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["245953" "Fri" "20" "January" "1995" "12:49:35" "-0500" "Sean Corbett" "scorbe1@gl.umbc.edu" nil "4212" "STAR TREK : DARKEST DAYS " "^From:" nil nil "1" nil nil nil nil]
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From: Sean Corbett <scorbe1@gl.umbc.edu>
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To: Joseph Young <jfy@tivoli.com>
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Subject: STAR TREK : DARKEST DAYS
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Date: Fri, 20 Jan 1995 12:49:35 -0500
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X-Sender: scorbe1@umbc8.umbc.edu
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(Sorry about taking so long, couldn't get on a system...anyway, there is
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one huge mistake in the story (But it doesn't effect anything really)
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which has Chakotay as the first officer of Voyager (I wrote this before
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details were known. Anyhow, there are spelling and grammar mistakes, but
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those are because I wrote and posted on first draft...no time to do
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otherwise. Enjoy)
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**************************** **************
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STAR TREK : DARKEST DAYS
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written by Sean Corbett
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************ ************** ************ **************
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Historians Note:
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The events that take place in this story are
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to take place one month after the incedent at
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Virdian III. (See Generations.)
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***** ***** ****
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PROLOGUE
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The rain continued to fall on the remains of the four century old
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house, burnt to the ground only a month before. Former Captain of the
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starship Enterprise, Jean-Luc Picard, stood at what would had been the
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front doorway, looking at the wreckage, knowing his entire family had
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perished in it. He was the last of the Picards, a family knee deep in
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costume and culture, and tradition. All of what the millenia old family
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had been now rested on the shoulders of one man.
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For the thirtieth day, Picard had come to pay homeage, to grieve,
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to look on in disbelief at the fate of his only living relatives. The
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rain that had fallen had soaked the ground, letting the ashes of the
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wooden home swell and give off a musty odor. Standing beside the once
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great shipship commander, was the only person to survive the fire; the
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housekeeper, Elizabeth. She had suffered only a minor burn on his arm,
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trying to help Picards' own brother out of the house, but she just wasn't
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strong enough. He had died, and Picard knew that she had at least tried.
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He turned away, looking down the worn dirt road, hoping that
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someone would come, perhaps to rescue him from this miserable depression
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he had found himself wallowing in. But no one came, not a single person
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had shown up at his vineyard in more than a month. I don't belong here,
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he thought, I need to get out of here, before it gets to me.
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It was too late, it had already gotten to him.
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An hour later, the rain had all but stopped and the sun shined
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high over the mountains that kept this valley secure for thousands of
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years. Picard had looked up and wondered when the call would come, the
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call for a new command. He and his command crew had been given "extended
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shoere leave" which meant that no command was ready for them. The rest of
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the crew, the ones who were well enough after the crash, had all been
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reassigned to other vessels.
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Unlike the last few days, Picard had not found himself picking
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through the rubble for anything that may possibly have any value to him,
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anything sentimental. Today he walked the length of his yard, looking at
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the vines, hoping that he would be able to rebuild someday on what had
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fallen. He noticed the sun had dissappeared, looking up, hoping that no
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more rain was coming, he saw a shuttle glide down from the heavens, land
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near what had been the front yard, and a young officer emerge.
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It's about time, he thought.
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The young cadet, it seemed, walked hurried over to Picard, who had
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started his way back to the house. A house that no long lived.
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From the distance, he could hear the man say, "Captain Jean-Luc
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Picard? Priority One Message form 'Fleet Command." Now that was something
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he hadn't expected. Priority One, he thought, what in god's name would
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they do that for.
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When they were finally face to face, "Sir, Admiral Necheyev wishes
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you to return to the City immediately. There seems to be a problem,
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Captain. ".
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Picard took the cue, "Delta Problem?".
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"Aye, sir,"the boy said, "It is definitely a ... Delta Problem."
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He could see Picard turn pale, so pale he looked like the android. I
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should have asked what a 'Delta Problem' is when I was back at
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headquarters, the young officer said.
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"Very good, Ensign. Let me get my things, and we can leave."
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CHAPTER ONE
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"Two hundred?" Sisko exclaimed, he wanted to strangle the little
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bastard, "Where exactly do you think you're going to put two hundred
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cases of that Klingon goo?"
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Quark thought he had made one of the best deals of the year, he
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thought wrong, "I...uh...I was hoping to store them down where the mining
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equipment used to be, Commander."
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" Hmph, I can tell him where to put that crap," the Constable
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said from his place on the uppermost level of Ops, Deep Space Nine. He
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was in a good mood this morning, and it seemed everyone know knew.
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"What if it spoils?" Sisko asked.
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"Qau'Kla doesn't spoil, in fact it never goes bad." Quark said,
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"So how about it commander?"
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"Fine, fine..." Sisko said, heading back to his office, the doors
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swooshed open,"If I smell one bad thing down there, that Qau'Kla is
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getting beamed out."
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"Oh, thank you, Commander." Quark said, thankful that he didn't
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have to offer any latinum for the storage of the food.
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The doors closed behind Sisko, he walked around the edge of his
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desk and flopped down into his chair. A little peace and quiet, he
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thought, will do me a little good.
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The chime of the office door woke Ben Sisko from the light sleep
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he was moving into, Kira stood in the door, hands behind her back, "What
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is it, Major?"
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She hestitated at first, then took a step forward, "Commander,
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there is a Priority Two message on a secure subspace channel from
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StarBase 312." He knew why she hestitated, she hated those damned secret
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messages StarFleet liked to send.
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"Pipe in here," Sisko said. Kira turned on her heels and
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signaled to someone in Ops to make the proper contection. The door
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closed. On the viewscreen beside Sisko's desk, on the wall, appeared the
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symbol of the Federation on a blue background. The screen resolved into
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the image of an Andorian Admiral. Damn, Sisko thought, I can never
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remember his name. "Admiral, what can I do for you?"
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The blue creature frowned, or at least tried to, "That's Admiral
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T'Welz to you, Commander Sisko," he said through the slit that they
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called a mouth.
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"Yes, Sir." He was steaming, never liked him anyway.
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"Commander, I wanted to inform you that StarFleet intellegence
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indicates that the Borg have made an offensive move against the Romulan
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Star Empire." the antennae on his head moving in every which way. "We
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also feel that they have made a move against the Dominion in the Gamma
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Quadrant."
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"Understood, Admiral." SIsko said. My god, he thought, the Borg
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making two moves at once. This isn't good.
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"You are ordered to beef up security on the station and begin
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battle drills with your starship...completely precautionary, Commander,"
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the Andorian said, his dull blue skin looked marked with the scares of
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some Andorian disease.
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"Understood, sir"
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"Admiral T'Welz, StarBase 312, Out." and the screen reverted
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back to the Federation symbol and blue background.
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Damn, he thought, damn.
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CHAPTER TWO
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"So... there she is, " the 'Fleet Commander said. Beside him stood
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the night manager of the 'Fleet Museum, mostly there for security
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reasons, not for managing anything. They stood inside the well lit
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command center, a room with four inche thick transparent aluminum as a
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window looking out in the elder space station. Out there, beyond the
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glass, were the ships that had formed the Federation, mostly outdated
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rust-buckets, some stood ready for reassignment. One stood ready to fight
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the Borg, though her engineers had constructed her more than a hundred
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years before, for very different reasons.
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"I don't think I can make that kind of decision," the freckled
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twnety-something said, his uniform the standard, though he would never
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actually be part of StarFleet.
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"Oh, sure you can... besides, I'm not asking for permission, I'm
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giving an order." the Fleet Admiral said. He liked giving orders, he
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liked doing this kind of thing every now and again. It just gets to
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stuffy in the same office day in and day out, he thought.
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"Yes, sir," the night manager said, "But I don't think Bob's going
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to like this...". He reached down and flung the lights that shined on the
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old girl on, the metal plating of the ship glowed with age, a proud and
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respected ship, she was. She was also the last of her kind, the last of
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thirteen original ships. Now she was being readied for one final voyage,
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one that would be both a beginnings, of sorts, and a reunion, of sorts.
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"Don't worry, we'll take good care of her." The Admiral said,
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patting the young man on the back, "We're going to upgrade weapons and
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shields and that will be all... she'll look the same," trying to comfort
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the boy/man.
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"What about...uhh...what about a warp core? She doesn't have one,
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you know," the manager of the "Fleet Museum said.
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"We'll take care of that too..."
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*** *** *** ***
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"Captain Picard," the Romulan said, thinking of what he knew of
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the man,"Yes, we've met many times, all of them quite friendly, of
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course.". His outstretched brow, hiding his eyes for his commanders view.
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Sitting behind her desk, Sela said, " Good, Commander Tomolak,
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because it is you who will be in command of the 'Welcoming Committee'
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when Picard and StarFleet arrive.". She sat back, remembering what had
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transpired last time Picard and his damned android had been in Romulan
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territory. And that damned logical Spock, she thought, he's still here.
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Well, when we defeat the Borg and cripple the StarFleet when they leave,
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I'll take care of him...personally.
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CHAPTER THREE
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The Bridge loomed large before the incoming shuttle, Picard and
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Ensign Rome had spent the entire trip from France in complete silence.
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Picard worried about what the 'Delta Problem' could possibly mean to him,
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he knew of no ship that was ready for a new command. Picard didn't like
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the idea of taking someone elses command, he felt that they were just as
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worthy as he to command a starship. Though, he thought, I wouldn't mind
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taking the Cairo away from Jellico for a while, just so he knows what's like.
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The shuttle sat down on the pad that had been waiting for him. Two
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other officers ushered him from the shuttle into Main, the building that
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housed all of StarFleet command, the offices, the personnel. Up two
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levels and into the official office of the one admiral he didn't want to see,
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"Admiral Necheyev, I was wondering when you'd need me again."
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"We don't have time for the pleasantries, Captain," She said, he
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truly disliked her, and the feeling was seemingly mutual. She leaned
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forward, hands clasped on the glass desk. The door closed behind Picard;
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he took a seat directly in front of her. "Captain, we both know why we
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asked you back..."
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"Actually, all I've found out is that we have a 'Delta Problem'".
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"Yes, we do..."she said, her hair seemed different to Picard, then
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it seemed a different color everytime he saw her. "The Borg are making a
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move on the Beta quadrant, on the Romulans."
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"And they want us to help fend them off"
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"No... they don't want us to, but they need us to," she said,
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knowing full well that Picard meant that,"The Romulan's originally went to
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the Klingons for help, but were turned down by that damned Gowron. Fool,"
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she said.
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"Then they came to us,"
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"Not exactly...we recieved a subspace transmission from Ambassador
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Spock, on Romulus, telling of the problems with the Borg. It appears,
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Captain, that they want what the Romulans have" the Admiral said.
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"What's that?"
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"People, and many of them... it's seems that when their little
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stint with Lore ended, so did his type of terror."
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"Admiral, what's this got to do with me?"
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"Captain Picard, you are going to lead a 'Task Force' of sixteen
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starships, your ship not included, into Romulan space to help defeat the
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Borg."
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"I see," he said, remembering, all to vividly, what happened last
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time they had a run-in with the Borg, then everytime before that...
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"You have three days to find Will Riker and the rest of your
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command crew... I want you all back here for a briefing on the complete
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affair." she said, standing and moving toward the door.
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"I understand." he said, leaving the Office of Death, as he
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thought of it. Damn, he said, I wanted command back, but not to fight the
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Borg.
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**** **** **** ****
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Over the world, a world with no particular sun, orbited a ship of
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unknown origin. A ship with powers that would have seemed un-imaginable to
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anyone beyond the spacefarers of this century. A ship with a crew from
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worlds scattered about the Delta Quadrant, a ship that was built for a
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single purpose - to assimilate all intelligent being. A simple task that
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was made difficult by the stubborn nature of all living things, by the
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free will of those beings. No one wants to be controlled, no one wants to
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be changed. No one wants the Borg to come to their world, usually leaving
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it in rubble.
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That is, no one but those who lived here, on this world. A world of
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creatures they had never seen before, a creature that was impossible to
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assimilate, a creature that resembled a glowing puddle of water.
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It was here, on this world, that the unbelievable thing happened to
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the Borg, they made a deal. A deal of no assimilation, a deal that they
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could 'live' with. But it was this compromise that started the Borg to
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begin to access the only remaining subroutine in their memory circuits
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that came from the android named Lore.
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The subroutine was named : Deceit.
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CHAPTER FOUR
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Captains Log, Stardate 49001.3 :
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It took me two days to discover the whereabouts of Will, but
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I eventually tracked him down...New Orleans, what a city it
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has become... He just happened to know exactly where to
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contact the rest of the command crew of the now deceased
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Starship Enterprise.
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"So, Captain, you mind telling me what this is all about?" Riker
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said, sauntering over to stand at the bar next to his captain, and friend.
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"Will, it's classified information...not here, not now."Picard
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answered, "You'll just have to wait till we return to Command for the
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formal briefing by Admiral Necheyev."
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"Riker didn't like that, classified info. usually meant the
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Romulans, and Necheyev usually meant the Borg. But Picard was looking
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around, keeping a shifty eye on everyone, including the members of the
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jazz band playing in the corner.
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"So what are waiting for? I told Data to round up the rest and meet
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us at Command at 1800 hours." Will Riker, Commander of the USS Enterprise
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NCC 1701-D said.
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"Will, it takes only a moment to get to San Fransisco, and that's
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five hours from now...Why not just sitback and relax, it'll be the last
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time we'll get to do that, for a while." Picard said with a smile,
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rubbing the top of his bald, reflecting head.
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Riker didn't like the sound of the last line Picard fed him. What
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could he mean "for the last time for a while", he thought, it must be one
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hell of a mission StarFleet had cooked up for them.
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*** *** ***
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"Captain: Admiral Necheyev just passed by and told me to tell you
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that the briefing is being held in Conference Room two on Level five."
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Data announced as he stood up, leaving the the couch he had been sitting
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on lonely.
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"Fine, Mr. Data."
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"She also wishes me to inform you that the briefing will begin as
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soon as the last person arrives." Data stated matter-of-factly.
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"See, Will, I told you we weren't going to be late for anything."
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Picard said looking up the foot and a half up to his first officer.
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"Actually, Captain, You are the last two scheduled that have yet to
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arrive." Data piped in as the three began heading for the 'lift.
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Once they got to the fifth floor of the building that held the
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brain of StarFleet, they had nothing to do but pass three separate
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security checkpoints, before entering the room. Seated around the black
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marble table were the heads of StarFleet, his command crew, and the
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Romulan Ambassador to the Federation.
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"Nice of you to show up," a voice called out from halfway up the
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table, a familiar voice that sent shudders down the spine of the chrome-
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domed captain.
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"Admiral Necheyev, it's a pleasure to see you again," Picard said,
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knowing that the last time they spoke was directly after the destruction
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of the Enterprise, something she was not the least bit happy about.
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"Captain, we would like to get started as soon as possible...So if
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you and your men would take your seats, we could get started."She said,
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trying to assert her power over the older man.
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Picard, Riker, and Data moved around the table to take their
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seats, directly across from the Admiral, obviously she wanted to get so
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close to the captain that she smell his fear when word of the mission was
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told.
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Turning to his right, he could see that someone, an admiral he
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didn't recognize, had taken to the podium at the oppisite end of the
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table. "Ladies and Gentlemen, this meeting is being held to discuss a
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situation that is becoming all but too obvious to us at StarFleet
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Headquarters." The Admiral began. He seemed to babble, Picard drifted
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back to his encounter with Dr. Soran and Captain Kirk on Virdian III.
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When he came back to present, the admiral was finally getting to
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the jest of the meeting, "That's where you come in, Captain Picard."
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Oh no, he thought, I've been caught off guard. What's he talking
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about, damn. "Excuse me, Sir." was all he could come out with.
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"Captain, perhaps I didn't make it clear" the Vulcan Admiral
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said, "At the joint request of the Romulan Ambassador and Ambassador
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Spock, we at StarFleet command have decided to send a full task force
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into Romulan space so help defend against the Borg.". So that's what
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it was all about. Romulans versus the Borg, how couldn't I see that
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coming, Picard thought. Sitting next to him was Will Riker, who actually
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had seen that coming.
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"I realize that, Admiral, but what exactly does this have to do
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with me and my command crew." Picard said. Jean-Luc was beginning to
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feel a little overwhelmed when he finally got the fact that he was going
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to be the leader of that task force. "From what I've gotten from
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StarFleet Command, the next ship out of Utopia Planitia has already been
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assigned a crew."
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"True, Captain. That's why we've decided to split you're command
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crew into two separate groups. You will lead one ship into Romulan
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space, while Commander Riker is given command of The Enforcer." the
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Vulcan said.
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The Enforcer was the next ship to come out of Utopia Planitia,
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although not completed construction, she was combat ready. As for
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Picard," Begging the Admirals pardon, What ship am I going to command?"
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"As of this time, that information is classified and will be
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handed out when StarFleet deems it ready." Admiral Necheyev said from
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her seat across from Picard. He could see the dislike she had for him
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in her eyes.
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"That will be all... Thank You." the Vulcan Admiral said from the
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podium, before turning to his right and exiting before any further
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questions could be asked.
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"That was surely eye opening..." Riker said cynically into Picards
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ear.
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CHAPTER FIVE
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"I don't understand, Will" Picard said "They'll tell you what ship
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their giving you, but me...why not at least tell me what ship?". He was
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agitated, by the secrecy of the whole operation, as if they weren't
|
|
telling either of them anything.
|
|
"That seems to be the way they're going about everything these days,
|
|
sir" Riker said, that is, Captain Riker said. Before leaving the
|
|
conference room, Admiral Necheyev had 'field promoted' him to captain,
|
|
the better for keeping a crew in shape on such missions as these. A
|
|
captain, not a commander.
|
|
"On the contrary, sir" Data said, standing behind and between both
|
|
of them, biting on his finger nails. Geordi had yet to come up with a
|
|
way to get that damned emotion chip out of Data's fused circuitry, "They
|
|
have been quite open in the past with command decisions.".
|
|
"Data..." Picard said, he was agitated by the whole situation. He
|
|
remembered, all to well infact, their last meeting with the Borg.
|
|
"Sir," Will said, looking down at his former captain, but still
|
|
commanding officer," Perhaps we should begin to go over the crew
|
|
rosters, before I leave for Mars." His orders were already clear, a
|
|
packet had been handed to him on his way out with his additional command
|
|
pip, and the instructions on what to do once he got to the Utopia
|
|
Planitia yards in orbit around Mars.
|
|
"Will, what's the use going over crew rosters when your orders
|
|
have already told you Data and Geordi have been assigned to the
|
|
Enforcer. " Picard said, almost whining. He felt bad, he looked bad, he
|
|
just wanted to be alone. What Jean-Luc Picard needed was a good, health
|
|
mind-meld with a stern Vulcan, something to coo his emotions, and the
|
|
depression that overwhelmed him since the lost of his ship.
|
|
"I'm sure they'll have valuable, and well trained personell waiting
|
|
for you, when you get to your ship... whatever ship that may be." Will
|
|
said.
|
|
They did eventually go over the rosters before splitting up. Orders
|
|
were orders, Will thought. He had seen the orders, and knew what his
|
|
captain would be doing on this mission, not much, he told himself. A few
|
|
hours later, he and Data had arrived at Utopia Planitia, just in time to
|
|
watch them install the warp core from the command location in the
|
|
enormous station.
|
|
|
|
*** *** ***
|
|
|
|
"Well, doctor," Garak said, leaning over the table of virtually
|
|
untouched food, "What have you heard?"
|
|
"I don't know what you're talking about, Garak." Doctor Bashir
|
|
said from across the table. He noticed that Garak was prying into the
|
|
business of StarFleet a little more than usual. But, what did that
|
|
matter, everyone knew he was a spy. Wasn't he?
|
|
"Oh, come now, Doctor... We both know that StarFleet is sending
|
|
ships both here and into the Romulan Neutral Zone, I just wanted to know
|
|
why." plain and simple Garak said, "You know...curious and all."
|
|
"Garak, I do know why. I just can't say."Bashir said, looking
|
|
across the table at the Cardassian he ate lunch with at least one a week.
|
|
Garak made as if he was going to leave, but stopped when he heard Bashir
|
|
take a deep breathe, something the good doctor did right before he gave
|
|
up information. And he did it every time, "Well, Garak, you know it's not
|
|
really secret information...But it seems the Borg have attacked the
|
|
Romulans and the Dominion, and they aren't giving an inch to either."
|
|
So, Garak thought, it is true. The ROmulan went to the Federation
|
|
for assistance. They must be getting weak. "Why did the Romulans come to
|
|
the Federation, and not try the Klingons? They are closer you know..."
|
|
"Garak, the Romulans did go to the Klingons...and they turned them
|
|
down" Bashir said, wondering why they would do such a thing.
|
|
"You know, Doctor, you know why they turned them down?" Garak
|
|
asked, looking down at his glass, then up to see Bashir shake his head,
|
|
no. "I'll tell you why. The Klingons are most likely hoping that the
|
|
Federation does help the Romulans, then when the Federation leaves, when
|
|
the Borg are killed...then the Klingons will swoop down and conquer the
|
|
weakened Romulan empire..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER SIX
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Stand by on aft thrusters,"Riker said. His ship was complete,
|
|
crew and all. He just felt, he felt lonely not having Jean-Luc there. But
|
|
life would go on, besides he would see him soon enough.
|
|
"Aye, sir. Thrusters on stand-by" said Ensign Perez, he seemed a
|
|
little jumpy, but who wouldn't. THey were taking a ship straight from the
|
|
yard into battle, and just any battle, but battle with the Borg.
|
|
Something they all feared, and rightly so.
|
|
"Commander Data, inform Flight Control we are ready for
|
|
departure." Riker commanded. He enjoyed taking ships from Space Dock,
|
|
there was just something magical in it, no matter how many times they did
|
|
it. But this was different, there were different rules for taking ships
|
|
of these yards.
|
|
"Flight Control says, Enforcer is granted departure." Data said
|
|
from the helm console. Once they were to get into Romulan space, he would
|
|
transfer weapons control to his console, as well as taking care of the
|
|
helm controls.
|
|
"Very well, Mr. Data. Ensign, full power to the aft thrusters" and
|
|
the great ship jolted, then steadied, working her way out in reverse.
|
|
"Sir, we are clear of Utopia Planitia."
|
|
"Okay, Ensign, set course for the Romulan Neutral Zone. We are to
|
|
wait at Golondon 'Cor, for the rest of the task Force...minus Captain
|
|
Picard. His ship will be joining us later." Riker said, spilling the
|
|
beans early, who could blaim him? No game of twenty questions to play
|
|
later, "Full impulse." he said
|
|
"Once we are out of the system, take us warp, Mr. Data." Riker
|
|
said as he stood to leave. "You have the con, I'll be in my quarters.".
|
|
Someplace he feared that wouldn't be his for long. His ship shuddered
|
|
slightly, almost like a slow humming vibration, beneath his feet.
|
|
SOmething that wasn't felt on the decks of the Galaxy class starship he
|
|
served on for eight years.
|
|
But now he had a command, the newest ship in the fleet, the most
|
|
power ship going in the task force, his ship, his crew: things to be
|
|
reckoned with. Watch out Borg, he thought in the 'lift on his way down to
|
|
his quarters, here comes Will and the Enforcer. WHat a name, he thought, it
|
|
almost made him shake in his own boots, the ship better live up to it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER SEVEN
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Task Force Alpha has begun to take shape in orbit above Golondin
|
|
'Cor, Admiral." the officer said, troubled by the fact that most of those
|
|
on the ships in the task force weren't going to be coming home.
|
|
"Inform the Fleet Museum that that warp core is ready to be lifted
|
|
in," Admiral Necheyev said back to the young Bolian officer. She had full
|
|
control of every aspect of the mission, and her own fate, the reason she
|
|
decided to stay behind and let Jean-Luc take it. He really doesn't like
|
|
me, she thought, Good, all the better.
|
|
And she meant it.
|
|
"Aye, Admiral. Transmitting message, now.".
|
|
|
|
*** *** ***
|
|
|
|
Ben Sisko slid down the back of the couch, he was exhausted by
|
|
the drills and inspections he had given, by StarFleet order of course.
|
|
These are dangerous times, he thought, and everyone in danger, here, is
|
|
my responciblity. Damn.
|
|
The chiming of the door brought Sisko back to reality, from the
|
|
dreamy state he had been sliding into. Damn, he thought. "Yes," he said,
|
|
"Come."
|
|
The door slid open, in the light of the hall was silloquetted a
|
|
tall, bulky figure that the commander didn't recognize. He couldn't see a
|
|
face. "Commander Sisko?"
|
|
"Yes, what can I do for you?" was all he could say. There was no
|
|
worry of possible attack, he had Odo issue a secret officer to each
|
|
person on the station that seemed even remotely sispicious. He sat up a
|
|
little straighter, but made no move toward the individual.
|
|
"Commander...I have some information you may need..." the
|
|
individual said in a raspy tone. He was obviously using something to
|
|
disguise his voice, and doing a damned good job at it too.
|
|
"And what might that be?" Ben asked. This is getting interesting,
|
|
he thought. And here I am half a sleep, and barely paying attention.
|
|
"It has become known to those on 'the other side' that the Borg
|
|
and Jem'Hadar are pulling their forces together to come and conquer the
|
|
Alpha Quadrant." the large person said, being sure to keep the lights to
|
|
his back and in the commanders eyes.
|
|
"That hardly sounds like the Borg, to me."
|
|
"All I can say, is that it is...true. The Founders came to an
|
|
agreement to let the Alpha Quadrant be completely assimilated by the
|
|
Borg, if they would agree to leave the worlds of the Dominion alone." the
|
|
figure said. "I'm sorry, Commander, but it seems you're the first line of
|
|
defense for the Federation, for when they do come."
|
|
"Who are you?" Sisko asked, knowing he wasn't going to get an
|
|
answer. I need to rattle the guy a little, he thought, but just keep him
|
|
here. At least until someone passes in the corridor, he thought.
|
|
"I'm sorry." and the figure dissappeared, he just dissappeared as
|
|
if beamed off the station, but without the effect. Gone.
|
|
Damn.
|
|
|
|
*** *** *** *** ***
|
|
|
|
"No, sir, no one beamed off the station at that time. No, none."
|
|
O'Brien told him. Sisko had dragged himself up to Ops., he needed to find
|
|
out who the mysterious person was, and most importantly if what the man
|
|
said was true.
|
|
"Okay...well, look, I know what I saw," Ben Sisko said, worried
|
|
and irritated. Damn, he thought, why couldn't he wait 'til morning.
|
|
"I find it hard to believe that someone appeared in your doorway,
|
|
then just dissappeared." the Constable said. Odo was not happy with all
|
|
of the StarFleet personnel that had been arriving on the station. There
|
|
seemed to be twice as many in those uniforms, than there ever was in
|
|
Cardassian chest plates.
|
|
"Dax, contact StarFleet HeadQuarters" Sisko ordered, "I want to
|
|
talk to someone. When you get them, pipe it through to my office."
|
|
"Understood, Commander."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER EIGHT
|
|
|
|
|
|
The ship slowly moved forward, the first time her impulse engines
|
|
had tasted the hydrogen gas for fusion in almost seventy years. A new
|
|
warp core, upgraded weapons and shields, newer, better sensors, that's
|
|
all she needed to be brought into the twenty-fourth century. Just because
|
|
somethings old, that doesn't mean you throw it away.
|
|
Sitting at the helm console was a young cadet straight out of the
|
|
academy, obviously a history major. Seated at the communications console,
|
|
directly behind the center seat, was a large, burly Klingon officer. He
|
|
would be most likely the first, and the last, Klingon to ever serve as an
|
|
officer on board a Constitution Class vessel. When this ship was built,
|
|
his people were at war with the Federation, something he was not quick to
|
|
forget.
|
|
Seated in the center seat was Captain Jean-Luc Picard.
|
|
"Mr. Worf, contact Utopia Planitia, give them our ETA and explain
|
|
that they don't have much time to install the Warp Drive." Picard said,
|
|
spinning the large, bulky, underpadded chair, around a full hundred and
|
|
eighty degrees. Why couldn't they make them like this, he thought, it
|
|
would be so much easier than standing to talk to someone behind me. But
|
|
then, Picard realized, I don't have a ship anymore.
|
|
"Aye, sir" Worf said from the undersized chair that was constructed
|
|
for obviously smaller people, in a different era. "They could have
|
|
upgraded these systems, if they wanted to make this mission easy." he
|
|
mumbled.
|
|
The consoles, except for the helm, had been untampered, the same
|
|
switch boards, the same overhead monitors, the same damned blinking
|
|
lights, gave the bridge of the USS Exeter the same feel it always had.
|
|
"Mr. Worf, this vessel is an antique...be proud to just be aboard,"Picard
|
|
said turning back to the smaller than expected Main View Screen.
|
|
Worf nodded, then set to making the call to Mars.
|
|
"Sir, we are clear of the Museum, course heading, sir?" the young,
|
|
red-headed officer said, from the helm. His eyes were lit, as if he had
|
|
made a great discovery, a feeling that Picard had felt years earlier.
|
|
"Ensign Topper, best speed to Utopia Planitia." Picard said, as he
|
|
stood to leave the confines of the drastically small bridge. Damn, he
|
|
thought, no ready room. "Oh, Mr. Worf, make sure that our Chief Engineer
|
|
is ready, and on time, when we get to the Yard." he said turning his
|
|
attention back to his security/communications/weapons chief. A nod from
|
|
Worf, and Picard entered the sole turbolift that led to and from the
|
|
bridge.
