/||\        -----------------------------------------
       / || \            Starfleet Command, Second Fleet
      /  ||  \             U.S.S. Coronado,  NCC-63100
   .-/   ||   \-.     Fleet Captain Brian Aldur, Commanding
   ./    ||    \.   -----------------------------------------
   .-_-. || .-_-.              Simulation Teaser
   .-_  \||/  _-.

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/ Simulation Teaser                                                             |
/ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ

 "...before I brief everyone on what happened at Starfleet Command a decade
 ago, I've asked Dr. Browning to present everything he's learned on the biology
 of the planet below to us."  Aldur sat and nodded at the doctor.

 Browning stood.  "Thank you, Captain."  He approached the computer console,
 and touched the toggle.  On the screen, several pictures appeared: one of the
 green-brown eggs, one of the black-brown ant/cats, the larger tree analogue
 of the lifeform, and finally, the ghostly white spiderweb.

 "What we seem to be dealing with here," Browning said, "is a lifeform with a
 multi-stage life cycle."  He indicated the egg picture.  "They're born in a
 very similar fashion to terrestrial insects, and seem to share many common
 characteristics of an ant or a bee colony."  He pointed at the tree-like
 manifestation of the lifeform.  "In particular, they have a specialized
 versions of themselves, like the breeders or the warriors."

 "But ants and bees on Earth aren't intelligent!" Commander Lehman exclaimed.

 "Actually," Commander DuLac responded mildly, "the bees and ants of thy
 planet display a collective intellect."  Browning nodded agreement.

 "It's now generally accepted that not only do bees communicate regarding the
 location of flowerbeds and enemies, they also remember that information for
 some time," Browning said.  "Ants, and especially termites, are considered
 even more intelligent."  He then toggled the display to the spiderweb, then
 continued.

 "As far as I can tell, the sessile net seems to be the physical manifestation
 of the colony's collective intelligence.  We know that the eggs spend a
 certain amount of time embedded in the net before hatching, and that the
 ant/cats return to the web from time to time."  He turned to the group,
 looking sober.  "I suspect they return to the net for the same kind of
 memory... 'download' that happened to us."

 "Wait a minute," Commander Cash said.  "You mean to say that the net now has
 every bit of information that every one of us knows?"  He looked extremely
 troubled by the idea as Browning nodded.

 "At the time of the 'download,' yes.  The net wouldn't have any of our
 experiences since that time."  Expressions around the table ranged from
 Cash's troubled aspect to a grim sort of fascination from DuLac.  Aldur
 spoke up.

 "What about the unidentified human that was the first one to reappear after
 the original abductions?" he asked.

 It was Browning's turn to look troubled.  "He still hasn't regained
 consciousness, Captain.  I can't find any physiological reason for his coma,
 and his biochemistry is decidedly off."  He spread his hands.  "I'm still
 working on it."

 Aldur nodded and stood up.  "Thank you, Doctor."  The Captain then spent the
 next ten minutes briefing everyone on the parasitic lifeforms that had nearly
 taken over Starfleet Command a decade before.  How they embedded themselves
 near the victim's brain-stem and controlled the host's actions.  How they had
 insidiously extended their influence, first secretly, then more overtly.  How
 they had lured starship after starship, base after base, under their
 influence.

 And finally, how they had been defeated: find the mother creature and destroy
 it, and the parasites couldn't live.

 "As far as we can tell here," Aldur said.  "These parasites have returned.
 Now, fortunately for us, they're only able to... 'infect' the ant/cat analogue
 of this species, but we've already been attacked by infested members, so we
 have no way of knowing yet how far the infection has spread..."

 Aldur continued talking.  Meanwhile, the creature living in Commander Sirius'
 body listened and bided its time...

\_______________________________________________________________________________
\ End Simulation Teaser                                                         |
 ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ

----------
Ross Glenn aka Jester
Fleet Captain Brian Aldur, U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-63100
http://www.ussrenegade.com/coro2400/