to him? The thought of it boggled her mind, normally what she was thinking of would be insane, but that was as a human, and she wasn’t human, not anymore. The male roo seemed to understand the dilemma Tim was going through. He again nuzzled her. He made it clear he didn’t want her to do something she wasn’t ready for, but also told her that sometimes it’s best to accept fate, and maybe this was meant to be. Tim’s instincts were starting to go nuts. She was finding herself wanting to go through with it, yet still found the thought of it disturbing. She finally came to a decision and decided to go though with it, sometimes letting go is the best thing to do, and perhaps this was one of those. As the two roos hopped together, to find some privacy, Tim thought that perhaps this wouldn’t be so bad after all.
David Spartan walked along beside the two other foxes, entering a den. There were others there. Several of them walked up to her, the two that had brought her introduced her to the group. There were several other kits there, and they were all happy to see another one. She cautiously walked up to them, and they made playful noises, which calmed her down greatly. She started to feel the instincts of a young fox in herself. She relaxed quite a bit and joined the other kits in play.
Trunks Soatome and Bob Backburn had been walking for what felt like hours. Fortunately the vole they had feasted on had been surprisingly nutritious and had given them the energy they needed for the journey. The female cougar that had walked up to them, finally turned to them and told them that that they were nearing they’re ‘home’. They had seen mountains in the distance from the beam down site, but now they were getting close. As they approached the base of the mountains, several other cougars walked up to them. The female introduced Bob and Trunks to the group. She could tell that Trunks was feeling tired, she was just a kitten after all. Asking her to come with her, she led her to a cave where other females were laying down. They all walked up to her, and rubbed up against her. One of them offered her milk, which she gladly accepted. Bob was escorted to a bit higher on the mountain where several other males and females were lying comfortably in the sun. They all introduced themselves to each other. Bob lay down beside several of the others, enjoying the feeling of the sun against his fur. Perhaps this wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
Ikrit Tagomi had followed the rabbit into the hole it had dug. He was surprised by how well he could navigate in the hole. He hopped through the hole after the other rabbit, a female rabbit at that. After they had been hopping through the hole for nearly an hour. They came to an opening. The rabbit turned to him and chattered, telling him that this was their home, where the ones who’d become rabbits stayed. Ikrit surveyed the area, he had to admit that it was beautiful. The cave had an encrypting of rubies on one of its walls that sparkled beautifully. He knew that he had to accept this fate, and that it would be illogical to try to return to his former life in his form. He understood that there was certain logic in ‘letting go’ and perhaps it was time to accept them.
Admiral Steven has been riding on the female otters back, he had spent most of the trip asleep, after feeding from the female, he had agreed to go with them, about half way to the lake, he was feeling tired, so the female allowed him to climb onto her back, where he had fallen asleep. He was awaked by the sound of the female chattering at him, he awoke to see that they had arrived at the lake. Several other otters swam onto shore and greeted the three of them. The admiral climbed off the females back and immediately walked up to a group of 4 otters his size. They happily chattered and barked at him, telling him that they too were babies, and had been born on the planet, their parents’ people that had been changed, just like he was. He was happy to see other young ones. He hadn’t of been young in a long time, and for him, this was like a new lease on life him. He felt rested, so when the other babies wanted to play, he agreed, and they ran into the water, Chittering happily.
Joseph McKinley gracefully laded in the water next to the swans that led him there. They honked and beeped, and an entire flock of swans landed in the water next to them. They all swam over to the 3 of them, the 2 that escorted Joe to the group, told the others about him. They all told him their stories, of how they ended up on the planet and ended up with the group. They all welcomed Joe into the group, and showed him around the area. At first Joe had been reluctant, but now he felt comfortable in his new form, and in this group truly felt at home.
William King had been following the 2 other wolverines though a series of caves for what felt like hours. The temperature was getting cooler and he could tell that they were getting into a cooler area of the planet. He no longer felt uncomfortably warm, and felt much more comfortable now. The other two wolverines’ motioned to him, and told him that they were nearing ‘home’. William was relieved, as his feet where getting tired. As they rounded another corner he finally saw an exit from the cave. Walking towards the light, they finally left the cave. The area they came out in was a cool forested region. The temperature felt much better here. There was a light covering of snow on the ground. Several other wolverines approached the one he had been following, it told them about where it found him. They walked up him and welcomed him to the group. He walked up to them, introducing himself. For the first time since his change, he was finally starting to feel more comfortable with it. They all started to show him around the area, which was very beautiful. Perhaps this wasn’t so bad after all, he thought.
Adelaide LeRosse had followed the other alligator. He had led her to a small river that took a couple of hours to get to. When they finally arrived they both got in it, the water felt interesting against her body to say the least. She followed him as he led her down the river, they were able to swim pretty fast and get a pretty far distance. Finally, after a few hours of swimming, they came up to a swamp. Several other alligators approached them. The one that had led LeRosse to the area introduced her to the group. They were very accepting of her and welcomed her. This was certainly not something she had considered happening to her before this trip. She had to admit, she felt very powerful. She couldn’t understand why the others seemed upset and tried to cling to their former lives, being this way was in a way liberating, this would be a very interesting form to hunt in. Swimming towards the other alligators, she joined them as they welcomed her to the group.
The Alien commander watched the crew on the monitors as they all joined the other members of their new species, folding his hands together me smiled at a job well done.