|
|
He grasped the thick handle, "Level Four" he said to no one. This
|
|
mission was difinitely becoming interesting. He was the greatest starship
|
|
captain of the twenty-fourth century, on his way to lead a task force
|
|
against the Borg, in Romulan space, in a hundred year old starship. I
|
|
don't belong in the seat, he thought, Kirk does. This was his kind of
|
|
ship, not mine. Why, he thought to himself.
|
|
The doors swooched open to the fourth level of the saucer, an
|
|
angular hallway stretched out before him. At least I'll have a little of
|
|
an advantage, he thought, but one like Jim Kirk would. I'll have to
|
|
manage, if I want to survive, if we're all going to survive.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER NINE
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Commander Sisko, there is nothing we can say on the situation. It
|
|
does appear that the Borg are making a move in the Gamma Quadrant, but
|
|
that be no means...means that the Borg are coming through." the Andorian
|
|
Admiral said, leaning forward close to the view screen. He was agitated,
|
|
irritated that Sisko had found out something he wasn't supposed to know.
|
|
Now all he could do for the time, is deny that anything was taking place.
|
|
"Then, why, Admiral,"Sisko began, " is StarFleet sending six
|
|
starships to this sector?". Sisko was eager to hear the explanation for
|
|
this one. He found it hard to believe what he was being told by his
|
|
superior officer, compared to what a vanishing person had said only an
|
|
hour earlier in his doorway.
|
|
"Three of the ships are for protection against the Marquis, they
|
|
are : the Avenger, the Revere, and the Voyager. "the Admiral said. His
|
|
command pips/pin sparkling in the lights that lit his office. They also
|
|
happened to light up the droplets of sweat that were forming on his blue
|
|
brow.
|
|
"And what of the other three...if I may ask, sir" Ben Sisko asked,
|
|
hestitating a bit, not wanting to make the admiral made. I don't even
|
|
remember, he thought, his name. Damn.
|
|
"Commander, you tread a very thin line," the Andorian said, his
|
|
slit like mouth turning slightly downward. "The other three are coming to
|
|
survey the area around the wormhole better than before..." then the
|
|
transmission started to break-up, just a little static at first, but then
|
|
it worsened to the point that Sisko could no longer make out the face or
|
|
the voice. Damn, he thought.
|
|
Slapping his communicator, "Dax, what's happening...the
|
|
transmission from StarBase 312 has broken up." he shouted, the static
|
|
still loud in the background.
|
|
Over the comm channel, he heard Dax, "Ben, it's being jammed at
|
|
StarBase 312. There's nothing we can do."
|
|
Sisko thought about that one, what was going on, who does the
|
|
Admiral think he's fooling, Sisko thought, he already told me that the
|
|
Borg were coming, just not when. He's hiding something, he's hiding
|
|
something big, he thought. "Dax, send Priority One Message to StarFleet
|
|
Command HeadQuarters... on Earth.".
|
|
"Ready when you are, Ben" she said. But Ben had to think, what
|
|
exactly was he going to say, that the admiral at StarBase 312...what was
|
|
his name? T'Well? T'Welz? that's it... that Admiral T'Welz at StarBase
|
|
312 was keeping vital information from him? that the Admiral was faking a
|
|
jammed transmission, so not to give out that information? He thouht, I'll
|
|
them the truth, I'll tell them about the mysterious man, and the Admiral,
|
|
and the ships that are being sent out here, and the fact that I believe
|
|
the man about the Borg and the Jem'Hadar. Damn, he thought, this is
|
|
turning out to be one hell of a week.
|
|
|
|
*** *** *** ***
|
|
|
|
"Captain to the bridge, Captain to the bridge" Worf called over the
|
|
PA. He had had trouble with his communicator, something about the new
|
|
design, they never seemed to work right when they brung out new ones. And
|
|
that went with these as well. He was forced with doing it the way they
|
|
did it when this ship was originally in service.
|
|
Picard was already on his way to the bridge when Worf's booming
|
|
voice filled the corridor. He walked out to the little comm station on
|
|
the wall as he waited for a 'lift to stop at this deck. He realized
|
|
things were going to be slower, the ship was slower, but there were good
|
|
enough reasons for it. He punched the little white knob in with the side
|
|
of his hand and spke into the speaker, "Ackowledged, Mr. Worf. I'm on my
|
|
way."
|
|
Once Picard got to the bridge and settled down into the center seat,
|
|
he began giving orders on approach to Utopia Planitia, the largest ship
|
|
building station in the Federation, also known as "the Yard". It took
|
|
five minutes for them to get it right, but eventually the ship docked and
|
|
was ready for the transfer of the new, twenty-fourth century warp drive,
|
|
into the century old ship. After the ship had been steadied, and the
|
|
gravitational moorings had locked, it was up to the "Yard Crew" to finish
|
|
the job. Only one problem remained, the Chief Engineer hadn't shown up
|
|
yet. And he was the only one who knew exactly how to calibrate and set
|
|
the engines to working order, something that would need to be done before
|
|
they went anywhere.
|
|
Two hours passed and still there was no word on where the ChEng was
|
|
at, another two hours and the warp core would be completely installed.
|
|
The Chief had two hours to show, then he was going to have to face the
|
|
wrath of Admiral Necheyev, alongside Picard. Time moved so slow on ships
|
|
that aren't going anywhere, Picard thought, especially when the ship is
|
|
waiting for a single individual.
|
|
Who finally showed up, forty minutes before the scheduled departure
|
|
time. It had better be enough time, he better have a damned good excuse
|
|
for being so late, Picard thought, leaving the bridge for the transprter
|
|
room.
|
|
|
|
*** *** ***
|
|
|
|
"Commander Sisko," Admiral S'Tral, a Vulcan,said," The mysterious
|
|
individual that you speak of was one of the Founders who we have been
|
|
taking since he defected from the Gamma Quadrant three weeks ago." His
|
|
stern, loud voice showed no sign of emotion, and he seemed to be at ease
|
|
giving out information that Admiral T'Welz of StarBase 312 had been
|
|
reluctant to tell.
|
|
"One of the Founders. A Changling, you mean?" Sisko was stunned, he
|
|
had felt like a little chill start at the bottom of his spine and work
|
|
its' cold sweaty way up his back. He didn't know what caused it, the
|
|
Admirals voice, or the facts he had just heard.
|
|
"That is what I said, Commander."
|
|
"So it's true?" Sisko asked, then paused and studdered to ask a
|
|
follow-up, " The Borg and the Jem'Hadar?"
|
|
"That seems to be the case. Intelligence indicates that the
|
|
Jem'Hadar are adding 'Phasing/ Cloaking Devices" to their ships as well.
|
|
StarFleet knows of only one culture that has successfully been able to
|
|
construct such devices: the Romulans" the Vulcan said, looking to
|
|
something off screen, then back again, " Which means that the Borg have
|
|
successfully assimilated someone from inside the Romulan science
|
|
devision. The conclusion that the information passed from the Romulans to
|
|
the BOrg to the Jem'Hadar is the only logical explanation." He was quite
|
|
a stirring individual, Sisko thought, he's so calm and collective it's
|
|
almost scarry.
|
|
Sisko was silent for a moment, then decided to go ahead with the
|
|
origianl question, "And those are the reasons for the ships?"
|
|
"That is also correct, Commander." The Vulcan must have
|
|
accomplished Kol'Hinnar, to be able to be... detached, Sisko thought.
|
|
Bringing him back to reality, "Of course, StarFleet had given the order
|
|
for the Voyager to assist you in the continuing problems of the Marquis a
|
|
few months ago. It just so happened that she will be arriving with the
|
|
other ships."
|
|
"I see."
|
|
"Commander Sisko, I've been instructed to give you the following
|
|
orders." he paused to read directly from something offscreen, or most
|
|
likely directly from memory, " To Commander, Deep Space Nine : StarFleet
|
|
has come to the decision to evacuate all non-essential personal from the
|
|
station. The Avenger, the Revere, the Voyager, the Houston, the Bounty,
|
|
and the Quebec: will be given top priority at Deep Space Nine. You are to
|
|
be their homebase. Orders will arrive with Captain Janeway, of the USS
|
|
Voyager. Captain Janeway is in command of this mission, now named Task
|
|
Force Beta. Thank you, StarFleet Command, General Defense Council, San
|
|
Fransisco, Earth." He looked up and into the screen.
|
|
"Understood, Admiral." Sisko's head was swirling, he needed
|
|
sleep. At least the 'Task Force' as they were calling it wouldn't arrive
|
|
for two more days.
|
|
"Admiral S'Tral, StarFleet Command. Out." The screen went blue
|
|
with the background of the Federation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER TEN
|
|
|
|
|
|
The transporter effect was finally leaving, the Chief Engineer had
|
|
arrived. There was a time when he thought that the transprters on these
|
|
ships were the fastest in the galaxy, now they were the slowest.
|
|
Standing in front of the console was Captain Picard, standing
|
|
straight and tall, at least as tall as he could. Behind him, a young
|
|
Vulcan woman worked the console. Once the dazzling effects of the
|
|
transporter left, Picard stepped forward, reaching a hand out to his new
|
|
arrival," Captain Scott, how nice it is to see you again," was his
|
|
standard opening line when someone beamed aboard his ship.
|
|
Captain Montegomery Scott stood for a moment looking around the
|
|
comforting confines of the main transporter room; a room he hadn't seen
|
|
look this nice in almost a century (if you count the time in the
|
|
transporter of the Janolin.). His gaze finally settled on Jean-Luc
|
|
Picard, standing in front of him, "Captain, permission to come aboard?"
|
|
he asked, almost just for nastalagas sake alone.
|
|
"Permission granted." Picard answered. He smiled broadly at the
|
|
hefty Scot who seemed to shine with joy. But they had to get down to
|
|
business, this was a war they were going to fight. Wasn't it? As the
|
|
former Captain of the Engineering aboard the original Enterprise came
|
|
down off the padd, Picard said, " Sir, we really do have a lot of work to
|
|
do. First, you need to get into uniform. Second, the warp engines need
|
|
calibrated and started up."
|
|
Scottie looked down at his feet, losing that sense of
|
|
happiness," Aye, sir. Tha's what took me so long. Ah couldna find me
|
|
uniform." But then he held up the bag he had brung on, "I found it though."
|
|
"Good, Captain. Then let's get to work. We have fourty minutes to
|
|
get out of here," Picard said, meaning that the ruining of the schedule
|
|
would cause a hassle for the rest of the Task Force, and for them when
|
|
Admiral Necheyev finds out.
|
|
Mr. Scott looked him in the eye and told what he knew to be a bold
|
|
faced lie, "Sir, it'll take a' least a' hour ta get to engines warmed
|
|
up." He knew that he could do it in less than thirty minutes, but he told
|
|
Picard that, then how could he make a reputation in the twenty-fourth
|
|
century as being a 'Miracle Worker'.
|
|
Two minutes later Scottie was in engineering beginning to get the
|
|
new engines on line. This is what he missed, this time it was real. He
|
|
thanked the gods that StarFleet had come to him, a retired old man, for
|
|
this particular job. Hello ma babies, he thought when he looked at the back
|
|
of the ship at the different, yet similiar parts to ones he had warmed up
|
|
on a hundred years before.
|
|
|
|
*** *** ***
|
|
|
|
"Two days out of Deep Space Nine, sir,"the first officer of the
|
|
USS Voyager said. His name was Chakotay, a native of a world other than
|
|
the one his ancestors came from. Chakotay was the first of the native
|
|
americans from off world colonies to finally join StarFleet. A tall, dark
|
|
skins man who seemed to take control, when his captain failed to give
|
|
commands. The single thing that drew most of the crew to ask him
|
|
questions about his long lived culture, was the pin striped tattoo that
|
|
took up much of the left side of his forehead.
|
|
"Very good, Commander," the captain of the satrship Voyager said
|
|
from her commander chair, still the center seat. Captain Kathrine Janeway
|
|
was finally in command of a descent starship, though she would never
|
|
complain about anyother command she ever had. "Alert the other ships that
|
|
we will be doing another warp core breach drill in about an hour. Perhaps
|
|
they should do their own?" she said, more question than statement, though
|
|
she had complete authority over the six ships, seven ships very soon.
|
|
"Tuvok, I want security posted on the bridge and outside the
|
|
observation lounge at all times, starting now." Janeway said. She knew
|
|
the complete story of what was going down in the Gamma Quadrant,
|
|
evidently the Federation had someone on the inside with the Dominion. She
|
|
also knew the mission they had been assigned, the new mission that is.
|
|
She thought the Marquis would be put on hold, at least until this Borg
|
|
and Jem'Hadar situation cleared up.
|
|
"Captain, this is a StarFleet vessel. I find it illogical to post
|
|
guards on a ship that all have sworn to protect." the dark skinned vulcan
|
|
said. His dark, thin sharp moving around so to see the woman he was
|
|
speaking to.
|
|
"I realize that everyone has taken an oath to serve the
|
|
Federation, Tuvok, but not everyone on this ship is quite so honest and
|
|
logical as you are." she said, looking up at the greenblooded, pointy
|
|
eared alien.
|
|
"Understood, sir." he said.
|
|
Time passes so slow when you have secrets to tell, Kathy Janeway
|
|
thought to herself, I need to get the Captains of the other ships
|
|
together with that commander of DS9 to go over strategies. Sisko, that's
|
|
it, Commander Sisko...his wife died at the Wolf 359 at the hands of the
|
|
Borg.
|
|
"I'll be in my quarters," She said, standing and heading for the
|
|
'lift,"Alert me when the drill is about to begin. You have the conn, Mr.
|
|
Chakotay." And she left.
|
|
|
|
*** *** *** *** ***
|
|
|
|
The large metallic crates had been beamed into the storage area,
|
|
an area that had once been known to station dwellers as "The Pit". Two
|
|
hundred of the large objects were neatly stacked leaving a path, a
|
|
walkway, straight down the center of the room. The large doors that led
|
|
to this room had been built to keep people in, hundreds of people. In one
|
|
hundred and ninety-nine of the cases were slabs of Klingon goo, known
|
|
Qua'Kla. In the two hundredth box, was an explosive device. A device that
|
|
have made it past the sensors and scans of the freighter that brought
|
|
them here, of the station, and of the transporter that beamed them here.
|
|
It was of a technology not even O'Brien could guess, but when Quark had
|
|
openned the case, he guessed that the Klingons had planted it. Thus, it
|
|
had to be Klingon.
|
|
"What should we do with it, Commander?" O'Brien asked, looking
|
|
down into the dark box at the little object, no larger than tricorder.
|
|
"Can you disarm it?"
|
|
"I don't know, sir."
|
|
"Then don't bother, just get it off my station...get it as far
|
|
away from here as possible." Sisko said looking down into the crate, he
|
|
angered at Quark for bringing the stuff on board, he was angry at himself
|
|
for agreeing to let Quark bring on, and he was angry at StarFleet for not
|
|
telling him everything.
|
|
"I'll see what I can do, Sir." O'Brien said.
|
|
Standing back, away from them was Quark, "Now wait a minute, I
|
|
paid for two hundred cases, not a hundred and ninety-nine. I want that."
|
|
"Quark, If you say one more word, you're going where ever Chief
|
|
O'Brien takes that thing...and you're staying with it. Get it?" Sisko
|
|
exclaimed. He was not in a good mood.
|
|
"Ah...ah...uh...Okay, commander." and with that Quark left
|
|
running out of the door, and back to his bar, his prize possession.
|
|
Sisko didn't have a clue what O'Brien was going to do with the
|
|
thing, so he asked and was replied with, "I'll take a runabout through
|
|
the wormhole, and leave it on the otherside.". O'Brien thought himself a
|
|
genuis for the answer.
|
|
"Just be careful, Chief."
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER ELEVEN
|
|
|
|
|
|
The bridge filled with the acrid smell of burning flesh and control
|
|
boards. No one was left at their stations when the sudden jerk of a
|
|
exploding photon torpedo nailed the ship. The smell made some of the
|
|
bridge crew feel sick, and others were blinded by the black smoke that
|
|
was finally being vented. The ship had taken the worst beating in its
|
|
long career in the 'Fleet. Picard was hunched over the command chair,
|
|
Worf was lying unconscious near the turbolift doors, the helmsman and
|
|
navigator were both already dead. The alarms had sounded and the hull
|
|
snapped in two, floating, drifting endlessly through the rubble of a
|
|
dozen other ships. All hands were lost.
|
|
"Captain Picard to the bridge, Captain Picard to the bridge," the
|
|
voice of Worf came booming over th e loudspeaker in his cabin. Jean-Luc
|
|
Picard sat straight up, half afraid of what he had been dreaming about,
|
|
and half afraid of what Worf wanted.
|
|
Two minutes later, Picard walked onto the bridge, a bridge he still
|
|
wasn't ready for, a bridge that he felt wasn't his. He stumbled over to
|
|
Worf, at the communications console, still unsure of the ship and
|
|
himself. He was scared of what he had been thinking of back home, or what
|
|
he used to call home, and what he had become, a tired, old man.
|
|
"Yes, Mr. Worf?" he asked the Klingon. It was almost comical to see
|
|
the large man sitting in a chair made for someone other than himself,
|
|
someone half his side, someone most likely gentler than he.
|
|
The Klingon looked up, Picard could almost see the humilation of
|
|
what he was doing and where he was stationed in his face, and replied,
|
|
"Captain Scott informs us that the engines are ready when you are."
|
|
Wow, Picard thought, he said it would take an hour. And how long
|
|
did it take, a half hour, he thought, damn he is good. "Bridge to
|
|
Engineering."
|
|
"Scott here."
|
|
"Mr. Scott, I'm told the engines are almost ready."
|
|
"Aye, sir. One more test an' the' all yours."
|
|
"Let's know when you're ready, Captain Scott." Picard said,
|
|
closing the channel. He moved down around the bright red handrail and
|
|
over to the center seat. Relaxing down into the padded chair, he crossed
|
|
his legs and spoke to the helmsman,"Helm, what is our current course and
|
|
speed?"
|
|
"Sir, we are on a heading to Golondin 'Cor, speed full impulse.
|
|
We will reach our systems Oort cloud in fifteen minutes." Ensign Topper
|
|
said, facing the Main Viewscreen. He had loved to use the holosuites at
|
|
the Acedemy to fool around with starships of the early periods. But he
|
|
never thought he would actually get the chance to be aboard a ship like
|
|
this, never in a million years. His reference to the systems Oort cloud
|
|
was only that a refence, it made no difference of when they could go to warp.
|
|
"Very good, Ensign." Picard said, leaning back in the great
|
|
chair. He swiveled to look at the Bolian at the Science Library station
|
|
to his right. "And you are?..." he asked, the Bolian had been watching
|
|
Picard since he stepped foot on the bridge. Picard had felt foolish
|
|
having to ask such questions, but he hadn't had time to look over a
|
|
complete crew roster. All he knew was that this ship had four hundred or
|
|
so regular crew when they used to on duty, but for this mission the
|
|
Exeter would carry less than two hundred and fifty personnel.
|
|
" Ensign Yalla, Sir!" the bald-headed Bolian said, sitting
|
|
straight up at his station. He was obviously a green cadet, never having
|
|
served on a starship before. A green bolian, a green bluey, Picard
|
|
thought, almost chuckling aloud.
|
|
"At ease, Ensign," Picard said, hearing Worf make a little
|
|
snickering sound behind him. He swiveled to look at the Klingon, at the
|
|
moment the comm link to Engineering clicked back on.
|
|
"Engineering to the Bridge," Scott said.
|
|
Picard punched the little red button on the right hand console of
|
|
the chair,"Bridge here, go ahead."
|
|
"Warp engines are ready, sir."
|
|
"A true miracle worker, Mr. Scott" Picard said, remembering the
|
|
records he had read about Montegomery Scott and his former Captains'
|
|
nickname for the Scot.
|
|
"We're ready for warp speed when you are Captain Kirk...uh..uh..
|
|
.AH mean, Captain Picard." Scottie said, stumbling over his words, his
|
|
mistakes, his still grieving heart. He knew he had lost more than a ship,
|
|
more than a starship captain, but also a friend for the second time.
|
|
"That's quite alright Mr. Scott." Picard said, truly meaning it.
|
|
"Oh, and Captain, call me 'Scottie'. Tha' what Ah like." his
|
|
accent getting thick and hard to understand, like it always did when he
|
|
was pain.
|
|
"Okay, Scottie. Picard Out." he said, turning back to the
|
|
viewscreen, seeing only stars out there, but feeling more grief for the
|
|
greatest starship captain that died a cruel, and unjust death only a
|
|
month before. A death he could feel hurt Scottie as much as the death of
|
|
his family had hurt him, only that Scottie would have to feel it for the
|
|
second time.
|
|
"Hold course, helm. Warp Seven."
|
|
"Aye, sir. Ready for warp factor seven." the young redhead said.
|
|
Standing up and making a small pointing gesture to the screen,
|
|
something that Worf had seen countless times before.
|
|
"Engage."
|
|
|
|
*** *** *** *** *** ***
|
|
|
|
"Well, Will, what are supposed to do? Just wait here?" the Chieg
|
|
Medical Officer of the USS Enforcer said. Dr. Beverly Crusher had been
|
|
assigned to what ever ship Picard was bringing, so that meant he was
|
|
going to get stuck with whoever Command could spare. Fortunately it was
|
|
someone he knew, Dr. Kate Pulaski. The last time they had spoke was only
|
|
moments before she left the Enterprise to return to a post at the
|
|
Acemady. She never really liked serving aboard starships anyway, besides
|
|
Bev Crusher was much better at ship medicine than she was.
|
|
"Doctor, we are not waiting for Captain Picard, we are in the
|
|
middle of a serious battle drill, so will you, please, just leave the
|
|
bridge or be quiet until we're finished?" Captain Riker said from the
|
|
center seat of his bridge. My bridge, he thought, I like the sound of
|
|
that...My bridge.
|
|
"Why are the damned drilling, we know this is suicide?" she
|
|
breathed, leaving the bridge, stomping her way out,"This is the dumbest
|
|
assed thing I've ever let myself get talked into!" She knew as well as he
|
|
did, that they didn't get along. But he had no word in the matter, all
|
|
came to him from above.
|
|
Captain William T. Riker didn't have the time to run after a
|
|
doctor to make up, he had a ship to run, and a battle drill to conduct.
|
|
Damn, he thought turning his attention back to the screen. "Evassive
|
|
manuever : Riker Zeta Tau Six!" he screamed over the klaxons that began
|
|
to sound the closeness of death, a fake death, but still a shakingly real
|
|
expereince he hoped he wouldn't have to go through on this mission.
|
|
"Too late, Captain. The Warp Core breached two point three seconds
|
|
before your command. The Enforcer has been destroyed." Data said, with
|
|
little unexpected emotion from his helm console. He turned to look at the
|
|
captain of the vessel, his freind for eight years, Will Riker.
|
|
But Will had slumped down into the padds of the center seat. He was
|
|
drifting elsewhere, someplace Data couldn't go, even with his damned
|
|
emotion chip. Damn, he thought, maybe she's right, Maybe this is crazy.
|
|
Hell, he thought, maybe the Borg are right.
|
|
Maybe Resistance is Futile.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER TWELVE
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Voyager to Space Station Deep Space Nine, come in please."
|
|
"Deep Space Nine here, go ahead Voyager." Jadzia Dax said, looking
|
|
down at the half empty cup of coffee she had sitting on her console. She
|
|
didn't like being to the comm officer too much, and it was quite funny
|
|
how it showed through, a slight scowl on her beautiful face.
|
|
"Deep Space Nine, Task Force Beta requesting permission to dock,"
|
|
the feminine voice said, no face to match; only an audio transmission.
|
|
Ah, Jadzia thought, this must be our fearless leader, Captain Kate
|
|
Janeway.
|
|
"Voyager, please stand by..." She said, turning to head up the
|
|
stairs to Sisko's office. Dax had noticed the past two days that Ben
|
|
Sisko had hidden himself in his office, only leaving to go to his cabin.
|
|
She wondered why the commander hadn't been overlooking the evacuation
|
|
process as he should have been.
|
|
As Jadzia reached the steps to ascend to the closed off office, she
|
|
noticed Sisko already standing at the top of the stairs, looking down at
|
|
her. She felt quite a bit frightened by the fact that she had almost run
|
|
in to him; especially when she hadn't heard the familiar 'whooooosh' of
|
|
the doors openning or closing.
|
|
"Captain Janeway,"Sisko said loud and clear, over shadowing the
|
|
others in Ops., drowning out the voices of all the other StarFleet
|
|
officers working their posts. He continued," this is Commander Benjamin
|
|
Sisko, commanding officer of Deep Space Nine. It seems that your six
|
|
starships are a bit too much of a strain on this station."
|
|
"I see," was all they heard over the comm link. Moments pasted,
|
|
Sisko felt himself feeling foolish for not picking up earlier, but when
|
|
he go to speak he found himself cut off, "Then what do you propose we do,
|
|
Commander."
|
|
Ben Sisko felt as if he was being talked down to, something he was
|
|
used to. Nonetheless, something he hated,"Perhaps two starships should
|
|
patrol the area around the station and the wormhole...only letting them
|
|
beam people over."
|
|
"You make it sound, Commander, as if the evacuation of non-essen
|
|
tials is not yet complete." Her voice digging into his heart, paining him
|
|
even to speak. He could tell this was starting off on the wrong foot,
|
|
something that he didn't want to happen. Remember Admiral Necheyev, he
|
|
thought.
|
|
"That would be correct, Captain. We are having to 'bus' people to
|
|
Bajor and surrounding worlds. It seemed to me that StarFleet didn't want
|
|
a panic attack on their hands when they gave me the order to evacuate my
|
|
station." Sisko replied to her informal question, placing emphasis on My,
|
|
letting her know who was incharge of the station. Of course, he knew,
|
|
that she had overall control of the mission at hand.
|
|
"How long, Commander?" she asked, referring to the evac.
|
|
"Two or three more hours." was his sole sentence.
|
|
"We will dock three ships now," Janeway said," then once the
|
|
evacuation is complete, another will dock. Two will keep an orbital
|
|
pattern around the station at all time.". She was originally going to do
|
|
it that way to begin with, but said nothing of that. She didn't want to
|
|
upset the commander anyfurther than he already was.
|
|
"My crew will handle the arrangements, Captain." Sisko said,
|
|
taking a step back toward his office. He wanted to be secure in there,
|
|
and to perhaps take a second to review this 'Captain Janeways' StarFleet
|
|
file. Though he couldn't resist,"And welcome to Bajor, and Space Station
|
|
Deep Space Nine." The usual greeting they gave tourists from anywhere
|
|
outside the Alpha Quadrant.
|
|
The comm link was broken, from shipside.
|
|
|
|
**** ***** **** ****
|
|
|
|
"Commander, we are cloaked..." the sub-centurion said from
|
|
his post to the right of his commanding officer. The ship and its
|
|
two sisters had arrived only moments before the Federation starships
|
|
began their drills, awaiting their own commanding officer.
|
|
The Warbird was an easy target for any ship that had
|
|
weapons; it was twice the size of any known StarFleet vessel, and a
|
|
match for three times the length of most of the ships in the
|
|
Federation 'Task Force'. To that name, Tomalak, almost laughed. But
|
|
he could if wanted, this was space and in space there is no sound,
|
|
only light. And mass amounts of death, and darkness.
|
|
"They're only going to get in the way," another sub-centurion
|
|
said from a console on Tomalak's left. Obviously, the Commander
|
|
thought, these children have no strategic value. Perhaps that's why
|
|
they talk so much, and say so little.
|
|
"All the better, child,"Tomalak said at last, he might as
|
|
well explain it to them, "while the Federation ships get in the way,
|
|
we can destroy the Borg invasion force with less loss of our own
|
|
lives." It just didn't sound quite as ingenious in word as it did in
|
|
thought and on paper. Ah, he thought, it matters not what they think
|
|
or believe. So long as I know what I am to do.
|
|
"So they are here to help us," the first officer said from a
|
|
position behind the commander, monitoring the cloaking device. He was an
|
|
awkward looking Romulan, thin yet extremely tall. Freak, Tomalak thought.
|
|
"You fool, did you not listen in on the orders," Tomalak asked,
|
|
as he stood and turned to face the Senior Centurion. A slight twitch
|
|
formed around the corners of his mouth, he knew what the answer would be,
|
|
he knew what he must do.
|
|
"Yes, Commander. We...You are here to escort them to the front
|
|
line, to fight the Borg. They are better at it than we, they have more
|
|
experience. They are not worth the same number of Romulan lives." He
|
|
answered, standing up straight as he could at his post.
|
|
"So...you have read the orders?"
|
|
"As I said, Yes, Commander Tomalak."
|
|
"Traitor!" Tomalak bellowed, reaching down and taking his
|
|
disruptor from its holster on his belt. Within a single second, he aimed
|
|
and pulled the trigger, the officer disappeared in a brilliant flash of
|
|
light. No longer did Tomalak's ship have a first officer. He reholstered
|
|
the weapon and returned to his seat, to oversee (from secret) the
|
|
Federation drills.
