"Voice of the Gerxathi"
Written by Jessica Williams
Cadet Keda Tal

Keda Tal assumed the communications post as the console made a sharp signalling klaxon indicating that there was a message on the line. Tal checked the bandwidth and other controls that she remembered from her station as a communications officer over two hundred years ago. "It doesn't say who it's from" She said to no one in particular. The senior staff were all inside the conference room. She turned to *Ensign Beckham* who was manning the Engineering console.

"Ensign, come help an old lady with all of this new-fangled technology." She beckoned.

"Yes, Cadet." He sidled over with a frown and tapped a series of buttons that Keda mentally logged for future reference.

A sharp gravelly voice flooded over the commlink, filling Keda with dread. It sounded like the Gerxathi of ancient Trill mythology; gigantic winged beasts that spoke in sharp gutturals and meant certain death for anyone unlucky enough to overhear them. "Ensign, can we clear up the speech?" Keda asked, wanting to stop the horrible sound. "And can we get this on the viewscreen?"

Beckham pressed the console board and the visage of Counsellor Marissa Torme appeared on the viewscreen, still speaking in the sharp, gravelly voice. Beckham was working too slowly, transfixed by the image on the viewer. Keda, spurred on by her desire to stop the sound of the Gerxathi, elbowed him out of the way and unlocked memories she didn't know she had, managing to clear up the transmission. "Please repeat your message." Tal stated.

"I am Krannik...the Vaiul...I have information that your Captain would appreciate."

Tal cut the transmission and contacted the Captain, fully understanding that he was in a meeting, but not caring particularly much. “Captain,” she said. “Please excuse the interruption, but I think you’ll want to see this. I’ve got an incoming transmission from someone named Krannik, or the Vaiul.”