HDA - Living in Darkness Trilogy - Pt 2 - The Search

"They're still at it?" asked Callista as she walked up to the group. Like everyone else, she'd drifted off to have supper and get comfortable now that her shift was done.

"Yeah," said Jakob, grinning. "Joe's beating him silly."

Callista gasped. "Oh we can't have that. Tyler's silly enough."

Jakob looked up at her. "Shush."

"I couldn't resist."

"B-two," came T.J.'s voice.

"Miss. H-five," Joe said, sounding smug.

"Hit."

"H-seven."

"Hit. You skipped H-six," said T.J.

"You want to get knocked out of space that bad?" asked Joe.

"No. But—"

"H-eight."

"Ha! Miss."

Joe grinned. "Thought so."

T.J. narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Looks like a serious game here," said a new voice from behind the group.

"H-six," said Joe.

"Did you hear something?" asked T.J.

"Yeah. I heard myself say H-six and thought I heard you say hit and scrapped."

"The ship is not scrapped until it blows apart from lack of structural integrity."

T.J. slowly turned around. "That voice..."

"That face. Hideous! Who said you could wear a goatee?"

T.J.'s jaw dropped as he finally saw her. "Oh my God, what are you doing here?"

She tossed her long black hair over one shoulder and looked around as if she thought he was talking to someone else. "I work here," she said a touch of humor in her tone.

"And he said hit and scrapped and then called B-six and I said miss and I—" Joe halfway stood up as if he was going to take a peek at T.J.'s board.

T.J. reached out and closed the lid with a snap. "Game over. Indy!"

The woman rolled her dark eyes. "Only you called me that."

"How could I have missed my favorite girl in the world?" T.J. gave her a hug. "When?"

"Just before we warped away from Earth."

T.J. grinned. "Always a delight to see you, Indy." He looked around. "Why am I the only one surprised?"

"I ran into her in the officer's mess days ago," said Callista haughtily. "Jade and Sam are here too."

"No way. And—?"

"No." Indy's pleasant tone faded slightly. "No. We haven't heard from our sister in a good three years."

A blond girl walked up to the group and promptly wrapped her arms around Conor's neck. "Hey, stranger." She angled her head up and looked at everyone. "Hi."

"Jade, thank God," said C.K. "You can help us in the communications department. That is still your department, isn't it?"

Jade laughed. "Oh my, don't sound so excited, C.K. I'd think you were glad to see me."

"Hello." A girl with long chestnut hair pulled into a high sleek ponytail walked up. She nodded to everyone. "Good to see you all."

"Sam, just the person I need to see." A petite raven-haired woman with slanted eyes practically beamed at Sam. "I was wondering if you could stop by Plan-Sci later. I know the captain gave you a few days' orientation and acclimation time but I need you to help with a project."

"Saxon, hello. I'd be delighted. We can go right now unless you're busy."

"Not at all." Saxon linked arms with Sam and they walked off.

Jakob shook his head. "When's she gonna learn all business and no play makes for a very uptight Sam?"

"Jakob, shh," said R.K., "She can still hear you."

Joe made his way from the table to where Frank was sitting. "Kind of getting crowded in here," he said softly.

Jade straightened up, patting Conor's shoulder and then looked over at Frank and Joe. "Oh, new recruits, how nice."

Conor shook his head and stood up. "Not exactly, Jade."

Jade's blue eyes went wide and she gave the brothers another look. "Oh, I see. Well, welcome."

Joe nodded. "Thanks." He looked at Frank and then cocked his head toward the nearest door.

Frank got to his feet, gave Jade a polite smile and he followed Joe out of the lounge. The hallway was busy but less crowded. He looked over at Joe. "You okay?"

"Yeah. You know how when you're at a friend's house and suddenly a whole bunch of their family pops in? It just felt awkward."

Frank sighed. "Yeah. Let's see if we can find our room. I need to tell you something."

