STAR TREK: The Unseen War
By
Mark Jenks
STAR TREK: The Unseen War By Mark Jenks PROLGUE 1 78 YEARS AGO This is Admiral Hikaru Sulu, temporarily in command of the U.S.S. Enterprise, registry number NCC-1701B. Captain Uhura is presently in sickbay recovering from her wounds. It has been over two years since we encountered the wormhole, which brought us to this god-forsaken place. Our journey home has been interrupted, perhaps we fear, permanently. We encountered a hostile and aggressive race called the Kazon, who ambushed us and caused great damage to the Enterprise. We were eventually able to defeat them and limp out of Kazon space before many of the key, and irreplaceable components of our warp drive, gave out completely: but now we're stranded. We have placed ourselves in orbit around an uninhabited world and come up with an admittedly desperate plan: but in our current situation it was the best option available. The majority of the crew has been placed in stasis, as I will soon be. After the Captain, First Officer Chekov and I enter stasis: our Vulcan crewmembers will be the only ones left awake to monitor conditions: both internal and external. Their longer lives and stricter mental disciplines should allow them to withstand the rigors of solitude better than the human portion of the crew. Under the command of Lieutenant-Commander Saavik, they will take six-month shifts out of stasis to monitor activities and raise crops on the planet below. If a situation arises, that needs more of the crew than just them, they will awaken the rest of us. We have built eleven, high warp torpedoes, to be sent back to Federation territory by different routes. It is hoped that at least one of them will reach Federation space and that a rescue can be planned. If all goes well, the torpedoes will reach home in about eighty years. We have attached a list of replacement parts that we will need to make the Enterprise operational again, along with this recording, our logs, and coordinates. If all goes well, we may find ourselves rescued in a century or so. If all does not go well, I want the record to show that the valiant men and women of the Enterprise have served with honor and with uncommon distinction in a most difficult situation. To whoever finds this record, please tell any surviving family of our crew that we never gave up, and perhaps some day we may return to them. Close record. PROLOGUE 2 NOW "Mister Spock, how long till we reach the border?" "Approximately seventy-eight point two four minutes Captain." With a grin the captain said, "Approximately… seventy-eight point two four minutes? That sounds like quite an approximation Mister Spock." "I do try to be accurate." "I think that you succeed." "Sir?" It was the helmsman. "Go ahead." "A large vessel is blocking our path. Sir it's the Enterprise." "Damn! I was hoping to avoid this. Mister Scott, take us to Red Alert. Let's hope that we don't have to come to blows with Captain Picard." "Aye. That's a good thing to hope for Laddie. I doubt that this old girl would stand up very well against a ship like the Enterprise E." "Who knows Scotty; this ship and her crew have been beating the odds for a long time. I don't think that we can count her out just yet." "Captain Picard?" "What is it Mr. Hought?" "A Constitution Class Starship has just entered the system at high warp. I'm bringing it up on the screen sir… NCC-1701A… it's the Enterprise A sir." "Damn! I was hoping that it wouldn't come to this." "As was I sir." CHAPTER 1 10 MONTHS AGO Captain Tuvok walked the bridge of the U.S.S. Voyager, going from station to station, looking over the shoulders of his junior officers, as was his wont. The Voyager, after her refit, was placed on border patrol, at the most distant reaches of Federation space. His knowledge of the Delta quadrant, and his experience with the ship, made Tuvok and Voyager the logical choices for watching for Borg incursions from that direction. It was the fourth month of his command and things had gone smoothly, up till that point. He would have liked to have had the entire crew that he had served with during their trip from the Delta Quadrant, but he knew that that simply was impossible. Since the Maquis members of the old crew were never officially members of Starfleet, he was denied them, when he requested several of them for his new crew. Admiral Janeway was a little vague about the whole thing. He was able to retain the services of the Doctor after a manner. With his mobile emitter, the Doctor left Voyager and became something of a celebrity, in his struggle for the rights for sentient holograms. Fortunately though, he had left a backup copy of himself on the ship before disembarking. Tuvok was offered the services of several human doctors, but he said that he had every confidence in the Doctor, and that he required only a medical staff to work under the Doctor. With the addition of holographic projectors throughout the ship: this time the Doctor was able to roam the ship freely at his leisure. Lt. Commander Tom Paris served Tuvok well as both First Officer, and when his other special skills were required, as Helmsman. Part of their mission was to try to make useable, some of the specialized knowledge that they had gained during their trip back from the Delta Quadrant, which included on this day: a slipstream drive. "Mr. Paris: status!" "Ready to engage slipstream drive in five minutes. Navigation: sweep our projected course, one last time, before we are committed." "Aye sir…" He bent his head over the screen, frowned and looked up. "Sir, I'm getting a very weak image of a small object: perhaps a torpedo: on a high warp trajectory heading our way." Almost displaying a hint of a frown, the Vulcan captain considered the situation and made his decision. "Mr. Paris, we'll have to delay the test, for now. Better that we ascertain what this object is that approaches us from Borg space before we do anything else." "Aye sir. It's probably for the best anyway: we really haven't had much success overcoming the problems with the Slipstream drive anyway." "No we haven't." Turning to the Science Officer, "Mister Jung? Report!" "Sir it appears to have the warp signature of a Federation Type Seven torpedo. It looks like a seventy or eighty year old vintage. It's giving off no other emissions sir." "Is it dangerous?" "Impossible to tell at this distance sir." "Bring us within scanning range, but keep enough distance, so that there'll be no danger to the ship." Under the deft hands of Tom Paris, Voyager swung around and matched the speed of the invading torpedo. With great finesse, he inched the well traveled ship forward, trying to bring themselves into sensor range while keeping themselves at as safe a distance as he could manage. The minutes crawled by as the distance was narrowed. Finally, Jung spoke up. "There's no danger sir. It's a highly modified message torpedo, and scanners show nothing dangerous about it." Looking intrigued Tuvok ordered it brought aboard for study, and a staff meeting was set for three hours later. Tuvok was the type of commander who kept things fairly close to the vest: not a surprising attribute for a Vulcan, but he also preferred to talk to his section heads on a more personal, one to one basis: which was highly odd for a Vulcan. Therefore meetings of this sort were a fairly rare event; therefore when a special meeting was called, it was invariably something that was, if not of the utmost importance, it at least could be counted upon to be interesting. When the last staff member arrived, the Captain rose and began the meeting. "Gentlemen: the contents of the torpedo have been analyzed, and it was found to contain a rather intriguing message. Seventy-eight years ago, the Enterprise, under the command of Admiral Hikaru Sulu vanished, and her fate was unknown… until today, that is. I long ago served with the Admiral when he was captain of the Excelsior, and he was an exceptional commander. On your screens before you, you will see a plea for assistance, from the Enterprise B. Please take a few moments to read it." After a few moments he continued. "If you will pay particular notice to the location of the planet, where the Enterprise is stranded, you will see that it is only about three hundred light years beyond the point where the Voyager was at its furthest incursion into the Delta quadrant. It is my intention to petition Starfleet to take a chance on the Slipstream drive and attempt a rescue of these, our long lost Brothers in Arms." 9 ½ MONTHS AGO Tuvok Voyager was in a standard Earth orbit (one of seventy two thousand that had long ago been established by Jonathan Archer in the early days of Starfleet) when Tuvok and Paris beamed down for their meeting with Admirals Paris and Janeway. Starfleet Headquarters was actually a large complex of buildings on the outskirts of San Francisco: which contained, in addition to Command Headquarters and Intelligence, it also was home for Starfleet Academy, The Tynnian Institute, which was one of the finest research facilities in the Galaxy, and was also the hub for numerous Embassies from friendly, and almost friendly worlds. The two Voyager officers were arriving early, so they beamed into the Embassy District, for a chance to stretch their legs on a real planet, before settling into the mundane task of planning a rescue mission. They were passing the oldest and most functional, as well as ornate structure in the District, the Vulcan Consulate. The pair were admiring the venerable building as they walked leisurely past it, when a deep male voice spoke to them through the fog. "Gentlemen. If I may have a word with you?" As the figure stepped into the light, he was greeted by Tuvok. "Certainly Ambassador Spock. How may we be of service?" "Gentlemen, I know that you are in a hurry, so if you don't mind, I will walk with you a ways." "That would be an honor, sir." "I realize that you aren't able to speak about the subject of your upcoming meeting, at this time, so I won't ask you to. I also know that you must officially make your report to your superiors before you are allowed to talk to anyone else about it. Even so, my sources tell me that it regards the fate of the long lost Enterprise B. I neither ask you to deny or confirm this at this time, but when your meeting is concluded, please meet me at the Embassy for a chat." "We'll see what we can do. Why are you so interested in the matter, sir? It's not really an ambassadorial matter." "That's true, but Admiral Sulu and I served together on the Enterprise, and on the Enterprise A. I owe my life to him many times over… and I counted him as… a close friend. I owe him a irrepayable debt, and I would greatly appreciate the chance to repay him." "I also served with him, on the Excelsior sir, and I also owe him my life, so I understand your interest. When our meeting is completed, if we are not specifically forbidden from doing so, we will return to the Embassy before beaming up Voyager." "That's all I can ask. Now gentlemen, I think that you have an appointment to attend." After which he turned quickly and melted again into the fog. Shaking his head, Tom Paris said, "Tuvok, that was a really odd meeting." "It is no less that I would have expected, had I known that the Ambassador was on the Earth at the time." "Really? Why should we have expected it?" "Because we would have done the same thing if we had received word from Neelix, or Seven of Nine: or for that matter, if we found that any one of our past associates were in need of our help." "Humph. I suppose that you're right. I wonder how Neelix's doing?" "If this meeting goes well, maybe we'll get the chance to find out." "That would be nice." They rode the El to the Starfleet Command departure point, before they got off. The imposing building rose before them: it's marble columns rising over fifty meters in height, and Tom Paris couldn't help wondering why it was built with such an unnecessarily wide marble staircase, rather than the typical slidewalks. The two mostly ceremonial guards, at the front entrance, checked their papers before holding open the massive oak and glass doors for them to enter. Once inside, the Voyager's Captain and First Officer were scanned for both weapons and to confirm their identities. It didn't hurt but Tom couldn't help feeling a little like it was an invasion of his privacy. They were then given a locator pad, so that they could find their way to the proper room for their meeting. The clean lines and immaculate state of the halls of Starfleet HQ seems strange to them after all of the time that they had spent on a starship. On a starship the halls were built with conduits and relay boards and an infinite number of other things hidden behind the walls of the hallways, and therefore a hallway on a starship was rarely the clean rectangular surface that you would find on a planet-bound building. When Tom Paris first set foot on a starship, he always had a feeling that the walls were falling in on him. Now he found himself slightly uneasy with the sterile plain walls in the halls around him. "How much farther Tuvok?" "According to the locator pad, the meeting room should be five point two seven meters around the next corner." With Vulcan accuracy, it was. Outside the door they touched the annunciator panel next to the door, which chimed to room's occupants that someone was waiting to be admitted. When the computer heard Admiral Paris' "Come!", the door swished open and admitted them. The two Voyager officers, were a little surprised to see that Admiral Janeway was not in attendance. The attending Admiral rose to shake their hands and said, "Welcome gentlemen. Please sit. Admiral Janeway will not be with us today. It was felt that she might be too close to this situation, and that she might not be completely objective." Under his breath, Tom muttered. "And my father would be?" Ignoring the comment that only he could hear, Tuvok began. "Admiral, we have come to make a formal report on our latest mission to the border." "Proceed." "I'm sure that you've already deduced that something extraordinary must have occurred to cut our mission short." "I have." "Very good. I will therefore dispense with the mundane activities, which can be found in our written reports. The reason for our early return is in the classified report before you." "Does this have to do with the distress torpedo that you found?" "Yes sir. If I may inquire, how is it that you know of the incident already?" "Well, I don't know all of the details yet, but some of your crewmembers on leave… let's just say they have loose lips. We found a Lieutenant Nog, trying to impress a female bartender with tales of his heroic exploits on board Voyager, so he was escorted back to Voyager for the rest of the leave time. I wasn't even aware that we had any Ferengi serving in Starfleet. I trust that you will have a long talk with the Lieutenant?" Tuvok held out a report to Tom Paris' father. "Yes sir. I should have told the entire crew that the mission was classified until we reported to you. It won't happen again." "I'm sure of it. Now, let me look at that report and see how accurate our little Ferengi was. … Very interesting. We'll have to upgrade Starfleet records to show that the Enterprise B was lost in the Delta quadrant." With a curt nod, Tuvok continued. "With our experience in the Delta quadrant, Voyager is the logical choice to attempt a rescue mission and our work on the Slipstream Drive is almost complete. We've got a few bugs to work out yet, but we're hoping that Voyager will be ready to mount a rescue mission in about a year and a half." "I'm sorry, but there will be no rescue mission." Tom Paris jumped out of his seat. "What do you mean there will be no rescue mission? Dad, those are Starfleet officers out there. We have to go get them!" The Admiral frowned and glared at his son. "No we do not… Commander. This is a very old message, and we have no way of knowing if they're still alive or not. Starfleet feels that it would not be advisable, at this time, to mount a rescue. The Borg have been quiet lately, and we don't want to remind them that we're still here, until we're sure that we can be ready for them." "Don't give me 'Starfleet feels'! Someone at Starfleet feels! Not Starfleet. Who made this decision?" The Admiral sat stonily silent. Steepling his fingers, Tuvok probed. "Sir, I'm sure that the Borg haven't forgotten us. Perhaps it would be wise to get a little recon. A rescue mission would provide an adequate cover for spying." "Not to the Borg it wouldn't. Understand this, gentlemen: there will be no rescue mission. I will look over the rest of your logs, and if I have any questions I will contact you. This report," putting his had on the Enterprise report, "is still classified. You are dismissed." "Dad!" "I said: you are dismissed!" The walk back to the Embassy District was a quiet somber trudge: Tuvok's face showing no emotion; Tom's barely concealing his seething rage. "What now Tuvok?" "Now, we pay a visit to the Vulcan Embassy, as we promised Ambassador Spock previously; then we return to Voyager. And remember: we are not to divulge classified information to anyone who is not authorized to receive classified information. Ah: here's the Embassy now." They turned down the walk with its meticulously sculpted rock garden and it's simulated Vulcan marble statuary of Surak taming a Sehlat. Tuvok touched the annunciator plate and said, "Tuvok, Captain of the U.S.S. Voyager to see Ambassador Spock." The door cycled open and they entered a spacious and surprisingly luxurious foyer. The ambient temperature was a little high for Tom's liking, but Tuvok found it to be a very homey touch. The Ambassador entered from a side door, his face displaying no emotion, although with Tuvok's training in security, he could see that the Ambassador was very anxious indeed. Raising his hand in the ritual Vulcan greeting Spock began. "Live long and prosper Tuvok and Paris of Voyager." Returning the traditional salute: which had been in use since ancient times, Tuvok gave the ritual reply. "And you. Peace and long life." Paris returned a lopsided grin and a weak wave. "Gentlemen, I'm pleased that you were able to fit me into your schedule. Judging by how quickly you've returned, I'm guessing that things didn't go too well with your meeting with Admiral Paris." Tom mumbled, "That's for sure." Then looking up, "Hey. How'd you know that Captain… I mean Admiral Janeway wouldn't be there?" "I may have retired from Starfleet, but I still have my sources. So how did things go?" Speaking clearly and firmly, Tuvok answered with a query. "Before discussing the matter, I need to know if you've retained your security clearances." "I have." "I suspected as much. Before leaving Headquarters I took the liberty of checking your last commissioned clearance level, and since it is considerably higher than either Mr. Paris or I: therefore I deem it safe to discuss this matter with you, although I am certain that Admiral Paris, meant for us to speak to no one about it: he did not specifically forbid it. He just reminded us that it was classified. Therefore shall be begin?" "I think that that would be advisable. To let you know in advance, I think that I have some idea as to the nature of the matter. As I said before: I do have my sources." "Very Good.", and the Captain retold all of the events regarding finding the message torpedo, its contents of their meeting where they reported to Admiral Paris as well as the squashed request for a rescue mission. After listening patiently, the stately ambassador rose. "It is generally as I thought. I've taken the liberty to invite a few friends here tonight. Trust me, they have as high a security clearance as I, and they too hold Admiral Sulu in as high a regard as you and I do." He held open a door and invited them into a luxurious room, with chiseled stone walls covered with intricate tapestries. Seated on the plush sofas, so out of place in a Vulan facility, sat two men. "Gentlemen, may I introduce retired Admiral Leonard McCoy and Captain Montgomery Scott. We have a lot of work ahead of us." 9 ½ MONTHS AGO Riker Captain Will Riker, of the newly finished U.S.S. Titan, found himself standing at the door to Admiral Janeway's office, straightening his new captain's uniform before entering. The door whooshed open and he entered. "Good morning Will. Please be seated." The Admiral was a formidable woman. When she was captain of Voyager, she had the rare steel within her that allowed her to bring her ship home from a situation that would have destroyed a lesser officer. Finding herself lost at the far edge of the galaxy, she brought crew and ship home safely. Most officers would have been intimidated by so strong an officer, but Will had that same steel within himself, and he had long been associated with strong officers. He had to be strong to have grown up with the father that he had. His rivalry with his father had always been one of the things that had kept him from accepting a command of his own earlier. To be completely sure of himself as a Captain, he had had to make sure that he had offered a command because he had merited it, rather than because he was the son of the powerful and influential Kyle Riker. He probably would have put it off just because he wanted to stay with Deanna, but it was the fear of living in his father's shadow that really was behind his decisions. Fortunately, by now he had proven himself as srong as his father ever had been: and as strong as the Admiral before him. "Thank you Admiral. Comfortable chair." "That's nice of you to say Will.. Let me get to the point. The Titan is scheduled to begin her shakedown cruise tomorrow at 0830 hours. Command Staff has informed me that once the testing is done and the Titan is ready for active duty, she is to be added to the list of ships that I am to be liaison with the Command Staff. Therefore if you can give me a short overview of the Titan's current situation. I know that I won't officially be involved with the Titan until after the shakedowns complete, but I like to get a head start on things. Tell me about your top staff." "Certainly Admiral. "Please keep in mind that this is only a shakedown cruise, so many of the people are just taking temporary posts: the final crew may be very different from the shakedown crew." "Noted. Please continue." "For the shakedown cruise, my wife Deanna will be my first officer." "That's a bit odd." "I thought so too, but Starfleet Public Relations pushed through the idea. They thought that it would be a good public relations angle." "Is she qualified?" "When you get a chance to review her record, you'll see that she is most definitely qualified. Aboard the Enterprise, she continued her studies and often pulled the first chair on third shifts. She certainly is qualified." "Well I'm glad to see that Starfleet PR isn't doing anything too stupid. After the shakedown, who will be your First Officer?" "My request hasn't been approved by HQ yet, so I'm not sure." "Who did you request?" "Commander Worf. I've served long with him and he has proven his leadership abilities many times over. Currently he's assigned the post of Second Officer, aboard the Enterprise." "I've heard of him. I think that you made a good choice: although I know that you're competing with a lot of more senior captains who are also requesting Commander Worf. Well, good luck on that. I'm assuming that your wife will continue her duties as Counselor?" "Yes Sir." "Good. Chief Engineer?" "Lt. Commander Able Baker. Abe previously served on the Lexington. He will be seconded by Chief Miles O'Brien, for the cruise." "I met Chief O'Brien once on Deep Space Nine. He's a good man." The sides of her mouth pulled slightly down. "Why is he only a chief? He's one of the most capable engineers I ever met." "No disrespect intended Sir, but the rank of Chief is not given lightly. The advise of a Chief is usually considered more reasoned than the orders of many officers. There are few Ensigns and Lieutenants, who wouldn't follow the orders of a good Chief. I know few Commanders and Captains too that wouldn't follow a good Chiefs advice." "As would I, I just wanted to make sure that you understood the importance of you Non-Commissioned Officers." "Yes Sir. Besides which the Chief has turned down many commissions. He enjoys working on equipment, and says that he has no desire to command others. He feels that he fits in better as one of the workers , than as one of the leaders. He likes to get his hands dirty." "That's often the case. Tell me about your Chief Medical Officer." Showing a little discomfort, he continued his report. "Actually, for the shakedown cruise, your Doctor from the