|
|
"Get someone to that station," he said, disgusted that he was
|
|
forced to kill his own first officer. "No one is to read the commanding
|
|
officers orders, except for him! Understand?!" he yelled from his chair;
|
|
a headache was setting in. He returned to thoughts of the mission and its
|
|
outcome ahead, no more energy wasted on such things as possible spies.
|
|
Once the Borg are gone, the Federation will be weaken by
|
|
their loss of starships and then....
|
|
Kill two birds, with one stone.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Admiral?" the Aide said entering the inner office of the Commander
|
|
in Chief of Borg Operations (CINCBOP). Fortunately for the ensign,
|
|
CINCBOP wasn't in. Too bad, she thought, I don't have to hear her spout
|
|
about this and that today. But, unfortunately for the ensign, her
|
|
encrypted file on the data wafer she held would most likely save hundreds
|
|
of lives. Only she didn't know that.
|
|
The young african female strolled into the office and laid the
|
|
wafer down on top of the paper files that were scattered about the desks
|
|
surface. She looked down and read the titles of some of the files:
|
|
'Romulan Data: Borg Unreminting', 'Gamma Quad.: Battle Drills', and 'Borg
|
|
& Jem'Hadar: Attack Emminent'. She noticed the stardates on all the files;
|
|
two weeks prior to this date.
|
|
The young officer looked up and out the windows that gave the most
|
|
beautiful view of the Bay she had ever seen. She wondered what exactly
|
|
those files meant, but too scared to look into them. Not even a peak, the
|
|
admiral would know something had changed. Best to just leave the wafer
|
|
and go, she thought exiting the room. Back to work, not another thought
|
|
of what she had saw and read.
|
|
She didn't know that the Admiral was withholding information that
|
|
could have possibly saved thousands of lives in the next few weeks.
|
|
Actually, no one knew, no one except the Commander in Chief of Borg
|
|
Operations, Admiral Necheyev.
|
|
|
|
*** **** **** ***
|
|
|
|
"Time?" Picard said from the captains chair. He was finally getting
|
|
used to the fact that this inky-dinky ship was going to be 'home' until
|
|
the mission was over, no matter it's outcome. He looked down in front of
|
|
him, two ensigns at their stations and a large display for them and him
|
|
of the ships orientation. My god, he thought, this is pretty damned
|
|
crude. How could Mr. Scott and the rest of StarFleet live on these
|
|
vessels?
|
|
"Twelve minutes to Golondon 'Cor system, Captain," Ensign Topper
|
|
said from his position at the helm console. He had worked both shifts,
|
|
just to be able to be on the bridge, to be a party to history. He was now
|
|
finally getting tired of it, tired of sitting in these outdated seats, he
|
|
needed to get some sleep. Too bad he hadn't seen the beds yet, he would
|
|
consider sleeping at his post.
|
|
"Mr. Scott" he said, after punching the little red button on the
|
|
right hand arm rest. He was kind of enjoying bing able to do things for
|
|
himself, not having to rely on the computer for everything, independance
|
|
is what they called it.
|
|
Scottie had just made it back to Engineering, he had slept his full
|
|
eight hours like he hadn't slept in a century. It was the feeling of
|
|
being home, of being where he belonged, on a Constitution Class starship.
|
|
He just didn't like the new, confounded warp drive system, it relied too
|
|
heavily on the matter/anti-matter containment pods and not enough on the
|
|
dilithium crystals. He felt they weren't cheating enough out of the
|
|
crystals, like he had done on the original Enterprise. He felt they were
|
|
just wasting the matter/antimatter material and not savering every last
|
|
bit of energy that was being channeled through the crystals. That's why
|
|
they have so many problems with those damned warp core breaches, he thought.
|
|
Finally hearing the call and answering, "Scott here,".
|
|
"Mr. Scott, readings up here show a drop in flow from the matter/
|
|
antimatter containment pods, any guess what's happened?" Picard said
|
|
looking over to the Lt. seated at the Engineering Console, the one that
|
|
had pointed out the drop in flow...about twenty minutes ago.
|
|
"Aye,sir.."
|
|
"Well, Mr. Scott?"
|
|
Scottie hestitated to say anything, he knew what these twenty-
|
|
fourth century captains were like: don't touch anything, I don't care,
|
|
it's my ship. Then he got around to blurting it out in an old drawn
|
|
Scottish tone," Ah decided ta go ahead an' make a few changes to the warp
|
|
drive... Ah think Ah make it better."
|
|
"Mr. Scott, we are going into Romulan space in twenty minutes, we
|
|
don't need any trouble from the warp drive." Picard said, he noticed the
|
|
Lt. at the Engineering console look wide-eyed at the console, then turn
|
|
to him.
|
|
"Too late, Captain,"Scottie was saying,"Ah already made the
|
|
changes...They should have started makin' a difference a minute ago."
|
|
"Aye, Sir," the Lt. at the Engineering console said, looking at
|
|
Picard," It seems we now have a fourty percent jump in power availablity,
|
|
thrity percent more power to the weapons, fifteen percent more power to
|
|
the shields, and the flow from the containment pods has slowed to
|
|
half...sir."
|
|
"Good job, Mr. Scott." Picard was saying. He felt like kicking
|
|
himself, and so he should. He was too much a twenty-fourth century
|
|
captain, playing it by the book, never going out on the limb, never letting
|
|
anyone help unless they were on shoreleave or a weak mission. He was
|
|
afraid of change, just as the Klingons and Federation had been ninety
|
|
years earlier.
|
|
"Aye, Captain. An' rememba' it's 'Scottie'." and the channel went
|
|
dead. Even being out of the service for a few years, then being lost in a
|
|
transporter on a Dyson Sphere, he still had it, he was still the 'Miracle
|
|
Worker'.
|
|
|
|
**** **** **** **** ****
|
|
|
|
"Captain Riker, we are being hailed...it's the Exeter," Lt. Rocha
|
|
said from the communications post on the Enforcer. Rocha had served
|
|
aboard the Enterprise, and was on duty in a science lab, researching the
|
|
data she had collected on subspace fields and their subsequent effects on
|
|
electromagnetic radiation as well as artificial magnetic fields.
|
|
"Well,well,well...Hasn't Picard pulled the lucky straw,"Will Riker
|
|
said from the center seat. He stood, pulled at what would had been the
|
|
bottom of his tunic and said,"On screen, Lt.".
|
|
"Well, Captain Riker, are we enjoying our first taste of true
|
|
command,"Picard said from his own center seat. Riker's bridge was the
|
|
latest that StarFleet could do with existing technology, Picards on the
|
|
other hand, was a throw back to a by-gone era, to a century long since
|
|
forgotten (no matter how much he contended it wasn't, Riker constantly
|
|
found himself on the losing side of that history battle).
|
|
"Sir, I wish it was under different circumstances,"Riker said,
|
|
standing between the helm and navigation consoles of the Ambassador class
|
|
starship he commanded. He really wished it was under different
|
|
conditions, but so was the way of the world.
|
|
"Will...it's only going to get worse,"Picard began, noticing a
|
|
little red flashing light on the nav console. Now what does that mean? he
|
|
thought. But instead continued,"We need you and the captains of the other
|
|
fifteen vessels over here as soon as possible, say at oh-nine-hundred?"
|
|
"Relaying message now, Captain,"Riker said. The screen went
|
|
black, with little constant bits of light glowing in the distance. At the
|
|
corner of the screen were sixteen tiny, growing dots of sparkling gray.
|
|
His fleet.
|
|
|
|
**** **** ***** **** ****
|
|
|
|
When the vessel came to a relative stop in a high orbit around
|
|
Golondin 'Cor, Tomalak gave his order, "Take us in, sub-centurion."
|
|
Two minutes later the cloaked ships were in a concentric ordit
|
|
and keeping a great monitoring eye on all the vessels of their enemy.
|
|
They were monitoring, and recording, all ship to ship, and intraship
|
|
communications. All to be annalized later. The Senior Centurion who
|
|
happened to take the place of the now deceased first officer
|
|
spoke "Commander, the commanders of all the enemy vessels have
|
|
transported to the older ship, the twenty-third century one...Commander
|
|
Tomalak."
|
|
So, he thought, that's the ship they will be doing the work from.
|
|
Of course, that's were Picard is. "Senior Centurion, decloak and hail the
|
|
lead ship."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Captain!" Worf shouted, pointing to the main viewscreen, as Picard
|
|
was just entering the turbolift. The main conference room on level three
|
|
was already becoming packed with the commanding officers of 'Task Force
|
|
Alpha'. Picard could out of the corner of his left eye Worf throwing an
|
|
arm toward the viewer. He spun on his heals, grabbing the door that began to
|
|
shut on him. The mechanism that governed the working to the 'lift doors
|
|
slowly got the point and reopened them. Picard's eyes took the usual half
|
|
second to adjust to the difference is color and perception, but when they
|
|
did finally adjust; he saw what he was expecting he'd see: a Romulan
|
|
Warbird decloaking and coming in toward them on a parabolic coarse.
|
|
But not one Warbird, but the standard three; all larger than life,
|
|
all four times the size of his vessel. Once the ships were on a parallel
|
|
orbital course, he noticed the abnormal amount for light they seemed to
|
|
be reflecting from the planet below. Something that the computer and
|
|
viewscreen compensated for by dimming the view.
|
|
"We are being hailed," Worf said. He was not calm, he was just Klingon,
|
|
and that's the way they are; no good description in earth words could
|
|
quite describe their intensity for the moment, with possibly a battle
|
|
ready to take place. Picard thought otherwise.
|
|
"On View..." he said. Slowly the viewscreen changed from the shape
|
|
of three Warbirds and an obtruse planetoid, to that of an old enemy. Old
|
|
enemy? Picard thought, is that how they, how he thinks of me?
|
|
"Ahhh, Captain Pee-card, how nice it is to see you again," Tomalak
|
|
said from the inlarged view of his head. The three dimentional components
|
|
of the twenty-third century where not of the highest quality, Picard thought.
|
|
"Commander Tomalak, you were to wait within the Neutral Zone until
|
|
we contacted you,"Picard said, making his tone quite clear: he wasn't
|
|
happy with the situation. He moved back to the center seat, sitting down
|
|
he crossed his legs in a way that most humanoid men found uncomfortable.
|
|
And arms crossed over his chest, in quite the defensive manner.
|
|
"Please, understand, Captain Pee-card, we felt that if there was
|
|
going to be a meeting of the minds of your laughable 'Task Force',
|
|
perhaps we should come along,"Tomalak said, making his move on trying to
|
|
get inside the Federation, to know exactly what they planned, "so to
|
|
help you understand the current situation on the farside of the
|
|
Romulan Empire..."
|
|
Picard sat in his seat, listening to Tomalak ramble on about
|
|
something or other, then made the decision that took everyone, including
|
|
Tomalak by surprise," Commander Tomalak, it would indeed be beneficial to
|
|
us all to have you at our conference... I'll have you beamed right over."
|
|
Worf sat stunned behind Picard, unable to utter a single objection to
|
|
this plan, then Picard went on when he saw that Tomalak was almost on
|
|
the floor with disbelief," Good thinking, Commander."
|
|
A moment later the co-ordinates of Commander Tomalak where programmed
|
|
into the hundred year old transporter, and the Romulan was on board.
|
|
Something the Romulan commander had not ever dreamed of: he was now
|
|
going to sit in on a StarFleet combat readiness conference, without being
|
|
accused of being a spy. Tomalak was thanking the gods (the gods that the
|
|
Romulan government said existed) that he had a strong heart.
|
|
|
|
**** **** ****
|
|
|
|
Picard walked into the already crowded conference room, with
|
|
Tomalak trailing behind him. The fool had beamed over to the ship armed,
|
|
and was quite irritated when it was taken from him. But that was not the
|
|
least of Jean-Luc's worries: to see the faces of the other Captains when
|
|
he entered with Tomalak, now that was worth the mass of this ship in
|
|
platinum.
|
|
"What's going on here, Picard?" was the only words spoken to the
|
|
'Task Force' Commander. They came from Captain Edward Jellico, of the USS
|
|
Cairo, a man most admired for his command abilities, yet most hated
|
|
because of the way he got things done. The same was the case for Picard,
|
|
he was polite to Jellico, but didn't really care for the man.
|
|
"Ed, please." Jean-Luc said moving to his seat at the end of the
|
|
table. This meeting had been planned from the beginning, so a new longer,
|
|
standard conference table had been put in the place of the original. A
|
|
loss to history; so was the price of freedom; so was the price of war. A
|
|
war they really didn't have to fight at this time.
|
|
Tomalak followed behind Picard to the front of the table, taking a
|
|
stance to the right of the Captain. He would stand, all seats already
|
|
taken, and no one willing to give up theirs for a Romulan. Picard spoke,
|
|
quietting the low murmurring that was coming from the opposite end of the
|
|
table," This is Romulan Commander Tomalak, he is the man in charge of the
|
|
Romulan fleet that we will be assisting on this mission."
|
|
Tomalak made a slow deliberate nod to the commandering officers of
|
|
the StarFleet ships, doing his best to seem in touch with the ways of the
|
|
humans. Though only half of the seventeen commanding officers were
|
|
actually human.
|
|
"Okay, Captain, so what's this all about?" Will Riker said, sitting
|
|
halfway down the righthand side of the marble-topped table. He was just
|
|
as anxious to find out what they were going to be doing, exactly.
|
|
Picard leaned forward, cupping his hands in front of his mouth, a
|
|
small smile showing through anyway, and shot a glance back toward
|
|
Tomalak. They knew what he meant, not everything until Tomalak has left.
|
|
"The Romulans have asked the Federation for assistance in defending the
|
|
Beta Quadrant against the Borg..."
|
|
"We know that much already," said a tight, mechanical voice, the
|
|
voice of someone Picard didn't know. A Benzite, ugly blue guys who sucked
|
|
down cold carbon dioxide to breath.
|
|
"Well, you don't know everything," Tomalak said, looking at the odd
|
|
alien with disgust. He felt sick just looking at the blue creature,
|
|
obviously one inferior to him.
|
|
"Commander Tomalak is going to explain it fully," Picard said,
|
|
leaning back and looking up to the Romulan,"Aren't you, Commander?"
|
|
Putting him on the spot.
|
|
"If you insist, Captain,"Tomalak answered. He looked down, them
|
|
began to gaze around the table at the individuals who were coming to his
|
|
worlds, his empires, rescue. "A few months ago, we picked up evidence of
|
|
the Borg, or whatever you call them. Anyway, we discovered through deep
|
|
space missions toward the Delta Quadrant, that the Borg were indeed
|
|
coming. And not with just one Cube."
|
|
Ingorant Jellico cut him off,"Exactly how many did your sensors
|
|
detect?".
|
|
"Six Cubes, to be precise. Before they had a chance to get into
|
|
our territory, we sent ships to destroy them. They failed."
|
|
"Didn't they even get one of the bastards?" Jellico asked. He
|
|
seemed to like to interupt people in the middle of their stories. Picard
|
|
thought, Perhaps I should try to do the same to him sometime, so he sees
|
|
what it's like. But Picard couldn't bring himself to be that rude, to anyone.
|
|
"Captain, you test my patience," Tomalak said, looking down his
|
|
thick, bony brow at the balding man at the opposite end of the table.
|
|
Anyway," We lost nine Warbirds," which seemed to peak everyones
|
|
attention, " and were only able to destroy two of the Cubes. But then
|
|
they stopped, I believe they want us to come to them. Then when we are
|
|
weak, they will slaughter our people."
|
|
"The Borg don't slaughter, they assimilate." Riker said leaning
|
|
back, understanding now what was going on and what was going to happen.
|
|
Tomalak took the next half hour to explain where the Borg ships
|
|
were, where they were heading, and how his people were going to defeat
|
|
them. Tomalak was frightened by the fact that the Empire might fall, he
|
|
just didn't know to who it would fall to, The Borg or the Federation.
|
|
He then went on to explain why the StarFleet vessels were coming along,
|
|
and then said,"As seeing that the Federation is sending almost half of
|
|
its' already depleted StarFleet to help us, we are sending an additional
|
|
fifteen Warbirds and numerous other ships of war to defend ourselves."
|
|
It was more than one person who picked up the mention of how bad
|
|
StarFleet was still aching, even five (or six) years after its' close
|
|
annihilation to the Borg.
|
|
The meeting ended with schedules and other plans being sent to the
|
|
StarFleet ships, and Tomalak returning to his vessel. He noted that they
|
|
had been generous enough to send him a copy of the schedule as well.
|
|
It was in the schedule that he noted they were leaving orbit in
|
|
less than two hours. It was he and his three ships that would lead them
|
|
to a rendevue with the Romulan Fleet, before heading to the system the
|
|
Borg now occupied.
|
|
The Empire is going to fall, he thought, but to who? the
|
|
Federation, or the Borg?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Captain!" Worf shouted, pointing to the main viewscreen, as Picard
|
|
was just entering the turbolift. The main conference room on level three
|
|
was already becoming packed with the commanding officers of 'Task Force
|
|
Alpha'. Picard could out of the corner of his left eye Worf throwing an
|
|
arm toward the viewer. He spun on his heals, grabbing the door that began to
|
|
shut on him. The mechanism that governed the working to the 'lift doors
|
|
slowly got the point and reopened them. Picard's eyes took the usual half
|
|
second to adjust to the difference is color and perception, but when they
|
|
did finally adjust; he saw what he was expecting he'd see: a Romulan
|
|
Warbird decloaking and coming in toward them on a parabolic coarse.
|
|
But not one Warbird, but the standard three; all larger than life,
|
|
all four times the size of his vessel. Once the ships were on a parallel
|
|
orbital course, he noticed the abnormal amount for light they seemed to
|
|
be reflecting from the planet below. Something that the computer and
|
|
viewscreen compensated for by dimming the view.
|
|
"We are being hailed," Worf said. He was not calm, he was just Klingon,
|
|
and that's the way they are; no good description in earth words could
|
|
quite describe their intensity for the moment, with possibly a battle
|
|
ready to take place. Picard thought otherwise.
|
|
"On View..." he said. Slowly the viewscreen changed from the shape
|
|
of three Warbirds and an obtruse planetoid, to that of an old enemy. Old
|
|
enemy? Picard thought, is that how they, how he thinks of me?
|
|
"Ahhh, Captain Pee-card, how nice it is to see you again," Tomalak
|
|
said from the inlarged view of his head. The three dimentional components
|
|
of the twenty-third century where not of the highest quality, Picard thought.
|
|
"Commander Tomalak, you were to wait within the Neutral Zone until
|
|
we contacted you,"Picard said, making his tone quite clear: he wasn't
|
|
happy with the situation. He moved back to the center seat, sitting down
|
|
he crossed his legs in a way that most humanoid men found uncomfortable.
|
|
And arms crossed over his chest, in quite the defensive manner.
|
|
"Please, understand, Captain Pee-card, we felt that if there was
|
|
going to be a meeting of the minds of your laughable 'Task Force',
|
|
perhaps we should come along,"Tomalak said, making his move on trying to
|
|
get inside the Federation, to know exactly what they planned, "so to
|
|
help you understand the current situation on the farside of the
|
|
Romulan Empire..."
|
|
Picard sat in his seat, listening to Tomalak ramble on about
|
|
something or other, then made the decision that took everyone, including
|
|
Tomalak by surprise," Commander Tomalak, it would indeed be beneficial to
|
|
us all to have you at our conference... I'll have you beamed right over."
|
|
Worf sat stunned behind Picard, unable to utter a single objection to
|
|
this plan, then Picard went on when he saw that Tomalak was almost on
|
|
the floor with disbelief," Good thinking, Commander."
|
|
A moment later the co-ordinates of Commander Tomalak where programmed
|
|
into the hundred year old transporter, and the Romulan was on board.
|
|
Something the Romulan commander had not ever dreamed of: he was now
|
|
going to sit in on a StarFleet combat readiness conference, without being
|
|
accused of being a spy. Tomalak was thanking the gods (the gods that the
|
|
Romulan government said existed) that he had a strong heart.
|
|
|
|
**** **** ****
|
|
|
|
Picard walked into the already crowded conference room, with
|
|
Tomalak trailing behind him. The fool had beamed over to the ship armed,
|
|
and was quite irritated when it was taken from him. But that was not the
|
|
least of Jean-Luc's worries: to see the faces of the other Captains when
|
|
he entered with Tomalak, now that was worth the mass of this ship in
|
|
platinum.
|
|
"What's going on here, Picard?" was the only words spoken to the
|
|
'Task Force' Commander. They came from Captain Edward Jellico, of the USS
|
|
Cairo, a man most admired for his command abilities, yet most hated
|
|
because of the way he got things done. The same was the case for Picard,
|
|
he was polite to Jellico, but didn't really care for the man.
|
|
"Ed, please." Jean-Luc said moving to his seat at the end of the
|
|
table. This meeting had been planned from the beginning, so a new longer,
|
|
standard conference table had been put in the place of the original. A
|
|
loss to history; so was the price of freedom; so was the price of war. A
|
|
war they really didn't have to fight at this time.
|
|
Tomalak followed behind Picard to the front of the table, taking a
|
|
stance to the right of the Captain. He would stand, all seats already
|
|
taken, and no one willing to give up theirs for a Romulan. Picard spoke,
|
|
quietting the low murmurring that was coming from the opposite end of the
|
|
table," This is Romulan Commander Tomalak, he is the man in charge of the
|
|
Romulan fleet that we will be assisting on this mission."
|
|
Tomalak made a slow deliberate nod to the commandering officers of
|
|
the StarFleet ships, doing his best to seem in touch with the ways of the
|
|
humans. Though only half of the seventeen commanding officers were
|
|
actually human.
|
|
"Okay, Captain, so what's this all about?" Will Riker said, sitting
|
|
halfway down the righthand side of the marble-topped table. He was just
|
|
as anxious to find out what they were going to be doing, exactly.
|
|
Picard leaned forward, cupping his hands in front of his mouth, a
|
|
small smile showing through anyway, and shot a glance back toward
|
|
Tomalak. They knew what he meant, not everything until Tomalak has left.
|
|
"The Romulans have asked the Federation for assistance in defending the
|
|
Beta Quadrant against the Borg..."
|
|
"We know that much already," said a tight, mechanical voice, the
|
|
voice of someone Picard didn't know. A Benzite, ugly blue guys who sucked
|
|
down cold carbon dioxide to breath.
|
|
"Well, you don't know everything," Tomalak said, looking at the odd
|
|
alien with disgust. He felt sick just looking at the blue creature,
|
|
obviously one inferior to him.
|
|
"Commander Tomalak is going to explain it fully," Picard said,
|
|
leaning back and looking up to the Romulan,"Aren't you, Commander?"
|
|
Putting him on the spot.
|
|
"If you insist, Captain,"Tomalak answered. He looked down, them
|
|
began to gaze around the table at the individuals who were coming to his
|
|
worlds, his empires, rescue. "A few months ago, we picked up evidence of
|
|
the Borg, or whatever you call them. Anyway, we discovered through deep
|
|
space missions toward the Delta Quadrant, that the Borg were indeed
|
|
coming. And not with just one Cube."
|
|
Ingorant Jellico cut him off,"Exactly how many did your sensors
|
|
detect?".
|
|
"Six Cubes, to be precise. Before they had a chance to get into
|
|
our territory, we sent ships to destroy them. They failed."
|
|
"Didn't they even get one of the bastards?" Jellico asked. He
|
|
seemed to like to interupt people in the middle of their stories. Picard
|
|
thought, Perhaps I should try to do the same to him sometime, so he sees
|
|
what it's like. But Picard couldn't bring himself to be that rude, to anyone.
|
|
"Captain, you test my patience," Tomalak said, looking down his
|
|
thick, bony brow at the balding man at the opposite end of the table.
|
|
Anyway," We lost nine Warbirds," which seemed to peak everyones
|
|
attention, " and were only able to destroy two of the Cubes. But then
|
|
they stopped, I believe they want us to come to them. Then when we are
|
|
weak, they will slaughter our people."
|
|
"The Borg don't slaughter, they assimilate." Riker said leaning
|
|
back, understanding now what was going on and what was going to happen.
|
|
Tomalak took the next half hour to explain where the Borg ships
|
|
were, where they were heading, and how his people were going to defeat
|
|
them. Tomalak was frightened by the fact that the Empire might fall, he
|
|
just didn't know to who it would fall to, The Borg or the Federation.
|
|
He then went on to explain why the StarFleet vessels were coming along,
|
|
and then said,"As seeing that the Federation is sending almost half of
|
|
its' already depleted StarFleet to help us, we are sending an additional
|
|
fifteen Warbirds and numerous other ships of war to defend ourselves."
|
|
It was more than one person who picked up the mention of how bad
|
|
StarFleet was still aching, even five (or six) years after its' close
|
|
annihilation to the Borg.
|
|
The meeting ended with schedules and other plans being sent to the
|
|
StarFleet ships, and Tomalak returning to his vessel. He noted that they
|
|
had been generous enough to send him a copy of the schedule as well.
|
|
It was in the schedule that he noted they were leaving orbit in
|
|
less than two hours. It was he and his three ships that would lead them
|
|
to a rendevue with the Romulan Fleet, before heading to the system the
|
|
Borg now occupied.
|
|
The Empire is going to fall, he thought, but to who? the
|
|
Federation, or the Borg?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Captain Janeway!" Kira shouted, but the woman kept going. She had
|
|
come to Ops. looking for Sisko, and now was about to meet him, face to
|
|
face. Around the outer ring of consoles on the upper level, then straight
|
|
through the metal/glass double doors that led to his office. Sisko was
|
|
sleeping on the couch off to the side of his desk, the hollering in the
|
|
stations main operations center had awakened him. But not quick enough...
|
|
"Commander Sisko, get up," she said, looking over the tall black
|
|
human, "We need to talk." But when Sisko took the extra moment that he
|
|
usually did to get up, she ordered,"Now."
|
|
This is not the way it is supposed to be, he thought. "Captain, I've
|
|
had the evacuation sped up, and now that it's complete, leave me be." He
|
|
didn't like the tone of her voice, so Sisko felt it was time to show her
|
|
what he could say.
|
|
"Sisko, you didn't get rid of all of them." she said, meaning the non-
|
|
essentials that lived and toured the station. Who? he wondered, getting
|
|
to his feet.
|
|
"Who?"
|
|
"I had that evil Ferengi that owns that bar down there shipped to
|
|
Bajor, next one I find, goes in the brig." She moved over to his desk,
|
|
"Understood?"
|
|
"Yes, Captain." Both of their voices lost the hostility. Then she
|
|
took a seat in front of the desk, Sisko sat opposite her: behind the
|
|
desk. For him it reaffirmed the power that he had as station manager.
|
|
"Orders from StarFleet Command are for you and your crew of the
|
|
Defiant to move into the Gamma Quadrant for a short intelligence
|
|
gathering mission, then to return back here." She said, looking...no,
|
|
starring...into his eyes. Janeway tossed a small red tubular object on
|
|
the table, a simple type of iso chip they used on this Cardassian built
|
|
station. "The complete orders are there...as are the orders for a
|
|
temparary 'field promotion' for you to Captain." She looked down and
|
|
removed something from a pocket on her uniform, the four pip, the one
|
|
that would make him Captain Ben Sisko.
|
|
She laid it on the desk, then turned to leave. Flinging her hair
|
|
back, she said only,"Congrads.". And she left. The complete orders where
|
|
on the chip that she gave Sisko.
|
|
He and his crew, the crew of the Starship Defiant, were to leave
|
|
as soon as the crew and ship were ready. It seemed that Janeway had
|
|
complete control of everything, even the station and the Defiant...as
|
|
soon as he returned from this 'intelligence mission' to the Gamma
|
|
Quadrant.
|
|
An hour later, he and his crew were through the wormhole...cloaked.
|
|
|
|
**** ***** **** *****
|
|
|
|
"Course, Captain?" the night watch helmsman asked. Everyone needs
|
|
sleep, Picard thought, even I do.
|
|
"Make course parallel to that of the Romulan Warbirds. When they
|
|
leave, match warp speed for warp speed." he answered, swiveling one
|
|
eighty to look at Worf, the only other officer who had decided to stay on
|
|
until they were under way. But Worf wasn't in the tired mood that Picard
|
|
was, he seemed angered about something, just no one knew what. "Mr. Worf,
|
|
communications from other ships?"
|
|
"All StarFleet vessels are prepared for warp speed...on your word,
|
|
Captain," Worf said, actually wondering who was going to be the
|
|
commanding officer on the remainder of gamma watch.
|
|
Picard turned back to the viewscreen, crossed his legs in the way
|
|
only he could, "Mr. Worf, hail the lead Romulan vessel." His voice was
|
|
beginning to break, something to do with all the pressure he felt, to do
|
|
with simply being tired.
|
|
His eyes slid half shut, then darted back to full awareness when
|
|
he realized the screen had changed from the planet to the unfamiliar
|
|
interior of a Romulan Warbird. One familiar thing was there though, the
|
|
inlarged face of Commander Tomalak, "You are finally ready, Captain?" he
|
|
asked leaning a little more forward, into the screen, as he spoke.
|
|
"We are, indeed, Commander,"Picard said, feeling the fatigue set
|
|
in. He needed some sleep, at least a few hours, to be effective on the
|
|
rest of the mission. "Whenever you are..."
|
|
"Captain Pee-card, see you at the D'Loud system...we will
|
|
coordinate there with my fleet." Tomalak said, a small smile forming at
|
|
the corners of his mouth. Tomalak seemed almost eager to go to battle, as
|
|
if he didn't fear the Borg anymore.
|
|
He screen moved back to the planet and fleet, followed by the
|
|
movement of three ships from orbit. The large Romulan battle ships jumped
|
|
to warp at the first sign that the Federation fleet was moving out of orbit.
|
|
The Exeter took up a position in the middle of the StarFleet pack once
|
|
they got to warp, easily keeping up with the newer, 'better' ships.
|
|
"Entering Romulan Neutral Zone," the female computer voice said
|
|
to all on the bridge, followed by the standard warning of treaty
|
|
violation. Something that they didn't think the Romulans used when they
|
|
made such 'mistakes'.
|
|
The turbolift door slid open behind Picard, and out stepped two
|
|
officers, one for communications, the second being the night watch
|
|
commander. Lt. Barclay relieved Worf from his position, as Commander
|
|
Deanna Troi stole the center seat from Picard. He didn't put up much of a
|
|
fight.
|
|
For the next seven hours nothing out of the expected happened,
|
|
although it did seem odd to Troi that the Captain had slept that long. He
|
|
finally arrived back on the bridge twenty minutes before they were to
|
|
drop from warp for D'Loud orbit.
|
|
Now it was only a matter of hours, and a little coordination of
|
|
efforts, before they would leave for the neighboring star system. A
|
|
system the Romulans had been trying to the Borg of for weeks, a system
|
|
that would take many more lives than those already lost.
|
|
A system, a battle field, that Picard wasn't looking forward to
|
|
move to. A system that Picard didn't want to be his resting place. A
|
|
system that Picard had feared since he heard of its existence, or rather
|
|
the existence of the 'lifeforms' that had control of it.
|
|
Troi could feel the pain. She sensed every emotion that he was
|
|
feeling, she knew everything that he feared. But those where the reasons
|
|
for her being on this mission at all, to watch over the Captain, to be
|
|
his consultant, to be his counselor. Not to be the commander of the night
|
|
watch, that only came as 'luck' as some would call it, though she saw it
|
|
differently.
|
|
"Captain," she said, moving from the center seat. She stopped as
|
|
he moved toward that chair, brushing shoulder to shoulder, so close that
|
|
only they could hear each others' words," why not talk about it?"
|
|
Even though the captain had the time, had the power, had the energy,
|
|
he just didn't have the guts to speak that openly to her. And he didn't
|
|
know exactly why, though it was a problem that had troubled him from the
|
|
beginning of their relationship. Picard threw it away as being somehow
|
|
related to the 'fear' of children he had, though this had to run much
|
|
deeper. Even in his torture from the hands of the Cardassians a few years
|
|
earlier, he had found himself just as frightened of talking to Deanna as
|
|
he did being punished by the Cardassians.
|
|
"I think I have everything in control, Councelor" he said. A bold
|
|
faced lie, one she knew to be a lie. In actuality Picard felt like
|
|
quitting, giving up, too many problems, too many difficulties. He felt
|
|
the universe revolving around him, as if the events before him were out
|
|
of his control. And to his later dismay, he would find, that indeed
|
|
things were out of his hands, out of his control.
|
|
Picard would realize, though, that not all things, all events
|
|
were out of control, only the large events were. And most things going on
|
|
on this mission were ,indeed, quite large.
