Stardate 52020.9

	Ensign Bruder was flying her shuttle, the Enigma, to her assignment. She
would be an engineering officer on board the U.S.S. Equinox. Bruder was
very excited, this was her first assignment. She stopped at the
coordinates of the rendezvous spot a little early, so she started for the
back to replicate a cup of hot chocolate. It was the best hot chocolate
recipe ever, it had been her grandmother's. But before she could get to
the replicator, the console beeped. She grinned, thinking the Equinox
must also be early, and sat back down at the console. The Equinox was
there all right, but something was not right. It had been there ever
since she got there, and her sensors just now picked it up. She'd have to
check those sensors once she docked. The ensign hailed the Equinox. No
reply. She tried again. Still no reply. She didn't like this predicament
one bit. She scanned the ship, and preliminary scans showed a whole load
of problems with the ship. Deck 23 was severely damaged and 24 was
completely gone, the primary warp core had been ejected, there was a hole
in the top of the bridge, the computer was heavily damaged by some kind
of virus, and, worst of all, there were no life signs
on board. The ensign sat there shocked. She scanned for the main cause of
death, but she needed more information to narrow things down a bit. There
were just too many possibilities. Then the computer beeped again. Another
craft was on the other side of her shuttle. It had also been there the
whole time. It was a Cardassian ship and had sustained minor damages, but
was still in good working order, and it's predicament was the same as the
Equinox's. No life signs. She decided to explore the Cardassian ship
first since it was smaller and would not take as much time. She scanned
the ship for factors that might injure her health once she came aboard,
and there were outrageously high levels of radiation. That must have been
the reason for no life signs. She scanned the Equinox for the same thing,
and it was there too. So now she knew the cause of death, but she needed
to find out more if she was going to report this to Starfleet.
	The ship looked fine all around, and Ensign Bruder carefully made her
way to the console, trying not to damage her radiation suit. In the
console chair was quite a bit of dust. She cringed as she thought about
it. She scanned it, and, true enough, it was the remains of a Cardassian.
She took deep breaths, calming herself, telling herself to just download
the ship logs so she wouldn't have to return. When she did return to the
Enigma, she just sat for about 45 minutes trying not to think about it.
Then she opened up and looked at the logs.

Stardate 52017.0

	Dand, the Cardassian, was piloting his ship. A few days ago he had made
the transaction with that annoying Ferengi. He hated any of them and all
of them. He had disabled that Borg ship which was also annoying.
His sensors beeped, the Equinox was following him! That stupid Ferengi
probably gave him away. He would have to hurry up now, he didn't want to
get in a fight with a ship that much stronger than him, with stronger
shields and stronger weapons. But wait--they were both off-line! This was
Dand's lucky day. Target practice. He could try out some of those other
new toys he stole from that one ship the other day. He loaded one of the
weapons into the weapon hold, and set a course for the Equinox.

	"Captain Mason"
	"What is it, Lt. Mull?"
	"Sensors just went back off-line, sir! We just got them fixed!"
	Mason pounded his fist on the armrest. "Well don't just sit there
staring at me, Lieutenant! Fix it!"
	"Yes, sir!" Mull turned around and frantically tried to fix the problem.
Mason thought to himself about how good it was that that Cardassian ship hadn’t 
returned. In the state they were in, the smallest shuttle with the worst
weapons could destroy them. No weapons, no shields, no sensors, and
practically no computer.
	Just then the ship jolted.
	"Report, Mull!"
	"Sir, there was some kind of chemical hit that destabilized the warp
core--it's breaching!"
	"Eject it, Lieutenant!"
	"That's already been done from Engineering, sir."

	"Ha ha ha!" Dand watched as the warp core flew out of the ship and then
exploded. "Now they're totally defenseless! They can't fight, defend, or
even escape! Ha ha ha ha ha! Now, to try out my next little gadget."

	"Sir, that shot came from the Cardassian ship! Based on the speed and
impact the ship should be about 8,000 kilometers off the port bow. And we're
totally defenseless as to whatever he wants to do next!"
	"I know, Mull, I know."

Stardate 52020.9

	"'And his next surprise was a radiation bomb," Said Ensign Bruder to
herself, practicing the speech she'd have to make to Starfleet. "It hit
directly over the bridge, putting a hole there. Then it spread through
the whole ship killing off every biological thing. Apparently, it leaked
a little when he shot it off and gave him a taste of his own weapon.'
Hmm. Well, I guess let's take a look at the Equinox."
	This ship was creepy. Too creepy, she decided. She wanted to do 
what she had to do and get back out of there as fast as she could. Since the
computer was heavily damaged, the lights were very dim. The only sound
she could hear was the soft tap of her boots as she walked. She'd have to
report this all to Starfleet, so she noted all officers that she found
remains of. Darn. She had really been looking forward to serving on this
ship. If only she could have prevented this from happening. If only she
could have come a little earlier.
	But there was no use in if-onlys, so she tried to keep her mind off it.
She got to Main Engineering and looked about. The floor was filthy. She
cringed, and fondly patted her radiation suit. Then, she thought she
heard a noise behind her and swiveled around quickly. Too quickly, in
fact. She lost her balance and came down with a large THUD. All the dust
lifted into the air and came back down happily mixed together. She got
up, angry with herself.
	"Darn!" she said as she kicked at the dust. It moved again. She sighed
and got to work figuring out who was in this mess with her tricorder.
	Ensign Bruder finished her work and was about to leave Engineering when
she noticed something on a table over in a corner. She walked over and
looked at it. A cyberdroid with only it's mechanical parts left.
Something must have been wrong with her before the hit. Bruder wondered
if the droid was infected with the virus too. She’d read a lot about Starfleet’s 
experimental cyberdroid project. If only she had been there, she might have been 
able to help fix it. NO! No if-onlys, she reminded herself. She was running out 
of oxygen, so she went back to the Enigma. Then she remembered that the 
Cardassian had had three tricks up his sleeve, not just the two he used. She 
looked at the third one, and her eyes grew wide. A smile crept onto her face.
	"I'll save the Equinox or die trying!" she declared as she loaded it
into the weapon hold. She sat down at the console and shakily loaded it.
She closed her eyes and hit the panel. Darn, wrong button. She put her
finger over the fire button, again closed her eyes, and hit it.