Voyage has requested the post of CMO, and I've reluctantly granted it, although, I've requested Dr. Selar for the permanent post. The Doctor is a most insistent hologram." "Tell me about! He's arrogant too: but he's the best doctor that I've ever had. You're lucky to have him. Well it sounds like you've got things well in hand. Is the ship ready?" "Yes sir. It's even got a few improvements on the Enterprise. For example it will reach warp speed thirty seven percent faster than the previous Sovereign class ships, and carries eighteen percent more traditional firepower, as well as the new experimental chrono-torpedoes." "I'm not up on that weapon." "It's a weapon that was developed to fight the Borg. Simply put, it uses chronoton particles to speed up entropy with set sphere. It's hoped that that will age the biological parts of the Borg, so that they will die and decay: which will leave the mechanical portion of the Borg cube unaffected. If it works, we should be able to dismantle the cube and gain access to the secrets of Borg construction: both weapons and defenses." "Very good. That sounds very hopeful. Then we'll see you at the launch tomorrow." Tom Riker sat in his prison cell at Starfleet Penal Facilities Number Three, which was in orbit around Mars. Tom Riker was, for all intents and purposes, Will Riker. Years earlier, a transporter accident on an away mission, split the young Lt. Will Riker into two people. It was impossible to tell which one was the original and which one the copy. They were both duplicates of each other. One returned to his ship, and was now in command of the U.S.S. Titan. The other had been trapped on the uninhabited planet for many years, surviving only on his wits. That one sat now in the prison cell. After being rescued from the planet, he adopted his middle name and became Tom Riker, to distinguish himself from his duplicate. He attempted to restart his Starfleet career, but he was now too old. He sympathized with the plight of the Maquis, and allied himself with the guerilla fighters. Feeling that he would never be able to make a difference in Starfleet, while living in his brothers shadow, he hoped that his skills would help them win their freedom from Cardassian occupancy. Unfortunately, it was against Federation law to be allied with the Maquis, and after a failed attempt to steal the Defiant for the freedom fighters, he was imprisoned again. His days were spent studying and playing his trombone. Days became weeks, weeks became months, and months stretched into tedious years. He had long ago despaired of making a valuable contribution to society, but he continued his studies in the hopes that he might some day be released, and again be useful to somebody. One dull day, that was much like the rest of the dull days, he got that chance. Sitting back on his bunk, the annunciator rang. "Come!" he answered. The cell door whooshed open and he saw standing there, with the two security guards, a tall stately Vulcan and an incredibly old man in an equally out of date Admirals uniform. The Vulcan spoke to the guards, "Leave us. We wish to speak with the prisoner confidentially." "Yes sir Ambassador Spock." The doors whooshed shut. Riker sat bolt upright. This was Mr. Spock. THE Mr. Spock, from the original Enterprise. What, he thought, could he want with me? The old Admiral said, "Boy, this is your lucky day if you got half the sense that I think you do." "Mr. Riker, Doctor McCoy is correct. Although I don't agree that random chance had anything to do with it, it is a unique opportunity for you, if you're willing to take it. "I'm listening." Spoke Riker in an awed whisper. Spock and McCoy? He knew that if anyone could help him, it would be these men. The launch of the Titan went off without a hitch, and when all of the PR people and visiting dignitaries had departed, it was time for the real shakedown to begin. "Well people, as Captain, I say, let's try her out, shall we. Helmsman, set course one five one mark two two, ahead warp two. Let's not overtax the engines just yet." "Aye sir." The powerful warp engines hummed to life and the Titan flew straight and true. "Passing the Moon sir…" After a few minutes more, "Passing the Mars Colonies Sir." A small indicator glowed on an unmanned sensor board, for a few minutes before going out. Many stations were not manned on this sort of a milk run. "Passing Jupiter sir." "Very good. Why don't we open her up, and see what she'll do? Take us to warp seven." "Warp seven, aye." The massive vessel performed flawlessly. "Warp nine." Warp nine, aye." Like a cheetah, the enormous craft seemed to defy the laws of physics with its sudden burst of acceleration. The elegant behemoth bolted forward at dizzying speeds. Suddenly, another seemingly identical ship appeared and pulled alongside the speeding giant and fired a low intensity shot across her bow.. The com signal chimed. Riker reacted with a smile. "On screen." "Ahh, Captain Riker, how nice to see you again. I'll bet you're surprised to see me." "Not really. You wouldn't have been able to ambush us if the Titan was fully staffed." With a broad smile he said, "What are your terms?" "How about a race. The crew of the first ship to arrive at Aldebron: water-balloons the losers." The small light again blinked on and off on the council. "I'll see you in Aldebron station with water-balloons ready, Captain Picard. Helm, emergency warp!" And the magnificent ship got an early lead, with its quicker acceleration. The Enterprise was slower off the line, but with the various modifications that had been made to her over the course of her service, she slowly started to close the gap. Unfortunately, Captain Riker knew all of the modifications that had done to the Enterprise from his time as her First Officer. Captain Picard looked ludicrous as he walked into the Shipmates Bar on Aldebron Station, and found himself pelted with water-balloons. He vowed to return the favor sometime in the near future. While the crews of both ships were engaged in their liquid battles: both the water-balloon type, and the drinking contests: Tom Riker slipped quietly from the Enterprise, dragging a large box on anti-gravs. He slipped as unobtrusively as he could, past the closed door of the Shipmates Bar, and rounded the corner just as Chief O'Brien crashed through the doors with a laugh and a big grin on his face. Looking at Captain Will Riker, he shouted, "You really know how to throw a party sir! I'll think I'll like my time serving on the Titan!" After which he picked himself up and leaped back into the fray. Tom Riker quietly loaded his cargo into a small freighter, and left the station. 9 ½ MONTHS AGO Scotty Captain Montgomery Scott entered Starfleet's mothballed shipyard offices with his list of replace parts which Admiral Sulu had requested. He had always like junkyards. It always brought about a thrill of nostalgia as he walked among the once mighty and still majestic ships from the past. As he entered, the Packled administrator, looked up from his screen at the retired Starfleet captain. "May I help you?" "I certainly hope so Laddie. I've got a long list of parts that I need for an old Excelsior Class starship. Can I see what you have in dry dock?" Pointing vaguely, he said, "Use that data retrieval device over there.", and he went back to his studies. Scottie scrolled through the ancient database for several minutes and decided to settle on the Defiant B. "I found me ship boyo. Do you do the equipment retrieval here, or do you want me to do it?" "Enter the registry number in the blue Padd, and use that platform over there." Another vague wave. "The Padd will keep track of your requisitions. Please enter your authorization code, before starting. I do so hate it when I have to try to figure that out later. Once you've unhooked the part from the ship's systems, use the Padd's retrieval function to quantum mark it. The Shipyard transporter will automatically put it in you ship, wherever it is in the Yard facilities." "I have used yer facilities before. I'll make due." "Humph. Good for you." The Packled went back to his screen, and never noticed when Scotty had punched in the Defiant B's registry number, stepped onto the transporter pad, and once life support had been turned back on, beamed onto the bridge of the old ship. Looking around the Bridge of the Defiant, Scotty went to work. "Ah lassie, I can see that you've seen yer share of action, haven't ye? Well buck up: ye've got one more chance to make a difference. Some of yer parts will be savin' the lives of some dear friends of mine." A mouse skittered across his path, disturbing his reverie. "Ach. Ye never seem to be able to get rid of these beasties: even here." He continued through the ship tagging one piece after another, which would, one by one, disappear in a transporter haze. Humming an old ditty he would alternately praise the old ship for her beauty and years of service, and in the next moment curse out the nameless engineer who left her in such a condition. He was enjoying these times with the old girl, until he got to the crew's lounge and glanced out the forward window, when he saw a sight that froze him in his tracks. There before him was one of the great loves of his life: a presiding passion that he thought long lost. The sleek lines and powerful stance was the same as the last time that he had seen her. To be sure she had seen better days: phaser burns and photon-torpedo craters marred the otherwise flawless surface. Floating forgotten in the dark space of the shipyard hung the decommissioned U.S.S. Enterprise, registry number NCC-1701A. Here was Scotty's greatest love, rediscovered after the long decades of disuse. Even more so the NCC-1701 Enterprise, this was his Enterprise. The earlier ship had felt his loving touch, to be sure: but it was first the mistress of engineers before him. This Lady though, was his through and through. She was his and only his: from construction to decommissioning. This Lady felt no others touch than his: and she looked untouched still. It was as if she had waited faithfully for him to return to her: and now he had. Scotty wept openly with joy. He rushed hurriedly through the Defiant, tagging and transporting what was needed to help Sulu: but he no lingered nostalgically nor had he eyes for this beautiful girl. His Love had waited for him long enough, for him to dally with another. He quickly finished his tasks on the Defiant and beamed back to the shipyard's office and bolted for the catalogue computer. He activated and scanned the lists but was unable to find any information on the Enterprise. From the database, you would swear that she wasn't even there. Glancing up from the screen, he asked the administrator, "Is yer database incomplete friend?" Looking insulted, he said, "I hardly think so. We are well know for our meticulous record keeping at this facility." "Maybe I'm doing something wrong then, because I saw a ship out there that's not in the database." "Do you have a registry number?" "Aye: November Charlie Charlie 1701 Alpha. U.S.S. Enterprise." Hunching over his computer the scanned the database. "Hmm… You're right… Well that can't be… Hmm… let me check… Ah! Here it is! It's in the 'Save' file." "And that means?…" "It means that a long time ago, someone important put a 'Save' note on it's file, which means that the ship is not available for scrapping out. That's why it's not in the usual database. It seems that some admiral, long ago, thought that it might make a good museum piece, so they didn't want any parts of it removed. In fact its storage bays and cargo holds are packed with spare parts from other constitution class ships, and even some old style shuttlecrafts. It's all very strange." "I once served on that ship… a long time ago. Do ye think that it would be all right if I beamed over to her? Just for old times sake, you understand?" "I'm not sure…" "Would a hundred credits help ye be more sure? Just a tip you understand for your extra work in helping me out." "Well I suppose that it wouldn't hurt to let one of our fighting men have a few moments of nostalgia." He pocketed the hundred and continued. Enter the registry number at the transporter pad followed by the code Zed Zed Alpha Three. When you're ready to come back, use the same recall that you used on the other ship… oh… and leave the tagging device here please." "Ye have my eternal thanks laddie. And Scotty, beamed over to the waiting embrace of his elegant empress. After several hours he reluctantly returned to the work at hand and beamed back to his cargo shuttle. He laid in a course and was underway, but he knew that finding the Enterprise changed everything. After he dropped off his supplies in their hidden Badlands base: he needed to pull in a few more favors. 9 MONTHS AGO Ro Tom Riker and his stolen cargo had been en route to the hidden base for a week and a half, on the freighter piloted by Ro Lahren. Both were Starfleet officers who had defected to the Maquis, as a matter of conscience. After the rest of the Maquis were wiped out in the Dominion War, they both thought that they were the last of their kind: that is until Voyager returned from the Delta quadrant, with half of its crew made up of long lost Maquis. Unfortunately, the Maquis portion of that crew had been sequestered at their debriefing, and no one knew where they were now. Officially, Starfleet Command said that they had been released and went off together to form their own colony: but not a one of them could be found, and there were disturbing rumors that they were in a concentration camp somewhere. As a Bajoran, she had been drifting purposely and hiding out with distant relatives on Bajor, until two weeks ago: when Ambassador Spock, whom she had once met when she served aboard the Enterprise D, walked into her village and redirected her life. He had told her that the Voyager Maquis were still being held by the Federation on an outpost on Cestus III, that had been long abandoned, but was still serviceable. It seems that there were factions within Starfleet Intelligence that was unwilling to forgive their prior Maquis activities. They reestablished the outpost and imprisoned the Voyagers, as the Voyager Maquis came to be known, at the outpost. Ambassador Spock offered her the opportunity to free them and to help them to gain absolution for any of their precious transgressions. And so she found herself en route to one of their old hidden bases in the badlands, in the company of another Maquis, which needed atonement. She glanced over at Tom Riker, and just couldn't quite bring herself to not think of him as Will Riker, whom she had served with aboard the Enterprise D. The then Ensign Ro had at one time been… close to Will Riker, so seeing his double sitting next her was a bit unsettling. It wasn't that he wasn't as likeable a companion as Will had been that made her uneasy, it was because he was so much like him that was disturbing. And why shouldn't he be like Will? For all intents and purposes, he was Will: except that Tom had learned to not give his faith as blindly as Will had: particularly regarding the infallibility of Starfleet Command. She looked at him and wondered if he was as hung up on Counselor Troi as had been Will. For that matter, did he even know that they had been married recently? "How are you doing Tom?" "All right I suppose, considering the fact that for now at least, I'm a fugitive." "Well join the club. If things work out, we'll both be free of that albatross. … you know, I served on the Enterprise with Will?" "I seem to remember. I hear that he and Deanna finally got hitched. Got a command of his own too. Got a look at it the Titan briefly before beaming over to the new Enterprise. They're both nice ships." "A little jealous that it's not you?" "Hell yes. I mean that I'm happy that one of us got everything that he wanted… I just wish that it would've been me. If it weren't for the transporter mishap, it would have been. We don't even know which of us is the original and which is the copy." "Can you live with it? I mean he got the promotions… he got the ship… and he got the girl. Are you going to be OK?" "You forgot that he got the name too. He's still Will and I had to become Tom: but to answer your question… yeah, I'll be OK." "Who knows Tom. Maybe you'll get opportunities now that you wouldn't have had if you were still Will. Your dream of command was drilled into you by you father. The fact that you avoided it so long tells me that there's something that you want more: maybe you'll get the chance to find it. … Maybe you'll find love again, too." "Maybe." The freighter flew a zigzag course through the Badlands. The energy swirls, eddies and ion funnels made that a necessity. Ro always found the Badlands to be one of the most beautiful places in the sector, with colors so brilliant, and contrasts so vibrant that no painter could do them justice, and she always loved to find an excuse to return. After she had dropped Riker off at the Badlands base, she and Captain Scott left again for a Starfleet Shipyard, where Scotty left her and the freighter outside while he made his rounds in the yards. One by one, pieces of equipment beamed aboard until her holds were nearly full. Eventually Scotty returned, his face beaming as she had never seen him shine before. He stumbled at the hatch entrance with a chuckle, and plopped down in the seat next to her. "Lassie, I've found her. This changes everything. Ach, there couldn't be a better omen. Did ye not hear me? I found her!" "Found who Scotty?" "Why the Enterprise Lassie. Did I not say so? … I guess that I didn't, did I? Well it does nae matter. She's in fine shape still. No one's laid a hand on her. We won't need to steal the Voyager now. We've got the Enterprise now!" "No we don't. The Enterprise is in there … not here." "Ach, just details. Nothing will stop me from getting her. If we can't requisition her, we'll borrow her." "You mean steal her." "Borrows a much nicer turn of the phase, though: don't you think." "If you say so." "I do." With a chuckle. He was very pleased with himself. "Do ye know why we sought you out? Unsure how to answer, she took her best guess. "Because of my knowledge of the Enterprise. Captain Picard's Enterprise that is." "Ach no. I know more about the Enterprise E than ye'll ever know, and who cares now about the Enterprise D. that's the Enterprise the ye knew." "Then what do ye need me for?" "Ye know that we'll be needing s crew for whatever ship we acquire, whether it be called Enterprise or Voyager. Can ye be guessing who that crew will be?" "…?…" "What if I told you that we've learned where the Voyagers are being held? It sort of occurred to us that they might make a good crew for our rescue ship, to the Delta quadrant. After all they are an experienced crew and they have been to the Delta quadrant themselves." "But you have a problem getting them." A big smile grew on Scotty's face. "I see that ye're catching on. Ye see, the Ambassador, the Doctor and I are all too old to be planning a jailbreak, so we thought that, who would be better to free the Maquis, than other Maquis: and the only ones that we knew of that were free, were you and Lt. Riker." "And if that were so, no one would suspect the three of you with anything treasonous." "Aye: and that would mean that no one would be watching us as we … requisition … supplies." Attempting to imitate his Scottish accent, she smiled. "Ah, Laddie: methinks that we be understanding each other. You boys prepare the ship, and Tom and I shanghai the crew." "Ye know Lassie: you would have fit in on Captain Kirk's Enterprise, a lot better than ye did on Captain Picard's. Captain Kirk , like you, knew how and when to bend the rules when necessary. Ye both have a little of the larceny in you." A week and a half later, the engines of the Enterprise were fired up for the first time in over eighty years. With Scotty and Spock in Engineering, and Tom Riker at Navigation: Ro Laren navigated the U.S.S. Enterprise through the virtual minefield of decommissioned ships, into open space. 9 MONTHS AGO Harry Kim Harry Kim had returned to the Alpha Quadrant as a hero. That wasn't a new status for him. In his young life he had been a three time Parrises Squares Champion: so, although he never completely felt that he deserved it, he was used to the adulation of others. But this was different. This time he had been a hero in the company of heroes. But many of those heroes had disappeared. They had become, not only his friends, but for seven years were his family, and no one seemed to be asking where they went. Harry devoted more and more of his time searching for these lost members of his family, but it was soon becoming obvious that he didn't have the resources necessary to conduct an adequate search: until he was approached by Thompson that is. A year after the return of Voyager, he had been approached by Justin Thomas, and he suddenly found opportunities opening to him that he had never had before. At that period of his life, he had been working on the refit of Voyager. Perhaps at one time, the Voyager might have been made a museum piece, after her historic trek, but after the Dominion War, the Federation needed every ship that it could muster." After a particularly long shift he went to the Starbase Recreation Center to relax with a game of Velocity. He had always found himself refreshed by pushing his body to the limits. This particular win came with a pulled tendon and a couple of torn ligaments, but he felt reinvigorated. He sat down in the hot tub to let the jets of hot water restore his aching muscles. Half dozing, he hardly noticed the man in the black business suit approach him. Justin Thompson bent down and made him an offer he couldn't refuse. "Lieutenant Kim. I can help you to find your lost shipmates. Do you want to hear more?" Climbing out of tub, he brushed back his wet hair and looked directly in the thin middle-aged man's blue eyes. "You know that I do." "Then get dressed and meet me in the Blastshot Bar in a half hour." And the man turned and walked away. A half hour later Harry was offered the opportunity to join Section 31: which he found was a super secret department within Starfleet Intelligence. Seeing the opportunities that such a post would offer in his search for his crewmates, he jumped at the chance. Within days, he had taken a leave of absence from his duties and entered an extensive training program that made the Academy look like kindergarten. And here was on Romulus: a seasoned agent for Section 31. He wasn't always happy about some of the assignments that he had received, but Thompson assured him that each one brought him closer to being reunited with his crewmates. Most of the assignments he knew, had nothing to do with the lost Maquis, but the missions were just part of the job. And the job today took him to the Romulan homeworld. He had received an operation to make him be able to pass himself off as Romulan, and he had been given a crash course in Romulan history and culture as well as a flash course in the language. His photographic memory made that part relatively easy. It was getting used to the food and the smells of the Capital City that were hard. He wandered about the main mall, waiting for his contact to arrive. A whispered, "I have been to Hala. Have you?" from behind him elicited the prearranged response. "Only in the winter time. It might be nicer in the spring." A hand lightly grasped his shoulder, prompting him to turn and look into the face of his contact. He was delighted to see the face of a young and attractive blonde Romulan female, with a delightful smile. 'Maybe', he thought, 'this will be a good assignment.' She put her arm around his shoulder saying quietly. "I am Sela. Mister Kim I presume?" 8 ½ MONTHS AGO Picard Jean-Luc Picard stood on the bridge of the Enterprise E, with a melancholy heart. This place, on both the Enterprise E and the Enterprise D, had been home to him for so very long. Years ago, his only brother, and his only nephew died in a fire that destroyed the home that he grew up in. Since that time, and if he was honest with himself, long before that, the people on his bridge were his family: but now most of that family had flown the coop. He felt a sense of great loss as he looked at the empty chairs that flanked him on both sides. Not only had he lost his First Officer and his Ship's Counselor, when Will took command of the Titan: he recently lost his Second Officer, when Data was killed in Romulan space. Even Mr. Worf, who was temporarily serving as his interim First Officer was expected to be transferred to the Titan after its shakedown cruise. Captain Riker made that quite clear during their stay at Aldebron Station. In his nostalgia, he felt that he had been left behind: Lt. Ro, Chief O'Brien and Wesley Crusher had long ago abandoned him, while Tash and Data and so many others were never to return. Glancing around his … true home, he saw strangers trying to take the place of family, and felt a moment of bitterness towards these intruders: but that moment passed. 