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Coming up on last known position of the type one probe, Captain,"
|
|
Dax said from her science library console of to the side of the Defiants'
|
|
bridge. Seated in the raised center chair was the newly promoted Captain
|
|
Benjamin Sisko, and he didn't even like the sound of that. But he didn't
|
|
know why. Most likely, he thought, because their going to take it away
|
|
from me once this is over. Remember, Ben, it's only a 'field promotion',
|
|
something StarFleet didn't mind handing out, so long as they got them back.
|
|
Before leaving DS9, Captain Janeway (while in the process of moving
|
|
a few things into Sisko's office, trying to make it her own) slipped
|
|
Sisko the coordinates of a cloaked Federation prode that should still be
|
|
recording data. Obviously they had seen something like this coming, and
|
|
without saying a damned word of it to Sisko. He laughed inwardly at the
|
|
idea of Janeway making his office, hers. As if he wouldn't throw her out
|
|
on her ass, or at least get Odo to do it. Seeing that he is the Chief of
|
|
Security.
|
|
"Scan for the emissions of the probe, then transmit information
|
|
transfer code,"Sisko said, legs crossed, arms crossed. Seated in front of
|
|
him were to ensigns he didn't recognize, mostly everyone else he knew.
|
|
Bashir was sitting at his station, uneasy, he didn't like the Gamma
|
|
Quadrant all that much to begin with. Now they were going to deal with,
|
|
not only the Dominion and the Jem'Hadar, but the Borg as well. He seemed,
|
|
to Sisko, ready to pounce on the first mishap to shout that they were all
|
|
going to die, and die for nothing. It was something Julian Bashir was not
|
|
afraid of hiding: his fear, and the belief it was easier to close the
|
|
wormhole forever than to deal with the Jem'Hadar (and now the Borg).
|
|
"The probe has decloaked and is transmitting on a secure
|
|
frequency, Benjamin." Jadzia Dax said. She was now standing at her
|
|
station, watching over the monitors as the data screamed past each at a
|
|
rate only a two distant androids could match.
|
|
"And?" Sisko asked, moving toward the station. First they had to
|
|
know whether there had been movement on this side of the wormhole, then
|
|
their orders where quite specific : find the Borg, find the Jem'Hadar,
|
|
find out how we can catch them by surprise.
|
|
Only one thing stood in the way of those plans, Sisko had thought,
|
|
and that is that the Borg can't be ambushed, they are machines: always
|
|
ready to move, always ready to assimilate.
|
|
"And..." Dax said, looking over her shoulder at him,"And this is
|
|
going to take a while. I need to look over what ships came by here,
|
|
then I need to see when they came by. After all that, we still have
|
|
to calculate their course, bearing, and speed." She glanced back down
|
|
at the screens, still flashing with the transfer of data at an
|
|
incredible rate.
|
|
"Helm," Sisko said, turning on his heals. He moved back up to the
|
|
elevated captains chair, waiting for a responce from the officer.
|
|
"Aye, sir?" the young officer said, looking back at his Captain
|
|
with large, frightened, puppy-dog eyes.
|
|
"Once the data scream is complete, decloak the ship...and destroy
|
|
the probe."
|
|
"Aye, sir." he said, looking around Sisko at the Romulan officer
|
|
standing toward the back of the ships' bridge. She nodded to him,
|
|
understanding the orders, without having the captain speak to her. It
|
|
was, officially, the helmsman's job to imform the Romulan of the
|
|
captain's orders to decloak for something like this. But she had heard
|
|
the captain, and understood. She didn't want to be told again.
|
|
"All data has been transferred and the memory banks of the probe
|
|
have been erased, Captain." Dax said looking around at the man in the
|
|
center seat.
|
|
Sisko leaned a little forward, softly speaking to the man ten or
|
|
so feet infront of him," That was cue, ensign." he said. Then he leaned
|
|
back, noticing the lights brighten as power to th cloaking device was
|
|
shut down. A light, very light, tingling sensation swept over his body, a
|
|
comfortable feeling that he didn't mind. Something he hadn't noticed
|
|
anyother time they cloaked/decloaked the ship.
|
|
"Firing" the ensign said. A single bolt of phased energy, darted
|
|
from somewhere underneath the position of the bridge, hit the tiny,
|
|
almost unseeable probe. In a flash, the probe was turned into
|
|
interstellar dust, nothing remaining. So was the power of this ship, this
|
|
over-powered ship, that is.
|
|
"Sir!" came the shout from the back of the bridge, from someone
|
|
Sisko didn't recognize. He shot up, out of the chair, hearing the
|
|
StarFleet officer say something like," Three large ships have just
|
|
entered sensor range."
|
|
Without thinking, SIsko throw out his arm, motioning to the
|
|
ROmulan woman. She knew the command, the urgency of what might have been
|
|
happening. From the emotion-full voice of the Romulan, the wrong
|
|
emotions," We are cloaking." Then Sisko felt the soft wave envelope his
|
|
entire body, but when he stopped (irresistably) to savor the feeling, it
|
|
had passed.
|
|
"On screen," were the words he spoke, moving down to stand to side
|
|
of the helm, looking intently on the screen. Though it didn't seem to
|
|
shift, the stars of the universe beyond did seem to inlargen. Meaning on
|
|
thing; that the ships, whoever they were, were heading on virtually a
|
|
direct course for them. "Magnify, full power."
|
|
The screen shifted slightly, the star got bigger and brighter, and
|
|
three ships appeared at the edge of view, almost too far away to be seen
|
|
even with subspace sensors. The three ships moved in a triangular
|
|
pattern, on a direct course viry close to them.
|
|
It didn't take long for every person on the Defiant bridge to see
|
|
that the three ships were huge metallic cubes.
|
|
|
|
**** **** ****
|
|
|
|
Docked at the large outer-ring pylons of Deep Space Nine were
|
|
four StarFleet starships, two of them Ambassador class ships, one was the
|
|
Voyager, the fourth was an Excelsior class vessel. In a stationary orbit
|
|
around the station was a Soyuz class starship, not known for its speed
|
|
or power; the Soyuz was the only ship available for this type mission. On
|
|
its' way back from a drop of stow-aways on Bajor was the sixth ship of
|
|
the so-called 'Task Force', another Excelsior class ship.
|
|
So it seems for more than fifty years, the Excelsior class, was
|
|
the epitotomy of the StarFleet, it was the flag vessel of the 'Fleet. The
|
|
ships were just that good, a design from the heavens, though the original
|
|
plans called for 'Transwarp Drive'- a flop of the times.
|
|
The StarFleet officers now ran the station, moving all personnel
|
|
to the planet, anyone not StarFleet. Except for the few that worked
|
|
aboard Sisko's Defiant, and of those only two were known by Janeway: Kira
|
|
and the changling Odo. Two more losses, she thought, that'll get blamed
|
|
on the 'Fleet because they wouldn't let us do our jobs.
|
|
She was strolling down the corridor, one that had stores and
|
|
shops and bars and casinos on it. The Pramenade, they called it. She took
|
|
the time to look at what they had been able to do with the poor
|
|
technology left to them by the Cardassians, then her communicator
|
|
chirped," Ops. to Captain Janeway,"
|
|
"Go ahead," she said, stopping at a window/port to look out at
|
|
the stars that numbered in the unthinkable.
|
|
"Sir, a coded message has been recieved for Commander Sisko," the
|
|
unfaced voice said from the heavens.
|
|
"Coded message?" Janeway said, thinking of what that could
|
|
possibly be. Then she decided to do what she knew to be wrong, what she
|
|
knew could get her court-marshalled: she called for the message to be
|
|
send to her office in Ops.
|
|
Once she got there, she over-rid the command codes that were set
|
|
so only the person recieving the mail, or a commanding officer, could
|
|
view the messages. She over-rid them, and looked at the typed words on
|
|
the screen to the left of her desk (formally Sisko's desk, she laughed)
|
|
wondering what they could mean, then realizing what they meant. Finally
|
|
she pondered who had sent them, most likely that mysterious man, she
|
|
thought. The screen went black, leaving a light afterglow of:
|
|
|
|
|
|
" THEIR COMING... NOW!!! "
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
But Sisko knows that already, doesn't he?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Captain, the Romulans are hailing us..." Worf said, back at his
|
|
station after the full eight hours of sleep he had. His hair was muffed,
|
|
no one had thought of bringing anything of that sort, especially on such
|
|
short notice.
|
|
"On screen, Commander." Picard said from his lowered center seat,
|
|
feeling still the after-effects of his little decussion with Troi, their
|
|
decussion on why he didn't want to talk. Before him, on the main
|
|
viewscreen, appeared the image of the Commander Tomalak.
|
|
"Captain Pee-card," the Romulan began. His ships and the Federation
|
|
ships had just dropped from warp, now they circled a small green and blue
|
|
planet, that had only a single moon. Picard had sat gazing at it,
|
|
thinking of how the small world had reminded him of his own, of earth.
|
|
But Tomalak wasn't into waiting for Picards' daydreams to end," Our
|
|
sensors indicate that our fleet is arriving now."
|
|
Picard turned slightly, glancing at the Bolian who occuppied the
|
|
science station. When he nodded in agreement to Tomalak's statement,
|
|
Picard turned back to the screen, " What next, Commander?".
|
|
Tomalak sat still for a moment, then leaned into the screen," We
|
|
will engage the Borg at the V'Larm system tomorrow, our fleets spred to
|
|
our own patterns. Our fleets will not communicate unless death requires
|
|
it..." Tomalak went on. Picard sat thinking of how bad their situation
|
|
was really becoming. It seemed to Picard that Tomalak was making up the
|
|
rules as they went along, as they were needed.
|
|
"Once we arrive in the system, you should have your efforts
|
|
coordinated to destroy the Borg threat...just as I will work out our
|
|
strategies tonight." Tomalak stated, definitely going from the top of the
|
|
head. He sat back, complete with his talk. The points of which he had
|
|
made all too obvious: this was not going to be a 'joint effort' in
|
|
battling the Borg.
|
|
"Well then, Commander Tomalak," Picard said," We will begin drills
|
|
and some 'battle readiness testing' as soon as this conversation is over."
|
|
'Battle readiness testing', Tomalak thought, for their ships?
|
|
please. Tomalak knew that they would be able to defeat the Borg now, with
|
|
the help of the Federation, but only with the loss of so many lives....so
|
|
many Federation lives, Tomalak thought. "I expect to leave here by zero
|
|
six hundred hours tomorrow morning, Captain."
|
|
"Very good."
|
|
"Then this conversation ends,now." Tomalak said, the screen slowly
|
|
going blank, then turning back into a blue and green world with one moon.
|
|
Picard hit the red button on the arm rest, seconds later he heard,"
|
|
Scott here, Sir.", a voice he was already finding comfort in, a voice
|
|
that gave power to the ship by just being there, almost.
|
|
"Mr. Scott, We are going to begin some internal drills
|
|
shortly...are your engines upto the task?" Picard asked, feeling good for
|
|
some odd reason. Feeling young, feeling like death was nowhere around.
|
|
Only fooling himself.
|
|
"Captain, Ah know we aren't goin' ta battle, but these engines
|
|
could stand up ta their entire fleet, sir." Scottie said, heavy on the
|
|
Scottish accent. Even in his voice you could here the joy the man was
|
|
having just being in engineering, not to mention once again being the
|
|
chief engineer on a Constitution class ship.
|
|
"Thank you, Mr. Scott." Picard said, cutting the circuit a second
|
|
later. He uncrossed his legs and swiveled to see Worf. The Klingon looked
|
|
as though he wanted to rave for hours on end on why they shouldn't be
|
|
helping the Romulans, but said nothing. Picard spoke," Tell Captain Riker
|
|
and the others: to get ready, make sure their ready, we're...they're
|
|
going to battle tomorrow.".
|
|
But only if he could come up with a new, decent strategy for
|
|
fighting the Borg by then... oh six hundred tomorrow. "A date with
|
|
destiny..." Picard whispered to himself, leaving the bridge.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Scottie had been working hard to get the old girl ready for any
|
|
possible attack they may have to make against the Borg, though Picard had
|
|
already voiced to him that they weren't going into battle. An hour after
|
|
they slowed from warp and took a position in orbit, he had found it
|
|
necessary to climb his way up the thin Jeffries' Tube that ran the length
|
|
of the the connecting dorsal. There seemed to be a slight drop in power
|
|
to the communications array, possibly the most vital system on the ship
|
|
on this particular mission.
|
|
Captain Scott had traced the problem to a small conduit off the
|
|
Jeffries' Tube, close to the impulse engines. He had forgotten how small,
|
|
how tight the tube was on him, wishing that he had done a little more to
|
|
keep in shape. Below him he the footsteps of someone entering the
|
|
junction room, where the Jeffries tube could be accessed from. Over the
|
|
low hum of electric currents buzzing pass him at the speed of light, he
|
|
heard a slightly familiar voice shout up," Captain Scott, isn't that a
|
|
job you could have given to someone else?"
|
|
"Ah didn't want anyone else foolen' with ma' engines or anything,
|
|
Geordi," Scottie said, sucking in his oversized gut so to sneak a tiny
|
|
peek down the tube at the Lt. Commander. "Hold on, Ah'll be done up here
|
|
in a minute..." he said, knowing that the job he come to do was already
|
|
complete.
|
|
It took Scottie a good four or five minutes to wriggle his way down
|
|
the tube. Once he got down to the floor, he grabbed and shook La Forges
|
|
hand, as if they were old buddies who once served together. " So, Geordi,
|
|
what brings you over here?" he asked, smiling still.
|
|
"I heard of what you had done to the engines and their output," La
|
|
Forge said, taking a long look at the replicated tools of the mid-twenty-
|
|
third century that Scottie had needed to do the repair job.
|
|
"Uh, that. That was nothing, ma' boy," Captain Montegomery Scott
|
|
said to Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge. "All Ah did was change the flow,
|
|
then Ah redirected the stream more precisely through the crystal... a
|
|
little more work here and a little more dabbling there, and Voila! the
|
|
engines are working better than designed." He was obviously proud of what
|
|
he had been able to do. And La Forge was slightly amazed at it as well,
|
|
especially since he had been trying to perfect that type of tinkering on
|
|
the engines of the Enterprise for two years, the two years before her demise.
|
|
"And you knew what to do without thinking of it first? You mean
|
|
you've done that before?" Geordi asked, still in awe at the raw talent he
|
|
saw before him. Without his even noticing, they had walked back to Main
|
|
Engineering and were now standing before the Crystal Chamber. He could
|
|
free the power, the heat, coming from the device ten feet away, but
|
|
that's the way it was supposed to be.
|
|
"Not everything we engineers in the twenty-third century made it to
|
|
the technical manuals. Ya' have ta' keep moving things aroun' ta gett'em
|
|
ta work. Why it took me four years on the original Enterprise to finally
|
|
figure that one out...then I never wrote it down." Scottie said, gazing
|
|
at the equipment around him. " Ah'll tell ye' again, how do you expect to
|
|
be a 'Miracle Worker' if ye' canna' give more power when the Captain asks
|
|
for it?"
|
|
"I guess your right, Scottie," La Forge said, looking at the tried
|
|
and true 'Miracle Worker'. Then he thought of something, maybe," Captain
|
|
Scott, You mind giving me a hand doing to the same for my ship? Then I
|
|
can show the other Chiefs how to do the same." The more powerful their
|
|
fleet, the better.
|
|
"Ah thought you'd never ask," Scottie said, as they started for the
|
|
transporter room. He was already trying new ways of defeating the Borg,
|
|
though he only knew them from what the computers said. But maybe that
|
|
would be enough," Ah was gonna offer ta help ye' even if ye' didna ask,
|
|
Geordi," he said patting the blind man on the back. "Ah wouldna want to
|
|
see ye die in battle against these monsters..."
|
|
They had ten hours to tinker with sixteen other ships; Scottie, of
|
|
course, said it couldn't be done. But it was, in less than five. He
|
|
finally returned to the Exeter. Time for ye' ta get a little rest
|
|
Montegomery, he thought heading to his quarters. Tamorrow is gonna be a
|
|
helluva day, Aye, that she is...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER NINETEEN
|
|
|
|
|
|
Oh god, oh no, christ it's the Borg, Sisko thought slumping back into
|
|
the raised command chair. He was afraid something like this might happen,
|
|
and with his luck - it did. Pull it together, dammit, he thought
|
|
straightening himself in the seat. He leaned forward, elbows on knees,"
|
|
Did they see us?"
|
|
From a station off to the side Jadzia Dax answered," If they did,
|
|
they aren't going to change course." The answer was not surprising, Sisko
|
|
could feel the emotions drain from those around him, they were already
|
|
losing hope.
|
|
"Helm, time to intercept." Sisko said, little beads of sweat forming
|
|
on his dark brow. What to do, only one thing to do, He thought, go home,
|
|
and play we survive. No!, he told himself, we will survive, that's what
|
|
this ship was built for.
|
|
"With them moving on an intercept course, at warp eight... nineteen
|
|
minutes, sir." the ensign said, turning to look at Sisko. The face of the
|
|
young officer said more without words, than it did with them. Sisko could
|
|
feel the pressure coming down on him, on his shoulders. The lives of all
|
|
those here rested on his shoulders, but the fear went for his stomach, a
|
|
burning sensation he knew all too well.
|
|
"Ensign, plot a course back to the wormhole...warp eight point
|
|
five." he said. No one said a word, the bridge laid quiet for a few
|
|
seconds, seemingly an eternity to those outside the conversation. The
|
|
course was plotted and the engines engaged, a low hum slowly growing into
|
|
a pulsating shake.
|
|
The Romulan stepped up to the worried, shaken Sisko," We can't keep
|
|
cloaked at this speed long enough to make it back," she said, whispering
|
|
to him. Quite the uncommon Romulan she was becoming, maybe it came from
|
|
being around the damned humans too much.
|
|
"Commander T'Rul, we have to give ourselves time to get home...the
|
|
Borg aren't going to slow down because we do." Sisko said, staring deep
|
|
into her dark eyes, seeing the pain the ROmulan felt, knowing she was
|
|
torn between going home to help fight for her own people and staying
|
|
here...trying to survive. Sisko turned from her, back to the screen,
|
|
where the Borg ships were slowly moving away," If they beat up to the
|
|
wowmhole, then to the Alpha Quadrant, what's the use in warning our
|
|
people... they'll already be dead." he stopped for a moment letting that
|
|
sink in, then said," If you have to take the device offline, do it, but
|
|
then we'll need all the power to outrun the Borg when see who we are."
|
|
"I'm not an engineer, but I believe I can keep the device working
|
|
long enough to get us back to the station...just don't count on it."
|
|
T'Rul said, with a slight hiss to her voice. She stepped down and moved
|
|
back to the standing position she occupied at a console in the farthest
|
|
recesses of the Bridge.
|
|
"Sir!" the ensign at the helm shouted, the rumble of the decking
|
|
getting louder," The Borg, look!" On the main Viewscreen, the tiny specks
|
|
that were actually Borg Cubes off in the distance began to grow, and grow
|
|
quickly. Ohhhh myyy god, Sisko thought, they'd spotted us.
|
|
"Borg ships closing at warp nine point one... they will over take
|
|
us in six minutes, Benjamin!" Jadzia said from her station. The Borg
|
|
ships now seemed to be gliding ever closer on the big screen.
|
|
"Decloak...then" Sisko began, but just as he was giving his orders,
|
|
T'Rul stepped forward.
|
|
"Captain, if we decloak they will now exactly where we are," She
|
|
was saying, one hand on the back of the command chair, looking over
|
|
Sisko's shoulder.
|
|
"Well, it's apparent they now where we are going anyway, Commander
|
|
T'Rul," Bashir barked from his place off to Sisko's right. There weren't
|
|
any emergencies, yet, but if Bashir pressed his luck with the Romulan
|
|
woman, he would be the first in sickbay. "Your damned cloaking device is
|
|
just stopping us from getting away, they know where we are going...".
|
|
Sisko threw up his right arm, motioning for Bashir to quiet
|
|
himself, it was time to think. And Julian Bashir was right after all,"As
|
|
I was saying, Decloak the ship, helm take us maximum possible warp."
|
|
T'Rul barked something at Bashir, only no one here knew Romulan,
|
|
so the insult went over badly," Decloaking" she said, finally back at her
|
|
station.
|
|
"Warp eight point nine...warp nine...point one," the helm officer
|
|
stated, the deck shaking like the ones of old, like the starships of a
|
|
century before. "Warp nine point five, sir...that's all she's got." he
|
|
said turning to look over his shoulder at Sisko.
|
|
"Benjamin, the Borg are matching our speed, warp nine five...warp
|
|
nine point five seven five... time to intercept two and a half minutes."
|
|
Dax said calmly. Seven, technically eight, life times now coming to a
|
|
close, she thought, I've seen worse than this.
|
|
But 'this' was only the chase, wait til the Borg finally catch
|
|
us, she thought, then I'll know what's worse.
|
|
"Wormhole?" Sisko said, rolling his head to the side, glaring
|
|
past the science officer, remembering the last encounter he had with the
|
|
Borg.
|
|
"One minute four seconds."
|
|
"The Borg are slowing, sir!" the helm officer said. He was
|
|
pointing frantically at the viewer, like a little child trying to point
|
|
out something to his mommy. But he was correct, the Borg where slowing,
|
|
dropping from warp entirely.
|
|
"Take us in on Wormhole approach," Sisko ordered, looking around
|
|
at the officers, the deck slowly calming to the low hum of anyother mission.
|
|
The Defiant slowed to the norm, the speed with which it was safest
|
|
to enter the womhole. It was actually quite the difficult thing to do,
|
|
going through the wormhole without incident. The Defiant slid in through
|
|
the Gamma Quadrant mouth, large strings of energy flowing by, never
|
|
actually touching the ship. The electric blue glow of the inside of this
|
|
stable, yet artificial 'wormhole' through the galaxy spewed outward,
|
|
helping to propell the Defiant into the comfort of its' own home, the
|
|
Alpha Quadrant
|
|
|
|
**** ***** ****
|
|
|
|
"Captain Janeway, message coming through...from the Defiant,
|
|
sir!" someone quite un-noteworthy said from the lowered position of the
|
|
main sensor stations of Deep Space Nine. Impeccable timing it was,
|
|
Janeway was finally leaving, to return to her quarters on the Voyager. It
|
|
was turning to the beginning of the night shift, time for a little peace
|
|
and quiet, that's all she wanting now. But that is what she was not going
|
|
to get.
|
|
"On Screen" she said, standing forward of the doors to
|
|
Sisko's/her office. The Steps leading down to that lower level just at
|
|
her tows.
|
|
The wall behind the screen slowly filled in and disappeared, now
|
|
only the view of the bridge of the Defiant was there. Janeway shook her
|
|
head, thinking that they could not have possibly finished the recon.
|
|
mission that they were supposed to have accomplished. "Captain Sisko,
|
|
what exactly are you doing here?" she asked, trying to a little patience
|
|
left in her voice. Someone thought it was her time of the month, they
|
|
were right, but StarFleet came first. As usual.
|
|
"I hope you have a plan ready for the Borg, Captain, because
|
|
they're coming...now." Sisko said, standing in front of the center seat.
|
|
He was obviously worried, even scared, it didn't take a Betazed to figure
|
|
that one out. But then, that's what happened when the Borg were in the
|
|
picture, everyone got scared. "Jadzia?" he said, mystifying the captain
|
|
and crew of Ops., Deep Space Nine.
|
|
From a place, just off the screen, Janeway could here someone
|
|
rattling off number upon number, finally seeing Sisko look back up to the
|
|
screen. Drops of persperation moving toward his eyes," Captain, you have
|
|
fifteen minutes to figure something out, because in fifteen minutes the
|
|
Borg are going to come flying through the wormhole...not one, but three,
|
|
Captain, three Borg cubes...fifteen minutes."
|
|
'Get back here to the station...we'll figure it out then." She
|
|
said, the screen going blank, the wall behind finally reappearing.
|
|
Captain Janeway was tired, was sleepy, just wanted to go to bed, but now
|
|
the Borg were coming...and she was in command.
|
|
"Ensign," she said to one working the communications of the
|
|
station," announce 'Red Alert' and have all ships launch once all
|
|
personnel have boarded... then get the captains' of the ships over here.
|
|
And dammit, see that Sisko gets here first...we need to talk."
|
|
The Borg are coming, she thought, and Sisko has to be our little
|
|
Paul Revere. We stand less a chance against three cubes, than the militia
|
|
of the colonies against the Brits. Damn, she thought, damn the Borg.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER TWENTY
|
|
|
|
|
|
Picard sat at the large, marble topped table, alone. The lights
|
|
brighter than he would have preferred, but there was little he could do
|
|
about that...the computers of the day of this ship weren't the luxury of
|
|
the ships of his day. This was definitely not a Galaxy class starship,
|
|
but then it wasn't even a Excelsior. This ship had had its' day, and if
|
|
Picard could have his way, this ship would have another day in the light.
|
|
Laid out on the table were the formulas for defeating the Borg, six
|
|
years of cumulative effort by the brains of the Federation...the Vulcans.
|
|
The Borg were half computer, and what better way to anticipate the
|
|
actions of a machine than by asking the best computer programmers in the
|
|
galaxy. But even the greatest of the Vulcans couldn't come up with a
|
|
defensive plan, idea, whatever you wish it to be, that assured defeat of
|
|
the Borg. At best, and at the strained limit of theoritical physics and
|
|
energy, they could get a single effort moving at a seventy-five percent
|
|
assurance rate. But that wasn't that promising, considering that it
|
|
gave the Federation a seventy-five percent chance of defeating the Borg
|
|
only if they could get the physics to work, which they didn't: so the
|
|
problem seemed unsolvable.
|
|
Picard decided to take it on faith, that at least some ships could
|
|
make it out alive, perhaps crawling back to the Federation, finally
|
|
defeating the Borg's Galactic Strike. But that was only on the optimistic
|
|
side of the idea, it was actually more of a dream. But that's not what
|
|
got to Picard, that's not what was eating away at him, keeping him from
|
|
coming up with a simple basic strategy that both the Romulans and the
|
|
Federation could work with.
