ikols | open post | psls

[ The first odd thing that reaches the bridge is a report of several admittances to sickbay sharing the same symptoms: hallucinations of a black horse running through the corridors only to disappear at the end, a fox walking over the consoles in engineering (and being petted before it ran away), and a bear roaring in a mess hall over the replicator. All the reports are confident these visions were false, everyone is perfectly fine and M'Benga shoots Spock the report simply so he can relay it to the captain.

It dies down for a couple of hours, after the morning, and most of the crew wonder if they didn't eat something from a dodgy replicator the night before.

Then around three in the afternoon, a space-shark (literally, a shark radiating cosmic energy) starts following the Enterprise. Then another, and more, until around twenty of the great white monsters of the spaceways are trailing in the Enterprise's wake and they work themselves into a frenzy trying to bite at the hull. That ... is a rather more serious issue until shields are turned on and the beasts occasionally ding themselves off it, instead. ]

Edited 2022-06-25 14:23 (UTC)

[ It had been shaping up to be a quiet morning.

Chris was in a good mood, jovial and relaxed, cracking jokes with the other members of staff who were nearby, catching up on reports. Perhaps foolishly, he had allowed himself to think that it was going to be a relaxing day and nothing bad would happen — it was ironic that Spock, of all people, kept being the one to remind him not to jinx anything — and then the first report of hallucinations was sent along to his padd.

On its face, there could be any explanations for that. The Enterprise sees many odd things out in space, a horse or a bear might be strange, but was probably ultimately harmless. (The fox he was suspicious about, especially if it allowed people to pet it. He wasn't going to say anything just yet, though, preferring to bide his time until he had more data.)

The space sharks came later. At first, he had thought perhaps it was a gormagander, mistaken by a crewmember who wasn't familiar with the giant cosmozoan on account of how rare they have become, but once the creature that was following them was put up on the view screen, Chris's hopes died. ]

What the hell is that thing?

[ That thing, apparently, is just the first in a whole flock of them, and it isn't long before they have to put shields up to protect the nacelles from being devoured by fucking space sharks.

Space sharks. ]

[ The sharks swarm from one area of the ship to the other, attacking along the route they follow. Loki is there, wandering the ship, oblivious to the sharks having caught his scent, and in the guise of Lieutenant Lukas having a fun day faffing about with a far less focused work ethic than in previous days.

The largest shark is over a hundred feet long and bullies the smaller ones aside, looming over the ship where it glides with a dead-eyed gaze. ]

[ No one on the bridge has ever seen anything like this before, and once scans definitely indicated that the creatures were not, in fact, endangered space whales, suggestions were lobbied back and forth as to what to do about it. It was hard to argue that they should indiscriminately fire to kill...whatever those things are, considering that most of them were just tailing them more or less harmlessly, but the fact that Chris had followed La'an's suggestion for yellow alert with alacrity sort of undercut that assessment. ]

Ortegas. [ Erica's dark eyes snap back to him, waiting to hear what he wants her to do. ] See if you can disable that big one. I'd rather not kill any of them if we don't have to, but I'd also prefer them not take a bite out of my ship.

[ There's a lot of commotion by the windows of the deck that Loki's turbolifts lets him out on, astonished shouts as crew crane to get a better look before hurrying on their way.

Loki steps up to see what all the fuss is about and blanches, lips parting on a Oh, no. The nearest shark swerves in and gets fried by the shield, swimming off in distress, and before the others can try their look the shadow of something veering off the top of the ship blankets the hallways in darkness.

Loki swallows when he comes level with the giant eye of the largest shark, taking careful steps back. ]

You're a big one, aren't you? Stay there, nice sharky ... No!

[ Well. There isn't much Loki can do to stop the beast lunging for the ship and rocking it with the force of a buffeting blow, but he does race back to the turbolift to get somewhere less visible. ]

[ The ship being rocked off its bearings is sadly not an unusual occurrence, and Chris once more makes a note to get Hemmer to talk to Starfleet about installing some sort of internal shock absorber, or at least some seatbelts so that they're not constantly being flung from their seats every time someone decides to shoot at them...

Or something decides to eat them.

The red alert klaxons are loud and jarring on purpose, but they never get any easier for Chris to hear.

Instructing weapons control to take as many controlled shots as they believe necessary, Chris prays to whatever gods are listening that he's not going to lose his ship today. He might survive — he has to hang on for nearly a decade in order to save those cadets — but that doesn't mean the rest of his ship is going to be so lucky. ]

[ Y i k e s. Starsharks are aggressively territorial but he wasn't aware this universe had any ... unless they followed him through his rift in dimensions or sniffed him out from the very farthest corners of this sector of space. Fierce and hungry, those are the only two emotions the beasts have, and they all want to eat Loki.