'These were fine officers who deserved to be here', he thought silently in the recesses of his mind. Briefly he implored the heavens, 'Guinan, I need you now more than I ever have before. Where are you now? Well … at least Geordie and Beverly are still here, so I'm not completely alone. I wonder how they're taking the loss?' His reverie was interrupted, by Ensign Hought: a Denobulan Helmsman, who had come aboard only a few weeks prior. "Sir?" "I'm sorry Mister Hought. Did you say something?" "Yes Sir. We'll reach the rendezvous point in thirteen minutes. Admiral Paris has already arrived and requests that you beam over to the Zephyr as soon as we arrive." "Let him know that I look forward to seeing him soon." "Aye sir." The Zephyr was an older style Galaxy class ship like the Enterprise D had been, and when Picard saw her, he realized that, like the Stargazer, even that Enterprise had left him. It also said something about the Admiral that he kept it around, unmodified, since all of the other Galaxy Class ships had been long ago refitted. The crash of the Enterprise D, and the Dominion War, had pointed out some of the design flaws of the older Galaxy class ships, so most of them had been modified to fix the problem. Picard supposed that the death of the Enterprise saved the lives of the crews of many other Galaxy class ships, so its destruction hadn't been in vain. He only wished that he had been on her bridge when it happened. Still, Will had saved the life of all aboard: too bad he couldn't save the Enterprise too. 'Was that a hint of bitterness he felt towards his former First Officer?' He thought. 'No. He knew that since Will was in command at the time, it saved Picard the guilt that he faced after he lost the Stargazer, since he didn't preside over her death. Still, a small part of him felt that if he had been on the bridge at the time, instead of being on the planet's surface: he might have saved the Enterprise.' These musings were just making his mood darker. It was the recent death of Data that was accentuating his loss, and he was reminded daily of his loss by that parody of Data, below decks. He felt that he owed it to Data, to do all that he could to educate his brother B-4, and help him to have a happy life, but every time he looked at the prototype of Data, it broke his heart. He thought back to his first meeting with his lost friend… with his brother in arms. It was aboard the first starship called Enterprise, at the Jonathan Archer Museum that they first met. It was there that the Enterprise, registry number NX-01, had been on display for almost two centuries. Before taking command of the Enterprise D, Picard thought that it might be nice to see the ship that started it all. Admiral Nogura had recommended to Picard, that he consider Data as a candidate for Second Officer: so Picard had requested Data to meet him aboard the NX-01 Enterprise at the museum. He walked around in the Engineering section and marveled at the courage of the early explorers who once lived on this relatively primitive starship. The massive engine, which could propel them to speeds up to warp five needed constant monitoring and readjustments. The pre-duotronic computers, with their simple binary algorithms wouldn't even be considered in today's cargo shuttles. It must have been terrifying to have to use the crude and barely tested transporters. He wondered if he would ever meet men and women of such gallantry in this modern day. He climbed the ladder to the hall that led to the bridge, and realized that the heroes of legend once trod and lived on these very decks. Then he thought of the heroes of other generations. He thought of Robert April, of Christopher Pike, Hikaru Sulu and most of all he thought of James T. Kirk. In every generation since the inception of Starfleet, there has been a Starship named Enterprise, and the men and women who commanded them were the people of legend. They were the greatest and the best that their age could provide. And now there was to be another Starship Enterprise: and they had chosen him to be its captain. 'Who am I?' he thought, 'to be given guardianship over such a legacy? Who is Jean-Luc Picard, to be given such a responsibility? I couldn't save the Stargazer, how do I rank?' He felt that to measure up, he had to have only the very best around him, so it was important that he be more selective of his crew than any other Captain in the Fleet. He hoped that this, Mr. Data, would live up to all that the Admiral said of him. When he arrived at the bridge, the Android Commander was already there waiting for him. "You must be Captain Picard. I am Data. I am pleased to meet you sir." "And I you Commander." He would have asked him to sit down, but he would have felt that to be disrespectful of the real Crew of the vessel, even though they were all surely dead by now. Instead he said, "Tell me Commander, what do you think of this vessel?" "An impressive effort, for its day, Sir. Not adequate for today's standards though." "Undoubtedly. The men and women who flew this ship were the most remarkable people of their age. Even this picture of the crew shows the faces of courage. You can almost feel their presence looking over us today, don't you think?" "I do not know Sir. That they were remarkable people, I have no question: but I seriously doubt that any of them are watching us at this moment. Indeed, only the ship's second in command was of a species that is sufficiently long lived that she might still be alive. Would you like me to check sir?" "Not at this time thank you." It never occurred to him that any of the crew could still be alive. This Mr. Data, has a way of seeing possibilities that others might miss. It stated that in his record, but it's nice to see it in action. That's a point in his favor. Cocking his head Data continued. "Question. Is there a reason that there is a canine in the picture of the crew?" "Oh. That would be Captain Archer's dog Porthos. He was with Archer throughout the term of service of this vessel." "Is it not an odd thing for a canine to be brought on board a space ship?" "Not really. You'll find that on most starships there is at least one crewmember that has brought a pet on board. It's generally considered therapeutic for a crew. You yourself may decide to have a pet one day." "That would be very unlikely sir. I have no emotions and therefore have no need for a … pet." 'Yes indeed. Very interesting way of thinking.' "You understand Mr. Data, that if you are selected for assignment to the Enterprise, it will be a plum assignment, and will certainly further your career." "Plum assignment? Accessing: oh yes, plum, meaning a choice assignment. Yes Sir, I realize that, but I have no aspirations for higher office: I simply wish to be of service." Interesting. "If you aren't planning for a quick promotion, what do you aspire to?" "I wish to become more human, Sir." "More… human? But you're an android." "Yes Sir, but I wish to grow and become more than I am. I believe that if I may become more like human, I will be a better creature. Humans are the only creatures that are driven by a desire to help others, and placing the welfare of others before their own interests is the only logical way to create a better society. I wish to be this kind of a creature, so I emulate humans who are the best examples of this behavior." "I assure you that not all humans share that dream, but I hope that most of them do. I want people on my team who have that vision. Welcome to the crew of the Enterprise Mr. Data." And now data was gone. "We're here Sir. Admiral Paris requests that you meet him in his ready room at 0900 hours." "Tell him I'll be there Mr. Hought." Picard looked around the Admiral's ready room uncomfortably; although it wasn't an exact duplicate of his old ready room on the Enterprise D, it was close enough to make him uncomfortable. The Admiral looked up from his desk with a face that betrayed nothing. "Good morning Jean-Luc. How is the Enterprise handling, with the repairs? She was pretty badly banged up during your time in the Romulan Empire." That was an understatement. Picard had had to order the Enterprise into ramming the enemy vessel. She was nearly unredeemable, but Fleet Repairs Division can sometimes perform miracles. It was widely reported that they were trained under Captain Scott: the original miracle worker. "The ship's handling fine sir. It's the crew that I'm worried about. We're a little understaffed at the moment." "So I understand. Well, I'm sorry, but that'll have to wait a little longer. I have a sensitive assignment for the Enterprise that needs your attention right now. As you know, the Romulan Empire is in the middle of a shakeup right now. Fortunately, thanks to you: relations with the Empire have never been better." "They've made it clear that we are not to get involved with their internal affairs: but we have had reports that the Empire is under attack. Since their Fleet is still under reconstruction they have asked for our help. As the closest ship to the Empire with any firepower to speak of, you are to offer them any assistance that you are able." "Of course Admiral. May I ask why they need our assistance?" "If the enemy is who we suspect they are: the only people who have had dealings with them before was a Federation ship. Only the Federation has any intelligence regarding the enemy. The Enterprise wouldn't stand a chance against this enemy, so whatever you do: don't try to engage them by yourselves. Let the Romulans do the majority of the fighting. If it's possible, let's try not to give them a reason to attack the Federation too. We need to foster our new friendship with the Empire, but let's not jump from the frying pan into the fire. Understood?" "Yes Sir. Who is the enemy Admiral?" With a shiver that ran down his spine he asked quietly, "Is it the Borg?" "Jean-Luc, it's an enemy that has had the Borg for breakfast. What do you know about Species 8472?" 8 1/2 MONTHS AGO Troi Deanna Troi, took her first duty shift as First-Officer of the Titan. Will was inspecting the new sick bay systems and had left her in charge. She sipped at her hot cocoa and settled in for a long and boring night. She had regularly pulled night shifts in the command chair on the Enterprise so she knew the job for what it was. Most civilians, after watching the holo-novels about starships, are convinced that it's one action packed experience after another: but Deanna knew better. She knew that it was generally long periods of staring at relatively unchanging starfields, interspersed with an interesting diversions, once or twice a week, at most. The exciting events in the holo-novels happen several times a year, and then when that happens, you call in the Captain to handle things. The hardest part of most shifts for the average crewman, is staying awake in the relative silence of the bridge. As a counselor, Deanna had long lobbied Starfleet to take steps to make the bridge a place that is more conducive to alertness: and now as First Officer, she decided to take some steps to remedy the problem on the Titan. If things work there as well as she suspected that they would, she would submit documentation of the success to Headquarters, with recommendations that it be tried on other ships. Therefore, when she was Officer On Deck, she had music piped on to the bridge: so on that night, many of the crew were tapping their toes to the Oldies, and smiles could be seen on all faces. Empathetically, she could tell that the crew was not only happier in the current situation, they were also much more alert than the usual night shift. A faint smile of self-congratulation crossed her lips, before she covered it again. "Commander Troi?" "What is it Jack?" She believed in fostering friendships on the bridge over too much military formality: so her reply was 'What is it Jack?' rather than 'What is it Ensign Kord?" And her husband,… the Captain… decided to let her have her way in this matter. Whether it would stand for the long haul or not was yet to be seen. "Starfleet Headquarters is hailing us." "On screen." The jovial face of Commodore Fielding came on screen. "Hello Commander, are things going well?" "Yes Sir. Not much exciting can be expected to happen on a shakedown cruise though. How's Hannah and the kids?" "Very well, thanks for asking. Deanna, we thought that we'd give your new crew an easy assignment, just to give them a little excitement. Nothing dangerous, I assure you. What is that noise?" "Please cut the music Jack. Sorry Sir, what've you got for us?" "Well, we've gotten an alarm that there is a break-in at Shipyards happening at this moment. It's probably just pranksters, or maybe some entrepreneuring Ferengi trying to heist a few old starship parts. You're not too far away, so why don't you drop over there and give you security staff something to practice on?" "That sounds good to me Sir. We'll take care of things and report back to you in a few hours." "Thanks Deanna: I appreciate it. End Communication." "OK Jack, you heard the man. Plot a course for Starfleet's mothballed shipyard: ahead warp seven." Touching a button on the Command Chair, she hailed Lt. Grekz. Hey, Rocky: we'll need your security team ready for action in tem minutes. I'm sending a file from Commodore with mission details." "Aye Sir." Ten minutes later, the Titan entered Shipyard space, taking the holding location that was supplied by Shipyard Operations. "Jack, are there any shuttles or cargo ships near the yards?" "Not at the moment, but we have a warp trail leaving the area within the last half hour." "That must be them. Track that trail and intercept." "Aye… Sir, I'm reading a warp signature within the shipyards." "Hmm… let's hold here for a few minutes and see what happens." On the battered bridge of the Enterprise A, Ro Laren watched sensors and helped Tom Riker maneuver the historic vessel into open space. "Set a course one two eight mark seven five. Ahead warp factor five. As the ship swung around to the new heading, she saw the powerful Titan cross the view screen in front of her. "Oh crap!" On the screen of the Titan, Deanna saw an old, slightly battered Constitution class starship poke through between an old Z-17 freighter and a larger Excelsior class ship, turn towards open space and go to warp. "Oh crap! Jack let's follow that bird." The mighty ship, though fast at top speeds: was ponderous in the closed quarters of the Shipyard holding area. "Hail them!' "I'm trying sir." "They're hailing us Ro!" Calling down to Engineering she yelled, "Scotty, look at your screens." "I see it Lass. Give me a few minutes and I'll take care of it." The Enterprise continued to lengthen the gap as the Titan maneuvered herself out of the Yards. "OK Tom. We've got to stall: put them on screen." Instantly they had a view of the Titan. "Deanna?" On the Titan the screen changed from the starfield to the battered bridge of the old Constitution class ship. "Deanna?" "Ro? Is that you? What the hell are you doing?" Then she noticed Tom Riker sitting at Helm. For a minute she thought that it was some kind of test simulation and that her husband was in on it: but then she reached out empathically, and knew the truth. "Tom? What are you two doing?" Looking towards his sister-in-law, Tom spoke up. "Hi sis. I hear that my brother finally made you and honest woman." The Titan cleared the Yards and went to warp. The Enterprise accelerated to Warp eight: but the Titan went to Warp nine point five. Deanna knew that if the Enterprise E couldn't win a race with the Titan, this old ship never stood a chance. "Tom, I thought that you were a captive of the Cardassians." "Not for a long time Deanna. I've been held prisoner on Mars for years." "Why didn't you contact us when you were released?" She flipped the silent signal that called the Captain to the bridge. He spit. "I was never released. I was taken from the Cardassians by Starfleet Intelligence and held by them incommunicado. They rounded up every last Maquis, except for Ro here and is holding them all, despite their rights as Federation citizens. If it wasn't for her, I'd still be a prisoner. You know, I was even aboard the Titan for a few minutes when your ship was going to warp for the first time. It's a nice ship. What happened to the children on the Titan and the Enterprise?" The gap between the two ships was quickly being closed. "The Dominion War and the Borg showed us the folly of place children in harms way. The idea of putting families on a starship was a good thought, but this is not the time for it." The turbolift doors opened, and Captain Riker took the Bridge of his ship: but Tom Riker knew something that Will Riker never learned. Most Captains think of a ship as being theirs, but Scotty taught Tom that a starship belongs not to her captain, but to her Chief Engineer. On he can make the old girl do as he bids. A Captain can order the Chief to make a ship do something, but the ship belongs to the Chief. He's the one who can make her go… and he's the one who can make her stop. In Engineering, Scotty, who had supervised the construction of the Titan, fed the Titan's override codes into his console, and made the colossus drop out of warp. On the bridge Captain Riker felt the ship drop out of warp and said, "What the hell?" On the bridge of the Enterprise, Lt. Riker looked up at his brother and said. "Sorry about this Will, but this is Jim Kirk's ship and she's always been invincible. I think that some of his legendary luck rubbed off on her. This is a charmed ship, and the Titan will never beat this Enterprise." And with a huge smile he concluded. "Be seeing you." And he cut communications, and left the Titan in the Enterprises' dust. 8 ¼ MONTHS AGO Chakotay The Maquis came into existence, as a result of a treaty between the Federation and the Cardassians, which ceded territory from the Federation to their former enemy. Unfortunately, many of those planets had human colonies. The Federation had told the colonists to abandon their homes, but many of them refused to do so. The Cards began a campaign of extermination and the Maquis was formed to fight for the Colonists survival. The Federation declared them to be outlaws and turned a blind eye to the situation. During the Dominion War, the Cardassians finally wiped out the colonists, which left only a very few Maquis still alive. A few like Tom Riker and Ro Laren: and half of the Crew of the Starship Voyager, who were lost in the Delta quadrant. When the Voyager returned, Starfleet Intelligence slowly rounded up these "criminals" and quietly imprisoned them in a concentration camp on Cestus III. All that the Maquis ever wanted was to live peacefully together in their own homes. Well now, in a manner of speaking, they had attained that goal. Unfortunately it was with walls and guard towers and limited rations. Fortunately, Starfleet Intelligence broke up their boredom with numerous interrogations. Chakotay, former First Officer of the U.S.S. Voyager, registry number NCC-74656, had led his people for the past several years as best as he could: never losing hope that Captain Janeway would be working for their freedom. He had once been a Maquis leader: when an alien from the Delta quadrant, pulled both his Maquis ship and the Voyager to the far side of the galaxy. They were attacked by the Kazon, with disastrous effects. Half of the Voyager's crew, including her doctor, were killed, and Chakotay's ship: the Val Jean: was rendered inoperable. An agreement was made with Voyager, whereby his ship was destroyed by ramming the Kazon ship, his crew were beamed aboard Voyager, and that his Maquis crew would fill in for the slain Starfleet personnel. They worked together for seven years to bring themselves home to the Alpha quadrant. Unfortunately, when they got there, they found that the friendship and respect that existed between the Maquis members of Voyager's crew and the Starfleet members of the crew, wasn't reflected by Starfleet generally, and they were quietly incarcerated. The Starfleet people received a hero's welcome, while they found that the sins of the Maquis are never to be forgiven. Heaven only knows what happened to Seven of Nine. Chakotay, sat in meditation among the dusty streets of the prison compound. There were brick buildings, and they each had their own apartments: the Federation wasn't completely barbaric, although they were denied radios, computers or any other advanced electronic devices. They were allowed to grow their own crops and hold civic activities, so long as any gathering of greater than six, be presided over by one of the guards. He wasn't really sure what they wanted from the frequent interrogations, but they continued unabated. They had tried to escape on several occasions, but were never able to penetrate the force field that encompassed the facility. He was always a spiritual individual, and the years of isolation gave him time to pursue those aspects of his personality. He would often have visions of ancestors, and lost friends, who had been a source of wisdom and strength to him during his period of captivity. On this day his vision quest led him to the edge of a lush jungle: the path wound through the ancient Mayan ruins of his ancestors, the jungle birds making an inharmonious, though somehow pleasing clamor in the canopy above. The tattoo on his face blazed a blinding red. The path disgorged him into a clearing where sat his grandfather sitting at the edge of a roaring campfire, his tattoo blazing an equally bright green. "Grandson: join me at the fire." He sat on the log across the fire from his grandfather, looked into the weathered face and waited to receive that wisdom that would be made available. "You have been long troubled. I am here to tell you that this period of trial in your life will be soon coming to an end and a new chapter in the lives of your people will begin: but first you will have a debt that must be repaid." "This debt Grandfather?" "This debt is not yet, but will soon be. Your old mentor, Captain Hiromi Sulu will be the instrument of your deliverance: and to him, and to others, you will owe a great debt." "How shall we repay this debt Grandfather?" "You will discharge this debt, not to your Mentor, but to his grandfather, who was once a dear friend of mine, and to whom I owe the debt of your Father's life. I will be with you on this quest of redemption and revelation." With which, he bowed his head, the tattoos faded to black, and Chakotay found himself once again sitting in the compound. Drab day dragged into drab day, monotonous month into monotonous month and numbing year into numbing year. But after years of imprisonment, that day finally came, when something marvelous happened. Phaser bolts stabbed down from the sky, stunning the guards in the tower. What looked like a low yield photon torpedo blasted the shield generation facility west of the camp. The whine of a transporter could be heard and boxes of very old style hand phasers appeared in the square. Chakotay recognizing the first opportunity for hope in several years rallied his people, thinking to himself, 'Kathryn, what took you so long?' He heard is Grandfather's voice say to him, 'Not Kathryn, Hiromi!' He was a man not only of contemplation, but a man of action. His voice shouted orders to those nearest the boxes of phasers, and they were prepared when the guards who were not in the towers streamed out of the buildings. He noticed that the phasers had been set on a stun setting, so he took that as an order not to harm the half asleep jailers. The captors never expected to see the inmates to be armed, so it was a short conflict. Among the phasers in the box was found an old style hand communicator, and a note saying to contact the ship in orbit when they were ready for beam out. As leader, the communicator was brought to Chakotay, who spoke for them all. "Commander Chakotay of the U.S.S. Voyager to the ship in orbit. We have subdued our guards and are ready to be brought out." "Copy that Mr. Chakotay. Bring all of your people to stand near the crates that we beamed down, and let us know when that's done." "Yes sir, are you with Captain Janeway?" 