|
|
He was the Commanding Officer of StarFleet 'Task Force Alpha'. That
|
|
didn't bother him so much, it was the fact of what he needed to do as
|
|
the head of the 'Task Force'. There were sixteen StarFleet vessels out
|
|
there and they all came under his command, it was quite like being an
|
|
Admiral, though he didn't quite look forward to doing that, to becoming
|
|
that. Jean-Luc realized that each individual that had joined the
|
|
'Fleet had given an Oath, had understood the risks of doing what they
|
|
were going to have to do. But this was like suicide, he was going to
|
|
send people to their deaths. But that was only half the problem,
|
|
Picard understood the need for death, the need to defend for the rest
|
|
of the galaxy, for those who were too weak (or too smart) to fight for
|
|
themselves. What truly hurt Picard was the fact that he was the one
|
|
who was sending these people to fight the Borg, while his ship, his
|
|
people sat back and watched.
|
|
My god, he thought, what if I'm sending someone to their death,
|
|
then only to have them be the last of their line, the last of their
|
|
family...the way I am the last of mine.
|
|
For another half hour he sat at the head of the table going over
|
|
these thoughts, again and again. Finally he help the tears hit the
|
|
papers spred before him, it was time to do what he felt he must...to
|
|
send these people to fight for the families, for the worlds,for the
|
|
peace that sent them here. It was time to talk to Tomalak...
|
|
|
|
*** *** *** *** ***
|
|
|
|
Tomalak was escorted to the Conference Room by two security people
|
|
Picard had never seen before. But that wasn't something new, he could
|
|
only know so many people, remember so many names.
|
|
"You've come up with something?" Tomalak said taking the seat at the
|
|
far end of the table. He was in his usual Romulan garb, with dark, short
|
|
cut hair coming down to his thick,bony brow. He sat rigid, like Picard
|
|
had noticed so many times before, these two were not strangers. But this
|
|
time they were going to be fighting on the same side of the line, against
|
|
a common enemy, one obsessed with galactic dominitation. If that's what
|
|
it could be considered, Picard had told himself a thousand times before.
|
|
Is it like being programmed, like the computer of this ship, not being
|
|
able to override the programs on their own? No one knew, no one but the
|
|
Borg that is.
|
|
"Not exactly, Commander." Picard started," The Federation is taking
|
|
a risk by sending us here, but I have no voice in the matter. It seems
|
|
even our best people couldn't find a way for defeating the Borg without
|
|
the lost of lives...many, many lives."
|
|
"Captain, we are leaving orbit in one hour...my fleet has
|
|
arrived...how are WE going to fight this battle?" Tomalak said, placing
|
|
all the possible emphasis on we. He sounded desparate to Picard, but
|
|
there was really nothing he could do.
|
|
"The only way to defeat them is going to be to relentlessly pound
|
|
their ships into a metallic cloud of dust...and that means having ships
|
|
out there for twenty four hours . The only way we can accomplish that is
|
|
to have your fleet out there for twelve, then backing off...giving us the
|
|
next twenve as you regroup and get repair and rest. Then we continue
|
|
until something happens in our favour, I mean, for both of us..." Picard
|
|
said feeling relieved that that was the only thing Tomalak had thought of
|
|
as well.
|
|
"Well, then, I will lead my fleet in for the first round." Tomalak
|
|
said, standing to leave.
|
|
"Make it so."
|
|
|
|
**** ***** ****
|
|
|
|
Thirty minutes later, the two fleets had arrived at the V'Larm
|
|
system, warping into the battle no one who attended would ever forget.
|
|
Around the fifth planet of the system were four Borg Cubes, moving slowly
|
|
outward, slowly toward the home planets of the Romulan Empire, though
|
|
they never make it as that speed.
|
|
The Romulan fleet slowed from warp moving in to strike at the Borg
|
|
ships, who seemed to be waiting, just waiting for them. ANd so that was
|
|
what they were doing.
|
|
The Federation Fleet slowed from warp as well, keeping their
|
|
distance, out past the final, the ten, planet of the system. THe sixteen
|
|
ships that were going to battle made to long lines of eight, stretching
|
|
out of view of the screen on the Exeter. The Command ship was going to
|
|
hold this position for the entire battle, keeping out of the front line,
|
|
as it were.
|
|
Keeping Picards' ship company was the Romulan Warbird that
|
|
commanded the opposite fleet, commanded by Commander Tomalak. The Romulan
|
|
fleet was heading in, the federation ships watched as their romulan
|
|
counterparts took on the cubes.
|
|
This is for freedom, Picard told himself, this is for freedom.
|
|
He stood to exit the bridge, turning to Worf at the communications
|
|
console," I'll be in my quarters, if anything happens I want to know."
|
|
And he left, a little sleep would do him good, though he wouldn't be able
|
|
to close his eyes from the thoughts that ran through his head.
|
|
Off in the distance, light minutes away, the romulan fleet of nine
|
|
Warbirds and six smaller attack ships buzzed the Borg ships, who made no
|
|
efforts to evade the smaller ships. They just took the shots and fired
|
|
back, doing more damage than that that was inflicted upon them. They were
|
|
waiting for the fleet to drain of power, then take them and destroy them.
|
|
Like small insects flying circles around someones head, the smaller
|
|
attack vessels weren't being touched, the Warbirds, though, weren't doing
|
|
as well.
|
|
After eleven hours of lying down, pacing back and forth, and so on,
|
|
Picard headed for the bridge. Once there, he saw that Romulan casulaties
|
|
were relatively light, compared to what he had expected.
|
|
"Tomalak to Pee-card" the voice said from the heavens. SOunding
|
|
quite dismayed at the outcome of the first romulan/Borg round of the
|
|
Battle of V'Larm.
|
|
Seated at the center as usual, Picard answered," Go ahead Commander."
|
|
From unseen Romulan bridge, Picard heard from the leader of the
|
|
Romulan FLeet," It's your turn, now."
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Captain, fifteen seconds to weaponds range," Data said from the
|
|
helm console of the Enforcer, the already stated newest ship of the fleet.
|
|
Riker sat back in the center seat, wondering how in hell they were
|
|
going to defeat the Borg. He glanced back to a small, petite woman who
|
|
was manning (he still didn't understand that one) the communications
|
|
console," Lt., send to Exeter: We have engaged the Borg."
|
|
The ship sped toward the four large cubes at a quarter the speed of
|
|
light, the other fifteen following closely behind. The ships, the Task
|
|
Force, slowly spred out, moving out to cover all directions that the Borg
|
|
may be vulnerable. The Enforcer shot off the first round of photon
|
|
torpedos, which hit the 'lead' vessel of the Borg. The ships were
|
|
arranged in a diamond pattern, face on.
|
|
The torpedoes hit the center of the weaken BOrg vessel, but to
|
|
little surprise," No measurable damage to the Borg ship, Captain." Data
|
|
shouted as the red alert klaxon slowly faded into the background.
|
|
On the viewscreen, two of the federation ships flew directly
|
|
between the four Borg ships, letting every phaser and photon fire in the
|
|
directions of the enemy. The strategy was slightly effective, but also
|
|
backfired on the second ship. As the Maryland buzzed the space in between
|
|
the Borg ships, firing all weapons, the Borg retaliated, all ships firing
|
|
their own phased energy weapons at the ship. With the multiple hits of
|
|
Borg weapons, the ship was torn in two, directly at the point of saucer
|
|
separation. Thus causing slightly less damage than what it seemed...until
|
|
the engineering hull exploded near the lead BOrg ship. The was flung,
|
|
spinning end over end, out of the pattern of attack, toward the outer
|
|
edge of the solar system. The crew who had survived thus far where going
|
|
to make it.... in an act totally against everything Picard believed, a
|
|
Romulan vessel went to warp to help save the crew of the StarFleet ship.
|
|
Though many lives were lost in the explosion, it appeared that the
|
|
standard 'warp core breach' had torn a quarter of the lead ship away. It
|
|
was actually completely missing, nowhere to be seen.
|
|
Only seconds after the mishap with the Maryland, the Borg vessels
|
|
moved apart. Now the ships were more like four separate targets, where
|
|
they seemed as one large target before.
|
|
"The ships are diverging" Data said, manuevering the Enforcer to a
|
|
position just outside the weapons reach of the Borg. It had been decided
|
|
that the fleet would fight for ten minutes, move out of range for five,
|
|
then move back and fight another ten. Now the second round was ready to
|
|
begin, the fleet down one vessel; the Borg down a fourth of a ship. It
|
|
seemed almost unfair.
|
|
|
|
***** ***** *****
|
|
|
|
On the main viewscreen of the Exeter, Picard saw his fleet being
|
|
battered and torn down by the unrentless Borg. He found it awkward that
|
|
they were now being the aggresser, not the Borg. But that was the way it
|
|
had to be. Picard had just gotten word that the Captain and first officer
|
|
of the Maryland had died in a freak explosion on the bridge of their
|
|
ship. Then it came through that the Romulan vessel was going to
|
|
transport the remaining crew of the Maryland to the Exeter as soon as
|
|
they could. Picard had no choice in the matter, he had a battle to win.
|
|
As unlikely as that may be.
|
|
"Ah do na' understand the reasonen' behind sended so many ships to
|
|
fight these beasties. If we coulda just tossed a few warp cores at 'em,
|
|
then this woulda' been over already..." Scottie said standing off to the
|
|
side of the center seat, he had decided to watch the action from the bridge.
|
|
"Captain Scott, it isn't that easy. THose things cost time and
|
|
money..." Picard said, looking up from the screen for the first time.
|
|
"So much money and time that the lives are worth less?" Scottie
|
|
asked, he knew he had Picard with that one. Of course, his suggestion was
|
|
impractical, but it was possible if not unique.
|
|
"Scottie...." Picard began, but was interupted from something that
|
|
buzzed over the comm circuits. He spun around to look at Worf, who seemed
|
|
just as confused as Picard was about the sound. "What is that, Mr. Worf?"
|
|
"Unknown, Captain" WOrf growled" Though it is getting on my nerves."
|
|
he seemed ready to destroy the entire console in a single blow.
|
|
"Ock, Captain, tha's just feedback from the subspace transmissions
|
|
of the ships out there...they must be sending a lot of messages back an'
|
|
forth to put out that much excess." Scottie said taking the seat at the
|
|
Engineering console.
|
|
Picard sat there thinking the situation over. THere can't possibly
|
|
be that much talking going on between all my ships or the Romulan ones,
|
|
Picard thought.
|
|
Just as Picard had hit upon the fact, a message came in from the
|
|
Enforcer, a message that came to the same conclucion," Captain Picard,
|
|
this La FOrge...listen, we've analized the subspace links between the
|
|
Borg ships and have found that,well, this is quite amazing, sir..."
|
|
Geordi found himself stumbing over the words while watching the engines
|
|
of the ENforcer as it continued to pound the BOrg, and to be pounded by
|
|
the Borg. In the back Picard hears someone yell,"The conduits to the
|
|
emergency generators are fused shut...once the mains are off-line, we're
|
|
dead in the water..." but that wasn't Picards' concern now. He had to
|
|
find a better way to defeat the BOrg, at least before casualities rise
|
|
any higher. And all this only thirty minutes into a twelve hour cycle
|
|
that would keep them getting battered. The Romulans had faired better,
|
|
they had more reason to fight: the Borg were heading for their home
|
|
worlds, now his. Geordi returned from the static," It appears that the
|
|
Borg of each ship are connected to every Borg on all the other
|
|
ships...there must be billions of connections and transmissions going
|
|
back and forth at...at, frankly sir, all times."
|
|
"Understood, Geardi," Picard was saying. He really didn't know what
|
|
to say," Do what you can,just be careful." But that wasn't it, there was
|
|
far too much emotion in the way he said it, caringly for his officer of old.
|
|
The transmission ended, and SCottie darted for the 'lift," Ah got me
|
|
an idea on how ta stop tha', Captain. Ah think if we can knock off the
|
|
subspace babbling, then we'd be able to take them on without 'em knowing
|
|
what exactly happened."
|
|
"More to the point, Scottie, when the Borg find a problem they stop
|
|
what they're doing to fix it...if you can do anything with that, let me
|
|
know." Picard said turning back to the screen. On a side scanner, the
|
|
science officer noted the approaching of a Romulan ship...obviously the
|
|
one with the survivors of the Maryland.
|
|
Picard was worried, more worried than any character he had ever read
|
|
of in a Shakespearian play. From this view, his ship was well out of
|
|
present dangers' way, but his eyes told him differently. The fifteen
|
|
remaining ships limped, in some cases, and charged, in the others, out to
|
|
the point where weapons could not reach. The effort was working,
|
|
slightly, the lead Borg ship and made a sudden change with the one to
|
|
its' right, trying to take the brunt of the fire off of itself. But Will
|
|
Riker had seen the move, and kept the two thirds of the fleet he thought
|
|
was needed to put the Borg ship out of commision for good.
|
|
Picard had seen enough, this view was giving him a headache...but
|
|
then so was the thing that came next. It had seemed as if Scottie had
|
|
just got in the turbolift, when his voice came ringing," Captain Picard,
|
|
Ah do think Ah have the answer ta stoppen' the Borg talken'!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sisko hound himself being transported directly from the bridge of
|
|
the Defiant into Ops., Deep Space Nine. He would have preferred to dock
|
|
the ship, with her engines slightly over-heated and all. But that would
|
|
cool down where they docked or not, and the fact he didn't have a time
|
|
estimate on the Borg arrival didn't help his case much. Every individual
|
|
in Ops. wore a StarFleet uniform, meaning that the Bajorans who were
|
|
usually here had been bused out. But that made him feel out of place, as
|
|
if this wasn't exactly his station.
|
|
To make those feelings even worse was the second he noticed Janeway
|
|
waltze from his office. Dammit, he thought, get out of my office. Of
|
|
course, she didn't give him the time, or the option, to voice himself.
|
|
Janeway waited from the large glass and metal doors to barely begin to
|
|
part when she began," Sisko, in here...". And that was it.
|
|
Ben walked to the doors, they slid open...and there she was sitting
|
|
comfortably in HIS chair, behind HIS desk. He felt the blood rushing to
|
|
his face, even though it seemed quite the trivial matter, it was one of
|
|
those little annoyances that eat at you and eat you. He took a seat, well
|
|
not actually a seat, rather he propped himself up on the front edge of
|
|
the desk letting his weight be supported (an attempt to take back, at
|
|
least a little, of what was his).
|
|
"Captain Janeway," he began, contemplating grabbing her and tossing
|
|
her out from behind the desk, especially once he noticed that what he had
|
|
upon (his desk) was irratating to her. Instead he opted to tell the
|
|
imprtant," the Borg chased the Defiant to the wormhole, then slowed, then
|
|
I don't know," he said, rolling his eyes and looking up to the ceiling,
|
|
up to the heavens. "The most important thing is we did get all the prodes
|
|
information...but even more so, the Borg can see right through our cloak."
|
|
Slowly, droplets of sweat begin to form on her brow, not exactly
|
|
something that was considered fashionable for women captain to have
|
|
happen. But then, again, it was justafiable for this situation. "I see,"
|
|
she said, looking down at Sisko's backside, still holding him, resting
|
|
him on the edge of her(?) desk. "How many?"
|
|
"How many?!" he repeated," Three cubes, isn't that enough?" Christ,
|
|
he thought, wouldn't one be enough?
|
|
"And they slowed and didn't follow you through?"
|
|
"Well, we're not being assimilated are we?" he said, just enough
|
|
sarcasm so not to be insulting, yet enough for her to feel a little
|
|
pained.
|
|
"Captain Sisko," she said, standing with both hands balled into
|
|
fists on the desk. Oh boy, he thought, here it comes. Hello Odo, you have
|
|
to put me in the brig, I was being a little mean to our new bitch...I
|
|
mean commanding officer. Ha, he thought, ha, just try it.
|
|
"Captain Sisko, get back to your ship...we're going through," She
|
|
said, walking around the desk, heading for Ops. Obviously, she wasn't
|
|
kidding.
|
|
"Captain?" he asked, quizzically.
|
|
"If we stop them, or even slow them, from coming through the
|
|
wormhole, the better." She said, motioning for Sisko to step up onto the
|
|
transporter platform. Once he had done so, " Sisko, I'll brief all the
|
|
Captains of the ships in the FLeet, once I'm ready and aboard the Voyager."
|
|
He felt a small, cold, wet shivver move up his spine and as the
|
|
transporter effect took him, a cold shudder jerked him back to reality.
|
|
But now back on the bridge of the Defiant.
|
|
|
|
**** **** **** **** ****
|
|
|
|
"Benjamin, what's going on?" Jadzia Dax asked, rushing over to
|
|
him, just as the tingling and whining sensations and sounds of the
|
|
transporter effect had deminished. Sisko shuddered and lost his
|
|
balance, falling on his rear, onto on of the steps that lead to the
|
|
higher level of the center seat.
|
|
He sat for a second, then began to laugh," I had a small talk
|
|
with Captain Janeway and she gave me the most wicked cold chill I've
|
|
ever experienced." He stood, pulled down on the top portion of his
|
|
uniform and leapt up the two steps to the chair, this one was
|
|
definitely his.
|
|
"So what are we going?" Kira interjected from the doorway to the
|
|
bridge, she had obviously just arrived. But the smile on her face
|
|
gave away the fact that she had been there long enough to see Sisko
|
|
fall on his rear. Her voice betrayed nothing, not even the great
|
|
amount of fear that she was hiding. She didn't want to fight the Borg.
|
|
Sisko looked over his shoulder, then back to the main viewscreen,
|
|
which showed both the Station and the now invisible wormhole. He rubbed
|
|
the stubble that was quickly beginning to cover his face, contemplating
|
|
for a moment whether it was the days without shaving or the stress of
|
|
those days that had led to the wild hairgrowth. He brought himself back
|
|
to reality, then felt the burden, the responsiblity to answer the
|
|
question. And so he did," We're going to the Gamma Quadrant to fight the
|
|
Borg..." he uttered, not exactly liking the idea. He pointed, halfly, to
|
|
the ceiling," Better to fight the Borg there, than to risk the
|
|
assimilation of Bajor and everything else. Besides, if we can't beat
|
|
them, at least we have the chance of destroying the Wormhole before they
|
|
can come through."
|
|
"Uh-huh," was all that anyone said, and that came from Kira, now
|
|
standing over near the station that Dax manned.
|
|
It was going to be a long wait for Janeway to get them all
|
|
underway, a long wait in their minds at least. A long aganizing wait,
|
|
that had everyone contemplating what it would be like to be a Borg.
|
|
Of course, there was one man they could have asked...but he was a
|
|
quarter of the galaxy away...fighting the Borg, again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Well, Scottie," Picard said, strolling through the large, double
|
|
doors to Engineering. If what Scottie had found was going to stop the
|
|
Borg, then dammit it must be worth hearing in person, he thought. But
|
|
said," This had better be good, you know I shouldn't leave the bridge
|
|
when we're in battle."
|
|
Scottie stood there, looking at Picard with the large grin that
|
|
seemed to always be on his face in times of trouble. He was the great
|
|
"Miracle Worker" and would you believe he had done it again. He turned,
|
|
sucking in his large gut, but he had a good reason for such a gut...he
|
|
was the greatest Engineer since Zefram Cochrane, and was about as old as
|
|
Cochrane was when they had found him ninety years earlier. "Aye, sir... I
|
|
know what ye mean...but Ah think you should look at this for ye self."
|
|
THe rotund engineer lend the Captain of the Exeter over to a small
|
|
station worked into a wall near two sets of ladders/stairs that led to a
|
|
second level. On the board where dials and buttons that were more than a
|
|
century out of time, but seemed to work just as well (if not better than
|
|
his own twenty fourth century equipment).
|
|
"So what's this all mean?" Picard said looking up from the switches,
|
|
rubbing his balding head with a hand that felt a little cold and clammy.
|
|
"Ah found that the Borg talk back an' forth from ship to ship like
|
|
they do, as ye said they did, from man to man aboard one ship..." Scottie
|
|
said, not trying to let on too much as to what he had actually dicovered.
|
|
Remember, you don't let on until the solution is already been approved
|
|
and has worked.
|
|
"And that means..." Picard said, trailing his voice, leaving the
|
|
question open ended for the ChEng to answer.
|
|
"It means that Ah have already found a way ta shut down their
|
|
subspace chattering between ships, sir." Scottie answered. He looked
|
|
around at the crew that monitored the dozen different stations of the
|
|
large room, a room larger than that of the Galaxy Class starships that
|
|
seemed to redefine spaciousness aboard space vessels.
|
|
"How?" Picard asked, catching on to what the Scot was hinting at.
|
|
"All Ah need to do is set one prode, or even better a small shuttle-
|
|
craft, above the magnetic poles of each Borg ships...there they won't
|
|
detect them...too hard for even the best of sensors to detect." Captain
|
|
Scott said, using his hands to show how he would have them placed above
|
|
the emorous ships of metal and plastic. It was obvious that even Scottie
|
|
did his homework on the Borg ships.
|
|
"What are they going to do?" Picard asked...
|
|
...the ship rocked back, knocking Scottie into the console he was
|
|
using to show Picard his demonstration. Picard tumbled forward almost
|
|
into the arms of the hundred and twenty kilogram man, but the second wave
|
|
of motion pushed him to the ground. The deck swung to a thirty degree
|
|
angle, rolling Picard front over back straight into the casing for the di-
|
|
lithium crystal chamber. Scottie found a worn, old, almost comforting hand-
|
|
hold on the console, barely letting him keep his balance, to stay on his
|
|
feet. Such good news wasn't when he glanced up to see one young Ensign be
|
|
flung over the red guardrail to the floor of the Engineering room,
|
|
instantly killing the woman, her spinal cord snapped in more than two places.
|
|
Picard made it to his feet, after his thirty second bout with the
|
|
crystal chamber, immediately hitting his newer style StarFleet combadge,"
|
|
Bridge, Worf what the hell happened?"
|
|
Only static.
|
|
"Bridge, come in. Worf, do you read." Picard was beginning to worry,
|
|
the ships convulsions had settled to a slow shake every second or so.
|
|
Scottie was too busy making sure the engines where holding together,
|
|
knowing damn well that the ship wasn't designed to take a beating from
|
|
twenty fourth century weapons.
|
|
"Bridge can you hear me...Mr. Worf...Ensign..."
|
|
"Worf here." Came over the comm system, relieving Picard who was
|
|
beginning to think the worst of the posible situations.
|
|
"What happened, COmmander?" Picard said, walking, with a limp, over
|
|
to the console both he and Scottie had been looking at.
|
|
"As far as we could tell before the bridge depressurized, a random
|
|
graviton beam from the Borg Fleet as directed this way..." WOrf
|
|
continued, but that was all that Picard had to hear...the rest being the
|
|
bull.
|
|
"Before the bridge depressurized..." Picard said, again using the
|
|
familiar 'you finish this sentence' tone he had been blessed with since
|
|
childhood.
|
|
"Yes, sir," Worf said, the sound of a clunky, old turbolift in the
|
|
background. He continued," The beam tore the bridge flight recorder
|
|
straight out of the ceiling of the Bridge... if one of the unused Bridge
|
|
chairs hadn't gotten stuck we all would have died.."
|
|
Picard turned to Scottie, who was making his way back down the
|
|
ladder that led to the second deck of the large main room. Scottie had
|
|
heard the whole conversation over his own com, looking to Picard he
|
|
mouthed," That had happened before, tha's the reason the moved the damned
|
|
thing".
|
|
"Where are you now, Mr. Worf?" Picard said, hussling over to a
|
|
second console off, out of way...one that had a viewscreen. He flipped on
|
|
the screen, only to see his now battered fleet crawling back to regroup
|
|
near his cripp;led ships position. The twleve hours were finally up.
|
|
"Everyone, but Ensign Topper, the helmsman, got to the 'lift," Worf
|
|
said, he paused to let the Captain think that there was nothing they
|
|
could have done to save the red-headed officer. He took a deep breath,
|
|
somthing he had been deprived of for several long, excurciating seconds
|
|
of living in the vacuum of space," We are on our way to the Auxiliary Control
|
|
Room on deck eight."
|
|
Scottie nodded, that was the only place that control could be handled
|
|
easier than it was to do down here in Engineering, though it could be done.
|
|
Auxiliary control, was the seemingly perfect pre-cursor to the so called
|
|
'Battle Bridge' of the twenty-fourth century 'Exploration' vessels of Star
|
|
Fleet.
|
|
"Very good, Mr. Worf...let Commander Tomalak know that we are having
|
|
some..'minor difficulties'...and that his twelve hour shift is back."
|
|
"Aye, sir." WOrf said, the sound of turbolift doors swooooshing open
|
|
in the background."WOrf out."
|
|
"Well, Captain Scott," Picard said, feeling that though they had lost
|
|
a life, it could have been worse," It seems I could very well owe my life
|
|
to you."
|
|
"It won't be the last time, sir." Scottie said, a smug look on his
|
|
face, knowing that Picard would take it as light heartedly as his once
|
|
former Captain Kirk had taken such comments.
|
|
"I see... well then," Picard said, seeing a slight shift in the mood
|
|
of the situation, a slight shift in the posible friendship these two
|
|
could very possibly have. He smiled, showing his teeth, something that
|
|
rarely happened," Well, now you and your men have real Work to do...get
|
|
that bridge back together."
|
|
"Agh, Captain...that's almost done already," Scottie said, knowing
|
|
that the crews he had already assigned to do the job had already arrived
|
|
on the the bridge in their spiffy little 2370 a.d. space uniforms. "But
|
|
Ah think tha' it may be better to tell ye what Ah have got once Mr. La
|
|
Forge comes home."
|
|
"That sounds good. I'll be on the Battle Bridge...I mean in What
|
|
did call it?" Picard said, thinking that it was maybe best to let Scottie
|
|
think he did definitely know this ship class better than those history
|
|
buffs who studied such things, like Picard. (Too bad for Picard, Scottie
|
|
knew this ship better than the ship knew itself!)
|
|
Slowly, as if talking to an infant, Scottie joked with his newfound
|
|
friend and commanding officer," Aux...ili...ary....Con...trol".
|
|
Picard turned to leave, shaking his head and slightly laughing, even
|
|
though the state of the ship didn't exactly call for such humor. He
|
|
stopped and turned and said to Scottie," Where you always such a smart ass
|
|
with Jim Kirk?"
|
|
Scottie looked up, shocked by the question, then began to remember
|
|
his friend. A slight smile and then...
|
|
... " Aye."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Romulan Fleet had taken out two of the cubes, before the
|
|
Federation was even asked, then pleaded to, then even co-ursed by self-
|
|
exiled Ambassador Spock on Romulus. The Romulan Star Empire had taken
|
|
quite a hit in the sore spot when they found that the Federation could
|
|
only spare so few ships. But, then the Federation had lost a good number
|
|
(thirty nine to be exact) of their war vessels against a single Borg ship.
|
|
Today, neither the Romulan or the Federation 'Empires' would stand to
|
|
lose near half that many ships against four times the power of a single
|
|
Cube, for they spare four Cubes, the unrelentless Borg.
|
|
|
|
Captain Jean-Luc Picard seemed to be wandering the ship, in fact lost
|
|
of the eighth level, one that was supposed to house the ships 'auxiliary
|
|
control room', the precursor to the Battle bridge. Finally, he found the
|
|
door, with no help from crew members rushing past, quickly trying to get
|
|
the bridge back to normal. But then, on these 'primative' twenty-third
|
|
century ships there were no computer consoles on the walls of the
|
|
corridors to show the way.
|
|
"Captain...the Romulans have lost one Warbird and two smaller attack
|
|
vessels in the last round of attacks." Worf said standing at a console,
|
|
almost completely hidden from the view of anyone who entered. A large,
|
|
red, metallic type fence blocked a direct route to the console Worf
|
|
seemed to be using. Hearing the door begin to slowly swoosh shut behind
|
|
him, Picard turned just in time to see two 'meds' take the now dead body
|
|
of a bridge crew member past.
|
|
"How long until we get another crack at them?" Picard said, closing
|
|
his eyes and thinking of the family of the young man who had died. A
|
|
single death was something that bother Picard far greater than the
|
|
thousands that were going to die in the next few hours. The single death
|
|
reminded him of a message he had recieved only a month before...on the
|
|
holodeck of the Enterprise-D, a message that would live with him to the
|
|
grave. And if he was anymore cynical now, he thought it may live with him
|
|
in the infinite space and time of the Q continum, knowing that Q would
|
|
never let his sole entertainment cease to exist.
|
|
"Two hours, ten minutes." Worf answered, he seemed to be
|
|
concentrating on the job he was preforming, keeping a close eye on all
|
|
Romulan communications.
|
|
Picard stepped up to a vacant station, the first inside the door,
|
|
but before he took the chance to seat himself, Captain Montgomery Scott
|
|
entered, via the same route as Picard. He seemed worried, almost
|
|
frightened, but then his face changed," Captain, Ah think ye better call
|
|
Mister La Forge an' have him come over here...Ah think Ah have a way ta
|
|
stop th' Borg." He left.
|
|
Jean-Luc didn't know what to think, Scott was behaving differently,
|
|
mad then happy, laid back then urgent, it just didn't make sense. And
|
|
where did he go, just stepping out like that, Picard thought. He turned
|
|
to look, strainingly through the think metal fence, at Worf, who seemed
|
|
to had taken over all operations.
|
|
"Already on his way, sir." Worf said, without having been given the
|
|
order. This was something Picard had found irritating in most situations,
|
|
but when it came to war and the such he felt that it freed his time to do
|
|
the important things. Like seeing what Scotty and Geordi where going to
|
|
do about the Borg.
|
|
|
|
**** **** **** ***
|
|
|
|
"You want to do what?!"
|
|
"Ye heard me...Ah tell ye, Geordi, it'll work." Mr. Scott said,
|
|
looking straight into what would/should have been La Forges' eyes, now
|
|
covered with the damned VISOR he insisted on never getting rid of.
|
|
"You can't just launch probes, or even shuttlecrafts, at Borg ships...
|
|
I've told you it just won't work. They won't get close enough, they won't
|
|
work fast enough, and the whole thing probably won't work at all."
|
|
Geordi said, more like complained, as he walked to the edge of the upper
|
|
level of the rarely used photon/subspace science lab. Geordi, not being
|
|
to familiar with these type of ships, had finally stopped complaining
|
|
about the damned handrails all over the place.
|
|
"Then we can beam 'em inta place." Scottie said, seated behind the
|
|
only twenty fourth century computer console in the entire labratory. The
|
|
room was immense compared to so many other rooms on the ship, only
|
|
dwarfed by the entire engineering room.
|
|
"Beaming, how can we beam probes into position over both of the very
|
|
minute magnetic poles of Borg Cubes, without getting blasted to hell when
|
|
we lower our shields? Answer that one." La Forge asked, getting a little
|
|
pensive, realizing that this was, in fact, the only decent idea had yet
|
|
to hear.
|
|
"The transporters on this ship could be modified to..." Scott began.
|
|
"This ship can't take the pounding and you know it,"
|
|
"But...Ah had hoped to use th Exeter transporters to beam the
|
|
probes more than halfway there, then get one of those damned Romulan
|
|
ships to cloak and beam them the rest of the way without being detected."
|
|
Scottie said, with the one problem he had feared showing itself in his
|
|
voice, not in the exact words.
|
|
"Halfway..."
|
|
"Aye, these transporters are twice as powerful than any that you
|
|
engineers have on ye ships taday." he said in rebuttle,"...just a little
|
|
tinkering."
|
|
"I don't know," La Forge said, rubbing his chin in the thoughtful
|
|
way he had learned from his engineering professors back at the Academy.
|
|
Then he thought a moment, really thinking, putting everything into it,
|
|
looked up, nodded, then slapped his combadge," La Forge to Picard."
|
|
The door behind his swooshed open, in walking Picard," Already
|
|
here, Mr. La Forge...what do you have for me."
|
|
"Not me, sir, Captain Scott..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Standard Orbital Approach," the helm officer of the Voyager said.
|
|
"Very good, scan for ships in the area and any signs of Borg or Jem'
|
|
Hadar ship on the planet surface." Captain Janeway ordered, she had
|
|
gotten the much needed nap while inroute to the world, the world where
|
|
they believed the remaining Borg threat had vanished to.
|
|
"Scans indicate a moderately industrial humanoid society on the mainland
|
|
of the this world. It is becoming difficult to scan the region, due to
|
|
the amazing amount of pollution they are producing in their 'factories'."
|
|
the first officer said from a position off to the side of the captain.
|
|
"We're not looking for them, Chakotay, try scanning for the
|
|
ionazation trail...it may have survived well into this earth like
|
|
atmosphere." Janeway said, a sly smile on her face.
|
|
"The sixth planet, the largest, is closing in on its' perihelion,
|
|
causing massive eruptions on the surface of the star beyond... the
|
|
solar wind is distorting the scans of the surface and atmosphere below
|
|
six hundred kilometers."
|
|
"Just find them."
|
|
|
|
**** **** **** ****
|
|
|
|
"Ship of an unidentifable shape is located in the southern most
|
|
region of the largest island off the main continent, east." Dax said,
|
|
amazed that they had been the first to pick up on the ships subspace
|
|
transmissions, apparently uncoded and of....Borg design.
|
|
"Contact the Voyager, explain to Captain Janeway what has been
|
|
found...then transmit coordinates to the Voyager and to our own
|
|
transporter room... apparently they crashed...and survived." Sisko said
|
|
drawing out the final word, leaving it to the rest to find whether they
|
|
feared the Borg, whether hurt and dying or better when they were alive
|
|
and well.
|
|
Sisko preferred them dead, as dead as they could possibly get.
|
|
Though still wondering, in the back of his mind, what had happened
|
|
to the agreement between the Borg and Jem'Hadar, and if the Jem'Hadar had
|
|
done this much destruction to the Borg, the Borg of all people (? where
|
|
they people, could we consider them alive?), then what could possibly
|
|
await them?