In the turbolift he grabs the guidance handle and winces as he says, "Bridge! I think."

All the way up, Loki feels incredibly queasy; not because he fears the shark, which he does, but because he is heading directly toward admitting his fault in something to a man he would have rather avoided on the matter. When the doors hiss open and he steps out onto the bridge, flaring red alarms going off, he swallows and searches for Chris with his eyes. ]

[ Chris is, currently, hunched over the display panel between Lieutenants Ortegas and Christina, one hand on the back of Erica's chair as they confer in harsh whisper-yells about what they need to do in order to either disable the threat or get clear of it.

The hiss of the door sliding open gets lost in the commotion, but the way Spock's, "Lieutenant, you are not authorized to be on the bridge during Red Alert," cuts through the noise around him is more than enough to draw Chris's attention, and he immediately turns his head to see just who decided now would be a great time to gallivant up to the bridge to sight-see during an emergency situation.

For a moment, he looks furious, but then the fact that Loki looks sick to his stomach seems to filter through, and his forbidding expression softens.

He still looks pretty alarmed, which he thinks is reasonable. ]

L-lukas. What the hell are those things and what do they want with my ship?

[ Loki shoots Spock a 'Sorry, gotta talk to the captain!' smile and hurries over, well aware of the science officer's gaze resting heavily on his back. ]

They're starsharks, also called space sharks. They devour flesh imbued with energy on the ... cosmic scale. [ He tries to hitch up a laugh and half-fails, looking awkward as the curious eyes of the bridge crew fix on him in turn. ] They don't want your ship, Chr— Captain.

[ Pushing away from Erica's station, Chris half-jogs up from the depression in the middle of the room to meet Loki so they're not shouting across a space of ten feet or more, his hand automatically rising to cup Loki's elbow without him noticing it.

He's not called one of the brightest tactical minds in the Federation for nothing; Loki's hesitation, the face he's making as he nearly slips and calls Chris by his name, all these little details add up to paint a picture he doesn't particularly like, one that has his grip on Loki's arm tightening slightly as his eyes narrow. ]

So they want... you?

[ They must sound like absolute fucking lunatics to anyone close enough to hear, Spock is already starting to make his way over on Loki's peripheral vision. Even when Loki hushes his voice to be tactful, he's certain the vulcan is listening from his station. ]

They eat deities, they're like [ don't laugh! ] bacon to them. [ His touch finds Chris's front to rest there with something like reassurance and Loki hurriedly speaks because he thinks he's three seconds away from getting moved over by a blue blur. ] I didn't know you had any over here or I would have brought better weapons. Let me go out there and try to reason with the big one.

[ Even with members of the crew with whom Chris has served for years — Una, or Spock, or even Erica — Chris doesn't reach out like this, or let them reach out to him in turn. Maybe it'll just be assumed it's because of the fraught circumstances of the moment, the heightened adrenaline felt by anyone in danger of being devoured by a giant sea creature that just so happened to survive in outer space.

One who had a taste for cosmic flesh, apparently. ]

Don't be ridiculous. I'm not sending you out there alone. [ Like he's Chris's to send anywhere. ]

[ Hushed, ] I'm not exactly asking, dear.

[ He's a bit too distracted by the giant shark buffeting the ship to begin an argument, stumbling into Chris as a result. ]

I'll go on the hull and talk to it, I can stay within the force-field if it makes you feel any better. It's going to start biting before long!

You just said it thought you were bacon.

[ They lose their footing for a minute, stumbling together, but they don't go down. Still, Lieutenant Christina dutifully reports that the structural integrity of their shields have been reduced by another twenty-seven percent, a fact that makes Chris grit his teeth with frustration. ]

You're not going to wear a suit if you go out there, aren't you. [ It's not a question. ] Loki...

I don't need to. It's okay, I promise. [ His shoulders slump and he spares a glance at the people shooting them the eyeball, looking a little sad when he meets Chris's gaze once more. ] I really enjoyed being just a lieutenant on your ship.

Now, I might have to freak out your friends a bit.

[ Loki steps back and as he does so it's as if he steps out of the Starfleet uniform; Asgardian scalemaille cleaves in gleaming green to his thighs and chest, fingerless gloves appear along with knee-high boots and greaves, and the verdant theme carries on in his long coat that flutters into being. His horns are sharp where they curl back from his forehead.

Loki is aware of how loud the red alert alarms are in the wake of anyone talking on the bridge. He points up at the ceiling, addressing Chris. ]

I'll be up there.