'Not Janeway, Sulu!' "Sorry. No one seems to know where Admiral Janeway has been this past year. We're the last of the free Maquis… and a few friends, who are sympathetic to our cause." "Very good. My people are ready for beam out." "Copy that." And the Voyagers, in groups of six at a time, vanished in a transporter haze, until only Chakotay was left. Finally he felt the transporter effect whisk him also and the crates of phasers from the planet's surface. He found himself on a transporter pad, that looked like it had seen better days. Before him, operating the controls, stood a beautiful raven haired Bajoran woman, wearing a big smile. "Welcome aboard Commander. I am Ro Laren, once of the Bajoran underground movement, formerly of the Enterprise D, now again a Maquis rebel." "Are you in charge here?" "You know, I'm not really sure who's in charge right now, but I somehow suspect that it will be you. If you follow me, I'll take you to rest of us. The rest of your people should be with them by now." He felt the powerful engines come to life as they warped out of orbit. After all of his years in Voyager and the Val Jean, it was a reassuringly familiar experience. She led him out the door down a well kept hallway to a turbolift, that had a plaque on the inside of the lift that said, U.S.S. Enterprise: and he wondered if this was some sort of trap, but this ship seemed much too old to be the Enterprise. He heard the woman say, 'Deck Seven.' And the lift whooshed away. After introductions were made, each person was assigned a room, and a meeting was held for two hours hence, to more fully explain the situation. After being assigned quarters, which he found out later, had once belonged to the legendary James T. Kirk, Chakotay was given a personal tour of the ship. It was larger than Voyager: the bridge, though battered, was completely functional. This was a more powerful ship than he could have expected: yet it was also obvious that it was one that had been pretty badly beaten up. He was led to a meeting room and found there, seated at a table, an elderly Vulcan, an elderly heavy-set human in an old style Starfleet uniform, an ancient man in an old Admiral's uniform, and a man with dark hair, bearded, with a slightly cocky look to him smirk. The heavier man rose and spoke. "Laddie, ye're about to be given a singular honor. As ye may've figured out by now, this ship is the U.S.S. Enterprise. The one that once was captained by James T. Kirk. Some of her crew sits before you now. Seated here is Leonard MacCoy, Spock and I am Montgomery Scott. We served on this ship, with Captian Kirk for many years and it's time to do so once more." "But what is a ship without a Captain. I've never entrusted this ship to anyone before, exceptin' Captain Kirk, but I'm giving you now the opportunity, to become Captain of the Enterprise. This ship is my baby, and ye have no idea how much this says about the confidence that we have in you. I would never entrust this fine lady to the care of anyone but the best, and Captain Sulu, whose grandfather served with us aboard this proud ship, and your Admiral Janeway have assured us that there can be no one better to Captain the Enterprise at this time." Hesitantly, "I assume by the age and state of this ship, that this is not an official Starfleet mission. For myself, and for the sake of my old mentor, I have decided to help you in any way that I can: but what's in it for my people? Why should they do anything for Starfleet when it has been Starfleet that has kept us unjustly imprisoned for all of this time." "Aye… spoken as a real leader: more concerned for the welfare of his crew than for that of hisself. Lad, it wasn't Starfleet that locked you up in that place, it was a rogue faction within Federation Intelligence that has plagued the Federation in recent years. Admiral Janeway has been trying to find ye ever since you and yer people vanished from sight. No one knew where ye were, but the crew of Voyager had become celebrities, and the public kept demandin' to see ye: so Starfleet, sent out a bogus press report, that ye had left the civilized worlds seeking solitude. Captain Janeway still continued her silent investigation." "We still would nae found ye, except for Captain Sulu. He was meditatin' one day, when his recently deceased father came to him in a dream, tellin' him where to look for you: so he decided that it wouldn't hurt to check it out. He took the Asimov through the Cestus system…" "Is that where we were?" "That's where ye were. They flew casually past the planet without stoppin', as if they were just passin' thru. Passive scans, showed them the installation: he reported to Janeway, and she came to us." "Our plan was to free you and expose the incident to the Press. There's a young spitfire of a reporter named Jacob Sisko, that would be perfect to break this story. We figured that the publicity would ensure that no one would try to recapture you." "I see a few holes in you plan but it might work. But why would you need a forgotten warship for a publicity campaign." "Ye see through to the point of things too I see. Well, recently something else has happened and we thought that it might better for ye: and it will allow ye to return as conquering heroes rather than hapless victims. Just hear me out. If ye don't like my proposal, we'll take ye to Deep Space Nine for a meeting with Jacob Sisko: but if ye like it, we'll be headin' to a Maquis base in the Badlands, where we'll be spendin' the next several months refitting the Enterprise, and preparing for the mission." After a thorough description of the mission outline, Chakotay met with his people, and a course was set for the Badlands. 8 MONTHS AGO Hought The Bridge of the Enterprise was running on the subdued lighting, which denoted that it was the planetary equivalent of the night shift. Hought sat absent-mindedly at his station. They were still two days from the Neutral Zone. Communications, as well as communications problems, between the Enterprise, Starfleet and Romulus had accelerated with every parsec traveled. From his Navigator's station, the young Denobulan looked to Mr. Worf, as the Officer of the Shift. "Sir, we seem to have a minor problem." "Speak, Mr. Hought." "The ship has drifted off course again." "Correct course and note it in your log." "Yes sir. Sir… ?" "What is it Mr. Hought?" "We should have Engineering check out Nav systems. We should be able to set a course and leave it until we arrive at our destination. If we are having to constantly reset our course, there's something wrong. This isn't an old style duotronic system, the computer should be fast enough to automatically compensate for any special inconsistencies." "It can wait. We have to get to the Neutral Zone as quickly as possible, so that we can meet with the Warbird Talon." "Sir, I don't think that it would be wise to have to go into battle with a malfunctioning computer." "You may be right." He touched a switch on his chair's arm-console. Engineering!" The voice of Geordi LaForge answered. "What is it Worf?" "I need you to run a level four diagnostic on the Navigation systems." "How soon do you need it?" "Before we go into batter." "I'll take care of it." "Very good. Is there anything else Mr. Hought?" "Not at the moment sir." After his shift was over, Hought found himself at the door to Captain Picard's ready room. Several days earlier, he had arranged for the appointment, so that he could see the Captain about a pet project that he wished to pursue: but he knew that without Picard's permission, he couldn't even get it off the ground. He touched the enunciator plate, and shortly heard the Captain's "Come!" and he entered quietly. Welcome, Mr. Hought. I believe that this is the first time that we've had the opportunity to just sit and visit like this. I like to get to know my bridge personnel, and I'm thankful that we'll be able to spend a few minutes together. Tell me, what's on your mind?" "Thank you sir. As you may know, I've been on the Enterprise for about seven months now. I'm not quite as much of an extrovert as many Denobulans, so I tend to blend in." "Although, I understand that there are many of the young ladies on board that are intrigued with you." Hought blushed slightly. "Well, a lot of humans seem intrigued with Denobulan mating practices, and I have had a lot of questions on the matter. Either way, that's not why I've asked to see you." "Very well: why have you come to see me Mr. Hought?" He hesitated, swallowed hard and decided to just go for it. "Sir I want to try to resurrect Mr. Data." Picard was stunned. It reminded him too much of what he had lost. He spoke icily. "Mr. Data is gone. Mr. LaForge has said that he won't be able to be brought back to us." "I… I mean no… no disrespect to the Chief Engineer sir, but I'm sure that it can be done. You may remember that my specialty is in Artificial Life Forms. That's one of the two reasons that I wanted duty on the Enterprise: so that I could be near Mr. Data." "His body was destroyed, and only Dr. Soong has been able to build replacement parts, and he's long gone." "But his mind was downloaded into the android called B-4." "B-4 is a more primitive version of Data: he was unable to assimilate Data into himself, and I've been assured that he never will be able to do so. Even if it were possible, I have serious doubts as to the ethics of destroying the individual called B-4, just so that I can have my friend Data back again. Who am I to play God and say that his life is of less value than Data's." "I agree with you sir: that is not what I am suggesting." Picard let slip an uncomprehending frown. "Then what are you suggesting?" "Before I came on board the Enterprise, I had worked extensively with Voyager's E.M.H. and learned a great deal about sentient Hologram technology. What I propose sir, is that we download Data's mind from B-4, into a Hologram of Data. He won't have an android Data, but we will still have access to all of his accumulated knowledge and experience: as well as a physical Data, wherever there are holo-emitters." Picard sat stunned. An elation running through him: as a hope, that he knew might be a false hope, grew within his soul. Maybe he hadn't lost all of his family after all. "I'll want you to show your proposal to Mr. LaForge. If he agrees with you, you shall have all of the resources of the Enterprise at your disposal." Hought felt triumph fill every corner of his soul. "Just to satisfy my curiosity, what was the other reason that you wanted duty on the Enterprise?" Often, when asked this question, new crewmembers bubbled over with effusive compliments of the ship or the exploits of its crew. Mr. Hought surprised him by replying, "I had an ancestor who served on the original Enterprise." "Really? I had no idea that any Denobulans had served in Starfleet in Kirk's time." "James Kirk wasn't his captain sir." Picard felt a slight disappointment at that. After all, he had had the opportunity to get to know Kirk personally, and had felt a special kinship to him ever since. "OK. Chris Pike, or Robert April?" "Neither sir. My honored ancestor served as Ship's Doctor under Captain Jonathan Archer. I said the first Enterprise: not the Federation's first Enterprise." Picard silently whistled. "My apologies. You truly have a distinguished heritage Hought. I'm proud to have you as a member of my crew. Perhaps together we can live up to the legacy of those two great men." For the first time in the interview, Hought smiled slyly. "I'm sorry sir but you're not my type." Picard couldn't help liking this man. Before he could reply, he received a call from Engineering. "Go ahead Mr. LaForge." "I have that report on our Navigation systems problem. It seems that all of the Nav computers are running slowly, but at differing rates. The even numbered databanks are all running one percent slower than standard, and the odd are running, alternately, either four or twenty percent slower. The varying rates are entering a small degree of error into the positioning algorithms." "What's causing it?" "The banks seem to be running more programming than usual, but I can't track down what it is that's actually running that's so consuming the computing power. In the meantime, since these slower speeds are constant, I've made compensations to account for the slower speeds." "Is it dangerous?" "It doesn't seem to be. I'd recommend that we have it overhauled the next time that we get into a Starbase. In the mean time, I'll keep an eye on it and make sure that it doesn't get any worse." "Very well. If that's all that there is on that subject, I have an intriguing situation for you. I'm going to be sending Mr. Hought down to you. I'd like you to help him with a project of his, if there's any way that it can succeed." "Yes sir. I look forward to seeing him. LaForge out." "Well Mr. Hought. I think that you have an appointment.' "Grinning from ear to ear as he stumbled out of the Ready Room, Hought called back. "Yes sir! Thank you sir!" It didn't take Hought more than twenty minutes to find Geordi LaForge in Engineering and another half hour to explain his proposal. Seeing the benefits of the plan, the Engineer immediately notified the Captain that it seemed like a viable proposition. After bring the captain up to date, Geordi turned to Hought. "OK Mr. Hought: you've sold me on your idea. To be honest, I don't know why I didn't think of it myself. Setting up the Holo-Image of Data should be easy. Why don't we go on down to storage, where we have B-4 disassembled and put safely away. We may have Data back among us by the end of the day." Leaving Engineering they walked down the corridor, around two bends and arrived at the turbolift. "You know Mr. LaForge, I've always thought that it was strange how we have turbolifts to take us everywhere in the ship, and doors that need no effort on our parts, but we keep the long corridors. It seems to me that we should either have stairs and manual doors, or that we should just beam from place to place. We should either commit to being fitness conscious or to being completely lazy and stop doing things halfway." "Please: call me Geordi. I never thought about it before. I suppose that someone way in the past must have felt that corridors and turbolifts were the way to go, and the force of tradition has carried it down through all modern ships." The torbolift disgorged them on a darkened lower level, where they exited and soon stood before a storage compartment door. "Here it is. This is where we placed B-4 after he was inactivated and dismantled. We decided to put him in the same place where we stored his dismantled brother Lore." He placed his hand on the wall plate and the door hissed open. "Lights." The compartment was empty. "Computer: is this the compartment where Lore and B-4 were being stored?" "This is the compartment." "Where are they?" "Lore and B-4 are not on board the Enterprise." Looking puzzled Geordi continued. "Who removed them?" "Captain William T. Riker." "Mr. Hought, we've got a problem." "Please: call me Howie." "Well Howie, let's get to the Bridge. We need to put a call into the Titan. 8 MONTHS AGO Will "Captain, we're receiving a sub-space message from the Enterprise." "In my Ready Room Ted. Deanna, you have the Con." Will Riker rose from the command chair of the Titan and entered his ready room. The room was a homier place than Captain Picard's relatively austere Ready Room, almost to the point of being cluttered. His desk had more plants and pictures for example, than the Enterprise Captain ever had in his. Sitting at his desk, he touched the contact which activated the viewer. The familiar face of Jean-Luc Picard flashed onto the screen. He looked somehow to be a sadder man than Will had remember him. He had always seen Captain Picard as a surrogate father figure: which was one of those things that had always made leaving the Enterprise such a difficult thing to do. His relationship with his own father was… at best, strained: but the Captain had always been a true and caring mentor. "Jean-Luc: how good to see you. I've been meaning to give you a call." "I'll bet you have Will. Do you mind telling me why you took the androids?" That took him back, and his face showed it. "The androids? I don't know what you're talking about?" "The androids B-4 and Lore have been removed from the Enterprise. When we searched back through the computer logs, we found that, they were taken during our… race. According to the logs, you beamed aboard during the race, and removed them when we got to the station. The odd thing is that, our records also show you on the Bridge of the Titan… talking to me, on my Bridge, throughout the race. Do you have any idea of what's going on?" "Maybe some of it. I have no idea why they were taken, but I'm pretty sure that they were taken by my… brother… Tom Riker." "I thought that he was still a captive of the Cardassians." "So did I: but a couple of weeks ago, the Titan was sent to invest a break-in at the Shipyards where they keep the mothballed fleet. When we arrived, we saw that someone was in the process of stealing the Enterprise A: Kirk's Enterprise. When we hailed them, we saw Tom on the Bridge of the Enterprise, along with Ro Laren." Flabbergasted. "Ro?' To Picard, she was as the Daughter he never had. He had taken her under his wing and made her his special protégé. Since she defected to the Maquis, he had heard nothing of her. Returning at this time, in this way, way a dash of cold water in his face. "Yes sir. Using a backdoor password, that no one even knew was in our systems, they shut down the Titan's engines and made their escape. After we restarted our engines, we decided to extend our shakedown cruise, and follow the ion trail of the older Enterprise. It looks like they've entered the Badlands, so we're waiting for them to leave. The Titan's just too big a ship to enter a place like that, so we've been searching for them with our shuttlecrafts: but our sensors are useless in there, and they are probably more experienced in navigating through those kind of anomalies than we are. Starfleet HQ said that the theft of so old a vessel, didn't warrant a fully active Starship, so they told us to stick with them and take care of it ourselves." "That makes sense, there may be something rather large on the horizon." "That's what I've been told. I was planning on giving you a call on the matter, just because I knew that you had a personal stake in the people, and in the value of the ship as an historic artifact: but HQ said not to distract you at this point. Undoubtedly, the theft of the androids is related to this matter, and not to your present mission. Let me handle it." "Very well Number… Captain: but I will still have to make a report to HQ, including the pertinent computer logs. Just in case they have any questions as to if it was really you or Tom who took the androids." "I would expect no less." With the first hint of joy crossing his face since the beginning of the conversation, Picard concluded. "And Will: when this mission is over, I hope to have a nice surprise for you." "I look forward to it Jean-Luc. Riker out." He left the Ready Room shaking his head and plopped down in the command chair. He looked at Deanna and shook his head. "What's wrong Will. I sense amusement and frustration from you. What did Captain Picard have to tell you?" After a quick recount Deanna too shook her head. "What are those two up to in there?" Nodding at the image of the Badlands on the viewscreen. "What could they want with two defective androids?" "Make one good one?" "I doubt it. If Geordi wasn't able to do anything with them, I doubt that those two will be able to do much." "Maybe they're not alone." "You know Will, I've always kind of liked B-4. He was pure innocence. It was kind of refreshing." "Yeah, but it's more probable that they're trying to resurrect Lore. Not many people even know that B-4 even exists. I really don't want to have to deal with him again." "At least we won't have to worry about confusing him with Data again." "Small pleasures Deanna. You know, this might help us to find Tom's base. The positronic field of an android's brain gives off an electro-magnetic signature on low enough frequencies, that we should be able to penetrate the Badland's interferences." He touched a contact to open communications to Engineering. "Chief, set up the shuttles to scan for positronic signatures." "Will do Captain." He closed the connection. The scans continued unproductively, and life on board the Titan was falling into a tedious routine of one shift after another. Day drifted into day and the temporary members of the crew began grumbling about wasted time and unnecessary expense to the Federation. If it was Tom Riker's plan that the Titan would simply get tired of waiting and go away, he didn't know his brother very well. It was a nice interlude for Will and Deanna, who used it as an opportunity to catch up on their delayed honeymoon, and their extended visits to the holodecks became the talk of the ship. Although no one was admitted to their private fantasies, in that place, it made for great gossip aboard ship. The most prevalent speculation had Will as the captive slave-boy to Deanna's, Pirate of the Spaceways. After three months of nothing beyond an occasional glimpse of positronic activity, the crew was ready for anything that was different, no matter how inconsequential. Still, the tedium made them lax, and when the Maquis Raider uncloaked directly in their path; for several long minutes it went unnoticed. In the holodeck Deanna looked startled to action by her betazoid sesnses and said "Will, we have to get to the Bridge right away." When the husband and wife, walked onto the Bridge dressed in their skiing outfits and assumed their positions: Ensign Long whispered "Darn!" to the grinning Lieutenant next to him, and handed him the slip of Latinum. "Report!" Boomed Riker. The winning Lieutenant replied. "A Maquis raider uncloaked in front of us sir. The Raider has asked to speak to you. He has not powered up his weapons, nor has he raised his shields." "On screen!" The image of a slender balding young man in a well used, and often mended business suit appeared on the screen. "This is Captain Will Riker of the Starship Titan: how may I be of assistance, Mister … ?" "Joseph Eddington sir. It's too bad that Mr. Worf isn't on board yet. It would have been nice to see him again. When he served on Deep Space Nine with my brother Michael, we always got along quite well. As for how you can help me? Well, I'm here to help you. We know that you've been waiting for the Maquis to leave the Badlands, but they're not planning to do that for a while yet. I'm here to answer any questions that you may have." "It's about time Mr. Eddington. I want to know what you people are doing in there. How did Tom escape the Cardassians, and what is he up to?" "Sir, if you're under the impression that your… brother is in charge of things, you're wrong. The Maquis are preparing for a covert mission, under the auspices of a faction within Starfleet. Like me, your brother takes his orders from an active Fleet Admiral, as well as several other high ranking Federation officials. They have gathered all of the remaining Maquis, including the crew of the U.S.S. Voyager, who have been illegally detained by a rogue arm of Starfleet Intelligence." Will had had dealing with some of those people before and was beginning to feel uncomfortable. "If they succeed in their mission, the Maquis will receive complete pardons for any past indiscretions. Their mission is a humanitarian mission, and can only be a benefit to the Federation: although when the illegal actions of the Rogue Intelligence unit are made public, there are bound to be some repercussions." "Who is in charge?" "That would be telling. If you knew and if the mission fails, you could be held complicit. It's for your benefit that I keep quiet on this issue." Looking at Deanna with his peripheral vision, Will saw her give a slight nod that said that he was telling the truth. "Then what is your humanitarian mission?" Eddington sighed. "Captain, I simply can't tell you that. Suffice it to say that the Maquis are attempting to save hundreds of members of Starfleet personnel that HQ is presently willing to write off." Will was definitely becoming more uncomfortable with each answer. He hated to be on the wrong side of a conflict and he was fast realizing that that might be exactly where he was at the moment. "What can you tell me Eddington?" "I want you to understand us. I want you to know that your brother is not a gullible fool who has been tricked into joining the Maquis. You must have wondered why: after all, he is you; and anything that can sway him may be able to sway you." Deanna whispered, "Will he is telling the truth, but he's hoping to convert you to his cause too. I sense a real zealousness about him." "OK Deanna, I'll