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Commander Tomalak, I promise you, there will be no damage caused
|
|
to your ship...we don't have the cloak, so to do this we need you, we
|
|
need you." Picard said, making it a plead. Small droplets of sweat formed
|
|
on his high forehead, no hair to stop them from rolling down into his eyes.
|
|
The 'Auxiliary control room was becoming quite stuffy, with loads of
|
|
officers that Picard had never seen rushing in and out, trying to tie all
|
|
controls from the bridge to the is medium sized, computer filled control
|
|
center. The bridge was supposed to be back on line in another two hours,
|
|
hopefully before then. But then, Picard thought, if I know Scott, he'll
|
|
have it ready in an hour or less, even with all his planning. One to
|
|
really count on...
|
|
"Captain Pee-card, you want us to fly into the middle of a battle,
|
|
cloaked, and beam these 'probes', as you call them, near the Borg
|
|
ships..." Tomalak said, looking as if he was going to laugh, as if he had
|
|
never heard of such a rediculous plan before in his life.
|
|
"If it will save the lives of so many...." Picard began, cut off,
|
|
not by his own will, but by the large, dark hand that Tomalak threw up
|
|
near the screen calling for silence.
|
|
"We will do it," Tomalak said, slowly allowing himself to lean back.
|
|
Picard smiled slightly, the persperation on his brow quickly beginning to
|
|
evaporate, relieved that it went so well. Tomalak," But, you must allow
|
|
us full access to the systems that will be controlling the probes."
|
|
Picard died. Well, not really, he just felt as if he had, as if his
|
|
heart had been punctured again, life fleeing him, running on a direct
|
|
course away from him," Why?" was all he could ask, quite the nonsensical
|
|
question.
|
|
"We want to know exactly what is going on, Pee-card, We want to know
|
|
how you plan on defeating the Borg." Tomalak answered, making his motives
|
|
all too clear, without adding part of the truth, he wanted to know
|
|
exactly how the probes of the Federation worked, how they stood up to his
|
|
own, how he could possibly find a way to defeat the border probes along
|
|
the Neutral Zone, probes just like this one.
|
|
And Picard knew it, but caved in," Fine, we'll contact you once the
|
|
probes are ready... Picard out." he said, giving his little nod to Worf
|
|
to cut the line, which he did. The screen went black.
|
|
"Captain Scott," Picard said to the air, forgetting that the
|
|
computers of the twenty third century didn't quite respond the way his
|
|
did, in the twenty fourth. He looked to Worf who said,"Try now,sir."
|
|
"Scott, here." the two words flooded the speakers, almost painfully.
|
|
It seemed some systems where just getting callibtrated for being rerouted
|
|
to the bridge.
|
|
"How are those probes coming along?" Picard asked, feeling a bit
|
|
relieved. Of course, he knew full well, that the job these probes where
|
|
to do was not going to destroy the Borg ships, but cut them off from one
|
|
another.
|
|
"Another minute...wait, one...Aye, sir, th' probes are ready."
|
|
Scottie exclaimed over the loudsystem. He wasn't quite the proud, Scott
|
|
who did wonders at his job, was he?
|
|
"Very good, Mr. Scott...one question though..Why are we beaming them
|
|
out there into space then letting the ROmulans beam them aboard? Why not
|
|
let them have the probes now?" Picard said, tilting his head upward,
|
|
where the speakers of his ship and all ships older than this one had
|
|
their speakers. This one didn't, though, he did it out of habit.
|
|
"We need to know if they're going to work, don't we?"
|
|
"I see your point." Picard said.
|
|
|
|
***** ***** **** *****
|
|
|
|
"Fleet moving into position," Worf said, looking through the thick
|
|
metal fencing that separated him from his commanding officer.
|
|
"Alert Captain Riker that a Romulan Warbird will be joining them in
|
|
one hour to deposit some help around the Borg." Picard said, standing as
|
|
he had been doing for the past nine hours, tiring quicker than he thought
|
|
possible.
|
|
"Aye".
|
|
|
|
**** **** **** **** ****
|
|
|
|
"Energizing transporters, now," Scott said, standing at the
|
|
controls to the main transporter unit. The Probes had been loaded onto
|
|
two transporter platforms and were being beamed directly where they
|
|
needed to be so to be checked.
|
|
"Transport complete" he said, a smile on his jolly, fat face.
|
|
"Probes are working perfectly," someone behind him said, standing
|
|
at a console that was rarely used by anyone including the transporter
|
|
chief, which ships of this one's day didn't have...they simply had the
|
|
'Chief Engineer'.
|
|
"Aye," he said, just for the sake of it," Aye."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Fleet moved off into the distance, somewhere out there, where
|
|
the Borg were waiting, where fate was closing in for the kill. The Borg
|
|
where still making their slow course through the system, killing
|
|
everything that stood in the way. Halfway between the command ships of
|
|
the FLeets and the infamous Borg vessels, there stood eight gerry rigged
|
|
solar probes, sending out some sort of buffetting subspace signal...on
|
|
all frequencies. They just stood there, not moving (relative to all
|
|
parties involved).
|
|
The Fleet moved in, the lead ship- the Enforcer, under sommand of
|
|
Captain William Thomas Riker- fired the first shot... a full spread of
|
|
photon torpedoes off the leading ship. They did little or no damage. The
|
|
Fleet of now fifteen ships, two almost out of commission, spread out,
|
|
spanning the invisible surface of a sphere that inclosed the four Borg
|
|
ships. They didn't seem to care.
|
|
The battle that would see the end of the war with Borg had begun,
|
|
just twelve hours before it would end. The various ships made their
|
|
moves, diving in close to the Borg, firing off all their phasers and
|
|
photon torpedoes, then speeding out, away from the action. This starategy
|
|
was tried by the Romulans and worked, only moderately, for the forst
|
|
attacks that they made against the Borg...successful in the way that only
|
|
thousands of lives where lost, instead of the hundreds of thousands that
|
|
could have been given away.
|
|
Some ships did what seemed, at least on the computer (Used to be on
|
|
paper!), to be quite impossible manuevers. The London was making a dead
|
|
run for the lead ship, the one that had been designated alpha, the others
|
|
following in an obvious order of greek letters. The London took a
|
|
parabolic course that let her slip under Alpha, firing her phasers and
|
|
torpedoes...but then she stopped. A dead stop, completely motionless, and
|
|
with that the Borg stopped firing, as if their sensors where saying the
|
|
ship was dead. Though it wasn't.
|
|
Captain Manik, commanding officer of the USS London, had decided on
|
|
a course of action that no other had dared. He cut the engines, allowing
|
|
the ship to drift, the magnetic fields of the Borg ship slowed the London
|
|
just enough the the front of the ship was now completely turned toward
|
|
the Borg vessel. He waited, the engines working (Overtime). Using the
|
|
main deflector dish, he fired an enormous resonance burst at the Borg
|
|
ship, simulating an Antimatter explosion when it came in contact with the
|
|
enemy ship.
|
|
The London powered up in less than the millisecond that the
|
|
computer said was necessary, full reverse, and the ship spend away from
|
|
the blasted Borg ship...with the help of Newtons Third Law. He used a
|
|
strategy that was taught to every student of command ability at the
|
|
Academy, something that the 'Chief Engineer' of the command ship had once
|
|
tried. Amazing...
|
|
The London sped free of the battle scene, having caused the largest
|
|
explosion yet (At least since the Federation had arrived). The Borg ship
|
|
had a semi-spherical hole the size of a nice sized asteroid blown out of
|
|
the bottom side. The Borg ship retreated, moving into the safest spot, in
|
|
the back. The already damaged rear ship took the front position, not
|
|
letting its' weaponds hestitate to fire as it did so. The now, rear ship
|
|
was missing close to forty-five percent of its' original mass. A manuever
|
|
and idea that would ultimately, in the years to come, allow Captain Manik
|
|
to become Admiral Manik...but that would be years, and years ahead.
|
|
The manuever worked once. But the chance to pull the same manuever
|
|
again would never come, the Borg adapted to well. And most Captains and
|
|
even every ensign knew that.
|
|
Except for one...one captain made the naive mistake, a mistake he
|
|
would live just long enough through to regret.
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sisko was pasing the length of the Defiant bridge, he hadn't thought
|
|
of the situation that he had been placed in as "command'. But it seemed
|
|
Captain Janeway had done that very thing, not wanting Sisko or anyone in
|
|
command of any vessel to beam to the surface near the wreckage of the
|
|
Borg ship. Instead of disobeying her orders he opted to send Lt. Jadzia
|
|
Dax and Security Chief Odo to the planets surface...along with over fifty
|
|
other personel from the six other starships.
|
|
Sisko couldn't contain himself, he felt that he belonged down there,
|
|
he felt he deserved the right to see the Borg squirm in the last minutes
|
|
of their lives. Sisko felt he deserved to be the destroyer of the race
|
|
that took away the only woman he had ever loved, the woman that had given
|
|
him his only son, Jake. But, how. How could the Borg had revived these
|
|
thoughts, Sisko thought remembering his first (and only) encounter with
|
|
the aliens of the wormhole, I defeated the Borg, I let go of Jennifer...
|
|
Damn!
|
|
"...jamming all subspace frequencies that the Borg are known to have
|
|
signalled on..." Kira was saying from the science console off to Sisko's
|
|
left. Janeway had, wisely, decided to jam all Borg transmissions...they
|
|
didn't want them calling their friends, did they?
|
|
"Very good," Sisko uttered, not thinking really of the things going
|
|
on around him. He was lost in the thoughts of the bloodest battle the
|
|
Federation had ever fought...Wolf 359...then they were gone. The thoughts
|
|
of Jennifer, the thoughts of that system, the thoughts of Lecutis of
|
|
Borg, the thoughts of revenge: they all dissapeared from his mind, as
|
|
quickly as they had formed. Sisko was back...
|
|
He took his seat, center, higher by a step, crossed his legs right
|
|
over left, folded his arms of his chest. He tilted his head to the right,
|
|
rather than turn his head the opposite way," What's going on down there?"
|
|
he asked. The question came from nowhere, Kira was shocked he had even
|
|
said anything, knowing what he was thinking, the same thing she would
|
|
have been thinking if she had been in his place. Was he speaking to me...
|
|
|
|
***** **** **** *****
|
|
|
|
Dax had been the first to fully materalize on the planet
|
|
surface...Odo taking, for some unknown reason, longer to appear. The
|
|
teams from the other six ships took longer, though no more than two minutes
|
|
had pasted from first arrival to last. But time seemed to stop once one
|
|
stepped on the soil of this new, never touched land, on this planet that
|
|
was as beautiful as any scene from earth in the nineteenth century. For
|
|
lain out before them was the remains of a Borg Cube, sprayed out for
|
|
miles, almost from horizon to horizon. From what she had heard, it seems
|
|
that this Borg ship didn't stand up to atmospheric pressures and
|
|
emergency landings quite as well as the now downed Enterprise-D.
|
|
Much of the Cube, however, remained intact. Looking like a large
|
|
pile of metalic waste...resembling a late twentieth century trash heap...five
|
|
hundred meters high! The Cube was a small mountain, taking up much of the
|
|
scenery directly ahead, yet more than a kilometer away from the current
|
|
position of the teams (who really had no purpose, but to look everything
|
|
over).
|
|
"Dax to Sisko and Janeway," She said, stepping closer and closer to
|
|
what may hold nothing for her but death. Dax was not in the least bit
|
|
apprehentious about this, though Odo couldn't help but seem a bit too
|
|
cautionary.
|
|
"Captain Janeway here...Go ahead Lt." The voice from nowhere replied,
|
|
sounding a wee bit nervious, a wee bit tired, and a wee bit angry.
|
|
Placing most emphasis on her rank, and the rank of Dax, trying to not let
|
|
her forget it.
|
|
"If I wasn't holding the tricorder I wouldn't believe it myself,
|
|
Captain," Dax said stunned, showing the readout to Odo, who stood just
|
|
over her shoulder. It was apparent from the actions of the other small
|
|
groups of StarFleet officers that they were all coming to the same
|
|
conclusion at the same time. She paused, letting the captain listen even
|
|
more carefully to what she was about to say. Then," Captain Janeway, I'm...
|
|
we're only picking up trace reading of Borg disruptors only... no Jem'Hadar
|
|
ionazation signature is present in any of the surrounding debris or in
|
|
the atmosphere..."
|
|
"I see..." she said, sounding just as astonished as Dax had believed
|
|
she would," well then," and the signal died, mid-sentence...nothing but
|
|
static.
|
|
Dax looked up, as did everyone else who was in contact with the
|
|
ship, they looked around at each other. It was Odo who spoke as the
|
|
groups started to huddle and converge on a single position, near Dax and
|
|
Odo, the first two who had arrived on this paradise. Odo mumbled to
|
|
her," They must be under attack, frequencies being jammed." People
|
|
started looking to the sky, watching for flashes of phaser fire miles
|
|
over head...they saw none. Odo repeated," They must be under attack..."
|
|
Someone in the middle of the fifty person group shouted," No they're
|
|
not...we are!", everyone looking to the wreckage. Pointing fingers flew
|
|
up as they noticed nine Jem'Hadar warships decloak, landed on the ground.
|
|
Before another word was spoken, half the team had dissappeared...obviously
|
|
beamed somewhere.
|
|
Two of the ships took off, firing their disruptors up to the
|
|
heavens, firing at the starships in orbit. Then Dax suddenly felt sick,
|
|
and realized it was the transporter effect...the sickening feeling was
|
|
the standard effect the transporter had on Trills. She opened her eyes,
|
|
only to see Jem'Hadar soldiers pointing large disruptor rifles at
|
|
them...motioning Odo and Dax and the other twenty or so hostages through
|
|
a specific door. They did the only thing they could do, dropped their
|
|
weapons as they were told...and followed the Jem'Hadar orders.
|
|
|
|
***** **** **** *****
|
|
|
|
"We got half of 'em!" Chief O'Brien said, standing out of eyes'
|
|
shot. "Most of the crew were beamed up by their own ships...but we only
|
|
got half... the rest should be on the way."
|
|
"Somethings happening on the surface, sir!" the ensign at the helm
|
|
shouted, the noice on the bridge was becoming deafening. She spun around
|
|
to look at Sisko, who was now standing before the great chair," Ships on
|
|
the surface decloaking!!"
|
|
"Who...wha...how?!" Sisko muttered, trying to figure out what was
|
|
happening. The moment communications went down, he (along with Janeway)
|
|
had made the decision to beam their people out of there...only a moment
|
|
to late.
|
|
"We can't lock on..." O'Brien was saying," Trying...sir....trying...no
|
|
..can't get them...somekind of damned dampening field...damn...It's the
|
|
Jem'Hadar, sir!"
|
|
"What the hell's happening down there?!"
|
|
"Two ships firing,sir" the ensign at the helm said, letting her
|
|
fingers do the flying over the controls. Then she said the worse thing
|
|
SIsko could have been possibly asked," Raise shields, sir?"
|
|
He sat down, the disruptors blazing past them. Near hits.
|
|
"Raise shields, Ensign."
|
|
The two ships that fired had parted the Task Force with their wild
|
|
fire, separating the ships like the Red Sea. The ships fired as the
|
|
pasted, low powered disruptors, not doing much harm...only making a path
|
|
for the seven that followed.
|
|
As the ships pasted,"What's their..."
|
|
"The course of the enemy ships is bearing two two nine mark one
|
|
seven..." Kira said from the science station.
|
|
"Plot parellel course and engage at same warp as them," Sisko
|
|
said, knowing that fighting the Jem'Hadar would be a losing battle, not
|
|
just for them..but for Odo and Dax. Then there was the problem of where
|
|
exactly they were heading, until he looked at viewscreen to see a red and
|
|
brown haze slowly take shape in the distance. One thing came to Ben
|
|
Sisko's mind...
|
|
...the Founders...
|
|
...but why?
|
|
|
|
***** **** *****
|
|
|
|
Dax and Odo found themselves in a small dark room, with only two
|
|
other personnel; thought they knew neither. Apparently the Jem'Hadar had
|
|
been told to watch for a traitor, a Founder traitor...Odo. Even through
|
|
that order, they found themselves compelled to put him and his friend in
|
|
the best empty compartment they had. The Jem'Hadar (and the Founders) had
|
|
found out that it was a tiny bit harder to follow orders, especially when
|
|
your genetic programming says the opposite. Once again, DNA would play a
|
|
part in the way they acted, just as it always had.
|
|
"What's going on...where are they taking us?" the one unknown
|
|
officer asked, looking through the moisture rich, heavy air that made
|
|
breathing and seeing even harder in the poorly lit room.
|
|
"No one put up a fight, they don't care what happens...so long as
|
|
they get away...it's all that Captain Janeway's fault..." the other
|
|
unknown said, obviously showing his feelings for the commander of a ship
|
|
he didn't serve on.
|
|
"If the Defiant or any ships fired on the Jem'Hadar, we'd all be
|
|
killed with them...you don't know the power of these ships," Dax said,
|
|
taking a seat next to Odo on the soot covered, dingy floor.
|
|
Odo looked around, sudden, jerky movement, as if trying to get
|
|
away from something, yet listening to see if was still there. He looked
|
|
at Dax, fear hidden in those pseudo-optics," They're taking us there" he
|
|
said. When both unknown officers asked where, he pointed franticly to the
|
|
corner ceiling of the room," ...to the founders..."
|
|
Through a vent in the wall of the room, a hissing appeared, they
|
|
all looked around to each other....gas! The room quickly filled with a
|
|
clear, odorless gas. As the two unknown officers slumped over, and as Dax
|
|
begin to close her eyes, something she just couldn't help. Try to stay
|
|
awake, she thought, fight it, fight it!
|
|
She couldn't. From the corner of her eye, she saw, for the first
|
|
time, Odo begin to melt, to transform into his original, jelatonous state
|
|
of being. My god, she thought, the gas is knocking us out...and... (The
|
|
words that formed the thoughts were coming to her slower and slower.)...
|
|
doing the same to...Odo...he must...have...to ...change back to...his
|
|
origin...al...form to slee.......
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER THIRTY
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Romulan ship moving away from their fleet, now cloaking," Worf
|
|
said, looking through the red fencing, the lighting shadowing most of his
|
|
already heavily browed face.
|
|
Picard was seated, now tiring from the operations that they moving
|
|
through. His shift had another full eleven hours, making his string of
|
|
hellish waking days almost two full. His face was also shadowed, not by
|
|
lighting, rather the stubble that professed his manhood had taken the
|
|
last two days of waken activity to sprout anew. He finally acknowledged
|
|
Worf after a moment of trying to assimilate the words he had heard. Damn,
|
|
he thought, everything is speeding up, while I'm slowing down...this
|
|
can't keep up.
|
|
A whistle sounded,"Crusher to Picard", a voice he hadn't heard
|
|
since the beginning of the mission. Thankful that it was atleast there,
|
|
though fearing what she was definitely about to say...
|
|
"Go ahead, Doctor" Picard answered trying to keep his normal,
|
|
bridge tone, though there wasn't anything normal about the
|
|
situation...and they still weren't on the bridge. He wasn't fooling
|
|
himself, then he wasn't fooling anyone else.
|
|
"Orders from StarFleet Medical...go to bed, Captain," She said,
|
|
teh voice filling the room, as if spoken from the heavens.
|
|
"Doctor, this is the most important part of this mission" he said.
|
|
"You have ten minutes...then it's in my hands...understand?" she
|
|
asked, leaving it to him to decide.
|
|
"Understood, Doctor," he said, cutting the line to Sickbay. He
|
|
looked around at the bunch working around him, then he opened another
|
|
line," Counselor Troi to 'Auxiliary Control" he said, knowing full well
|
|
that Deanna was sitting on a biobed in Sickbay, having tattled to Beverly
|
|
on how bad a little boy he was.
|
|
"The probes have dissappeared, Captain" Worf was saying when he
|
|
came around, having been in very well known place called LaLaLand, the
|
|
place where people go when they are all in their head...paying no
|
|
attention to outside stimulous.
|
|
"Very good," he said, wondering what had happened to the probes,
|
|
then almost kicking himself for not realizing that the Romulan ship had
|
|
begun beaming them to their respective positions over and under the four
|
|
mighty Borg Ships. Then from nowhere a voice came into his, no not his
|
|
head, his ear...he was beginning to lose it, he needed sleep. But the
|
|
voice was familiar in someway, yes, it's Scottie.
|
|
It was Scottie who was supposed to be telling him,"The bridge has
|
|
been completely repaired, sir. We need only ta repressurize...then ye get
|
|
ye chair back..."
|
|
|
|
**** **** **** ****
|
|
|
|
The mighty ship slipped past the phased energy bursted that were
|
|
going off around it, off to starboard, off to port, the ship turned,
|
|
glided past them. This ship, an Excelsior class starship, dived and rose,
|
|
moving out of harms way. The ship's shields taking less of a brutal
|
|
pounding than most others'. Her crew were experienced, they knew what
|
|
they were doing, but one thing was held against them...none them, not
|
|
even the vessels captain, had fought against the Borg in the past.
|
|
The Cairo spun around the rear ship, making loops around the
|
|
indented, cratered cube, as if tying a great invisible shoe lace, or
|
|
winding it's grandmothers cotton yarn in a large ball around the ship.
|
|
The phasers making contact, shifting frequency so to do the greatest
|
|
damage. The torpedoes moving off as slow as any had, hitting their
|
|
targets with precision never seen before...but then, most targets rarely
|
|
were so loarge and willing to say virtual so still.
|
|
As the starship came around, over the side of the Borg ship that
|
|
had been designated the top of the ship, the engines were cut...the ship
|
|
fired its slow retrotrusters to easy them into virtual motionlessness. As
|
|
before, with another ship, the strong magnetic fields of the north of the
|
|
Borg ship were pulling greatly on the south poled end of the Cairo.
|
|
The front, the saucer, for somereason tended to have a slightly
|
|
negitive magnetic charge, with opposites attraching, the saucer bent the
|
|
ship toward the Borg vessel. Captain Jellico knew that if this worked
|
|
again on the Borg, a clean whole the size of a nice asteroid would let
|
|
them look straight through the center of the cubic ship.
|
|
The main deflector energized, almost full...then a burst of phased
|
|
energy shot from the Borg ship, seemingly from nowhere. The beam of light
|
|
that showed the course of the burst was aimed at, and hit the main
|
|
deflector dish of the Cairo, sending it out of its' fifteen years
|
|
orbitable cycle around the borg ship. The entire engineering hull almost
|
|
collapsed instantly. The ship was dead, only functioning by the will of
|
|
those still alive.
|
|
From the bridge of the ENforcer, the great lead attack ship
|
|
ironically from the Ambassador class of vessels, the show of fire power
|
|
was magnificant. Nothing like it had every before been seen coming from a
|
|
Borg ship. The explosion of the impact dimmed the viewer as the light
|
|
sensitive equipment came on line. Will Riker was stunned, calling for an
|
|
immediate fall back, to regroup. All ships listened, except for the one
|
|
barely alive.
|
|
|
|
**** **** ****
|
|
|
|
The computer was the only voice heard under the moans of the
|
|
tortured bodies of seven hundred people. "Fifteen seconds to total loss
|
|
of warp coil containment field"...fifteen seconds to death.
|
|
Captain Jellico knew what he had to do, even from his position on
|
|
the deck of the ship with a fractured leg and massive internal bleeding,
|
|
his own lungs either collapsed or filling with fluid. He reached to the
|
|
green control on the center seats armrest, once pressed a subspace signal
|
|
was opened. He whispered as loud as he could without causing anymore
|
|
unbarable pain,"Cairo...Picard kill them all, kill these bloody
|
|
bastards...kill them so I can destroy them when I might them in hell..."
|
|
He released the green control, moving his hand to the red one, the one
|
|
that he had hoped never to use.
|
|
Before the mission had started, he had requested circuits to be set
|
|
to his command, for one decision only. In case of a warp core breach,
|
|
coolant leak, or drop of containment fields...the ship could make a
|
|
single, warp jump lasting less than a trillionth of a second...the power
|
|
he had.
|
|
His hand reached up, qwivering with fear and pain, knowing that
|
|
there was no other choice. The computer announced,"Five...four...three..."
|
|
he presseed teh control, the little, glowing red touchpad. He released it.
|
|
The ship leaped at them, the Borg had never had a chance...
|
|
|
|
**** **** ****
|
|
|
|
The Cairo moved to warp, a trillionth of a second later the mighty
|
|
starship slammed into the side of the Borg rear vessel, nothing they
|
|
could do to move...all for the better.
|
|
An instant after the mighty explosion upon inpact the
|
|
antimatter/matter containment was obliterated along with every piece of
|
|
material in the area...
|
|
The Cairo existed no longer...
|
|
Nor did the rear ship in the Borg formation.
|
|
|
|
**** **** ****
|
|
|
|
"Level Three shockwave," Worf said, flying over the controls,
|
|
knowing that this wave was going to cause quite a little bit of
|
|
havoc out here. They were still in Auxiliary Control.
|
|
Picard was just leaving, having seen the Cairo dissappear,
|
|
having had enough death for the day. Troi stood above the seat, he
|
|
had been slumping in, knowing that Picard wouldn't leave if the
|
|
shockwave was that large.
|
|
"Shields," he said...then exitting the room. Leaving Troi in
|
|
command, as if he didn't care. Which he didn't, after a certain
|
|
point, death isn't death anylonger, it's a game, a joke, something
|
|
no longer worth paying attention to. Death was the evil hayfever he
|
|
had as a child, after a few days of headache, it seemed not to
|
|
bother him anylonger, though he knew fool well it was there.
|
|
Moments later the ship rocked, a slight little roll, like
|
|
riding over the beautiful, rolling waves on a breezy day at sea. In
|
|
closer, the damage was greater, but only to tehir ships, but the
|
|
Borg as well. All ships had suffered, and to everyones dismay,
|
|
except that of the Borg... it was going to continue. The suffering
|
|
and death that is.
