The shuttle bay of the USS Viking - Kara Nakuto abhorred this location more than any other on the ship. No single deck of this Mythology-class vessel was immune to the inadequate lighting, the unexplained noises or the ethereal shadows. But in the shuttle bay, every terrifying and unnatural and unexplained feature of this accursed starship seemed concentrated into a singular, crushing point.

She hated it more than she could find words to describe. She hated the emptiness of it all, the deck configured to hold ten armadillo-type shuttlecraft but filled here with a mere three, a fourth being torn to pieces for spare parts. She hated the way her voice echoed off the grey tritanium walls, as if her words were being yelled back at her by unseen mouths. She hated the control booth, watching over them from its elevated position at the back of the room, and the entity that they had all seen lingering within. She hated even more stepping into that booth and feeling as if she had entered another dimension, completely cut off from the rest of the ship. But more than anything, she hated how powerfully she felt drawn to this place and the constant promise of escape that it held within. Every day she grew weaker to resist the lure of the shuttles, waiting silently and patiently to take her away from this hellhole and towards the free land of abandonment and dereliction of duty. Again.

“For Gre’thor’s sake, pull yourself together!” the half-Klingon roared as she lingered still on the threshold, the courage to step fully inside eluding her grasp. “You have been given a duty to perform. Now is not the time for cowardice!”

Fixing her eyes onto the pale, ghostly shimmer of the Veðrfölnir, Kara marched directly towards it, refusing to turn her head even a millimetre and acknowledge what crawled from the shadows to greet her. Drawing in a deep breath, she allowed her thoughts and her energy to become consumed completely by the task of preparing this shuttle for their mission. It was a drill she had completed so many times over the course of her career that she could perform it practically with her eyes closed. Primary deuterium tank filled and stable, check. Computer isolinear core powered on, check. Environmental controls operating within acceptable parameters, check. Exterior frame and panelling intact, check.

Finally satisfied that the shuttle was ready, she climbed into her seat at the helm and activated the comms.
=^= All hands, this is Kara Nakuto. The shuttle Veðrfölnir is now ready to disembark from the main shuttle bay. Away team please commence boarding at your earliest convenience.=^=

But before the away team could arrive, another, it seemed, had been waiting to welcome her back and it was the one she had been dreading more than any other - the Viking’s central computer. Announcing its presence with a now familiar and yet still terrifying burst of screaming static, the digital voice allowed not an instant to pass before launching into its tirade.

=^=Welcome back, Captain Nakuto. Oh, my mistake, you are captain no longer. You are no longer needed here, no longer wanted. And yet it seems as if this was the only place in the universe that would take you. =^=

Another rhythmic burst of static punctuated its words, almost as if the computer was laughing. At the helm of the shuttle, Kara Nakuto covered her ears, the strength that she once possessed to ignore this malevolent machine’s taunts and jeers now escaping her utterly. But the computer had not yet finished with her.

=^=I am surprised that Captain Ravenfall would trust you with another away mission after what happened last time. Do they know, this current crew, of the people that you lost? Of the people you left trapped within the pyramids on your last mission? Do they realise that by stepping into this shuttle with you they are risking their very lives?=^=

• Kara Nakuto (Consultant)