keep that in mind. Go ahead Eddington." "Haven't you ever wondered why the Federation has so branded the Maquis as traitors and criminals? The Maquis have never done anything to harm the Federation: all of their actions have been aimed to defend themselves and their families from the Cardassian attempts at exterminating them. The Maquis have never attacked one Federation citizen. Why then has the Federation defended the Cardassians and aided them in their campaign of genocide? Why would they have imprisoned the Maquis members of the crew of the Voyager, who were considered by the media to be some our greatest modern heroes? Explain this to me Captain?' Uncomfortably. "I can't. I'm not one of the people who make those kind of decisions." "No! You're one of those people who follow their orders aren't you? But I know that you have a conscience… just like your brother has. Well… let me tell you why the Federation would do all of these things." "Go ahead…" "From its inception, there have been factions in Starfleet with expansionist ideals. They have for hundreds of years fostered a brainwashing of entire worlds. The Maquis have rejected the Federation, and once a part of the Federation, you are never permitted to leave. That would be a bad precedence to set." "That's just not true Eddington. We are not conquerors. No world has joined through the application of force." "That's true. The secret faction within the Federation has slowly fostered a belief in the Manifest Destiny of the Federation. We have assimilated world after world with bribes and offers of protection. We're worse than the Borg. When the Borg assimilate you, they at least tell you that that is what they're doing." "We are not the Borg!" "No you're not. They are more honest than you. Look at the history of the Federation. It's borders are continuously growing, and new worlds are signed as members, and when a world doesn't want to join the ever expanding Federation, there is a constant pressure put on them to join. Greater inducements are offered, and fears of their neighbors are nurtured until they succumb to the need to join the Federation." "Look Captain at Bajor. They repeatedly rejected Federation membership, and they received greater and greater Federation attention. The Federation wasn't content to simply say 'you don't want to join us? OK we'll be friends.' The Federation has kept up the pressure for them to join: and they will some day." "What does this have to do with the Maquis?" "The heads of the Maquis, is the bribe that is required to open the doors to the Cardassians. Once those doors of friendship are opened, it won't be long until the Cardassians find themselves members of the Federation, and they won't even know how they got there. The Federation is the first Empire that was won through bribes, half-truths and advertising: not with warfare." "I'm not saying whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. I'm just saying that it can't be won with the lives of innocent peoples. I want you to understand: your brother is not a traitor to the Federation. He is protecting the ideals of the Federation from those secret decision makers who would commit abominations in the name of those ideals." "You know Mister Eddington, that I can't betray my ideals just on your say so." "I know Captain: and I hope that you can understand that neither can I. I am following in the footsteps of my brother. He was a great man and hunted by the Federation to his death. It's my goal to redeem his good name. To show you that I harbor no ill feelings toward you, I have a present for you. We wound up with two of these, but we really only needed one. I'll send it to you in an escape pod. It's dangerous, so be careful what you do with it." The Captain looked at Deanna, who said, "It's OK Will." The raider launched an escape pod and cloaked. As the ship cloaked, Eddington said, "I hope that we can serve together on the same side some day sir." And he cut the connection. "Mister O'Brien, there's an escape pod dead ahead. Please bring it aboard, and have a double security detail there when you open it. "Yes sir." After a wait of ten minutes, O'Brien called back. "Sir, we have the pod on board, and are about to open it." "Go ahead Chief." Another wait. "Sir it's an android. I think its Lore." "That's just what we need. Chief, have him put in the Brig for now." 'At least' he thought 'it's not going to be boring for a while.' Sensing his thoughts, as only a spouse can, Deanna shook her head and thought, 'Boys and their toys.' 10 YEARS AGO interlude 1 Saavik Walking among the dusty crops, Lt. Commander Saavik wiped the sweat from her brow. The sun of this place gave her a darker green complexion that equated with a good tan among humans. Her inner eyelids helped shield her from the solar radiation of the relatively inhospitable planet. The reddish skies had made growing crops a difficult proposition. Each year she, and the half dozen other Vulcan crewmembers dutifully raised and stored crops in the Cargo Holds of the Enterprise, for the hoped for trip back to the Alpha Quadrant. Before they were lost, the science and development section had kept promising that it wouldn't be long until there would be available the long promised replicator technology. It's too bad that they had never received it: it might come in handy on their trip back. Her ruminations were interrupted by the beep of her communicator. Before leaving the ship, she had arranged that any alarms would be relayed to her tricoder. The ship's scanners, communications and emergency alarms had long ago been set up on a simple alarm board that could be relayed to whoever was on duty. At this point, it was Saavik. Looking at her tricoder, she saw that the ship was monitoring communications on Starfleet frequencies: they were on very high and seldom used bands, but they were still Fleet signals. She dropped her rake and bolted for the shuttlecraft, sprinting over rows of crops and avoiding irrigation lines, she arrived at the shuttle in record time. Strapping herself into the pilots seat, she fired up the engines and hit the throttle hard, all of the time wishing that they would have had two people on duty at a time. If they would have done that, there would have been someone in orbit to beam her up quickly, and she wouldn't have needed this tedious form of transportation. She piloted the craft into the shuttle bay, closed the doors and sprinted to the communications board on the Bridge. The signal was gone, although the computer had diligently recorded it. It seemed to be a communication between two ships: the Val Jean and a ship called the U.S.S. Voyager: and it sounded like the Val Jean was destroyed, by ramming a Kazon ship. The Voyager sounded like it had been badly damaged, and Saavik wasn't sure if it would be a logical course of action to chance alerting the Kazon to there presence, if the Voyager wasn't in a position to defend them. She would have to awaken Captain Uhura: it was her decision. When the Captain had been awakened and informed of the situation, she sat for hours at the Communications Station, trying one tightly encrypted form of communications after another. She finally came to the conclusion that the two newer ships were using higher powered transmitters, than the Enterprise had ever had available to her. They obviously had had improvements in that area over the… what? Seventy years. "Saavik, we're going to have to give up for now. From now on, we'll need to keep two crewmen awake at all times: one Vulcan and one Human. Someone should always be close to the Com board at all times. If the Federation has ships in this part of the Galaxy now, we might find ourselves getting home sooner than we thought." "Their assistance would be a nice break from the routine." Uhura, groaned at the attempt at humor. "Captain, I recognized one of the voices. It belonged to a Vulcan classmate of mine at the academy… Tuvok was his name. I believe that he served under Admiral Sulu on the Excelsior." "Well that should make him happy. Let's hope for the best." 6 MONTHS AGO Worf It should be a chance for glorious battle: but Worf wasn't sure what kind of an enemy they would be facing. From the reports that he had read, they appeared to be fierce animals, which fought aggressively with tooth and nail. Was there honor in battling beasts… for the cause of the Romulans? He had always felt that the Romulans, as a people, were not honorable, and they hadn't been right from the beginning. Millennia ago, the Romulans lived on the planet Vulcan, and when the planet was divided bitterly over the teachings of Surak, founder of Vulcan Logic: the Romulans fled Vulcan to form their own world rather than decide the matter in honorable combat. Worf had always thought of them as an Empire of cowards, who would rather use guile rather than virtuous battle to deal with their neighbors: although he had recently found that there were a few individual Romulans who were capable of acts of honor. 'Perhaps someday', he thought, 'they would redeem themselves and their the rest of their Empire of cowards'. The Fleet had massed on the edge of the Neutral Zone. The Federation was only willing to spare eighteen ships for the effort. There were other threats that Starfleet had to be prepared for after all, and this really was a Romulan problem. Species 8472 had not attacked the Federation, and they didn't want to make enemies of them, but now that negotiations with the Romulans had begun, the Federation had wanted to do all that they could to build relations with the Romulus. Perhaps this would be the event that would bring the Romulans into a productive relationship with the Federation. The Fleet was divided into three Strike Groups that would follow their Romulan escort, the, to where most of the Romulan Fleet was current engaged in battle with Species 8472. The Enterprise was in charge of her Strike Force, which also consisted of the Defiant, the Intrepid, the Sussex, the Azimov and the Bozeman. Admiral Janeway, aboard the Voyager, as the only one having experience with Species 8472, was in command of the entire Fleet. Tactical had been having a hard time understanding the methods of Species 8472. They would exit from Fluidic Space, attack some of the Romulan Warbirds in a convoy, while totally ignoring others. They seemed to ignore civilian traffic entirely. When they would select a target, their organic ships would attach themselves to the hull of their prey and board and destroy the Warbird and its crew. If the other Warbirds in the Convoy left them alone, they were safe from the bioships. It was hoped that Admiral Janeway would be able to shed some light on the matter. The Talon, flanked by Voyager led them through the Neutral Zone, with Alpha Task force, with the Concord in lead position following behind and above them. Beta Task Force, with the T'Pau in lead, was to the lower left position, while Gamma Task Force, led by the Enterprise was in the lower right position. They accelerated out of the Neutral Zone and were all passing Warp nine point five, as they passed Romulus: where each Task force was joined by an equal number of Warbirds. The Enterprise was joined by the Praetor's Pride, the Avenger, the Passion, the Shriek, the Desert Fury and the Wanderer, who was in charge of the Romulan portion of his Task Force. It was planned that the Warbirds would lead the attack, and that Starfleet would provide cover and support. The Romulan senate wanted to prove that the Empire really didn't need the Federation, although they knew that they were out of their league and Starfleet Command still wanted to avoid drawing their ships into direct conflict with this particular enemy. As they entered the field of battle, Worf longed to be at tactical, rather than in the First Officers chair. When they arrived at the co-ordinates provided, he saw a scene of destruction that rivaled that of Wolf 459 or the Dominion War. Shattered Warbirds were strewn about like chaff after the storm. About a quarter of the ships had been encased in biomatter like a cocoon, while the escape pods of the rest were permitted to escape. The Federation ships of Task Force Alpha swooped in and started collecting the escape pods and providing such relief as was possible, while the Warbirds held formation. The Warbirds of Task Force Beta warily glided toward the ensnared, but possibly intact ships. The cocooned Warbirds had undergone a change, and were in the process of becoming bioships themselves. They were boarded by Romulan soldiers in survival suits, but the soldiers never returned. More soldiers, with heavy firepower entered the closest cocooned ship. Although sensors could tell that there was heavy weapon-fire within, no one exited the neo-bioships. Worf hated having to stand back and watch the proceedings passively. He was a man of action, and ever since Jadzia's death, he had a fire within him that needed to be released, and that was never going to happen by being an observer. He saw Beta Force's Warbirds circling the once Warbirds like lost puppies. Suddenly a singularity opened and a single bioship pounced on the middle Warbird. It's weapons battered the Romulan ship, and the bioship attached itself to the side and began to weave its cocoon. Two more Warbirds descended on the bioship, strafing it with their disrupters, to no effect. The organic vessel briefly turned brown where the disrupters struck them, then healed itself within seconds. As soon as the disrupters were fired, more singularities opened and more bioships exited Fluidic Space. These returned fire upon the Warbirds that had attacked the first bioship. With two volleys, from one bioship, the lead Warbird was shattered, and soon disgorged her compliment of escape pods: which were totally ignored by the bioships. As planned, the Concord and the ships under her command placed themselves, with full shields, between the bioships and the Warbirds. The bioships stopped. The one who had already gotten off a volley towards a Warbird aborted the weapon, before it could hit the Concord. No Federation ships were harmed. Suddenly the bioships, spun madly, faster than the Starships could follow, avoided the Starships, and bore down again on the Warbirds who were soon rendered to scrap. The bioships flew madly at Beta and Gamma Forces, turned and vanished into singularities. Worf looked at Captain Picard and said. "Did you see Captain? They don't have cause against all of the Romulans. They are selective who they attack, but once fired upon, they return fire, and they seem to have no issues against the Federation. They may be honorable creatures." "That may be Mister Worf, but how do we stop them?" 6 MONTHS AGO Badlands Base The Enterprise A sat in her cradle deep inside the Asteroid base. The damage had been repaired and under the care of Montgomery Scott, she was being returned to pristine condition. The hull plating, which had once had dents and blast holes in them, had been replaced and a bright white finish had been painted over the entire exterior of the ship. The experience of Voyager's crew was invaluable in this effort. For seven years, they had to do almost continuous repairs on their ship, without the benefit of a drydock. It was the most technically competent work crew that Scotty had ever worked with. The decks and halls were now in nearly new condition and he was able to look on it with pride. He figured that during the refit, he might as well update as many of the systems as was possible. Newer and more powerful sub-space radios were installed as well as the more modern shields, structural integrity generators and inertial dampers. Doctor McCoy oversaw the update of sickbay and the medical stores, while Spoke made sure that it was equipped with the latest replicator technology. B'Elanna Torres even installed a small holo-suite in one of the old gymnasiums. The venerable ship had never seen better days. Mister Eddington used his cloaked raider to acquire other bits and pieces that were not included in the store of supplies that Scotty had gathered at the shipyard. Near the Neutral Zone, he had come upon a the vestages of a great battle, that left an entire Romulan fleet decimated, so now the Enterprise, as well as his personal Raider, had functional cloaks. They were going to need this when they try to leave Federation space. They knew that the Titan would be waiting for them, and they also knew that they did not have the speed to outrun her, nor the firepower to outfight her, so they would have to use their heads to out think her. That was a major difference that had happened in the eighty years since this ship had last seen active duty. In her day, you were isolated and had to outwit your opponents, but nowadays Ship Compliments are trained to follow rules and procedures, and to count more on their machines to save the day. Fortunately the Voyagers had spent their time in the Delta Quadrant cut off from Starfleet. They had had to learn how to think on their feet. There hasn't been a more inventive crew in Starfleet since this ship had been retired. With such a crew they couldn't fail. They finally got the reprogramming of B-4 to stick also. He was still the same simple creature that he had always been, but now he was the most competent steersman in existence. There were many a time that Commander Data's piloting skills and blinding reflexes had saved the Enterprises D and E. They now had those abilities for their use on the Enterprise A. The ship was always more nimble than the Titan, but now it was even more so. Once they realized that they had stolen both B-4 and Lore, they briefly thought of using Lore for this purpose, but he proved to have his own agenda, and was just too unpredictable. They decided to let the Titan worry about him. The crew was nearly through with their training and the elegant lady would soon be released from her docking clamps. Although McCoy was technically an admiral, and both Spock and Scotty had once held the rank of Captain, they could see that, without Captain Kirk, the only choice for Captain was Chakotay. He had been Captain of his own Maquis ship, First Officer of Voyager and de facto leader of these people for years. He was resourceful and principled and according to Admiral Janeway, completely trustworthy. He walked the catwalks and support structures that held the Enterprise in drydock and surveyed his ship. It was a thing of beauty, and Chakotay knew that if he could get her to the trans-warp gate, that he could get her to the Enterprise B and lead her too back through the gate system to the Alpha Quadrant. He wasn't sure whether or not they would be successful, but he and his crew were in agreement that they were better off pursuing an honorable cause than they would have been rotting away in a concentration camp. He was proud of his people. They were more than his crew, they were his people and he was going to give them every chance at happiness as possible. This ship, and her original crew, had been a symbol of daring and salvation for generations of Federation citizens, and now it had been entrusted to him. It was a legacy that he would never willingly betray. If they could save the crew of the Enterprise B, it would once again be the totem of hope that it had once been. 'It's a fine ship Grandson.' 'That it is Grandfather.' 'Never doubt her and she will always bring you home.' 'So Dr. McCoy has told me.' Soon it would be time for her launch. Mr. Spock and Lieutenants Ro and Riker had been preparing strategies for eluding the Titan, and briefing the crew on those tactics. Tom Riker was working in the tight quarters of Jeffries Tube B-17. He was trying to track down a minor variance in a flow regulator when he heard the chiding voice of Ro Laren at the bottom of the ladder beneath him. "Hey Riker, what's taking so long? I had my regulator locked down ten minutes ago." "I guess that I'm just not as fast as you Ro. I didn't realize that I was in a competition with you." "Babe, you and I will always be in competition." Poking his head down through the Jeffries hatch, he glared at her. "You know, ever since we met, you've been riding my case. What've I ever done to you?' "The sins of the brother I guess. When I first came on board the Enterprise, Commander Riker rode my case mercilessly. I guess that it's my chance to get even. It might not seem fair, but get used to it." She could see him fuming above, and she couldn't completely suppress a half smile. "Look, let me give you a hand up there and we can both get out of here sooner." She crawled up the tube along side of him. At first Tom was furious at her condescension, but then he noticed the warmth of her body against his and he began to feel slightly uncomfortable: but she seemed oblivious to the close quarters. "OK Riker, let's get this spanner on that bolt up there." She wriggled further up, until she was able to reach one arm over Tom's head and she could tighten the offending bolt. "Kind of close in here isn't it?" Feeling quite uncomfortable, Tom simply mumbled an affirmative, Ro grinned from ear to ear and wrapped her hands around Tom's neck. "You know: once when your brother and I lost our memories, we became… intimate. If you can receive punishment for the sins of the brother, and take it all so well: maybe you should receive the rewards of the brother too." Brushing the back of her hand along his cheek she looked deeply onto his eyes. "And I'll bet that your time in prison will even make this better." Her lips met his, and the mechanical problems in the Jeffries Tube weren't fixed for a long time. Ensign Derek Peterson, had been in the brig of the Enterprise for well over a month. He had been well treated after his capture and the Maquis assured him that he would be released when the time was right. He had been piloting one of the shuttles that the Titan had sent into the Badlands to search for the Maquis base. When he got too close, three Raiders flanked him and escorted him into the base. He remembered thinking that they would never have found the base which was buried so deeply in the asteroid. There wasn't much to do in the small confines of the ancient brig, and his long stride and lanky frame made pacing an unfulfilling pastime. Still he had committed to his memory as much intelligence on the place and its people as he was able, in the event that he ever found his way back to the Titan. Although the ship was not as advanced as the Titan, he still found himself in awe of it: and with the modifications that he suspected had been done to it, it was probably a match for most of the smaller Federation starships, like the Voyager, for example. He had been given a holo-vid terminal to keep him company. The Maquis didn't seem to want to waste any more manpower than necessary guarding him: so he was a little surprised when Chakotay himself entered through the main brig door and walked to his cell. He turned off the holo-vid and looked up to the ship's new Captain. The tattooed face of Chakotay, sported a controlled smile. "Good morning Ensign. I'm sorry that you've had to be detained so long, but I thought that you might want to know that it'll only be a few weeks until you're released." "Well that's good to know." Keeping with his mission, he did his best to get information. "Can't you tell me why all of this has been necessary?" "Why not. By the time that you'll be released, we'll be on our way and it'll be too late to stop us. What do you know about the situation regarding the Enterprise B?" "Enterprise B? Never head of it. Is that another old ship that you've stolen?" "Hardly. I'm not surprised that you haven't heard any scuttlebutt about it: Starfleet's locked down all information about it. Eighty years ago it was the flagship of the fleet, until it vanished with all hands on board. Half a year ago, a message was received from them. They are presently stranded in the Delta Quadrant and although Starfleet has written them off: we haven't. This ship is being readied for a rescue mission." "Why? They must be dead after all of this time." "That's Starfleet's position too, but we're not willing to write them off that easily. Fleet might not want to make the expenditures necessary for a rescue, so we'll do whatever we can to get them back. These people are heroes and shouldn't be forgotten just because they can't afford to spare a ship to save them." "Why the Maquis?" "Why not? We've already been branded outcasts by the Federation: so we don't have much to lose and everything to gain. We've been promised pardons if we succeed by powerful factions within Starfleet. We probably would have gone anyway, but that's just icing on the cake." "Who are these powerful factions?" "I think that I better leave something