Ghost Town

Posted on Fri Jan 16th, 2026 @ 2:27am by Lieutenant Commander Jason Reeves & Kenneth Hunt & Lieutenant Tavin Suárez & Lieutenant Aubrie Fox & Ensign Kaelun Merak

1,702 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Collating Data
Location: Intel Outpost Near Cardassian Border (Disputed Territory)

The away team transported on the outpost. Outpost like this consisted of a small compliment of personnel running the place and monitoring things. But for some reason there was complete silence. When the Crazy Horse arrived there had been no communication with the outpost. On their way to the transporter room, he had requested for Cadet Kenneth Hunt to join the away team. The kid had potential and was the only one in his group who opted to stay behind. Loyalty was a big thing for Reeves, so this was his way of rewarding him. Also, it was his way of seeing if this was ready to take on more responsibility.

Looking around it was way too quiet for his liking. One could say it was like a ghost town. "Alright everyone, clearly something isn't right. Let's take a look around the place and see if anyone is here."

Ensign Kaelun Merak materialized on the outpost's transporter pad, tricorder already scanning before the beam fully released him. The silence hit him immediately—not just an absence of sound, but a wrongness in the air that made his skin prickle. The Merak symbiont carried years of combat experience, and right now, those instincts were screaming that something was very wrong here.

Kaelun's eyes moved across the empty corridor, taking in details his conscious mind hadn't registered yet—scuff marks on the deck plating, a partially open access panel, personal effects abandoned mid-use. His previous host had been a Marine,

"No life signs within twenty meters," he reported quietly, his voice steadier than he felt. "Power distribution is intermittent—main systems are online but several secondary grids are offline."

"None of the escape pods have been jettisoned and shuttles are still docked," Reeves mentioned.

"Ghost town" stated Lieutenant Suárez. He was calm, composed, but curiosity breathed down his neck. His green blood pumping throughout. "No life signs? Secondary grids offline. A peculiar condition" added Suárez.

Lieutenant Von moved to the partially open access panel that Ensign Merak had noted, crouching down to examine it without touching anything. "This panel was opened from the inside. Someone was working on the secondary power grid—tools are still here, work half-finished." She looked back at Reeves. "People don't just stop mid-repair and vanish. Especially not when their escape pods and shuttles are still docked."

She stood, her phaser tracking her sight line as she scanned further down the corridor. The silence pressed against her ears like a physical weight. This felt wrong in a way that went beyond abandoned Cardassian installations. This felt like the stories from Earth. From Arcturus.

"Sir, I don't like this," The Bajoran security officer said, her voice low. "No bodies, no signs of struggle, no evacuation, but also no people. Whatever happened here, it happened fast enough that no one had time to send a distress signal or abandon station."

Cadet Hunt could feel the unease from everyone around him, which only made him nervous. There was definitely a mystery here on the outpost.

As they cleared each room, Jason found himself more confused. "Whatever happened here, must have happened fast. And seriously caught them off guard." The next room to be cleared was the cargo hold. Looking to Hunt, the Commander nodded indicating for him to open the door.

As instructed, Kenneth moved alongside the door as the others as they others took position. Quickly opening the door, the group entered the room tactically. With the Cadet following their lead. It was at that moment; the whereabouts of the missing crew had been answered. There were bodies piled on the floor and two were still bound to chairs. Kenneth lowered his head. The brutality was something that he never experienced in his life and he did everything to prevent himself vomiting.

Reeves on the other hand, unfortunately had become accustomed to this type of violence. Being at war with the Cardassians had a way of making you numb to such things over a short period of time. Doing a quick mental count, this accounted for the outpost personal. "Away team to Crazy Horse. We've found the outpost personnel. No survivors."

Lieutenant Von Ressa swept the cargo hold with her phaser before lowering it slowly, her expression hardening into something cold and distant.

"Execution style," she said quietly, her voice stripped of emotion. She moved closer to the two bodies still bound to chairs, her tricorder scanning. "Restrained first. The others were likely forced to watch."

Lieutenant Von crouched near one of the bodies, forcing herself to assess professionally even as old memories clawed at the edges of her mind. Bajoran civilians lined up in squares. Cardassian officers making examples.

"This wasn't combat," she said, standing. "Someone was looking for information, or they wanted to send a message." She looked at Commander Reeves, her jaw tight. "Sir, we need to determine who did this and how long ago. If they're still in the area..."