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
|
|
|
|
|
|
Kill them so I can destroy them when I meet them in hell, Picard
|
|
thought, lying still in his bed, the bed of the captain of a Task Force
|
|
who stood little chance of success against the Borg forces, until the
|
|
moments that took the lives of hundreds of people just an hour ago. Three
|
|
left, three...how.
|
|
He had left the command to of the fleet to someone who had not seem
|
|
command action before...ever. But he trusted in Troi, and Worf, who had a
|
|
high endurance for time without sleep, and in Barclay, who had to join
|
|
Troi, he knew they were in fair hands. Not good hands, not the hands of
|
|
people who had done this before...but then, who had done this before?
|
|
Sleep, sleep, sleep, he tried to will himself to sleep, he tried to
|
|
keep the upsetting, depressing thoughts of death out of his mind. For
|
|
them, there would be plenty of time later, for the deaths of the people
|
|
he didn't know, for the deaths of those he did (like Ed Jellico, though
|
|
they weren't exactly friends), for those who had died before...for his
|
|
family, those he had yet to fully grieve for...but then, he thought, as
|
|
he usually did, what is enough? how am I to know? Damn.
|
|
He finally fell to sleep, the ship slowly rocking, obsorbing the
|
|
shock of the destroyed Borg ship, with tears welling in the creasing of
|
|
this eyelids, Picard, Jean-Luc Picard finally dozed off, out there where
|
|
no one could die (at least for real) in the realm of dreams.
|
|
|
|
**** **** **** ****
|
|
|
|
Worf had held his position, saying as long as he could hold out,
|
|
which for the powerful Klingon would be another forty eight hours, or so.
|
|
He had been standing for the past three days, straight, with only fifteen
|
|
minute breaks every four or five hours, leaving the other important
|
|
people to other jobs. His replacement, Reg Barkley, had been down in
|
|
engineering, helping Captain Scott, who it had seemed had taken a liking
|
|
to the otherwise friendless Barkley.
|
|
Though he knew he could last, his favorite human now being his
|
|
boss, he didn't want to bother Troi with such things as getting someone
|
|
to take his place as he did other things during what should have been
|
|
brakes. So he stayed at his post, not taking a break when she was on
|
|
duty, and for that he would be, though not many knew it or thought it
|
|
believable, close to physical exhaustion. "The Romulan ship has
|
|
transported the six probes into position above the Borg ships..." he
|
|
said, looking through the fencing, his voice a tiny bit more hoarse than
|
|
usual.
|
|
"Very good," Troi said, keeping a weary eye on him, trying to see if
|
|
he was still at top proformance, if not then Barkley could do the job,
|
|
letting him sleep, and recuperate. "Captain Scott, your problems are
|
|
ready to be turned on," she said, looking into the metallic grating of
|
|
the two-way speaker that was amazingly outdated, even for a hundred years.
|
|
There was a small break in the noise, things got quiet, very quiet,
|
|
almost as silent as the space, the vaccuum outside the ship. Then
|
|
Scotties boomed over the speaker," Aye, commander. Ye send a message ta
|
|
the Enforcer, tell Captain Riker ta pullback, they canna get caught in
|
|
the surge that the probes'll put out when Ah turn 'dem on..."
|
|
She sat in the only available chair, she face half hidden by her
|
|
long brown hair. All the better, she wouldn't want anyone to see the
|
|
smile she had on her face, the smile she got everytime she listened to
|
|
Scottie speak...there was just something about his voice, something about
|
|
the accent that made him seem to everyone like he should be their
|
|
grandfather, the wise old man.
|
|
"Sending," Worf said from his position, his voice getting a little
|
|
more out of sink, a little more hoarse, a little more dry and exhaustive
|
|
like. He looked through the screen, nodding to Troi, his new found 'love'
|
|
interest. THen he mouthed, rather than speak and give her ample example
|
|
of his fatigue, enough to send him to his room," Ready..."
|
|
"Captain Scott," She said, flinging the hair from her eyes,"You
|
|
can turn on the light show.".
|
|
"Aye..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
They really had no idea what was going to happen to the Borg when
|
|
the probes started to transmit, or do whatever the secretive Scottie and
|
|
Geordi had done to them. We can't leave out the help that Barkley pitched
|
|
in, helping when he should have been sleeping. But then he didn't have
|
|
much of a job when he was on duty, seeing that Worf didn't want to go off
|
|
duty to give him the chance.
|
|
The probes were going to rest in positions that had been
|
|
calculated to have been directly above the magnetic poles of each
|
|
ship. Like most ships, all ships made of metal, the Borg had a
|
|
considerable magnetic field, especially since they were the best at
|
|
warp technology, which relied heavily on strong magnetic fields. The
|
|
Borg had unusually strong magnetic field lines that jsut seemed to be
|
|
caused by the unregulating of their warp drive, however they seemed
|
|
to be without the matter/antimatter system, it seemed logical to
|
|
believe that the magnetic fields came from the center of the ship.
|
|
Knowing that sensors had the hardest time penetrating the the
|
|
positions above the magnetic poles of large objects, they had
|
|
discovered that the Borg had the same problem...just as bad as a
|
|
small moon, or planet...esentially a Borg ship is large bar magnet.
|
|
Placing the probes in position at the poles, keeps the Borg
|
|
from finding them, though they would surely feel the power that the
|
|
hidden probes could give...
|
|
The switch was throne, and the probes began resonate at
|
|
frequencies that seemed to be abnormally high, and just as abnormally
|
|
low on the subspace band, frequencies that the Federation had found
|
|
decades before that seemed to link to, or have a specific baring on
|
|
what happens in the physical world of...electromagnetic fields
|
|
(radiation).
|
|
What is that horrible corrilation between the fields of the
|
|
electromagnetic world, and that of the subspace realm? Scottie knew,
|
|
he had done the original work on the subject. It seemed that if he
|
|
could link specific frequencies of subspace to specific magnetic field
|
|
lines of the Borg ship, then the the subspace messages (or whatever
|
|
was traveling in subspace) would propogate across the magnetic field
|
|
lines. Then what? What ever happened to be traveling across that magnetic
|
|
line would have to return to a space (inthe physical world) where it had
|
|
originated, where the magnetic field line originated.
|
|
Once specific frequecies where linked, messages sent on other close
|
|
frequencies would link to corresponding magnetic lines, thus making
|
|
messages on other, close, frequencies do the same to other magnetic lines.
|
|
In essence, no matter what frequency was being used, the message could
|
|
never escape the stronger magnetic fields of the ship or object it came
|
|
from.
|
|
So what would this do to the Borg? It cut each ship off from the
|
|
others, cutting the link that made them a true collective, making
|
|
fighting in the close quarters of this confined star system even more
|
|
hazardous from the humogous cube shaped war ships. The theory of Captain
|
|
Montgomery Scott would eventually go on to be one of the greatest
|
|
breakthroughs of the late twenty fourth century...and he wasn't done yet.
|
|
The idea behind the plan also had unexpected reprecusions on this
|
|
battle itself, making the odds of the Federation/Romulan Task FOrces even
|
|
better than ever. Of course, Capt. Ed Jellico wouldn't know that, but
|
|
then...there were definitely some other Borg who would be joining him in
|
|
hell on this day.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
|
|
|
|
|
|
The amount of time that pasted was not known to any of the dozens of
|
|
hostages of the Jem'Hadar, particulary the three who sat groggy in a cell
|
|
with a now semi-jelatinous Odo. Dax glanced down, then quickly turned
|
|
away, not wanting to offend Odo, knowing how personally embarrassing this
|
|
must be to him. So she sat there wondering what the gas had done to him,
|
|
how it had taken to knocking them out, and turning him into...into a
|
|
pile, a puddle of goo.
|
|
She slumped against the wall, soot and dust rubbing onto her
|
|
uniform. Jadzia thought for a moment then looked to the ceiling, as if
|
|
someone shy had been undressing in front of her, and she spoke," It
|
|
appears that whatever that gas was, it bonded to your outer
|
|
pseudo-epidermis and caused it to break down...I'm sorry Odo," she said
|
|
thinking of continuing with her apology for giving a reason why this
|
|
happened. It really didn't matter how, but why they had done this to them.
|
|
Light filtered through a newly opened slit in the door to the cell,
|
|
though it seemed to Dax that this was not exactly a cell, but a room for
|
|
some type of storage...what kind she didn't know. The light flickered,
|
|
she looked up, her eyes caught in the involentary reflex of squinting to
|
|
adjust. Through the slit, a moment later, she could make out the eyes,
|
|
those reptylian eyes, of a Jem'Hadar, one of those who escorted her and
|
|
the others here. He peared in, obviously having better night vision that
|
|
the Trill or humans who occupied the small space.
|
|
"You are to stand..." he said, a little funny voice that sounded
|
|
almost out of place. Beside her, Odo had returned to a fully humanoid
|
|
form, the gas having finally worn off. He nudged Dax, urging her and the
|
|
rest to stand.
|
|
They did as they were told. Obvious to Dax, and hopefully to all,
|
|
they weren't going to be killed, who would bring this far after putting
|
|
them to sleep for so long...how long was it? She didn't know. Jadzia,
|
|
though a little worried, perhaps nervious, knew that they were safe, no
|
|
harm coming to them. The door opened, the light from the corridor filling
|
|
the tiny room. Her eyes ached, feeling something she hadn't known for
|
|
years...a headache set in.
|
|
|
|
***** ***** ***** ****
|
|
|
|
"Slow to impulse for planetary orbit," Sisko said, seated where had
|
|
been for the pst thirteen hours, the entire duration of the trek from the
|
|
Borg ship to this planet, a planet with no particular sun, a planet
|
|
floating through a nebula hundreds of light years from the wormhole.
|
|
The ship slowed, he felt it in the soles of his boots. The other six
|
|
ships were in a pattern behind the Defiant. Something Sisko thought about
|
|
every second his mind wasn't on what could be happening to his people on
|
|
the Jem'Hadar ships. Fifteen minutes later the mighty warship took a low,
|
|
elliptical orbit that would bring it as close to the atmosphere as
|
|
possible without incurring damage to the ship.
|
|
"Scans of the surface show little has changed here in the last few
|
|
months, Commander...Captain," Kira said, having taken Dax's place at the
|
|
Science console off to the left of the center seat.
|
|
"Where'd those ships go?" he asked, only Dax and Odo on his mind,
|
|
getting them back and getting the hell out of here. Sisko had been
|
|
worried, not just for Dax and Odo, but for the fact that if Dukat had not
|
|
been so willing to take up positions near the alpha mouth of the
|
|
wormhole, this could have been a very deadly trap. Pull the fleet out of
|
|
position by faking the destruction of the Borg, then fly through and take
|
|
what you want...a plan that couldn't fail. Of course, and Sisko didn't
|
|
know this, that was not the plan. The plan had been changed, and that was
|
|
the reason the hostages were taken...they needed (the founders, that is)
|
|
, needed someone to explain that to. And who better than the
|
|
investigators of the destruction of the last of the Borg.
|
|
"Right where we thought they'd be...life signs are normal," she
|
|
said. Looking over the controls, then turning to Sisko," The Jem'Hadar
|
|
are hailing us, sir...they're leaving the surface." On the screen a dozen
|
|
of the Jem'Hadar ships sped toward them from the surface of the planet.
|
|
Hailing us..., Sisko thought. Now, what the hell is going on here.
|
|
"On screen,".
|
|
|
|
**** *** **** ***
|
|
|
|
"Your ships will drop their shields, your ships will power down
|
|
their weapons, your ships will be saved destruction only if you do these
|
|
simple tasks." The Jem'Hadar said from the screen in the front of the
|
|
bridge of the Defiant. He seemed the most intelligent of all the
|
|
Jem'Hadar he had ever come in contact with.
|
|
"Why?," She asked, never actually seeing a Jem'Hadar before, but
|
|
then Captain Janeway had never seen a live Borg before either. Sisko had
|
|
had reservations of letting her beam over, though left the decision to
|
|
her alone. The Jemmy's as he was becoming fond of calling them, had
|
|
wanted to speak only to those who were on what they believed to be the
|
|
command ship- the Defiant.
|
|
The Jem'Hadar sat quiet, not saying a word, just as he had for the
|
|
half dozen other questions she had asked, and again Sisko asked for
|
|
her,"Why?"
|
|
And to him, the Jemmy answered," Once the talk is over on the
|
|
surface, your men will be returned...so you may leave before we destroy
|
|
you." the screen went blank, then returned to s picture of the planet and
|
|
stars beyond.
|
|
Janeway looked to Sisko,"What about the women? Only returning our
|
|
Men? What..."
|
|
Sisko stood, looked down at her and smiled,"Captain Janeway, they
|
|
meant they were going to return them all, they just said men to make it
|
|
easier...now, what do we do?"
|
|
She looked at him, grinned, then frowned,"Lower shields, power
|
|
down weapons and beam me back to my ship..."
|
|
|
|
***** *** *****
|
|
|
|
"What are we doing here?" Odo said, looking around at the dozends of
|
|
Jem'Hadar soulders that surrounded them, it seemed as if they were
|
|
standing in a sea of aliens, aliens that would sooner kill you than look
|
|
at you. Looking over the heads of the souldiers, Odo noticed a slow
|
|
parting of the crowd ahead of them...someone was making their way through
|
|
the ocean of aliens.
|
|
"It seems we're about to find out," one of the two unknown officers
|
|
said, standing directly behind the humanoid Odo. The other guard was
|
|
standing next to his shipmate, sniffing the sleeve of his uniform,
|
|
evidently the gas had saturated their clothing and was still lingering
|
|
about...at least it wasn't enough to cause any effect on them, or Odo.
|
|
But most likely enough to be analized when they got back to the ships
|
|
they were from, if they got back to the ships they were from.
|
|
The Jem'Hadar in front of them moved out of the way, letting them
|
|
see past. The soldiers moved and knelt, facing the ground, being the good
|
|
little genetically engineered soldiers they were supposed to be.
|
|
Approaching them, a female, a female that seemed familiar. She
|
|
walked up to them, looked them over then to Dax," I never expected that
|
|
you would know of our plan to conquer the alpha quadrant,".
|
|
Dax looked at her, fire gleaming in her eyes,"From what we heard,
|
|
you were going to let the Borg conquer the rest of the galaxy, so long as
|
|
they left your worlds alone." Spite and anger filling her voice, she
|
|
didn't like battle, but she liked being kidnapped even less.
|
|
The woman, or what was her interpretation of a human woman, looked
|
|
stunned, evidently surprised by the fact they knew so much. She looked to
|
|
Odo,"You know as well..." as if he wouldn't help defeat the Borg because
|
|
his own kind were the ones behind the supposed invasion of the Alpha
|
|
Quadrant.
|
|
He just nodded,"I know everything that Starfleet knows about you
|
|
and your plans," he said.
|
|
"Well, plans change...and our's did." She said, the Jem'Hadar who
|
|
were standing around earlier, still on the knees. Oh the glory of
|
|
oppression, the power of being in control...
|
|
"That's why you brought us here," the guard said behind Dax, now
|
|
leaving the gas and his sleeve alone.
|
|
"Correct, we want to explain it to you, then let you leave...this
|
|
is the last time. We threatened you before, but this time is special, we
|
|
give the chance to leave...later...only because you impress us with your
|
|
amount of information," She said, looking from one to the other. Then she
|
|
said what those at Starfleet would fear more than the Borg,"But the
|
|
impression stops there...we've got your spy, well, we did...he's dead
|
|
now...so sorry."
|
|
So sorry, so sorry, so sorry...the words rang in Dax's ears the the
|
|
door buzzer to her cabin on DS9, when someone stood there ringing over
|
|
and over...for the first time in her life, she wanted to kill someone,
|
|
solely for the sport of it...this creature had infuriated her to that
|
|
point, one she would regret in the days to come...not because she took
|
|
action on the impulse, but because she didn't...
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Switching the probes status ta active," Scottie said, his voice
|
|
filling the bridge. The entire operation was finally back where it was
|
|
supposed to be, on the bridge. Scottie had been seated at the engineering
|
|
station for the past twenty minutes, waiting for the right moment,
|
|
wanting everything to be prefect. The fleet had withdrawn to what he
|
|
thought was too safe a distance, but that didn't matter. From his
|
|
position on the bridge, he had a direct link, not only to the staus of
|
|
the probes, but also to the engineering room of the Enforcer, so to be
|
|
anle to communicate to Geordi La Forge any previously unforseen problems.
|
|
On screen, the three Borg cubes where slowly drifting back into a
|
|
recognizable pattern, though they had begun to slowly speed up, heading
|
|
out of the system, perhaps now fearful of that they were facing. But then
|
|
again, or even most likely not. Remember these are Borg, they don't have
|
|
emotion, they're just chips and neurons, no emotions, no fear.
|
|
"Overlay visual with subspace field recognition chart," He ordered,
|
|
the young man who know helmed the once mighty vessel give a little
|
|
sqweeky "Aye,sir" and changed the entire look of the screen with field
|
|
lines highlighted in blue and red, depending on their intensity.
|
|
On screen now, the Borg ships where nothing bot tiny square dots, with so
|
|
many subspace lines extending in the highest intensity color of red, the
|
|
ships where zoomed out, letting room enough to show as many as possible.
|
|
The Ships where surrounded, literaly, with red and yellow hallows of
|
|
lines that made circles around each. One intriguing thing stood out, many
|
|
blue, the weakest intensity, lines where extending beyond the system,
|
|
beyond the sensor range of the ships...meaning only one thing. THis is
|
|
far more a collective that previously thought, everything done here was
|
|
being transmitting back to where ever the Borg come from, a place some
|
|
where unknown in the deepest recesses of the Delta Quadrant.
|
|
|
|
***** **** ****
|
|
|
|
"Data, get a reading on where those signals are going...pinpoint the
|
|
exact location," Riker was ready, now they were gathering not only info
|
|
on these Borg ships, but possibly on the homeworld of the Borg! He
|
|
continued,"This is our best chance at finding where they're from..."
|
|
Data sat at the Ops. console worried, something he had not known he
|
|
could feel until the month before, worried of what the destruction of
|
|
these Borg ships could mean to the Romulans, and to the Federation. It
|
|
was possible that they were sending for reinforcements, as funny as that
|
|
may sound. It was also possible that they were relaying vital information
|
|
to the next wave of, though they have no feeling, vengeful Borg ships,
|
|
willing to annlihate, rather than assimilate. Wow, Data thought, I'm
|
|
scared of something that's most likely never going to happen...this is
|
|
anxiety!
|
|
He brought himself to listen and do as he was told, holding and
|
|
trying to savor the feeling (mostly for later analysis)," Aye, sir."
|
|
|
|
**** **** **** ****
|
|
|
|
"Probes now active," Scottie said, keeping an eye on each panel on
|
|
his console, just to be sure each probe worked as it was supposed to.
|
|
Luckily for Captain Montgomery Scott, they each worked as he had
|
|
expected...just another miracle from the great "Miracle Worker" himself.
|
|
His other eye was intent on watching what happened on the main
|
|
viewscreen, to see if they did what they were supposed to. Working right,
|
|
and powering up right were two separate things, very separate things,
|
|
considering that what these probes where supposed to do, was not thought
|
|
of until the day before.
|
|
On screen, the blue lines that left each Borg ship, slowly curved,
|
|
heading in other directions, slowly bending back in upon the ship from
|
|
which that particu;ar line originated from. The lines seemed to entend
|
|
from one side of the ship, made a small curving loop outside, then
|
|
heading back in on the opposite side of the ship. "Aye, just like the
|
|
damned magnetic field lines, Geordi." he said, glaring at the screen,
|
|
speaking low into the communications array, the little button and grill
|
|
work of the century before, on his own console.
|
|
From the same grill and button, though this definitely came from the
|
|
grill, was the reply of La Forge,"Mr. Scott, I don't know how...whoa!!!"
|
|
..and everything died.
|
|
Well not exactly, it would later be estimated that the lost of
|
|
lives came to six million...six million Borg that is.
|
|
|
|
**** **** *** ***
|
|
|
|
The lines where going nowhere, and they couldn't figure it out.
|
|
The sensors that the mighty ship had didn't detect anything, they knew of
|
|
no technologies that could do this to them. They changed frequencies,
|
|
postulating that the umassimilated had jammed certain frequencies...
|
|
knowing from the great memory banks that all frequencies could never be
|
|
blocked, for there were an infinite number of them.
|
|
Alone, so alone, no one else, to be alone, so alone....
|
|
Then the messages returned, they were once again in touch with the
|
|
collective, not the entire collective but one ship. Then after
|
|
milliseconds of Borg to Borg signal recognition tries, they found that
|
|
the ship they were in contact with was in fact their own ship. The
|
|
signals built up, taking memory and storage from each of them, they
|
|
needed to store the messages, though they were their own. The Borg saved
|
|
everything, and though the transmissions were their own, and far less
|
|
than all those they were recieving seconds before, they built rapidly as
|
|
frequency upon frequincy turned inward upon their own vessel.
|
|
The feedback of the their own transmissions built until it was far
|
|
too much to hold, but they knew no other way. Every bit of data was to be
|
|
saved, so to understand and be able to assimilate those who created the
|
|
data to begin with. This broke the Borg, what happened next killed them.
|
|
The feedback was being stored, the messages were already being
|
|
anylized, so to assimilate the makers of the messages. They knew no other
|
|
way, there was no subroutine, no subprogram, no nothing, that told them
|
|
that an unknown transmission may be their own. They began to plan to
|
|
assimilate the makers of the messages, but found that they were they,
|
|
they had to assimilate themselves. They had assimilate the assimilated.
|
|
This created a paradox that shut the entire ship down, they knew no other
|
|
way to deal with the problem than to shut all other systems down. Once
|
|
they did so, the 'warp core', or the secretive drive of the Borg
|
|
collapsed...destroying the mighty ship and it's six point four million
|
|
inhabitants.
|
|
The other two ships came to differnet conclusions, not taking the
|
|
same route as this doomed ship. They survived what was intended to not be
|
|
a weapon, but a helper in destroying their kind in the old fashioned way
|
|
of sending in the powerful to hammer away, hammer away, hoping to kill
|
|
them. No not kill, to terminate them. Shut them down. Two ships, two of
|
|
four, two of six, had survived, rocked by the explosion fo their sister
|
|
ship. No Borg would mourn the lost, they could not, they had no feelings,
|
|
no emotions to speak of. All the better, so they couldn't feel the pain.
|
|
|
|
**** *** ****
|
|
|
|
"Auck! Well, didya see tha'," Scottie said, laying the excitement in
|
|
the accent pretty thick. "Never expected tha' ta happen" He stood proud
|
|
of his work, amazed at the outcome..one less Borg cube to deal with.
|
|
"Captain Scott, you did it...you've given us the chance we needed,"
|
|
Geordi was yelling over the hoopla pouring out of engineering on the
|
|
Enforcer, the excitement was barely containable.
|
|
"Now, ye get your asses back in there and finish 'em off," Scott
|
|
said, leaning over his console, knowing that the level three shockwave of
|
|
the explosion of a Borg ship was on it's way. What he was really doing
|
|
was checking the positions of the probes that remained...and thanks to
|
|
the wells in th magnetic fields of the Borg ships, the probes avoided
|
|
being shifted out of position by the partners of the now dead
|
|
warship...assimilation ship.
|
|
|
|
***** *** *****
|
|
|
|
The shockwave shock the ship, rocking Picard from his sleep, his
|
|
shallow sleep, one he forced on himself. Thankfully awoken to cheering in
|
|
the corridor, realizing either the Borg were destroyed, or running away.
|
|
He slipped his one-piece back on and leapt from his bed. Time to get back
|
|
where I belong, he thought, on the bridge.
|
|
Off in the distance, on not measured in kilometers, but in light
|
|
minutes, fourteen Federation ships moved in for what was hopefully the
|
|
final kill. The Borg were without communications with one another,
|
|
placing better odds on the bet. Though it was far from a sure thing,
|
|
Picard knew he and his friends, were going home soon. Going home to say
|
|
they had defeated the Borg for hopefully the last time, going home to
|
|
mourn the loss of the lives of the crews of three ships, going home to
|
|
mourn the loss of his own family.
|
|
Three ships, my god, he thought, three ships.
|
|
We just have to make sure, he thought on his way up the shaft, we
|
|
just have to make sure that it says at three...and only three.