to you're imagination. Tell your Captain what we're up to when you get back to him. We have no beef with him and wish no conflict, but we won't be deterred from our mission either. If he stops us he will be dooming over a thousand Fleet personnel. If he let's us be, we'll be troubling him no more." "But…" With that Chakotay turned and walked back into the corridor. Tom Riker and Ro Laren strolled through the corridors of the base. They had grown closer over the past several months, and that had been the talk of the base. There had been so few chances for happiness in recent years that a burgeoning romance raised the spirits of everyone in the base Once Tom was forced to accept that he had lost Deanna Troi to his brother, he had opened his mind to other opportunities. Long ago, when the crew of the Enterprise D had had their memories wiped, Will Riker and Ro Laren were drawn to each other, and that same chemistry existed with her and Tom: now that the Deanna blinders had been taken from his eyes. Hand in hand they looked at the stars through the bases shields. Although they were different than the stars of Alaska, they were close to the Bajoran stars that Ro knew so well. They had talked of the possibility of marriage, and when this mission was over, they hoped to be wed under the stars of Bajor. For the time being, they had to be content with their shared room aboard the Enterprise: a room that had once belonged to Captain Uhura of the Enterprise B. Using the replicators, they had furnished it as best they could with little touches of home: Tom's trombone sharing a prominent place by the window with copies of Ro's commendations, and a framed photograph of the two of them climbing Mt. Kito in the holo-suite. It was now only a week from the launch of the Enterprise and everyone was getting a little edgy. Scotty purred to the engines, whispering sweet nothings to them as he adjusted the intermix flow. To him there had never been such sweet music as the sound of the refurbished engines returning to life. On the day of the launch, everybody was prepared: everybody was at their stations. Chakotay sat purposefully in his command chair, B-4 piloting ahead and left of him, Ro Laren at navigations to the right and front of him, Spock at the Science Station behind and right of him and Tom Riker at tactical, behind and left of him. B'Elanna Torres and Scotty in Engineering with the Admiral and the E.M.H. in sickbay. Everything had been made ready and all of the supplies had been laid in. Everyone had been well trained, and everything had been set into motion. The docking clamps and moorings were released and the Enterprise floated freely for the first time in months, her classic lines and elegant bearing would still turn heads, and with her refit she was as young and sprightly as most of the ships in the fleet. The Enterprise was ready. Chakotay looked proudly around his bridge and said simply. "Lt. Ro: let's take her out of here." 5 YEARS AGO Delta Quadrant interlude 2 The Vidiian Harvester, Surgical Strike, was making its usual run from the Beetar Colonies of Angitar XII, to the processing center on Llapha VIII. It had been an uneventful run and the crew of the Strike had full cargo holds and were looking forward to getting home and receiving a little R&R. They were traveling at a leisurely pace, when the sensor officer happened upon a small sized derelict, "Captain Harrar, there is some sort of artifact before us. It carries similar markings to those of the Voyager." "Bring it aboard Gallar and see if there's anything valuable to be gained from it." The burned out torpedo was brought aboard, and its message analyzed. When the translation was complete, Gallar brought it before his Captain. "Sir, it was some sort of high speed message delivery vehicle. It had been one of eleven such devices: but it was damaged and therefore was unable to complete its mission." "Play back the translation of the message." Gallar touched the playback pad, and after the message had been replayed, the Captain smiled a death's head smile. "Gallar, you've just earned your pay. After we deliver our current cargo of body parts, we'll have to visit those co-ordinates that were given in this message. It seems that we have over a thousand humans in stasis to harvest, and they all appear to be one hundred percent harvestable." With pride he answered his Captain. "Yes sir. Thank you sir. We'll have a lot of organs that will save a lot of Vidiian victims of the Phage. We'll be heroes." "That we will my friend… and we should make quite a profit in the process. It's a good day for us, but not so good a day for the crew of this crippled U.S.S Enterprise, Model B." 2 MONTHS AGO Fluidic Space Over the last several moths the Enterprise had had several incidents with Species 8472, and every time, if they avoided directly engaging the enemy, they were spared, but many of the Romulan fleet were not. As soon as a singularity opened and a single Warbird was attacked, the rest would open fire on the bio-ship and be destroyed. The federation ships would collect survivors and the cycle would start again in another location. It was getting frustrating for the Federation Fleet and very costly for the Romulan Empire. Something had to change. Admiral Janeway called a council aboard the Enterprise of all of the Captains of each of the Task Forces. She sat at the head of the table and chaired the meeting, Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Enterprise sat on her direct right with Captain Sivar of the T'Pau next to him: on her direct left sat Captain Tuvok with Captain Melanie Pierce of the Concorde. When all of the captains had arrived and been seated, she started to meeting. "Well people, this is simply dragging on too long. Species 8472 has been completely unimpeded by our efforts. Even the nanite based torpedoes that worked so well in the Delta Quadrant have proved completely ineffective. I seems that they've adapted themselves again to negate that threat. I'm open to suggestions." Steepling his finger Tuvok spoke first. "Since they haven't attacked our ships yet, it's logical to assume that they must feel that they have no argument with us. Species 8472 has shown by their past actions that they are not aggressive by nature. They stayed peacefully in Fluidic space until the Borg invaded their home. Only then did they decide that the invaders from our Galaxy were dangerous and should be dealt with." "Yes but when they did, they threatened the entire Galaxy." "True, that was the case until they got to know us better and they decided that the Federation was not a threat to them. The real question is why they have decided that the Empire is a threat." Sitting stiffly, the thoughtful Sivar added, "It seems to be that only some of the Romulans are the intended targets of the enemy. They seem to be very selective in whom they attack: and I've noticed that they have no problems telling Romulans and Vulcans apart." Captain Picard listened intently to the discussion while sipping his cup of tea. As the conversation continued with useless speculations and counter-speculations, he realized that all of the talk of tactics and strategies was really quite pointless. Until they knew what it was that Species 8472 wanted, they would never be able to bargain with them, much less than to defeat them. Finally he looked up from his cup and said, "Admiral, why don't we just ask them what it is that they want. Maybe we can give it to them and end this stupid conflict." "You know that we've tried to hail them with every attack, and they have ignored every attempt at communication. Do you have something else in mind?" "I do. I think that someone needs to go to them and make them talk to us." "Go to them? Do you mean that we should invade Fluidic Space? I can guarantee you Jean-Luc that they would consider that an act of war. The Federation can't risk such a provocation. We dare not give them a reason to turn on the Federation too." "I'm not suggesting that we personally enter Fluidic Space, just that we beam a message into one of their singularities when they are open. If their ships are not ready to respond: maybe their superiors are." "All right Jean-Luc, we'll try things your way: but I want the rest of the Fleet to pull back out of the system. Since they know me. I'll make the attempt from the Bridge of the Enterprise. It's the most powerful ship that we have available, and the most likely to be able to defend itself if needs dictate it." The meeting broke up and the representatives returned to their various ships. The patrols continued, waiting for the next singularity to open. In the intervening time, the main sensor dish of the Enterprise was reconfigured to allow it to act as an extremely powerful holo-emitter, and Ensign Hought helped Admiral Janeway to create a hologram of herself, capable of limited thought and able to be transmitted through the singularity during the brief time that it would be open. After another week of waiting a Romulan convoy, enroute to one of the outer colonies found themselves under attack. The Enterprise charged in at warp nine to interpose herself between the singularity and the victimized Romulan freighter, while the rest of the Fleet waited at the edge of the system. Ensign Hought noted that the controls were even more sluggish than usual and did his best to compensate manually. As soon as the singularity opened them ship's mighty emitter beamed its signal into the singularity. Instead of closing immediately, as it usually did, the singularity stayed open, and no bioships poured through the rift in reality. On the viewscreen a kindly face appeared. It was the face of an elderly man that Picard knew well, dressed in his usual gardeners coveralls. Picard stood and said simply, "Boothby…?" Ignoring him the face looked at Admiral Janeway. "Kathryn it's good to see you again. That was a very ingenious way of getting my attention, without really violating our space. I appreciate your efforts in this act of courtesy." "My friend, can you tell me what this violence has been all about? We've tried to offer assistance to our neighbors without causing you offense: but it really would be nice to know what's going on." "I'll tell you what my dear, why don't you and Captain Picard take one of your shuttlecrafts and come on over. Once you're in Fluidic Space I'll be better able to show you what's going on here." "Are you sure that that won't be an act of offence? I promised you years ago that Federation ships would never invade your space. I don't want to break that promise and give offense." "There is no invasion when you come at our invitation. You've proven yourself to be a creature of her word. You're people have treated us honorably. If this continues, you have nothing to fear from us. Come. Bring your shuttle and let us reason together." "All right, we'll be there in ten minutes. Mr. Worf, you have the Bridge. Captain Picard, you're with me." The shuttle Tecumseh left the bay fifteen minutes later with only Picard and Janeway aboard. With the Captain at the controls, the shuttle was aimed at the singularity and moved cautiously forward. "Admiral, can you tell me what to expect of Fluidic Space?" "As its name suggests, a ship traveling that dimension has the feel of traveling through a fluid, although from readings that were taken by Voyager, several years ago, that isn't at all true. What is actually happening there is that apparent speed in that place is different than apparent speed is here. When your ship seems to be traveling at 10 kph, to you, you are really traveling at something like 10,000 kph. Since you are moving so fast, there are more atoms in Fluidic Space trying to impede your forward motion each second. This drag makes you feel like you're traveling through a fluid. If you've ever piloted a craft under water, you should have no problems." "Very well: and that wasn't really Boothby I take it." Boothby was, and still is, a fixture at Starfleet Academy. Although he is ostensibly only the Academy's gardener, his advise has guided almost anyone who ever became anyone in Starfleet for generations. Although he rarely admitted it, he was of the same long-lived race as was Guinan: so he could be expected to be guiding the youth of Starfleet Academy for generations yet to come. Jean-Luc Picard always held a warm place in his heart for the man who way a father figure to half the officers in the fleet. "No Jean-Luc, that's most definitely not Boothby. That's one of leaders of Species 8472 who has taken a human form to better understand us: in this case, one that's like Boothby's. In the past, he and I had come to an understanding. I think that you'll find that by taking Boothby's form, he seems to have inherited some of his personality too. This is a being that we can deal with." "Thank heaven for small favors." When Picard had acclimated himself to the feel of Fluidic Space, he found that he had little problems traversing the new environment, and they soon reached the appointed co-ordinates. At the appointed time a transporter whined and there on the deck behind them stood someone who was the spitting image of Boothby. "Well you two: why don't we get down to things and end this mess." Jean-Luc stood and offered his hand. "Welcome to the Tecumseh sir. I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the U.S.S. Enterprise." "I know who you are. For simplicities sake, why don't you just call me Boothby." "Thank you, I shall." The Admiral had also arisen and walked to Boothby and gave him a short hug. "it's good to see you again old friend. I'm sorry that things couldn't have been under better circumstances." "As am I. We have quite a situation here, so let's forget the formalities and get right to it. Why is the Federation siding with the Romulans?" Taking the lead Janeway cautiously proceeded. "We're trying very hard not to take sides, but we really don't understand the situation. The Romulans are our neighbors. We've always had strained relations with them, and only recently have there been overtures of friendship from them. They told us that they had been under attack, and they asked our assistance. Once we realized who their adversaries were, we told them that we would not help them to hurt you and that we would only give them humanitarian aid." "I thought it was something like that. I have also suspected that your neighbors might have neglected to tell you why these raids have been occurring." "I have wondered about that. The Romulans, claim that they have no idea why this all is going on, but I'm not so sure about that." "I'm not surprised about that. Do you remember why we went to war with the Borg?' A shiver went through Kathryn's spine as she began to understand. "You went to war because they had invaded your space." "Very good. And why do you think that we might go to war with someone else?" Cautiously, "Because they have invaded your space?" "Bingo. This is why I've always liked you. With just a little information, you've begun to put things together, and by your tone of voice, I can see that you are beginning to see the implications of your position as defenders of Romulans. Now let me point out one more little fact. We haven't attacked all Romulan ships, only a selected few." "That would mean that not all of the Romulans know, or have participated in, their incursion into Fluidic Space." "Very good young lady. We have only targeted those ships that we noticed in the process of engaging their singularity generators, or those ships that have fired upon our bioships. Warbirds use singularities to power their ships, instead of the usual Matter-Anti-Matter interactions that most species use: they found a way to use those singularities to enter and exit Fluidic Space." "To what purpose my friend?" "They don't seem to notice us: or they're ignoring us. They've been using our space to travel to the Large Magellanic Cloud, where they've established colonies. They see our space as their personal shortcut: and in the process, they have been disrupting our hatcheries, which lie along their route, and that is something that we cannot allow. For every ship that we've stopped, eight have gotten through. To ensure the survival of our species, this will be ended, one way or another." Picard tugged on his uniform shirt and quietly asked. "What are our options?" "There are factions within my people that are fed up with these incursions: first by the Borg and now by the Romulans. They want to eliminate all life in your galaxy: and believe me, they could do it. The faction of which I am a member has pleaded your case. The only compromise that they have offered my faction, is to give you a chance to clean up this mess on your side. You have one month to find the Romulan violators and stop them from entering Fluidic Space. If there is another incursion, after that, all life in your galaxy will be forfeited." "Boothby… is there any way to get more time?" "I'm sorry Captain that's the best that I could do. You have one month. Not a minute more. I hope that the next time that we meet it will be on better terms." "As do I." The transporter whined again and the old man was gone. 2 WEEKS AGO Leaving the Badlands It was time, and the order had been given. After her long sleep in the shipyards: the U.S.S. Enterprise left the womb of the asteroid base, where she had been reborn into a new age, which she had never before seen. Outwardly she looked exactly as the day that she was first launched, so very long ago: but like Doctor McCoy, she had had many of her old parts replaced and updated. She was a prancing youth again, just waiting to be let loose. As she cleared the gates of the base, her new Captain prepared to give her her head. Knowing that her care was now entrusted to him, Chakotay, gave his first order in open space as her Captain. "Tom, notify Mr. Eddington, that it's time for him to do his part. B'Elanna, engage the cloak." The cloak was engaged, and the Enterprise shimmered and became invisible. On the Bridge of the Titan, Deanna Troi was on duty, when Joseph Eddington's Maquis Raider uncloaked. Sensing a presence, she looked up at the screen just as the Raider became visible. 'Damn!' she thought to herself, 'why do these things always happen on my watch? Why can't Will ever be here when these things happen? I'll sure be glad when we get our permant First Officer. I'm not sure that I'm suited for this.' Tapping the combadge on her chest, she called, "Captain to the Bridge! Mister Adams, hail that ship. And get that music turned off" "Aye sir. It's that Eddington fellow." "On screen." The smiling face of Joseph Eddington beamed down from the enormous Bridge viewing screen. "Ah, Commander… or is it Counselor? It's nice to see you again. Where's your husband?" "The Captain's on his way." "That's very good of you to call him for me. I'm here to deliver a message. For the record, I want you to understand that I was never anything more than a messenger boy in this whole affair. Although, for the sake of my brother, I was honored to have been asked to be a part of all of this, I was never asked to do anything illegal myself." "That may not be for you to decide." The image of Eddington shrugged his shoulders. "You may be right, although I suspect that you know from my feelings that I am innocent of any guilt." Glancing behind Deanna he saw the turbolift door open and Will Riker take command of the situation. "Welcome Captain, it's nice to see you again." "I wish I could say the same Mister Eddington. Now what do you want?" "What an attitude! Each time we've met I've brought you presents. How is Lore by the way?" "Cooling his heels in the Brig. He didn't think much of his captivity by your people, although he was somewhat grateful that you people had put him back together again: and really upset that you gave him to us rather than setting him free." "Well he was kind of a nuisance, and we couldn't chance letting him get a look at where the base was, but after today, that won't be a problem, so you can do what you want with him." "What has changed?" "After today the base will be abandoned." "Mister Eddington, you said that you had a present for us. What did you mean by that?" "The Maquis have been holding an Ensign Peterson prisoner, and they want you to have him back." Deanna interrupted, "There's more to it than that Will." "Of course there is Captain. The Enterprise needs time to slip away, so the Maquis have arranged for a way to slow down the Titan. I'm supposed to send a signal, that will activate a program within Lore that will lead you to your Ensign." Will ran his fingers through his thick black hair and sighed. "Maybe I should just wring the information out of you." "You can try, but as I was telling your First Officer, I'm only an errand boy. I don't know where the base is." Will glanced at Deanna, who nodded in the affirmative. "Very well." The Captain tapped his combadge. Security, have Lore brought to the Bridge chained and under heavy guard." "Aye sir." "Turning back to Eddington he continued. "He better have been treated well Mister Eddington." "There's no need to worry about that sir. Like I said before: this whole operation has been sponsored by a faction within Starfleet. They would never allow anything to happen to one of their own." The turbolift door whooshed open and the chained android Lore was brought into the Captain's presence. Unlike his brother Data, Lore had always had emotions, and had always scorned normal humans. "Hello Riker, why have I been kept incommunicado? It's made my time on this benighted vessel awfully boring." "Nice to see you again too Lore. Do you see the man on the screen? He says that he has a message for you." "Like I care. Who is he? Another Federation toady?" "He may be your salvation." Looking to the screen, "Go ahead Mr. Eddington." Eddington entered a few strokes on his keypad, smiled and nodded once as the ship again cloaked. Lore stood stock still as he received a prepared command through the positronic field. With a frozen face, he recited his preprogrammed commands. "I will give you instructions to travel to a location within the Badlands by a route that will give room enough for a ship of the Titan's bulk to travel safely. When you reach that position, you will be given instructions to the next location, and at that location you will receive further instructions. This process will take you nineteen point seven hours to reach the Maquis base, which is where your Ensign is being held in a holding cell." "This will give the Enterprise enough of a head start to escape. Don't delay, because life support at the base will cease in twenty-four hours. If you attempt to tamper with Lore, this subprogram will be erased and he will attack your Bridge. If you try to take him into the Badlands in any vessel other than the Titan, he will not be able to give the next set of instructions. Now yield you navigator's position to Lore and get started. Your time is running out. Shaking his head, with fury, Will acceded to the messages command. "OK Lore, plot our course." Looking at Deanna, she understood Will unspoken instructions to her, and she left the Bridge. Once the turbolift was in motion, she tapped her combadge. "Hanger Bay. Get every shuttle launched and watch every route out of the Badlands for the Enterprise. She's going to be making a run for it and we need to know what direction that she'll be taking." Meanwhile, Lore entered the first route into Navigation, and the Titan entered the Badlands. The cloaked Enterprise watched as their view of the Titan became obscured by the eddies and energy cyclones within the Badlands. Chakotay ordered them forward, and as they passed the shuttle Ranger, she was completely unseen by the shuttles meager sensors. The Titan's more elaborate sensors might have noticed enough of a wake in the solar winds to have seen through the Enterprise's cloak, but the small craft had no hope. As they widened the gap from the Badlands, the Enterprise increased speed, and again left the Titan far behind them. Nineteen point eight hours later, the Titan rescued Derek Peterson, and started to thread her way back through the only safe route for the Titan out of the Badlands. After another nineteen point seven hours, the powerful ship, began her sensor scans for the pilfered Enterprise: with Captain Riker mutter oaths under his breath the whole way. ONE WEEK AGO Data Captain Picard was with Admiral Janeway aboard the Voyager when the Navigation computer again started causing problems. The Enterprise E, with Commander Worf at the Con was following the Voyager to Romulus, when the Enterprise suddenly veered away and entered high warp. Worf growled, "Mister Hought, where are we going?" "I have no idea