[ And in a flash of green, he teleports onto the hull of The Enterprise. ]

[ If they were anywhere else, if things were any different, Chris might have let himself indulge in the incredibly strong urge he feels to reach out and grab at Loki's arms again, to refuse to let him to throw himself into danger, to insist on going with him somehow.

But. He has an entire ship to think about, hundreds of souls depending on him, and as much as he might wish otherwise, Loki is not one of them. He's not an enlisted officer, no matter how good he looks in his purloined uniform, and Chris is not responsible for him. Chris wants to be responsible for him, Chris cares for him, but it's not the same.

He digs his fingernails into his palms as he lets Loki step back, watching that green shimmer slither down his body to replace the standard sciences uniform with what he wore when they parted on that planet what feels like years and years ago, resplendent in gold and green and furs.

There's dead silence for a long, drawn-out moment when he winks out of view.

Eventually, a timid voice calls out a careful Captain?

Chris stalks over to his chair and sinks down into it. ]

Somebody get me a visual. Now.

[ Space is always cold. It hurts Loki none, being that frost is in his blood, but he wouldn't say no to a hot water bottle inside his coat sometimes.

The ship is silent on the hull, expansive to the point of almost not being able to see to the end (is that a signed scorch mark?) but it's the looming giant starshark that draws his attention instead of sight-seeing. He walks toward it and holds up a hand in greeting. ]

King of the space sharks, Great Megalodon! I am Loki, of Asgard.

[ There's a rumble as the nose of the beast points at Loki, dwarfing him completely like a skyscraper tilted horizontally at the road. In his head, he hears the deep booming voice, You smell good, little godling. ]

Thank you, I showered.

[ I have not smelled your kind in longer than I remember. My children hunger for your flesh. As do I.

Loki holds up his hands as the shark begins to bare its multiple rows of teeth. Megalodon of the cosmos levels all his attention forward and so do the surrounding, flanking great whites, all listening as Loki shouts to be heard. ]

I have a better offer! Instead of devouring me, rangy as I am, less than a mere snack, allow me to ask what it is you need most that others cannot give! Loki is listening, he who is Silvertongue and Moon-King! Tell me.

[ There is a long moment where the grandfather shark stares, thinking, then the voice in Loki's head rumbles again.

I am in need of more children.

Loki's expression looks like he was slapped with a fin and he stumbles over his words, aware that this apparently one-sided conversation is likely being watched by the dozen folks a few feet beneath his feet. ]

Oh, ummm. [ He pulls a wincing, apologetic face. ] Yeah, I'm kind of dating someone? [ HURK. ] Not dating! Seeing. Casually! We haven't ... worked that out yet.

Edited 2022-06-25 20:26 (UTC)

[ The visual that is eventually able to be produced for Chris is from one of the sensors on the saucer; it shows an excellent view of the giant space shark and a not-so-great view of Loki, focused mostly on his boots and the hem of his cloak.

It does, miraculously, provide an excellent audio feed, helped by the fact that there's no delay from the Universal Translator.

The entire bridge gets to tune in to hear Loki proclaiming in a ringing voice that he is he who is Silvertongue and Moon-King! Tell me, he adds, and there's a brief murmur of confusion among the crew all avidly watching what's going on up on the view screen, staring into the many-toothed mouth of the shark and speculating among themselves about just what, exactly, is going the fuck on.

There's a long beat of silence, and Chris has just enough time to look over at the communications desk in confusion before Loki's voice starts up again.

Oh, ummm. Yeah, I'm kind of dating someone? Not dating! Seeing. Casually! We haven't ... worked that out yet.

Spock says something about scanner arrays and never-before-seen readings from his attempts to categorize what it is that's floating in front of them, but Chris can't focus. What the hell did that thing ask that had Loki offering up that kind of response? ]

[ My children must eat. New children would provide cosmic flesh. ]

I understand where you're coming from, I do, I have children of my own, but the whole cannibalism thing is a bit Greek for me. What if I were to lead you, with this ship, to a place where your offspring could feed in peace? Grow strong and hale?

[ The shark swishes its tail and draws closer, and if it could narrow its eyes it would.

... Very well, Loki of Asgard. Lead us to our hunting grounds. We shall not lose sight or scent of this vessel. ]

Excellent! [ He claps his hands, taking a step back as the shark eases away. ] Would you mind staying behind the ship while we fly? So as not to hurt you or your children in any way. I will let you know when we arrive at these new hunting grounds, which I definitely know where to find.

[ The whole shoal of sharks turn and take their place behind The Enterprise, and Loki gives them a salute as he shouts, Be back soon with an update! When he teleports back onto the bridge he brings with him a below-freezing waft of air and the stench of ozone, clean and thin like a mint up the sinuses after a cold glass of water. He swivels to face Chris in his chair, inhaling to start warming himself up as he breathes again. ]

How much of that did you catch?

