The USS da Vinci was making slow progress towards the planet of Samson III; not because of any anomalies preventing them from going to warp, or the ever present danger of vessels from the Vaadwaur Supremacy tracking them down.  No, they were picking their way through the wreckage of ships that this clearly hostile race had attacked.

The first ship, a freighter by the name of Boxcar had yielded some clues.  It had given them a name and a face; along with the type of weaponry they favoured.   Commander Anacostia-Bolling was worried about these Polaron beams; both her Tactical Officer and Chief Engineer had confirmed that the shields would have a tough time dealing with a concentrated or sustained attack.  She was hoping to avoid any direct confrontation, at least for the time being, but realised that such an outcome might be inevitable.  Unless the USS Grus or any other ship found a way of getting through the barrier that currently surrounded them; then this ship was all that stood between the Vaadwaur Supremacy, and the conquest of over half a dozen inhabited planets.

But why were they here?  There were no major planets or starbases; this was a relatively quiet part of space.  It was where you passed though on the way to somewhere else; and where pirates ventured in the hope of catching an unlucky freighter out.

The second damaged vessel they’d arrived at was registered as the Toby Crackit; it was a small cargo vessel, with apparently a crew of five.  The away team had noted a number of suspicious things about the ship.  The engines, now silent and wreaked beyond possible repair, were far more sophisticated and powerful that anyone would rightly expect on a ship of this type.  The shields had also had a post-production upgrade.  Secret compartments that had clearly been discovered by their attackers had been left open; all were empty, but it was impossible to tell if the Vaadwaur had removed the contents or found them that way.

There were five bodies throughout the ship, two human, two Orion and a Grazerite; all had been shot and killed at close proximity.  The Vaadwaur had not escaped without injuries, however.  A splatter of blood across the bulkhead wall did not belong to any of the crew, and had been created by a sharp bladed weapon.  Samples were taken and Doctor Sunny was studying them in Sickbay.

Now finally they had arrived at the White Rose.  They approached the Liner with the same level of caution they’d taken with the two previous ships.  Nothing untoward may have happened on those previous occasions, but complacency bred mistakes; and out here, all alone, they could ill afford any of those.

The White Rose had probably been white at some point in its long career; age and exposure the hostile elements of space, had stained its hull a pale washed out yellow.  Black streaks along the ships side indicated where she’d been struck.  The attackers had concentrated their efforts on disabling the ship, so the passenger compartments appeared relatively unscathed.

The Captain sent over away teams once internal scans of the liner had been completed.  As it was a much bigger ship, she’d sent over two groups.  Lieutenant-Commander Alara Ley arrived on the Bridge of the White Rose; once more accompanied by Ensign Gofan, along with four other members of the crew.  Meanwhile Ensign Green and three other engineers had beamed directly to Main Engineering.

Unlike the two previous missions, the liner still had a breathable atmosphere.  It was of mixed blessing, on the one hand; they didn’t need to wear spacesuits, and on the other hand, you could smell the unpleasant stench of death in the air.  Four bodies occupied the Bridge, one, most likely the Captain still sat in his chair, a sickening hole in his chest. In front of him a woman lay on the floor in a way that indicated she’d either fallen out of her chair at or after death.  The two others had been shot in the back; whilst likely attempting to escape.

‘This is such a cruel waste of lives.’ Alara thought to herself with a heavy heart.

‘Indeed it is’.  Ley her symbiont was lost for words of support.  He’d seen plenty of death and destruction through the eyes of previous hosts, but that didn’t mean to say it got any easier. ‘We will find whoever did this.’

Those words should have brought more comfort than they did.  The Trill officer wasn’t sure why, but these Vaadwaur felt different.  Was it just her, or did they take a sense of pride and pleasure in killing.  It had possibly got something to do with the careful and precise aim, she’d noticed on the bodies found on each vessel.  Each person had been shot in the chest, at a point between the third and fourth ribs on a human. The two crew who had tried to run; both had their wounds in the same location on their backs.

Inevitably; once they’d powered up the systems on the Bridge, the same pre-recorded warning video began to play on the monitor screen. “They’re nothing if not persistent.” Ensign Gofan noted.

“Annoyingly so” The Lieutenant-Commander added. “See what information you can get from the ships logs.”

“I’m right on it.” The Arbazan replied.  “There’s very little encryption to worry about.”

In only a few minutes, Ensign Gofan managed to get a full crew and passenger manifest; several log entries and a number of videos from around the ship.  Alara Ley watched a couple of the videos.  In each they showed the Vaadwaur marching purposely through the corridors of the ship, apparently rounding up the passengers and crew who they hadn’t killed when they boarded.  All indication were that they had been herded like cattle towards the main dining area.  A quick look at the ships schematics, gave her the location.

“Blake you’re with me.” She looked at one of the security personnel.  “The rest of you, just stay here.”

She exited the Bridge, closely followed by the crewman.  The dining area was located two levels up.  It stretched across the whole width of the upper deck; giving near uninterrupted views on both sides and above.  Along the way they passed two more bodies, both passengers by the look of their attire.

The Trill Officer stood by the double doors leading into the room, preparing herself for some horrible and ghastly sight on the other side, once they opened.  By all accounts there were just over three hundred people still unaccounted for.

‘You don’t have to do this, you do realise that?’  Ley said to her softly.  She took a deep breath and flung the doors open, as they had been designed to be manually operated and had hinges rather than automatic sliding doors.

The first most striking feature about the room was its art deco theme.  Beautiful gold and black patterns covered every part of the walls and ceiling that didn’t have a window, curved back chairs sat around wooden tables, on which sat lamps with square and diamond shaped glass.  Knives, forks, spoons and neatly folded napkins sat waiting for dinner guests to take their seats.  The other most striking thing about the room was the complete absence of any bodies.  Whatever had happened to these people, they were no longer aboard the White Rose.’