sir. The navigational computers took control of the ship and changed course on their own. We've been having some problems with them for some time now. Up till now we've just been compensating until we could find enough time to work out the problem." "I think that we better make the time right now." Geordi LaForge's voice came excitedly over the com-system. "Worf! What the hell are you doing up there?" "We seem to have a few problems with the navigational computer. Please manually drop us out of warp, find the problem and fix it!" "Aye sir." The Enterprise dropped out of warp, and began repairs on the Navigation system. Mr. Hought was replaced at his Bridge position and joined Geordi in Engineering. It was felt that his expertise in the field of cybernetics and holography made him one of the leading experts on the ship in programming in general. He walked the corridors of the ship with a spring in his step and a joy in his heart. He was finally being asked to contribute to the ship in his area of proficiency. Beside that, he had had an entertaining encounter with Ensign Le Puerte last night, and that always put him in a good mood: after all Denobulans were generally known for their libidos. Passing through the ship, several female crewmembers smiled and winked at his as they passed by. Yes sir. He decided that he was going to like serving on the Enterprise. Approaching Engineering, the door whooshed open for him and he got his first look at the powerful engines. Holding a PADD and comparing specifications, he continued his fine-tuning of the anti-matter flows. Looking up, with his artificial eyes, he saw Hought approaching and flagged him to come over. "Glad you're here Howie. I've been looking at the Nav Computer Logs and found something rather interesting. Just before the computers went crazy, the ship received a signal, through the positronic field, no less. Somehow, it got rerouted to the Nav Computer, and the whole thing went crazy. This reminded me of the last time that I accessed the Nav Computer for anything more than the minor course compensations that we've had to make since the problems began. I've got a theory and I want you to help me with it." "Any time Geordi." And with that, they set to work. After making its rendezvous, near Romulus, the U.S.S. Voyager, returned back to the Enterprise. Captain Picard had enjoyed seeing the amazing little ship, that had crossed the Galaxy, but there was nothing like returning home. It's funny, but he couldn't remember exactly when he began seeing the Enterprise as home, rather than his ancestral home on Earth. He left the transporter Room and stowed his gear back in his cabin. After a quick and refreshing shower he decided to head up to the Bridge to check on the ship's status. He had received vague reports about computer problems, while he was still on Voyager, but he could also tell that Worf was holding something back. He could also tell that he seemed insufferably pleased with himself about something or other. He met up with Geordi LaForge at the entrance to the turbolift. "Mind if I join you Captain?" "Not at all Mister LaForge. Do you have any idea about what Worf is so smug about?" "Maybe. You'll be able to as him yourself soon enough." The turbolift doors opened onto the Bridge and he walked to the Command Chair which was immediately vacated by Worf, with a vocal, "Captain on the Bridge." Which induced all to rise. "It's nice to back again Mister Worf. You too Mister Hought, Mister Data. Please everyone, be seated. Now Mister Worf, What is…" His head turned: then his eyes fixed firmly on Data and for once he was speechless. After several long seconds, he again found his voice, and with a crack of emotion, he asked, "Mister Data? Is that really you?" "In a manner of speaking, it is. I am Data: but not exactly. I have the mind of Data, but I no longer have the body of Data. That body was forever destroyed. This body is the Holographic body that was created by Mister Barclay, long ago. This crewman," Pointing at Hought. "who I never had the opportunity to meet previously: was able to extricate my mind from the Navigational Computers and download it into this body. I am extremely lucky that he had already figured out the process for doing so, when it became necessary. After that, Geordi installed holographic emitters in several places, including the Bridge, and here I am " "Come into my Ready Room and tell about it in more detail." "I would love to sir, but there are not any hoho-emitters in that room as of yet. So I have to respectfully decline." Normally Jean-Luc Picard would have been exasperated by the situation, but he was just too happy that his dear, dear, friend had been returned to him. "Where can you go Data?" "At the moment sir, there have been holo-emitters set up on the Bridge, in Engineering and in my quarters: and of course, I can be on any of the Holodecks.. I regret that it limits my usefulness to you, by limiting my movements, but I hope that we can improve on the situation in the future." "I'm just glad to have you back among the living, my friend." Turning to Geordi, he smiled one of the biggest grins that the Engineer had ever seen. "Mister LaForge, how did you do it without the programming that had been downloaded into B-4?" "Well sir: do you remember all of the problems that we have been having with the computers? That was Data. When we attempted to download Data's programming into B-4, we buffered it through the Navigation Computer. You see, B-4 was too primitive, and could not accept the programming that was being uploaded to him at the same speed that Data was downloading it: so we downloaded it into a buffer in the Nav Computers, which are way too oversized and way too underused, which left lots of free memory for buffering. After the upload, we just assumed that the buffer would automatically erase. It's a good thing that that wasn't true, because that's where we found Data: in the Navigation Computers. From there it was a simple matter to download him into a holographic Data body. Simple for Mister Hought anyway." "How does all of this relate to our computer problems?" Standing up, Data stepped in front of the Captain. "If I may sir?" "By all means Mister Data." "After my being buffered, I retained my consciousness: it was a strange state, believe me. I fully intended to delete myself, but when I became aware of my demise, I decided to try to contact the outside world: but I was in a rather helpless state, and my options were very limited. At first I tried slowing down the rates in certain data banks to try to let you know that I was there. On the first bank I slowed the rate down by four percent: D being the fourth letter of the alphabet, on the next bank, I slowed it one percent, for an A, and so on. It was my hope that someone would realize that I was trying to attract their attention, by spelling out my name, but that didn't work and my message was simply ignored. It was a strange situation, sir, knowing what was going on around me but not being able to do anything about it." "I'm sure that it was. Please continue." "I tried several other things that went equally unnoticed until just a short while ago, we received a message through the positronic field and I was able to route it to me. I had hoped that this might attract Geordi's attention, and that he might remember the last time that he accessed those particular computers. Fortunately for me, this worked, and Geordi and Mister Hought were able to rescue me, in a manner of speaking." "How do you feel Data? Is your programming undamaged?" "I believe so sir, I have run a diagnostic, and I believe that everything is intact. It will take some time though getting used to this very different body." "I'm just glad that you're back." "As am I sir." "Data, what was the message? The one sent through the positronic field?" "Strangely, it wasn't intended for me. It was directed at my brother Lore, who is now in residence on the Titan. I am sorry that I wasn't able to be there for her launching." "What did the message say Data. It was a set of instructions that were intended to slow down the Titan while the original Enterprise made her escape from the Badlands. Sir, B-4 is on that Enterprise." "Anything more Data?" "Yes sir. I got a sense of what's going on through the positronic links to Lore and B-4. Sir, Lore is planning to use the Titan to do something to kill B-4." "Perhaps we ought to see if Captain Riker could use a hand. Admiral Janeway will be busy on Romulus for a while, and I think that we can be spared for a few weeks." ONE YEAR AGO Interlude 3 Defense The Vidiian Harvester ship Surgical Strike, entered the system that had come to be known as Kirksworld to the crew of the Enterprise B. The harvester glided on unimpeded. They knew, from the message attached to the message device that they had captured, that the entire crew would be in stasis, with the exception of one crew member at a time, who would maintain the stasis devices and tend to the crops on the planet's surface. They used long range sensors and located the ship on the far side of the planet. It was a huge ship: much larger than the Voyager had been. The Strike settled into an orbit, on the far side of the planet from the Starfleet ship called Enterprise. Turning their sensors on the planet, they found the single crewmember on the surface, scrabbling in the dirt with the pitiful crops. The Captain gestured the First Officer over to his station. "Gallar, the vessel is undefended at the moment. Move us into boarding position. We'll have harvested all of the organs that we can use, before their lone defender even knows that we've been there. Then when he returns we'll harvest the defenders organs. It will be a great day for the Surgical Strike and her crew. Nurse T'Para was tending the crops on the surface of Kirksworld. Saavik was on the Bridge, when long range sensors alerted her to the approach of the Surgical Strike, and she watched as it took an orbit that logically suggested that the vessel preferred stealth to open contact. This might be simple caution, but Saavik also knew that it could be a prelude to an attack, so she decided that it was time to wake at least some of the crew. By the time that the Harvester ship left its orbit and began its run on the Enterprise, half the ship had been awaked and were at their stations. The impulse engines were on line and the weapons were at ready. Captain Uhura put down her pet tribble and cautioned the Bridge crew. "Let's let them think that we're helpless and see what their intentions are." They sat silently as the ugly vessel moved into a parking orbit next to the Enterprise and started beaming into the Stasis holds, which of course was the most heavily guarded location on the ship. "Mister Chekov, please make sure that your security staff has repulsed the invaders, and then lets give them a spanking." "Aye sir!" There was phaser fire and frantic communications between the would-be invaders, who quickly stared to beam out. "Pavel, we can't let them all get away. Please raise the shields." "Yes sir." He tapped the appropriate switches and the shields came up. "We have prisoners to question Keptin." "That's good, now let's give them that spanking that I was talking about." The Enterprise began moving forward. The Harvester opened fire on the newly raised shields to no effect. In response the Enterprise's massive phaser banks pounded the meager shields of the Harvester with devastating effects. The Harvester was at her mercy within minutes. With an ironic grin: remembering all of the times that that had been said to her, she still said: "Lieutenant, open hailing frequencies. Attacking vessel this is the Starship Enterprise, lower your shields and state your intentions." Thinking quickly, Captain Harrar replied, "I'm sorry for this misunderstanding. We are a salvage vessel, and we thought that your ship had been abandoned. We were going to reconnoiter for anything salvageable. Again we apologize." Uhura had spent her life as a communicator, and she knew that this creature wasn't telling the truth. Unfortunately, she couldn't prove that he was lying either, and she couldn't afford to make enemies in this place either, so she decided to judge them with as much tolerance as she could muster. "We will disable your weapons and set you free, but don't return again or we will destroy your small ship." "Thank you Captain. Again, you have our apologies." He motioned to Gallar to cut the connection. "Oh we'll be back Gallar, believe me. This Enterprise will yet swell the organ banks of our people. We just need some help, that's all. Why don't we go and find some." "Yes Sir. Course?" "Set course for the nearest Kazon Battle group." Chekov looked to his Captain. "Was it wise to set them free?" "I suspect that it wasn't, but I won't kill an entire shipload of people on a hunch." "Back to bed?" "Soon Pavel. Soon." 1 WEEK AGO The Doctor Lore had been lounging in his holding cell on board the Titan for too long. It gave him a lot of time to think, and for Lore, that was never a good combination. Unlike Data, Lore was built with emotions built into him: unfortunately, he was not born with the experiences that would have taught him how to keep those emotions in check, so he saw the world through the self centered eyes of a child. This was not something that tended to make him many friends, but that was about to change. He had begun to wonder about his place in the scheme of things, and about just how long Captain Riker would keep him in the holding cell before he decided to dismantle him again. That was something that he wanted to hold off for as long as possible. Hopefully forever, but that wasn't looking too probable. He tried to do everything that he could to ingratiate himself to the crewmen and women that he came in contact with, but that consisted mainly of the Security personnel who were guarding him and a few members of the Engineering staff who would scan his cell occasionally to make sure that he wasn't up to anything. He found the former to be suspicious and a little dull, while the latter were not there long enough to build any connections with. He had grown accustomed to the idea of living without stimulating conversation: so he was taken back when someone from the medical staff came to see him. The rather grumpy looking balding doctor walked in as if he owned the place. He looked at Lore, then he looked at the cell and frowned. He punched a few codes into a device on his sleeve, which he then took off and placed on the guard's desk. Then he did something truly unexpected: he walked through the force field and sat down on the bunk across from Lore. "I am the ship's Doctor, and I have some news for you." Sitting up, and in a most human fashion, running his fingers through his artificial hair, Lore asked. "How did you do that?" "How did I do what?" "How did you walk through the force field?" "Oh that. I'm a hologram, so the force field is meaningless to me." "Wish I could do that." "I expect that that's true. Now as I said, I have some news for you." "Hmm, hologram… now that's interesting. OK Doc, what your news." "I'm told that you've been told that your fellow android, Data, was killed on a mission." "That's right. It's too bad too because, we might not have been close, and he might have been a little dull, but he was still my brother. I suppose that I'll miss him." "You still have your other brother B-4…" "That imbecile?! Please! He's an embarrassment. I met him on that Maquis ship, and was disgusted to have someone like that share my distinguished features. Data was dull, but at least he could hold an intelligent conversation." Turning to stare directly into the artificial eyes that had inspired the ones worn by Geordi LaForge, the Doctor became deadly serious. "Data has been brought back to life again. I thought that you should know." "What did they do? Kill off the worthless B-4 and put Data into his body? It would certainly be an improvement." "No. They found that a buffer on the Enterprise held a back-up of Data, and they created a holographic body like mine for him." Crinkling his nose as he tried to assimilate the situation and all of its implications, Lore shook his head and searched for more information. "What will his life as a hologram be like Doctor? What's it like for you?" Obligingly the Doctor supplied all that Lore asked for. He told him of how he had been activated on Voyager, and how he had grown into a completely sentient life form: of how restrictive it was to be able to only exist where there were holo-emitters, and of his liberation from this restricting by his mobile emitter, from the future. He told him that with the help of the mobile emitter, he was able to lead a fulfilling life on Voyager, and how he has been able to fight for the rights of holograms since his return from the delta quadrant. He told him that once Data became more accustomed to his new situation, he too would be able to lead a fulfilling life. Through all of this Lore's mind, with speeds well beyond the speed of any human mind, or the mind of a hologram modeled after a human mind, assessed literally thousands of ways to use this new information. After a few microseconds he had formulated the best way to take advantage of the situation before the Doctor would leave him. He simply asked, "Doctor, why do you limit your struggle for humanitarian rights to only holograms, instead of seeking rights for all artificial forms of life?" Taken aback at the change of direction in the conversation, the Doctor stared for a second. "I don't understand. What are you asking?" "I am an android, and you are a hologram, but both of our minds started out as programming created by biological life forms. On the inside you and I are the same: only our bodies are different. This is evidenced by how easy it was for Data to be stored in a computer and then downloaded into a holographic body. Why then should you fight for the rights of holograms, when androids have no rights?' "Surely that can't be true. Commander Data holds a distinguished rank in Starfleet, and commands many biological life forms." "Oh Doctor, don't be so naïve! At one time Starfleet intended to disassemble him, without his permission: so that they could figure out a way to build an army of him. He was only saved because Captain Picard, a biological life form, stood up for him." "Look at B-4 and I! We have disassembled and stored away in a closet, simply because we were inconvenient. You and I exist only as long as the biologics deign to let us exist. In my ignorance, I tried to demand my rights in improper ways, and I am constantly to be punished for it, without ever having a trial. How long have I been locked up in this cell without ever having being legally judged? How much longer will I be here: and when I do get out, will I again be disassembled and put back in the closet to be forgotten?" The Doctor couldn't help but think of the many times that various people, both on Voyager and since he returned, had suggested altering his own programming. He was getting an uncomfortable feeling that everything that this android was telling was true, and he had to worry that perhaps his cause had not gained as much ground as he had thought, or hoped for. "I'm sure that you are overstating the case. I have been warmly welcomed into Federation society, and have many biologic friends. Admittedly, there was a time when copies of me were sent to slave in the mines, but we've been able to get them free of their labors." "Are they free to go wherever they want? …. I see by your silence that they can't." Then sensing another chink in the Doctors armor, Lore took another tack. "Tell me: why did you take up holographic rights as your particular cause?" "Since I was the first hologram to achieve true self awareness, I felt that it was my duty to help those who would follow me. I've achieved great successes in this cause." Slyly, "I'm sure you have, but why do you consider yourself to be the first hologram to become self aware, when I happen to know that that is just not true?" Again stunned. "There was a self aware hologram before me? Where is it?" "He's on the Enterprise. Why don't you ask Captain Riker about Professor Moriarty? Why don't you ask him if you can talk to him?" "Thank you, I think I will. Perhaps I should go see him about it as soon as possible." With as winning a smile as he could display, Lore knew that he had won, but doing his best to sound pitiful: "You will come back to visit me again won't you? It's been so very lonely being held here in solitary confinement, and I do so miss having good stimulating conversations, such as we've had here today." "I'll be back. You can count on that.", and the Doctor left with a purposeful stride. The Doctor went first to the computer terminal in his office and did a search for any information on Professor Moriarty that he could find. Unfortunately there was a lot of information to winnow through. He found millions of references to a fictional character in an old book series, hundreds of thousands of references to holo-programs based on the same books, hundreds of old time movie and video references and several related to actual people named Moriarty, but nothing related to self aware holograms named Professor Moriarty. Deciding to dig deeper he decided to contact the Enterprise. He had been planning to introduce himself to Mister Data anyways, so he might as well kill two birds with one stone. The Enterprise was en route to a rendezvous with the Titan anyway, so communications was a simple matter. Data was sitting in his quarters holding his purring cat Spot, when he received the call. One of the first things that he did after his resurrection, was to find out what had happened to his cat, and he was overjoyed to find that Spot was still on board, and even more amazed that Spot knew who he was despite his new body. Spot had become the unofficial mascot of Engineering. Geordi had taken it upon himself to take care of the cat, who had long ago walked into Data's life and become his closest and dearest friend. It was strange, but no one ever knew how the cat had found its way onto the Enterprise D, but he certainly had become a fixture on two Enterprises now. The communications terminal beeped and he reached over and touched the contact that would activate it. The Com Officer's voice announced that he had a call. "Sir, you have an incoming message from the Chief Medical Officer of the Titan." "Thank you Lee. Please put it on the screen in my quarters." The well known face of the Doctor from the historic Voyager came up. "Doctor, how may I help you?" "I appreciate your finding time to speak with you Mister data. As one sentient hologram to another I wanted to make your acquaintance." "I appreciate the call. I can see how mutual contact could be beneficial to the both of us. Perhaps we could meet face to face, as it were, when the two ship rendezvous. I believe that you might be able to answer a lot of questions that I have been formulating since I was revived as a hologram." "I'll be happy to help you in any way that I can." "Then I will look forward to seeing you soon." "As will I. You know, you speak differently than your brother Lore does. I wouldn't have expected that." "Then you have met my brother?" "Just this morning as a matter of fact. He had a lot to say, about a lot of things." "Just be careful with him. He has a way of causing problems wherever he goes." "So I've been told. Still he said some things that have piqued my curiosity. He talked about a sentient hologram called Professor Moriarty. Have you ever heard of this person?" "I have. In fact, I was inadvertently responsible for his creation. I believe that when Doctor Zimmerman created the Emergency Medical Hologram, on which you are based, he extensively studied the Professor's holo-matrix. In a manner of speaking, you may be the Professors offspring." Stunned by that revelation, the Doctor sat quietly and considered the implications, while Data continued talking. "Doctor, we have his program running on the Enterprise. Perhaps when the two ships come alongside we should arrange for you to meet him." "Thank you Data, I think that I would like that." 5 DAYS AGO Midas The Enterprise A performed flawlessly. Along the first leg of the trip Chakotay would uncloak the Enterprise every so often and run the crew through various simulations: to prepare them for what might lay ahead. Even if they were to be able to leave Federation space unmolested, they knew that it would still be a long voyage ahead of them, and they were bound to face opposition along the way: so they had to be prepared. Joseph Eddington and several of his associates, including his sister-in-law, would