Edited (fu phone correct) 2022-06-25 22:11 (UTC)

[ Chris always forgets that, while Loki looks like he could be a cadet barely old enough to drink alcohol legally in a bar off-campus, he's actually much older that that. I have children of my own. Does he? How many? With whom?

Some people might say they know each other quite well. In some respects, they really do. In others... Loki is little more than a stranger to him. It's jarring to realize that all over again.

Still, it's gratifying to listen to the one-sided negotiations, if only because it means the worst of his anxieties are assuaged, hearing Loki's relieved voice as he shuffles even further out of range of the camera. If he can ramble on like that, he's probably fine. The fact that he can ramble on like that without an atmospheric suit on is still somewhat mind-boggling, but Chris has been slowly being exposed to all the bizarre things Loki is capable of doing, and with each new addition, they start to seem less strange.

He disappears from the view screen and pops into view in almost the same instant, a blast of freezing-cold air coming with him as well as that sharp, wintry scent Chris has gotten so used to.

A murmur of surprise ripples across the bridge, but Chris doesn't even blink. ]

Everything after "I'm dating someone" but nothing from their side.

Right. Yes, he's telepathic, that's why.

[ Does he look a little nervous? Maybe. Could be the giant shark floating behind the ship that's making Loki swallow the lump in his throat ... or the way Chris is harder to read when he's in captain-mode. Loki addresses the whole bridge, not just him, because it feels a bit like he has an audience and owes them something of an explanation. ]

We need to find a nebula brimming with energy, the sharks exist by consuming it. They sensed a great deal of power on this vessel and travelled here because if it.

All things concerned, their father was quite reasonable.

[ In Captain Mode, as Loki puts it, Chris does his best to think first and act later, something that goes somewhat contrary to his personal nature. It means he does a lot of frowning, gives a lot of assessing looks, and usually stays silent until he's gathered his thoughts.

It means he lets Loki finish what it is he's saying to the assembled crew on the bridge, that same considering frown on his face, and then after another moment more he nods just once. ]

Ortegas, you heard the man. Find us a nebula where we can drop off those sharks.

[ A sentence he never thought he'd say. His life is full of those, really, and yet they surprise him every time regardless.

Pushing up to his feet, he smooths down his uniform front and looks back at Loki. ]

Spock, Number One, with me. La'an, you have the conn. [ His expression softens a little, a hint of a smile gentling the forbidding line of his mouth as he cocks his head a little to one side, his fingers twitching like he wants to reach out but suppresses the urge because of their avid audience. ] I think we're going to need a bit of a history lesson about our friends. Loki, if you wouldn't mind...

If I were you, [ added to Ortegas, who looks him up and down without ceremony, ] I would start moving the ship now. Sharks can't stay still for long.

[ Loki shares Chris's look, offering a lopsided smile as they both now navigate the truth of his identity being in the open. All the way to the ready room he wonders how to distil the Aesir down into a bitesize blurb, taking a seat at the table where he folds his hands. ]

I'm not sure where to start. [ It's admitted with an honest laugh, itching under his horns. ] What else do you need to know?

[ Una has been giving him significant looks the entire ride down to the ready room, looks Chris has been determinedly ignoring. It's just her sincere and steadfast commitment to protocol that has her refusing to say anything to him until they assemble themselves around the table, though Chris can see her sharing equally significant looks with Spock.

Apparently, the fact that he wasn't surprised to see Loki burst onto the bridge in uniform and then magic himself into his current outfit hadn't gone unnoticed. Among other things.

Spock and Una arrange themselves on one side of the table, a united front as they stare across the wooden surface at Loki. Chris, sat at the head in his usual seat, shifts his feet until his boots are bumping up against Loki's beneath the table, a small measure of comfort he can offer while still maintaining his air of professionalism. ]

Why they suddenly appeared when we've never seen them before now might be a good place to start, [ he offers, as gently as possible. ] What could be done to avoid drawing their attention in the future, how we can defeat them, the usual things.

[ He opens his mouth to reply, closing it as he rethinks what he wants to say. Under the table his ankles hook around Chris's. ]

Starsharks, or space sharks, are cleaners of the cosmos, they devour dead gods and other energy-laden flesh. Dead sentience can take many forms. The sharks are largely low-level intelligence but the larger they grow the more they have sentience, that was why I spoke to the big guy.

[ Clearing his throat, he adds, ] But I have Alltongue, so I can speak to anything with a developed language.

[ He spreads his hands. ]

They're just ... animals, for the most part. I suppose you could blow them up but that seems like overkill when you could dump them in a nebula teaming with energy for them to soak up.

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