Jason turned his attention to the Lieutenant. Pulling his tricorder, he scanned a body tied to the chair. "He has been dead for about two to three days. Judging from the wounds, they were all killed by a blade, rather than a firearm. Which was actually kind of smart. A firearm could easily be tracked. This way not so much.

Cadet Hunt moved in closer to examine the body tied to the chair. With a hand over his face, he tried to block the smell. "So, there's no way to determine who might have done this?"

"When we get these bodies back to the ship," Reeves answered. "We can conduct an autopsy and find out what specific weapon that was used. That will give us some evidence on what we're dealing with here. Suarez go through the system and see if you can get an idea what happened here. As for the rest of us, I need a full scan of this place. There has to be some form of DNA left behind to explain who is responsible."

"I will see what I can uncover," replied Suarez. "It would be prudent that we don't jump to any conclusions either. I know how things look at the moment, but there's a lot not seen yet." Suarez knew Cardassians. When they tortured, it was less about physical pain and more about the psychological torment they could inflict. That did not mean that Cardassians weren't behind this though.

Lieutenant Von knelt beside one of the bodies on the floor, her tricorder humming as she ran a detailed scan. "Commander, I'm picking up trace residue on several of the victims—particulate matter that's not consistent with standard outpost materials."

She stood, moving methodically through the cargo hold, scanning walls, deck plating, and the restraints still binding the chairs. "There should be biological traces—even with blades, this kind of close-quarters violence leaves evidence." Her voice carried the weight of someone who'd learned these lessons the hard way. "In the camps, we learned that Cardassians were meticulous about cleaning up after interrogations, but they always missed something."

She gestured toward the cargo hold's environmental controls. "We should also pull the atmospheric logs. The system tracks particulate composition—if non-crew members were breathing in here, there'll be a record of foreign biological signatures in the air recyclers."

"Good thinking Lieutenant," Reeves spoke. "Also, Romulans have been known to be just as meticulous. This would have them a little far from home. But nothing surprises me anymore."

Suarez felt that too. "Thats a shared sentiment, Sir" commented the intelligence officer. "Until we can rule things out, we can't clear anyone or anything."

The Commander simply nodded towards the intel officer. Without a shadow of doubt, he was correct. "Agreed Lieutenant. From the looks of it, they were searching for something. Perhaps we can figure out what they was and if they found it."

Lieutenant Saurez gave an affirming nod. "Yes, Sir. If we cannot find anything physically to answer that, then digital footprints many be our best bet. I will continue pursuing this. Logs, files, anything data related that I can pull."

Lieutenant Von Ressa moved toward a nearby security panel, her fingers working to bypass the lockouts on the system. "Commander, I'm accessing the station's security logs." She frowned as data began streaming across the display. "There's been significant activity in the intelligence database within the last three days—multiple files accessed, most of them classified."

She scrolled through the access records, her expression darkening. "Sir, these files are all related to the Borg. Threat assessments, engagement reports, tactical analysis from Earth and Arcturus." Von tapped the screen, trying to pull up the actual content. "But the higher-level intelligence—the really significant stuff—requires Intel credentials to access." The Security Officer said as she looked towards Lieutenant Suarez.

She turned to back to the team. "Whoever was here went through the Borg intelligence files systematically. They knew what they were looking for."

Von pulled up the timestamp data. "The access logs show the files were opened approximately two and a half days ago—right around the time these people were killed. And..." she paused, checking the transporter records, "there's a record of an unauthorized beam-in about fifteen minutes before the database access. Four individuals, unknown origin. They materialized directly in the ops center, bypassed station security, went straight for the intelligence files."

She looked at Commander Reeves, her jaw tight. "So we know it wasn't the Borg who did this—they don't interrogate, they don't execute, and they don't steal data. But someone came here specifically for information about the Borg. The question is: who, and what did they find?"

"Based on my experience this looks like the work of the Obsidian Order or the Tal Shiar," Reeves answered. "Suarez, I needed conformation on who accessed those files ASAP. Its safe to say that this place is secured. Merak and Hunt prepare the dead. We're not leaving them here."

=================
Lt. Commander Jason Reeves
Executive Officer
USS Crazy Horse

Lieutenant Tavin Saurez
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Crazy Horse

Lieutenant Aubrie Fox
Chief Security Officer
USS Crazy Horse

Ensign Kaelun Merak
Science Officer
USS Crazy Horse

Cadet Kenneth Hunt (NPC)
Security
USS Crazy Horse

 

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