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE
|
|
|
|
|
|
"The Borg ships are moving off, heading away from the heart of
|
|
Romulan space," Data said, smiling, an evil smile that gave away the new
|
|
found feelings, feelings of despise, of hatred for the Borg. He knew what
|
|
they had done, knew what they were going to do, knew what they wanted to
|
|
do. Now the chance for a Borgified galaxy was close to nil...actually the
|
|
probability of them conquering this arm of the galaxy, the Sagiturius
|
|
Arm, was only at fifteen point three nine nine six nine percent to begin
|
|
with.
|
|
Riker sat in his plush, perfectly stuffed command chair, knowing the
|
|
decision on what to do next laid with him. Picard would undoubtedly give
|
|
him the option of the next action, only overseeing it, and approving it.
|
|
The fate of the lives of thousands of people rested with him, the
|
|
Tactical Field Commander of Task Force Alpha, a title that would any Pop
|
|
proud of his son.
|
|
Two Borg left, two Borg ships left...do we follow, do we save
|
|
ourselves from what could be our deaths by not going after them, Riker
|
|
thought.
|
|
He stood," Plot an intercept course for the Borg ships...get us
|
|
within weapons range...then match speed and direction...we'll wait at
|
|
that distance for the Captain's orders" he said, reflecting on Picard and
|
|
still calling him 'The Captain', when he himself now held the rank as well.
|
|
"Aye, sir," Data said, alknowledging the command, not giving it a
|
|
second thought. A blip lit on his console. "Messages from USS NORTH CAROLINA
|
|
and USS DECKER...They request permission to return to 'Base Position'...
|
|
both ships report heavy damage and many casualties."
|
|
"Granted" Riker said, hanging his head low.
|
|
"Captain, the Romulan Fleet is moving in...at maximum warp!" Data
|
|
shouted, trying to talk over the noise of repair crews and breaking, or
|
|
broken consoles.
|
|
|
|
****** ***** *****
|
|
|
|
"What?!" Picard said, staring at the face of Commander Tomalak on
|
|
the main view screen. He stood there, on his own command bridge, one that
|
|
had just been fixed, listening to something that had seemed to come from
|
|
the preverbial 'Right Field'. He can't be serious, was all he continued
|
|
to tell himself.
|
|
The dark, yellowish face of Tomalak filled the screen, larger
|
|
than life. His heavy brow shadowing his dark, almost inhuman, eyes from
|
|
the power of Picard's shock. When his face begin to move into a devious
|
|
smile, or perhaps an evil grin, Picard could feel the giggles move up his
|
|
throat, as Tomalak's ears, pointed as they were, seemed to wriggle and
|
|
then jab him in the sides of his head.
|
|
When he spoke, the moist, heavy air of the Romulan environment was
|
|
close to being visible, even to the sensors for the viewer. "You heard
|
|
me, Captain," he was saying.
|
|
"Tomalak, that's the worst decision you could make in a time like
|
|
this..." Picard said, staring at the screen, still disbelieving every
|
|
word that Tomalak had said. Tomalak, you fool...
|
|
|
|
****** **** ****
|
|
|
|
On his own bridge, Tomalak sat only inches from the screen. Unlike
|
|
his Federation counterparts, his transmissions all took place up close
|
|
and personal...mainly to keep his bridge, his ship as secret as possible,
|
|
not giving away information like the Federation fools did, with their
|
|
open, completely shown views of the command centers of the war ships.
|
|
He felt the grin start someplace deep in the cavern of his spinal
|
|
column, shivering as it worked it's way to his face," These are not my
|
|
orders, Captain Pee-card...they come to you straight from the Romulan
|
|
Senate."
|
|
On his screen, Tomalak could see the entire bridge of the Exeter,
|
|
not that what he was seeing was technology in any state. He was far more
|
|
familiar with the nuances of the Enterprise bridge than he was with this
|
|
piece of history. And so he should be...
|
|
"Tomalak, you want us to withdraw from Romulan space?!" Picard was
|
|
saying, he had been difficult to hear until the systems of his own ship
|
|
kicked the volume up a few hits on the preverbial 'dial'.
|
|
"Now," Tomalak said, reaching to a console off screen.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER THIRTY SIX
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Will, there's no time to explain," Jean-Luc Picard was saying,"
|
|
Just get those ships out of there. The Romulans have asked us to leave..."
|
|
Riker was standing, halfway between the command chair and the main
|
|
viewscreen, which showed the two fleeing Borg vessels. The voice of
|
|
Picard flooded the bridge of this ship, the Enforcer. "Understood,"
|
|
He gave his orders, the ship slowed, relaying simutaniously to all
|
|
the other ships, and turned in a large arc and re-engaged at high warp
|
|
heading back to the original base of command in the outer region of the
|
|
V'Larm system.
|
|
Twenty minutes later the thirteen ships slowed to a respectable
|
|
speed, coming up on the position of the Exeter, the command ship of the
|
|
Federation Task Force. Riker still couldn't believe it, the Romulans
|
|
called them off, sending them home, after all the work and pain and war
|
|
they fought to save this quadrant of the galaxy, and now they were going
|
|
home. Going home after accomplishing what they were told to accomplish,
|
|
not finishing what they wanted to finish, having to let the Romulans do
|
|
that, having to let the Romulans take the credit for the final defeat of
|
|
the Borg 'Invasion Force'.
|
|
He came to the realization that they had been used, used as they
|
|
were before by the Q and countless other species, to do someone elses
|
|
fighting, to die for someone else, to be someone elses entertainment, to
|
|
be someone, someone ungrateful, savior. The Federation was dealing them
|
|
an unfair hand, and their poker face wasn't quite up to the expert eyes
|
|
of William Riker.
|
|
|
|
***** **** *****
|
|
|
|
"I'm telling you, Jean-Luc, they sent us here to die...They knew
|
|
full well that the Romulans were going to stiff us once the Borg were
|
|
down for the count...I know it," Riker was saying, sitting in the
|
|
quarters that were deamed his, the Captains Quarters, talking to his
|
|
friend/ his former commanding officer.
|
|
Sipping at his glass of earl gray, Picard couldn't quite put
|
|
together what Will was talking about, though he knew that whatever it was
|
|
it warranted him using Picards first name...something Riker rarely, if he
|
|
could remember right, had never done. "I just don't follow, Will. What if
|
|
you're right? What if StarFleet is up to something? What can we do about it?"
|
|
"Listen. We've been fighting the Borg for more than five years
|
|
now, and they insist on leaving us in the dark until the last minute,
|
|
every time they show up to conquer the galaxy. I think that either
|
|
the heads at StarFleet or someone in the Federation is doing this for
|
|
some unknown reason...maybe they know where the Borg are from, and
|
|
don't want us to know."
|
|
"And maybe you need a little sleep, Will." Picard said,
|
|
chuckling. He thought that was pretty funny, especially since he
|
|
thought Will was simply talking non-sense.
|
|
"And maybe I'm right." He said, not laughing. Much too serious
|
|
for that," Every time we have a dealing with the Borg, it's Admiral
|
|
Necheyev who handles us and what we do..."
|
|
"That's her job, Will....she's the head of Borg intell-
|
|
igence."
|
|
"And maybe she's the one holding back on us, maybe she has
|
|
something to do with all this."
|
|
"Will, I don't see what you're all worked up about. The
|
|
Romulans made us pull out and start heading home because that's what
|
|
the Romulans want, not because it's what Admiral Necheyev wants."
|
|
"All I'm saying is that someone better keep an eye on her and
|
|
those like her, we don't want what happened eighty years ago in the
|
|
Klingon Peace Agreement to happen again, we don't need high officials
|
|
lurking around giving information to the Romulans...or the Borg."
|
|
"I hear you, Will, but-" and the door buzzer went off,
|
|
stopping Picard in mid-sentence.
|
|
Riker walked over to the door, hit the button...and standing
|
|
there was an ensign, the only one he really recognized, and this one
|
|
only because he was the night watch communications officer. The young
|
|
officer handed him a pad and said the message came through only a
|
|
minute before, for him only...
|
|
"Thank you, ensign," He said, moving away fromt he door,
|
|
allowing it to close. Riker walked back over to his seat, pulled on
|
|
his pants leg and sat down. Thumbing the pad for a moment and reading
|
|
intently the contents of the message, he looked up to Picard.
|
|
"What is it?" Jean-Luc asked, moving over to rest on the
|
|
armrest of Rikers' chair, so to look at the pad.
|
|
"It seems the walls have ears," Riker said, still sitting
|
|
there in a state close to neural shock," You won't believe it..."
|
|
he said, handing the pad to Picard.
|
|
Jean-Luc moved over to the corner of the room, a spot where
|
|
there was enough light for him to see what the message said. Not
|
|
believing his eyes the first time, he read it a second time, then a
|
|
third. Each time the message said the same thing:
|
|
|
|
|
|
SHE IS INVOVLED, BUT NOT LIKE
|
|
YOU THINK. THE MISSION IS ONLY
|
|
A DECADE AWAY. SHE MUST BE STOPPED
|
|
BUT NOT NOW. DROP IT, LEAVE IT BE.
|
|
CONTACT IN TWO YEARS. KEEP IT
|
|
QUIET, BETWEEN YOU AND PICARD.
|
|
THE OPERATIVE.
|
|
|
|
|
|
And he still couldn't believe it.
|
|
"I think we should do as it says, and forget about all this."
|
|
Riker finally said, knowing no matter how long he tried, this message
|
|
would always come between him and his captain, Jean-Luc Picard. It
|
|
seemed this mission was only asking more questions than it was
|
|
answering.
|
|
"Indeed."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN
|
|
|
|
|
|
"They've brought us here...You've brought us here, as hostages,
|
|
solely to tell us why you turned on the Borg, I find that hard to
|
|
believe." Odo said, his form not fully, one hundred percent, recovered
|
|
from the effects of the unknown gas.
|
|
"Believe what you want, Offworlder," the woman, at least- the
|
|
feminine looking changling said to him, meaning insult (to add to his
|
|
injury) by calling him something close to an outcast. But leaving this
|
|
place to begin with, he constantly told himself, was your decision not
|
|
mine...I left because you sent me, you made me what I am.
|
|
"Well," Dax said, pulling her arm from the grasp of her Jem'Hadar
|
|
guard. She was feeling a bit aggresive, a bit too aggresive as Odo
|
|
noticed her attitude toward them all shifting to one close to violence.
|
|
He nudged her in the side with an elbow, a changling elbow, one that hurt
|
|
a little more than the soft elbows of true humanoids. She got the point,
|
|
not changing her attitude any," We're here, so explain so I can go home."
|
|
|
|
***** ***** ***** ****
|
|
|
|
"The dampening field on the planets surface has been lifted,
|
|
Captain," Kira said, looking amazed at the readout. O'Brien walked over,
|
|
punched some buttons, looked at the different screens and couldn't
|
|
believe it.
|
|
"She's right, Captain, we have transporter locks on all of our
|
|
people." he said, turning to walk back where he was stationed near the
|
|
back of the bridge. T'Rul stared at him, she obviously didn't like
|
|
O'Brien, but that was okay he didn't Romulans. Too much like them bloody
|
|
Cardies, he thought.
|
|
"Lower shields...beam them out of there." Sisko said, legs
|
|
crossed, his hands securing his position in the center seat.
|
|
As per usual, Kira went to the corner opposite, taking the
|
|
position of devils advocate," What if they fire on us when we lower
|
|
shields, Captain? Don't forget there're a dozen Jem'Hadar ships out there
|
|
waiting to blow us to your hell." She swaggered that sexy Bajoran freedom
|
|
fighter walk over to Sisko.
|
|
"They didn't lower the shield and allow us to make transporter
|
|
contact if they intended to blow us to hell, Major." Sisko said, putting
|
|
a hand on her shoulder, turning her gently and sending her back to her
|
|
station," Now beam them out of there before they change their minds."
|
|
O'Brien was busily working in the back of the bridge," Captain,
|
|
shields down....beaming them all up now....forty seven crew aboard,sir
|
|
..that's all of 'em" he said.
|
|
Sisko stood, turned to O'Brien," Good work, Chief," he spun
|
|
around, taking two steps forward, laying a hand on the shoulder of the
|
|
helmsman," Now, ensign, take us home...maximum warp."
|
|
"Aye, sir."
|
|
The ships moved off, leaving orbit, hitting warp..they were gone.
|
|
And still Ben Sisko and more important Kate Janeway, both had no
|
|
idea what was going on.
|
|
Two minutes after entering high warp, the sensors picked up
|
|
Jem'Hadar ships, twenty of them!, approaching at a speed only point two
|
|
warp over their own. They would over take them twenty minutes after
|
|
passing through to the Alpha Quadrant...Ben Sisko had to find out what
|
|
the hell happened down there.
|
|
The best person to ask was resting, propped against the wall of a
|
|
small cargo bay in the Defiants' lower level section, being treated by
|
|
Doctor Bashir and a guy by the name of Doc Zimmerman from the Voyager. He
|
|
needed their 'ok' to talk to anyone, and once Sisko got it he wasted no
|
|
time getting down there.
|
|
Only to find that Janeway had beamed over, beating him there.
|
|
Damn, he thought, she really knows how to irritate me..Damn.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dax sat, leaning against the wall of the ship, her bare shoulders
|
|
chilled against the cool metal support. She had just begun when Ben Sisko
|
|
arrived," The Borg moved through the Dominion just like they did through
|
|
the Federation a few years ago," she was saying. Bashir was tending to a
|
|
small laceration on her left knee, causing her to wince and stop her story.
|
|
"That's it, you're all back to normal," He said, moving away from her.
|
|
"That's a relief," she replied, then looked back to Sisko and his
|
|
counterpart/commanding officer Captain Kate Janeway. She tried to
|
|
continue from where she left off," The Borg had assimilated a Jem'Hadar
|
|
ship out near the fringes of their territory. The Borg had learned who
|
|
was in control and headed straight for the sunless world of the Founders'...
|
|
just like they did to earth when they kidnapped Captain Picard.
|
|
"They also learned the defenses of the Jem'Hadar and those of the
|
|
Founders, but once they got where they were going, they found that the
|
|
Founders' weren't exactly up to being assimilated." she said.
|
|
"You mean they tried to assimilate a...a changling into the
|
|
collective?" Captain Janeway asked.
|
|
"That's what they told us," Jadzia replied.
|
|
"I take it that they didn't succeed at it?" Sisko said, question like.
|
|
"Actually, Benjamin, they did-"
|
|
"What?!" Janeway questioned, stunned and shocked.
|
|
"The Borg did assimilate a changling, just one, one who wanted to
|
|
be assimilated. But the Borg were fooled, the changling was capible of
|
|
extracting information from the collective then cut off the new Borg part
|
|
of its'....of its', what's the word I'm looking for...of its'
|
|
conscienceness." Dax said, explaining the details just as if they really
|
|
meant nothing at all, as if she was describing her first date with Morn,
|
|
if she ever decided to take him up on the offer that is.
|
|
"And what happened then...where they all whisked away by a tornado
|
|
to the Land of Oz...'Oh, Toto, where are we?'..." Janeway said, not
|
|
believing what Jadzia was saying. She didn't mean it to sound as it did,
|
|
she wanted the point that she didn't believe the Founders' or anyone else
|
|
from Gamma as far as she could throw them...but that's not what Dax thought.
|
|
"Captain Janeway, If you want to know what they told me then stop
|
|
talking and listen, otherwise you won't know that they plan to kill us if
|
|
we don't head straight for the wormhole and never look back."
|
|
"They're going to attack us?!" Janeway asked.
|
|
"If we head straight for the wormhole and don't deviate before
|
|
then, then we're fine. But if we stop to investigate the Borg debris,
|
|
then we're dead...sir." Jadzia said, making it to her feet.
|
|
"Well we aren't going to have them telling us what to do." Janeway
|
|
said, as if she had made the decision to remain in the Gamma Quadrant
|
|
because the Dominion said they couldn't.
|
|
"Captain," Sisko was saying, protesting anything illogical that
|
|
Janeway was going to say beforehand,"We are going home...straight home."
|
|
To his relief, she replied," I never said we weren't."
|
|
|
|
**** *****
|
|
|
|
"The Jem'Hadar ships are breaking and changing course...heading
|
|
back to their point of origin," The helm officer of the Defiant said, to
|
|
the relief of everyone present.
|
|
Before the mighty ship, a large blue and white disk appeared, as if
|
|
from nowhere, and with no apprehension the six other ships flew into the
|
|
emornous disk, only to dissapear from to the relative onlooker in the
|
|
normal universe...only to reappear across the galaxy, some seventy
|
|
thousand light years away!
|
|
|
|
***** ****
|
|
|
|
Sitting around the center table in the 'Pit' in Ops. Dax was
|
|
trying to continue from where she left off,"The Founders' realized
|
|
that the Borg had planned to return to the Dominion after conquering
|
|
the Alpha Quadrant, to assimilate those they could, and destroy those
|
|
they couldn't...and that's what happened: the Founders' had the Borg
|
|
destroyed." she said, finishing her tale, or at least she thought she
|
|
was finished.
|
|
"Now, one minute, Jadzia," Commander Sisko was saying. He had
|
|
been given his position back as commander of DS9, thus getting his
|
|
'field promotion' taken back, he knew that was going to happen: that's
|
|
what a 'field promotion' is.
|
|
Outside the station, three of the starships were gearing up for
|
|
a return to earth, the other three would be, including th Voyager,
|
|
staying in the area to fend off the Marquis, and the slim chance the
|
|
Borg or Jem'Hadar would come looking for someone to fight.
|
|
Sisko finally finished what he wanted to say, after taking a
|
|
moment to think about what, about how he wanted to ask her his
|
|
question," Just how did they 'destroy' the Borg ships? THere were
|
|
three of them, not one, not two, but three...I just don't see how they
|
|
could do that without losing at least a dozen ships in the process."
|
|
Jadzia looked down, knowing that he had asked the one thing she
|
|
had asked the Founders' and the one thing they refused to tell her,"
|
|
They wouldn't say how they did it, but I'm sure there is some type of
|
|
residual substance remaining out there in space or not that debris
|
|
that would shed light on it...that's probably why they didn't want us
|
|
stopping on the way home, I can't believe it, that's it: they didn't
|
|
want us to have the information...because...because, maybe...well,
|
|
maybe they're going to try to use Borg technology later..." she looked
|
|
up to him, fear showing in those eyes.
|
|
Sisko understood now, the whole endevour, only one thing eluded
|
|
him, the one thing he couldn't ask now, not that this great revelation
|
|
had just occurred. He knew she was probably right," At least we know
|
|
there is a way to defeat the Borg, we just need to find out how...send
|
|
all our scans of the debris and anything else that seems involved to
|
|
StarFleet Command, they'll understand once you write your report and
|
|
add it to the one Captain Janeway left for us to send." He couldn't
|
|
bring himself to say that Janeway had left a sterling review of the
|
|
officer he was talking to, it wasn't right that he read the report,
|
|
and it wasn't right that he bring it up now, at a time when they were
|
|
most likely on the verge of finding a way to defeat the Borg and their
|
|
evil technologies.
|
|
"I'm already on it," she said heading for the 'lift.
|
|
"This shouldn't take long, maybe a year or two," Chief O'Brien
|
|
said following behind her, he was obviously going to join her in her
|
|
attempt to find something before sending it all away to SF HQ.
|
|
"Well," Sisko said, as the 'lift began to descend,"Just make
|
|
sure whatever you find, that it's the one, we can't afford to say we
|
|
have something, then when they come again...find we have nothing."
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHAPTER THIRTY NINE
|
|
|
|
|
|
Picard sat in his center seat, only hours from re-entering
|
|
Federation space. He knew how when he was a child and the family would
|
|
go on vacations, how the ride to the beach (or whereever they were going)
|
|
always seemed longer than the ride home. For once, the reverse was true,
|
|
time was slowing, almost to a halt for Captain Jean-Luc Picard. The
|
|
thoughts of what had happened back there, the destruction of three
|
|
separate starships, the damage to his own ship, the Romulans forcing them
|
|
to leave, not retrieving the two probes from the romulans (thus leaving
|
|
Federation technology to be inspected by the Romulans), and finally the
|
|
mysterious message from someone at StarFleet. He couldn't put it
|
|
together, how did that fit into everything that was going on around them?
|
|
He just didn't know.
|
|
Riker had returned to the Enforcer, and was no doubtedly doing the
|
|
same as Picard: mulling over every word and everything that had happened
|
|
in the past two weeks, the time since they had left Golondin 'Cor. But
|
|
Picard couldn't turn his mind away form the message, a message that
|
|
someone knew he would read as well as Riker.
|
|
"Status?" he asked, the night shift now up and running things on
|
|
the bridge. He didn't retire to his quarters when he was supposed to,
|
|
just letting Troi sit in sickbay with Beverly, both worrying about him
|
|
and his time of waking hours compared to time sleeping. SOmething that
|
|
was way off balance, and began to show no sooner that a week before.
|
|
"All systems nominal," the helm officer said, seated in front and
|
|
to the left of Picard.
|
|
Finally, he rose and headed for the turbolift, there was nothing he
|
|
could do here, just as likely as there was nothing he could do in his
|
|
quarters alone. "Mister Barclay, you have the bridge," he said, looking
|
|
over his shoulder at Reg, who jumped at the mention of his name.
|
|
"Y...yes, sir," he said, stuttering and nerviuos, the normal
|
|
Barclay, it was good to see that some things never change. The doors to
|
|
the 'lift closed and Picard found himself heading to his quarters, where
|
|
he would do what? What, indeed, he told himself. To his quarters where he
|
|
would lay on his bed contemplating every mistake, every error, wondering
|
|
how it could have been different. Lease of all, how they Federation was
|
|
going to handle the forced retreat of the Task FOrce from Romulan space.
|
|
Through the pictures of death and destruction, through the cloud of
|
|
smoke that formed in his mind, a cloud that took the shape of faces he
|
|
had seen on screen, faces of the dead, those lost under his command. But
|
|
not just the faces that were lost in the battle with the Borg, but those
|
|
of all he had lost in his days: those on this mission, like Ed Jellico,
|
|
those with their encounter with Doctor Soran, including the doctor
|
|
himself and the legendary Captain Kirk, those of the Stargazer, his first
|
|
command, one where he lost most of his crew to an attack by the Ferengi.
|
|
And finally one face was lifted above them all, a face of a yound child,
|
|
a boy of only nine years, his nephew: Rene. That of his brother faded,
|
|
giving strong remembrances of this child, the one that seemed as if his
|
|
own son in these memories. Memories he wished would go away, that he
|
|
could forget, he just store for later use. But that never seemed to
|
|
happen, memories that we tried to forget we never forgot. They're always
|
|
right at the front of our minds, as we try, forcingly, to forget them, we
|
|
are inadverdently remembering them, not letting them go.
|
|
Damn, he thought, I'll never be the same, not with death so close,
|
|
so near to me, so near to those who were so dear to me. Damn...
|
|
|
|
**** **** ****
|
|
|
|
Picard awoke from his sleep to only find he had slept through only
|
|
a tiny fraction of time it would take to return to his home, the one that
|
|
had burnt to the ground on earth. But that was nothing now, in the past,
|
|
the house could be rebuilt, it was the lives that mattered, the lives
|
|
because they could never be rebuilt, it just didn't work that way. Unless
|
|
your name is Q.
|
|
But Q wasn't around now, he had nothing to do with this, the
|
|
problems of the past few weeks, the deaths that had occurred in that
|
|
time. Without Q there was no way of understanding what had happened
|
|
to the time, time when everyone was alive and young and didn't have
|
|
the problems that the Borg brung with them. Damn, he thought finally
|
|
making it to his feet, leaving the comforts of a hundred year old bed
|
|
behind.
|
|
He felt relieved, the worlds problems where no long his, his were
|
|
now the worlds' problems. Picard felt relieved, the whole fiasco about
|
|
StarFLeet only remained, and the message had said a decade before they
|
|
could do anything...a decade, that's quite a long time for an old man
|
|
like me, he told himself.
|
|
But Riker wasn't quite as happy of their situation. Picard knew
|
|
when the buzzer to his cabin went off. After giving the normal," Open"
|
|
command he was apt to deliver, Will walked in. It was Riker, yet it
|
|
wasn't. He seemed worried, almost as if hampered, personally, by the
|
|
message, all else faded, including the deaths that had happened only days
|
|
and hours before.
|
|
"Captain, We can't..." he began, Picard knowing what was coming.
|
|
"Will, we have no choice. You read the message, besides, as far as
|
|
we can prove, the message itself may had been a prank of some kind." he
|
|
said, knowing full well that he was only fooling himself with that.
|
|
"A prank....a message comes to us confirming what I was
|
|
saying...and you say it may had been a prank," Riker said, that nastiness
|
|
that tended to fill his voice when he was upset was in every word he spoke.
|
|
His hair seemed messed, not like he had been sleeping, but rather like he
|
|
had been running his nervious hands through it.
|
|
"If it was real, we can't do anything, we don't even know what
|
|
exactly we're looking for. And there's no sense in worrying about it now,
|
|
here in the middle of nowhere." again he fooled only himself, though his
|
|
points were being taken into consideration. Not only by Riker, but
|
|
himself aswell.
|
|
"I guess you're right."
|
|
"I know I am," Picard replied, standing and putting a hand on
|
|
Riker's shoulder. He understood the trouble that was eating away at
|
|
Riker's neurons, the same trouble he was feeling. But with him it was
|
|
woven into the feelings of remorse and grief. But then again he and Will
|
|
had faced the problem of trouble in StarFleet before, about seven years
|
|
earlier...a time that followed enough bloodshed to last each man a life time.
|
|
"I know I am," he repeated, them both heading for the door.
|
|
"Let's look into it again later, maybe after we find what
|
|
StarFleet wants to do with us," Picard said, letting the topic of trouble
|
|
brewing in SF go for the time, hopefully, though doubtfully, he thought
|
|
perhaps they would forget the whole thing, and find one day in the future
|
|
that the message they had recieved was a prank. I doubt it though, he
|
|
thought, I doubt it...
|
|
"Fine by me, the sooner we can put the Borg and this thing behind
|
|
us, the better," Riker said, a slight smile moving over his face. He
|
|
turned to his former, though only temprary, commanding officer, grabbed
|
|
on the arm and with the most serious look he could muster, one that would
|
|
be difficult under anyother circumstances, said to Picard,"You know we're
|
|
all getting together later, once we get back to Federation space, to look
|
|
around the Enforcer. Unbelievable, my own ship and I don't even want it,
|
|
never have I even looked around it...only on the bridge and my quarters."
|
|
"Amazing, Will, simply amazing," Picard said laughing, his first
|
|
good laugh in weeks, being sarcastic with his former, and would be again,
|
|
first officer.
|
|
"Then we're going to have a sip of that Romulan Ale Geordi beamed
|
|
off the Rom-" interupted by Picard.
|
|
"Geordi did what?!"
|
|
"I had him scan the Romulan ship that placed the probes around the
|
|
Borg ships. He said there were cases upon cases of either Romulan ALe or
|
|
petroleum jelly aboard the ship. When they went to cloak, I had him beam
|
|
a case aboard...it turned out to be Romulan Ale. What would they be doing
|
|
with cases of petro jelly, anyway?" he said, smiling the entire time.
|
|
"Number One, I don't know if I should write a recommendation for
|
|
you, or have you brigged for that one," Picard said laughing as the two
|
|
walked down the corridor.
|
|
"A sip of the Ale and a game of Poker. Would you join us,
|
|
Captain?" he asked, keeping the captain part loud and annoying like he
|
|
did before Picard would join them, distancing himself from his crew.
|
|
From somewhere down the bend of the corridor, they both heard a
|
|
voice shout," Ah'd be delighted ta join ye,"....Scottie. They knew it,
|
|
and neither minded, it seemed that even in the twenty fourth century,
|
|
this twenty third century man could bring a smile to anyone's face.
|
|
"Very good, Captain Scott." Picard shouted down the hall,
|
|
wondering exactly what Scottie was doing down there. THen to Will," I
|
|
think I'll tag along as well, Number One,".
|
|
"Glad you've come to your senses,...Sir!" Riker cried, on the
|
|
verge of tears. He had a classic case of the little girl giggles. From
|
|
the last few weeks, the one thing no one did was laugh or have fun, and
|
|
now Will Riker was making up more than his share worth. But then he was
|
|
always one to find and have the most fun...
|
|
|
|
|
|
EPILOGUE
|
|
|
|
|
|
"So Commander, have you decided on what-" Kira was saying, but then
|
|
the buzzer sounded. A male Bajoran entered the office, now fully Sisko's
|
|
again, and handed her a padd, she turned to Sisko, smiled, and left.
|
|
Obviously some one needed her, Sisko was slightly relieved, he didn't
|
|
exactly know what she was getting to.
|
|
The door closed as Kira and the Bajoran man left. From the corner
|
|
of his eye, Sisko saw something blink in blue, he turned to see single
|
|
letters start to form words on the viewscreen on the wall in his office.
|
|
He waited, the words taking a full thirty seconds to form completely,
|
|
anticapating each one.
|
|
|
|
IT IS STARFLEET. THE ADMIRAL.
|
|
CONTACT PICARD IN THE FUTURE.
|
|
RIKER KNOWS AS WELL, IT IS THE
|
|
ADMIRAL.
|
|
|
|
What the hell does that mean, he asked himself. As he reached out,
|
|
over his desk to hit a record button, the image slowly faded back to
|
|
nothing, leaving him no evidence of what just happened.
|
|
Later, Sisko would have a search done to find where the message
|
|
came from, not letting on to its' contents, he didn't want to seem as if
|
|
he had finally lost his mind. The only information, a week of searching,
|
|
would finally come up with is that the message had been sent, via
|
|
subspace, from Sector 001...earth.
|
|
|
|
***** ***** *****
|
|
|
|
"Let me tell ye abou' tha' ship over there," Scottie was saying,
|
|
taking his third scotch. He wasn't that good of a poker player, but he
|
|
did even worse when he was drinking, but then again he had a reason to
|
|
drink, they all had a reason. It was a time of quiet celebration, the
|
|
defeat of the Borg, well, not quite defeat.
|
|
He glanced out the window, warping through space beside them was
|
|
the USS Exeter. He said," Ah think it was during the second year of our
|
|
five year mission...the first one...and the Enterprise came upon tha'
|
|
ship, and she had not a single crewmember,". He was enjoying himself,
|
|
finding that telling these old stories where just as great now as they
|
|
were a hundred years before," these aliens had turned the whole crew
|
|
inta...inta dehydrated things."
|
|
"Things?" Beverly asked, placing another five in the pile.
|
|
"Aye, they had removed every water molecule from the crew's
|
|
bodies, and turned them inta little cubes...it was the most frightening
|
|
thing...seeing Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock and Doctor McCoy get captured
|
|
by them," he said, shaking his head. He had found out two weeks after it
|
|
had happened, that Jim Kirk hadn't died, but now he was dead. He knew.
|
|
Picard's communicator chirped. He rose and left the room with his
|
|
usual," Excuse me,". Once he was in the corridor, where not a single
|
|
living soul seemed to be walking," Go ahead,"
|
|
Barclay's voice came over the circuit," Message for you from Deep
|
|
Space Nine, sir, Commander Sisko,". What did he want, Picard asked,
|
|
having already known that of the outcome of the Borg ships that were to
|
|
attack from the Gamma Quadrant. It seemed that this Dominion thing was
|
|
far more dangerous than the Borg. But then, he knew the Borg, making them
|
|
seem not quite as menacing as they really were.
|
|
"I'll take it down here," he said, moving over to one of the
|
|
screens built into the wall of the corridor. It seemed safer to take it
|
|
here, where no one was at, than to take the time to go back to the Exeter
|
|
to hear the time delayed message.
|
|
On a screen before him appeared the face of Ben Sisko. He was
|
|
saying," Captain Picard, I was informed by someone that you...quote 'knew
|
|
about the admiral' unquote...Someone's playing games, Captain. I'd like
|
|
to know who, can you help me." The transmission ended as quickly as it
|
|
had begun.
|
|
"Barclay, send recorded message to DS Nine, in code, the
|
|
following: Riker and myself will be on shore leave, may visit out that
|
|
way. Can't help now, wait...message said we can't do a thing for a few
|
|
years. We should just sit back and way for more evidence. I'll explain
|
|
the little we know sometime in the future. Picard out." he said. Turning
|
|
back to the room that was Riker's quarters.
|
|
|
|
**** **** **** ****
|
|
|
|
"Number One, Ben Sisko of DS Nine knows as well," he said, keeping
|
|
everyone else in the room in the dark. Let them try and figure it out,
|
|
they couldn't. He wouldn't tell them, he couldn't, no matter if they were
|
|
friends or not, that was one reason for not saying a word: they were friends.
|
|
"I see," Riker said, thinking for a moment before asking Picard a
|
|
question," Sir, what's are reason for not looking into this now?" he
|
|
asked, obviusly wanting a little reassurance. Picard knew.
|
|
"Because this mission was to defeat the Borg. This matter is a
|
|
whole other mission...for the future." Picard answered.
|
|
"Yes, sir."
|
|
|
|
***** ****** ******
|
|
|
|
"Admiral, I can't help thinking this is wrong," the intern said,
|
|
looking at Necheyev drop the files and disks and iso-chips into the
|
|
StarFleet standard 'Phaser Shredder', a Texas Instruments Version.
|
|
"Your job isn't to think, but to do what I tell you to do.
|
|
Understand?" Necheyev demanded.
|
|
"Yes, sir."
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*******************
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That's it in it's entirity, complete and uncut. I hope you enjoyed it.
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SEAN CORBETT
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sc
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