Joe arched an eyebrow but followed his brother along the corridor. "I wonder how you know which door goes to the little moving rooms and which go to different rooms."

"It has a small plaque by the door," said a deep voice from behind them. "It will inform you that it is a turbolift and where it will take you."

Frank and Joe turned to tell the person thank you but ended up staring instead. The man was tall, a few inches taller than Frank. He wore a long-sleeved blue shirt with gold braid trim at the sleeves. His angular face was somber and his ears swept up into well-formed points. "Do you need further assistance?"

"Um, no," said Frank, swallowing his surprise. "Uh, hi."

The man arched a slanted black eyebrow. "I presume you mean the variant of the human greeting of hello." He gave a slight bow. "Hello."

Joe sketched a wave. "Hello. Who are you?"

"I am called Spock. You are?"

"Joe Hardy. This is my brother Frank."

"Ah, you are our visitors. Were you not supposed to be in your quarters?"

"Jakob came to get us to play a game."

"Jakob Callaghan, I presume. There are at the moment, seven Jakobs aboard the Enterprise but only one would be interested in games."

Frank nodded. "Yes. Are you Vulcan like T'Leira?"

"Half Vulcan. You have met T'Leira?"

Joe and Frank shared a look, and then Joe nodded. "Yes."

Spock clasped his hands behind his back. "Are you returning to your quarters?"

"Trying to," said Frank truthfully. "All these corridors look alike."

"Yes, I believe it is also confusing for new crewmembers when they first arrive. I will show you to your quarters."

The tall slender man led them to a turbolift, showing them the small brass plaque that announced what it was and waited for them to enter. He entered last, grasped a handle and said, "Deck Six."

"How is the captain?" asked Joe after a moment of silence.

"Captain Kirk is well. He sustained no lasting damage in the weapons' fire three point seven four hours ago."

"I'm glad he wasn't hurt too badly," said Frank after a moment, wondering why this Spock liked to be so precise, down to the second almost.

"Yes. The captain has an unique ability to get himself into dire situations. Time after time, it is required to rescue him from those dire situations."

Frank bit back a grin, thinking of all the times his brother got into those same kind of situations. Joe shot him a glare. "Wipe that smirk off your face."

"I'm not smirking."

Spock arched an eyebrow at them. "You remind me of Doctor McCoy and Captain Kirk."

The door slid open and he led the way out of the turbolift. A few moments later, he stopped at a door. "Your quarters."

"Thank you," said Joe.

"A thank you is not required," said Spock. He paused a moment and let out a faint sigh. "But however, the appropriate response is, you are welcome."

The brothers stood in the doorway and watched the man disappear down the corridor. Joe shook his head. "Whew."

Frank stepped closer to the door and it slid open. He froze as he saw someone standing at the far end of the room. "Joe—"

Joe shook his head and walked into the room, not paying Frank much mind. "Weird guy." He collided with Frank's back. "Hey, what the—"

"Gentlemen, hello." The man stepped out of the shadows and both brothers' eyes went wide at his appearance.

"Wha – what are you?" asked Joe, stunned. The man had dark skin and long copper-colored hair. An odd stair-step ridge started at his forehead and followed the top of his skull. He was wearing what looked to be leather, two strips crisscrossing over his chest and studded with spikes. In one hand was an odd shaped thing that despite its oddness looked like some sort of weapon.

"I am a Klingon." The man bared his teeth in what might have been a smile but only revealed his teeth were somewhat stained and one actually had a ruby embedded in the enamel. He nodded to the door. "Lock that."

"I don't know how," said Frank.

The Klingon grunted and aimed the 'weapon' at them. "This will only hurt for a minute," he said, sounding almost as if he were apologizing.

A beam of golden energy spat out of the end of the object he held and hit Joe square in the chest. Joe sank unconscious to the deck in a small heap. Frank took a step back but another energy beam hit him full in the chest. There was a jolt of pure energy and then nothing...Frank's world faded to black.

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Disclaimer

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.