The darkness on the ship was still present with barely any light coming into the ship. The halls filled with the faint smell of death. The ship was in itself a casket holding the last two survivors or so it seemed. The truth was no communication had been made with the other ships and from all indications there was no life. Scanners couldn’t detect lifesigns and from indications the truth was much worse. 

Zodot sat at the desk his fist clenched as the pain within coursed through his entire body. A pain he had been taught to endure for years. A pain that no matter he accepted. The truth was if something wasn’t done soon Hena would die and Zodot couldn’t allow that to happen. He loved her and would give even his own life for the safety of hers. He looked over where she was sleeping. The pain had been excruciating for her the past few hours and he wanted to give her relief. ‘This ship could have the answer.’ He smiled knowing how much pleasure he would get harvesting organs. In a way it was a pleasure for him. He was in his own right a monster. 

Hena lay on the sofa trying to rest but the pain was worse than before. If anything she would be dead in the next few hours. They had been sitting on the ship for two days and without the organs they had planned to take she knew she was going to die. In her own way though she was at peace about the ordeal. She had been wanting peace and no pain for so long yet Zodot had promised just that she always had a small feeling it was too good to be true. 

Zodot was the leader and they had followed him with no question thinking he would make a better life for them. Hena had fallen in love with them, but over the past months she had realized the monster he was. She had harvested solely to keep herself alive, but Zodot did it for pleasure and it was getting worse. He would kill a whole ship and not care that it wasn’t needed if it satiated his desire that was all he cared about. He said he loved her, but the truth was she didn’t know what to believe, but she knew she had to get away from him even if that meant dying. 

The darkness on the ship seemed even worse with the red tint reminding her that the end was coming even if she didn’t want it to come. 

Zodot looked at her and through the pain he smiled ‘We will get out of this. I’m not sure how but we will.’ 

The Neptune slowly made its way into the nebula with the calculations of Lieutenant Kristofsen the shield was seeming to hold, though Captain Ryder was not wanting to take chances. With the approval of Tomuya they crept towards the enemy they now knew. 

Lieutenant Amanda Kennedy had arrived on the bridge twenty minutes prior to the ship making the daring trip into the nebula. She had offered her expertise in maneuvering the ship and now sat at the console of the flight controller. As she watched the ship move towards the ships her stomach twisted into knots. The truth was she had heard of the Vidiians, but she never wanted to meet them. This was a rare encounter and one that she would rather have never happened. Her thoughts snapped back when she heard the voice of Ryder asking for a update. “Time to arrival is 4 minutes.” she stated as she watched the ship creep ever closer to the aperture and ships. 

Ryder didn’t like doing this, but there was no other way to learn the intentions of the other ship. The truth was he didn’t know how many vidiians were alive. “Can we detect life signs now?” he turned and asked Xiao.

Xiao looked at the console and could see a faint readout from the information. He nodded “According to scans only two life signs aboard any of the vessels.” The fact that only two lifesigns were shown put Xiao’s mind at ease because it wasn’t an army they would be encountering.

The Neptune arrived at the coordinates closer to the enemy and now within range to open comms. 

Ryder nodded and looked at Tomuya “It seems it’s time to make an introduction would you like the honors?” 

The Fleet Captain nodded “Well this is not the usual greeting, but I suppose we can see what happens.” She sighed and looked at the crew before ordering the opening of comms. She wasn’t sure the best approach. She took a deep breath “Unknown vessel, this is Fleet Captain Mero Tomuya of the Federation starship USS Neptune here to render aid in any possible manner.” 

She looked over at Ryder now it was out of their hands they had announced themselves and now they knew exactly who they were. This was either the smartest decision ever made or the worst either way they were going to know soon. 

Zodot heard the voice over the ships comms and smiled. It was now their chance, but how could he approach this diplomatically? He looked at Hena “Will you answer them? It won’t reveal me and will allow me to sneak on the ship if they render the aid for us to come aboard.” 

Hena nodded because she couldn’t do much else right now, but to bide her time for the right opportunity “Of course my dear.” she responded as she used her strength to stand. She made her way to the console and activated the comms “This is vidiian citizen Hena. I have no idea how I ended up here, but the truth is I’m not going to be here much longer. I bring no threat to you or your ship, but request at least a place to die in peace.”

Zodot looked at her and nodded. It was a convincing story, but even if they accepted they would wonder about the other lifesign. He would be cloaked at that point and would start his rampage after he saved Hena. 

Ryder heard the voice of the woman and looked at Tomuya again “Well this is not what was expected what should we do?” The truth was this was a dilemma letting a person known to kill others for their survival. The last thing they needed was mass murderers on their ship. 

And then he remembered Tallie’s dream and it started to make sense. What most of the crew didn’t know was that Tallie had saved Ryder through a dream during the encounter with the Romulans. The dream revealed the Romulans wanted to kill him and if Tallie had not told him he probably would have died. It was why he took the dream she had so seriously. Most would have told her to take some xanax and go to bed, but Ryder knew better. If her dream was any indication then the crew would be in danger, but could he deny someone peace?

The ethical dilemma was something a Captain hated but had to deal with in the job. He looked at Tomuya “Lets honor her wish, but add security and make sure sensors are on a constant scan. She didn’t mention the other one and we don’t know what to expect.”

The bridge crew nodded and prepared for the arrival of the vidiian. Whatever was going to happen seemed to be coming soon. While the crew had ethical dilemmas about the actions taken they didn’t have time to debate the finer points. Now they had to prepare for the unknown.

The biggest worry was could they trust the person called Hena. A vidiian with emotion could be just as much of a problem as a vidiian who just wanted to murder them. The ethics behind this mission were unlike any Ryder had witnesses in the past and he was still unsure as to what he was going to do when he encountered this vidiian. This was the issue that he had hoped as a Captain he would never have to make. Now that it had come the truth was he didn’t know if he could make the right decision.