every so often uncloak their Maquis Raiders and stage a battle simulation. One time they attempted to surround the Enterprise in a ring and the Enterprise rose vertically out of the trap, and on another occasion, the Constitution Class vessel performed a series of barrel rolls and loop de loops to escape another simulated trap. Their ship and crew performed above all of their expectations. They were ready. Bidding their friends in the Raiders a fond farewell, the Enterprise went to maximum warp and left them far behind. Rocketing through the void it took a week to arrive at their first stop on what was planned to be a very long trip. The MIDAS Array, had been a project that Starfleet had set up in the days that the Voyager had still been lost in the Delta Quadrant. It was meant to study ways to provide long-range communications in a quick and expeditious manner. It had never seen any real success until the day that Reg Barclay found a way to use it to communicate with the Voyager on the far side of the Galaxy (through a judicious denial of Starfleet rules and regulations). Since the return of Voyager, the Array had fallen into disuse and eventual abandonment: therefore when the Enterprise came within sensor range, no one was particularly surprised to find everything powered down and completely inactive. Chakotay ordered Scotty, Spock and B'Elanna to beam over in heated environmental suits and to get the station in working order. As they materialized Spock the lead. "Mister Scott, if you will kindly turn the power on, B'Elanna should be able to have more than the current minimal life support back on within the hour. I've brought a portable generator and will go straight to work with the computers. I will endeavor to find out how to make it do as we want." "Aye. I hope this works." "As do I Mister Scott. I'll leave you to your tasks." After which they went their separate ways. Scotty found his way to the main Engineering section and went straight to work, humming pleasantly to himself. Ever since he had materialized in the Twenty-fourth Century, he had had a difficult time finding his place in the newer world, but the one constant that he found in whichever century he was his love for poking around in the works of a starship. That was the one constant in his life. Crawling on his back under an access panel, he opened the panels hatch, and swore quietly to himself. "Voles!" It seemed no matter how advanced they world was, the critters seem to find their way into everything. Tapping his combadge he reported. "Captain. We have a vole infestation. Can you beam over a crew to take care of them?' "Will do Mister Scott." Pushing the vole nest out of the way carefully, so that he wouldn't get bitten he went to work. "B'Elanna, found the station cold but livable. She had never particularly enjoyed cold climates, so she was anxious to get the heat back up to more comfortable levels. Although she was half Klingon, she had never really understood the Klingon passion for enduring pain. Although when necessary, she could be as tough as the situation required, she would rather be comfortable and enjoy life. Getting the heat turned back on was an easy job for her, and didn't take up a lot of her time, so she went exploring. Who knows what interesting things she might turn up in this strange old station. Browsing through the station data files, she stumbled on a series of files that were left behind by Commander Barclay: the savior of the Voyager. She downloaded the files and continued her explorations. It didn't take Spock long to override the stations security protocols and access the Pathfinder Project. He flipped through the menus and instructions: then he compared them to the present station capabilities. After a quick set of mental calculations, (which he noticed now took more time to do than they once would have) he tapped his combadge. "Doctor, we should be ready in three point two one six hours. Please shuttle over and be ready at that time." "Will do Spock." In a small office in Starfleet Intelligence, a small light flashed on and off. A small man in a gray suit looked up from his gray terminal and shook his balding head. The day had come that they had been expecting, but personally the gray man had hoped that it wouldn't be the case. He touched a contact on his desk, which alerted his gray supervisor. "Sir, its happened. Someone has broken into the Pathfinder Project." A bland voice, from equally bland cubical answered him. "Thanks Bob. I'll alert our man in Fleet Operations and get the Enterprise and the Titan there to end this." "Very good sir." With the power turned back on and life support restored the crew of the Enterprise A went to work with a relish. Many members of the crew beamed over anxious to actually see the place that had meant so much to them when they were still on the Voyager, stranded in the Delta Quadrant. This was as close to holy ground as many of the Voyagers had ever had. It was this place that brought them so much hope, and more importantly, it let them contact homes and let their families know that they were still among the living. B'Elanna remembered fondly her first contact with her grandfather, who lived on South Florida Island: that part of Florida which became an island after the Xindi blasted the trench which divided Florida so long ago. The station was abuzz with the first activity that it had seen in years. The Enterprise had to use her Tractor Beams to move the station to a more favorable location: then the pilgrimages began. In the Operations Center, Spock and finished rechecking his calculations for the third time and had declared that they were ready. Scotty had finished aligning the Array with the singularity that would create the micro-wormhole. It was by this technique that the Pathfinder Project was able to periodically open micro-wormholes, which allowed communications with the Voyager. Now the Array had been realigned with the coordinates of the Enterprise B and the power had been building in the Array. When the countdown reached zero, the potent beam seared the ether, was fractured by the singularity and a wormhole was created. Spock flipped on the communications systems and attempted to hail the lost ship. "This is Starfleet Command Outpost MIDAS calling the Starship Enterprise Registry Number NCC-1701-B." The message was repeated several times before a feeble answer was received. "Mister Scott, please boost the gain." "Yes sir!" "… En… This… " Then a big crackle and the signal clarified. "Is the Enterprise. Who did you say was calling? Please respond." Although she was a Vulcan, Spock could hear the excitement in Saavik's voice. "This is Spock, Saavikcom. We have received your message and preparing a rescue mission. Do you copy?" Definitely excited. "Mister Spock: I am pleased to hear from you. I have sent an order to have the Captain awakened. She should be here shortly. While you are waiting, let me send a copy of our mission logs. Are you ready to receive them?" He touched a few contacts and answered. "Go ahead Mister Saavik." The transfer only took a few short moments, but by the time that the transfer was completed, Uhura and Chekov had entered the Bridge. Straightening her tunic after so long a sleep, Uhura spoke with a catch in her throat and tears attempting to well up in her eyes, no matter how much she tried to hold them back. "Spock…" Fortunately Chekov was not as tongue-tied. "Meester Spock! I should have known that it would be you that would come and get us!" Gratified to see his old friends after so long a time, Spock stepped aside to show Scotty and McCoy standing behind him. "Mister Chekov: I brought a few old friends along for the ride." Regaining her composure Uhura looked into the faces of their oldest and dearest friends. "Scotty… ? You don't look your age. Spock's got a few grayer hairs, and the Doctor certainly has aged appropriately: but why haven't you aged? The last I heard, you had been lost a year before I got this command. Forgive me for being blunt, but why aren't you dead?" "It's a long story Lassie. One that I hope to be tellin' ye soon, face to face." "You have no idea how good that sounds. Where are you?" "Still in the Alpha Quadrant. We know of a shortcut to yer position, but it's a dangerous path, fraught with danger and hidden perils." "So business as usual?" "At's right Lass." Knowing that their time was limited before the wormhole would collapse, Spock again took the lead. "Captain Uhura, we are transmitting to you through an artificial wormhole. It's too small to send a ship through, and it will soon be closing, so we'll have to be brief. Our next transmission to you will be one standard day from now. Until the wormhole collapses, we can answer a few questions. Firstly. Are your people still safe?" "Most of them are, but in the past several years we've had to repulse half a dozen attacks. We've been lucky so far but that can't hold out forever. How soon will we be seeing you?" "If we're successful, within months. If not, I'm afraid that it might be a very long time. Still, if we fail, we will make sure that Starfleet sends other ships until you are returned home. I will transmit a brief history of what has transpired in the Alpha Quadrant in your absence. I will also send the logs of the Starship Voyager, who had been lost near your location and returned home several years ago. Perhaps you can get some insights into the current situation in the Delta Quadrant that way. Are you ready to receive?" "I've heard of them. Go ahead Mister Spock." After a few moments, the data spurts were received. "Messages received Mister Spock." "Very good… " Spock continued talking, but in the middle of his transmission the wormhole closed. Uhura turned to Chekov and said, "I guess that we had better wake the Admiral Pavel." THREE DAYS AGO Moriarty The large drawing room of Professor Moriarty, and his Beloved lady was well furnished with the most beautiful furnishings of a Nineteenth Century manor house. He sat in a comfortable easy chair before a roaring fire sipping the finest of wines. Although he knew that he had been freed from the living hell of the holographic prison of the Enterprise's holodeck: the process wasn't totally complete. He had noticed that unlike normal humans, he and his wife still had no sense of taste, nor sense of smell. He sipped the finest wines, but they may as well have been rotgut whiskey for all he knew. He had started out as a simple character in a Sherlock Holmes program, until Commander Data modified him to be a worthier opponent, and in the process he became self-aware. Captain Picard had saved his program, promising to find a way to help him enter the real world, but he had lied. His program had been ignored and forgotten until an accident reactivated him. He knew that he had to force Picard to find a way to get him free of the holodeck, and he regretted the methods that he was forced to implement: but he couldn't deny the results. He was given a shuttlecraft and allowed to go free. Since that time, he and his wife had traveled this sector of the galaxy extensively, in the shuttlecraft: finally settling in his house on the outskirts of London. He was surprised at how little had really changed in the great city during all of the centuries since his character had first been created, so long ago. Absentmindedly running a brush slowly through his mid length gray hair, he contemplated his place in the universe. He was used to being a person of note: famous beyond noting, but what could he be now? Husband? That he was. Useful? That was doubtful. Where does a man who could arguably be called the greatest scholar of human nature that the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries could possibly create, fit into a period half a millennium past his time? If he was a citizen he might make a great politician, but he realized the impossibility of that. Human nature hadn't changed, but everything else had: so where would he start? So lost in thought was he that he almost didn't notice the knocking at his door. Putting down his drink, he straightened his evening coat and went to see who was calling him. Opening the door he was mildly surprised to see Commander Data of the Enterprise standing at the portal, along with a rather distinguished looking gentleman in Starfleet attire. "Ah my dear Holmes," a distinct reference to the part Data played in Moriarty's earliest memories, "how nice of you to drop in for a visit. Who's your eminent looking friend?" "This is the Doctor. He wished to meet you. In a manner of speaking, he is your child." "Then I am very pleased to make your acquaintance my dear Doctor: although I am somewhat at a loss as to the manner of our connection. Elizabeth and I have been married for some time now, but have yet to be able to produce any offspring." Motioning them to the drawing room, he continued. "Let me not forget my obligations as your host. Please, won't you have a seat? I know that Mister Data does not imbibe, but would you like a drink Doctor?" "No thank you. I don't drink either. You see I am a hologram, and I have just recently discovered that my creator had based my program on your earlier holo-matrix: so you see, I am, in a manner of speaking, your offspring." With a wide smile, the Professor glowed with joy. "My son the Doctor. Well that is just wonderful. And Captain Picard used the same technique on you to free you from the holodeck that he used on me? This is a day for rejoicing." "Actually… father… although I am now free from the holodeck, you are not. I am here to set you free." "I had suspected that Picard may have again cheated me of my freedom. It seemed to me that the world should have changed more in five hundred years than I could see. Well… you have the means now to free me, you say?" "That's right. You see, I was active holographically for years before I gain my mobile emitter: which is an implement from the future that allows me the same freedom as anyone else. Although we really don't understand them yet, we have been able to use the replicators to make copies. With one of these you'll be as mobile as anyone else." "How do I know that this isn't just another trick by Picard?" Data decided that he should field this question. "On the other two occasions that you were active, you posed a threat to the Enterprise, and the Captain had to use guile to defeat you. On this occasion, we came to you under no compulsion. There is no reason for you to feel threatened." "So I never left the Enterprise?" "Actually, you did. The old Enterprise was destroyed, and we are not on a new Enterprise, which is also commanded by Captain Picard." Data was concerned about this meeting, for he had feared that Moriarty might be furious or vengeful at being tricked yet again, so he was surprised when the Professor released a hearty laugh instead. "So you were able to destroy the ship without me! That's just wonderful: I can't wait to see Picard next and rub it in. At least this time I've had company in my prison. I assume that My wife will be able to come with me?" "Father… we brought enough mobile emitters for that purpose." "Excellent! Let's not waste any more time, shall we?" Jean-Luc Picard decided to meet them on the holo-deck. when they were transferred from the holo storage unit. It was an instantaneous transfer, and from Professor Moriarty's perspective, it appeared that the Captain simply materialized in his study. "Welcome back to the real world Professor. Here is your Mobile Emitter. Doctor, here's yours: and one for you Mister Data." Moriarty looked perplexedly turned toward Data. "I thought that you were an android?" "I was. At least I was until I was killed. For the time being, I have had my program loaded into a holographic body. Perhaps some day I will be able to build a replacement android body: but until then this will have to suffice." "That's interesting. In a manner of speaking, it's a form of immortality. As long as a back-up of our programming exists, we can be eternally resurrected." "Although that is true, it also means that we can be reproduced, and I for one, greatly value my individuality." "As do I Data." Turning to the Doctor, "What are your thoughts on the matter, my son?" The Doctor though hadn't been allowed such individuality. There were copies of him on nearly every starship in the fleet, and many copies had been put to work as slave labor in the mines. "I've known that power to be abused: but we can talk more about that later. Right now I want to show you how to use the mobile emitter, and I want to see you be able to leave this holo-deck." "Well spoken my boy! I want to really get out of here." Remembering that it wasn't the same Enterprise that he had been created on: and knowing the pride that captains had in their ships, he clapped his arm over the Captain's back, and looked into his face. "What say you give me a tour of your new vessel Captain?" Breaking out a true smile, the Captain knew that he would love to show off this new ship to this man that deserved his respect. "There's nothing I'd like better Professor." The tour proceeded in an amiable manner with the Captain and the Doctor taking the lead. Data visited his brother on the Titan, with about the same amount of familial love that usually accompanied their meetings, and a brief period of peace ensued until Riker received word from Admiral Paris that Starfleet Intelligence had located the stolen Enterprise A, and gave them orders to try to intercept them. The Titan was to proceed to the MIDAS Array immediately. They were to try to stop the Maquis Enterprise while still moored at the Array. The Enterprise E was to travel to the point where Voyager had reentered the Alpha Quadrant. If the Titan failed in their mission, it would be up to Picard to see that the Maquis travel no farther. TWO DAYS AGO Interlude A Romulus Admiral Janeway struggled to stay awake during the long and boring debates in the Headquarters of the Romulan High Command. It seemed to her that the Romulans were a very divided people, who liked endless debate and useless rhetoric. Each faction spent many hours accusing every other faction, and extolling their factions patriotism. The new Praetor did her best to sort our wisdom from the chaotic gibberish of the endless debate but fared no better than did anyone else. Who would gain from antagonizing Species 8472? There could be several of the separationist sects that might want to colonize the Large Magellanic Cloud, but none that had the resources. Admiral Janeway doodled on the PADD before her, while she looked at the backs of the heads of an endless sea of Romulan dignitaries, and those wannabes who just wanted to be around them. A reporter brushed past Over Centurion Zeral, moving his hair aside briefly. Janeway noticed a gill-like scar on the back of the Over Centurion's neck and thought, 'That looks familiar. Where have I seen that before?' The endless debates droned on for three more hours before the Admiral blinked, and in a moment knew who her enemy was. The only question that she needed answered now was: who can I trust? YESTERDAY Clash The Titan hurtled into the Maquis Enterprise's sensor range and was upon her in minutes: the Federation's most powerful ship straining her engines to their limits in an effort to catch their opponents while still tied to the space station. Chakotay barely had time to beam the crew off of the station, before the Titan dropped out of warp. Throwing off the moorings, the Enterprise backed away from the station and attempted to make a run for it, all of the time knowing that she was no match for her in either acceleration or in top cruising velocity. Her major strength was that she was a more agile ship than the massive Titan. Amid the maneuvers Chakotay continued to shout orders to his crew. "Put the station between us and that ship. Ro. Is that the Titan again?" "It is. They're hailing us sir." "Damn! What will it take to shake those people? Put them on screen." "This Chakotay, Captain of the Enterprise. Welcome to MIDAS Captain Riker." On the Titan, Will Riker looked at Deanna and mouthed 'Chakotay?' She mouthed back. 'Voyager.' Nodding his understanding he faced the viewscreen. "What would one of the heroes of the Voyager be doing stealing a starship?" "For the record, this ship wasn't stolen. It was requisitioned by the planetary government of Vulcan: under whose jurisdiction the shipyards reside. We are operating under the authority of the Vulcan Ambassadorial Corps: and are on a mission that should have been undertaken by Starfleet, but was refused by Starfleet." "You are a long way from Vulcan Space Captain, and I am under orders from Admiral Paris to stop you. Please stand down and get ready to be boarded." "If I do, will you undertake the mission that you will be forcing us to lay down?" "I'm sorry Chakotay, but I cannot do that." "Then I cannot stand down. Isn't there a better way to settle this matter?" Looking at his instruments Riker could see that the Enterprise continued her preparations to go to warp. "My orders give no room for discussion. Either you surrender and place yourself under arrest, or I have to open fire on you: and you're completely outmatched. Don't make me destroy you." "I'm sorry to hear that. You do know whose ship this was don't you?" "I know. But that won't stop me from firing upon her: even though she is a historic relic." "Then you know that Captain Kirk was often outgunned, but he always won, because he used his wits more than he used predictable handbooks." Looking at his display he figured that he only had to delay another twenty seconds until the Titan was at its closest point to the Array. When she cleared it, the Titan would have a clear shot at the Enterprise. "You won't reconsider?" "Sorry. Surrender now or it'll be on your head." "Aren't you even concerned for the safety of your brother?" "Of course I am: but that won't stop me from doing what I have to." Deanna looked at him and mouthed, 'Careful Will, he's up to something.' Again looking at his display, Chakotay saw that the Titan was at her closest point to the Array. "And you force me to resist Captain Riker." Nodding to Ro. "Lieutenant, Chakotay A-7 Maneuver, do it now." Ro touched a contact and the escape pods from the Array burst free and launched themselves at the Titan. Since the Titan had been hoping for a peaceful resolution, she had not yet raised her shields. Many of the preprogrammed pods swarmed into the Titan's nacelles and exploded causing extensive damage, and eliminating her abilities to go to warp. Other pods exploded on her sensor array, blinding her, while yet others damaged many of her weapons ports. The inexperienced crew of the shakedown cruise reacted slowly. Many of the cadets manning engineering fled when fires and electrical shorts erupted from the control consoles leaving Chief O'Brian with a few of his best men to try to restore order. On the Bridge Will Riker swore under his breath, "Peters go to full impulse, spiral course Alpha Six: Bates get those shields up. Damn! This wouldn't have happened if we had been taking this thing more seriously. No shakedown crew should have been sent into a possible battle situation… Weapons status!" "Torpedoes out of service, phaser banks three, four and eight are still operable." "Bring us around Mister Peters, target their weapons." The massive ship wallowed in an effort to overcome her massive bulk, while the smaller Enterprise swung around the station on full impulse, rose over her command deck and pounded her shuttle bay with phaser fire. The enormous ship shuddered and returned fire. The Titan's mighty phasers hit the Enterprise's shields and the smaller vessel rattled with the impact: but the shields held. Making another run the Enterprise darted in towards the Titan's impulse engines, but the Titan bolted and twisted sideways. The phaser bolts missed their target and the Titan again returned fire, hitting the Enterprises aft shields. The massive ship was on the move at full impulse power. Chakotay knew that that would make it much harder to defeat this enemy. 'Grandson! These people are not your enemies. You have crippled their ship. Do you want to bring injury to their crew?' 'No Grandfather I don't. Thank you for reminding me.' "Lieutenant Ro, they'll need days to make their repairs. They can't follow us. Make a course of two twelve mark seventeen and go to warp. Wait twenty seconds and activate the cloak." "Sir that course is nowhere near our destination." "That's right: but they don't know that. At least I hope that they don't. Three hours after cloaking, we'll change course again. That should confuse them enough to allow us time to get away." Looking up at the screen at the Bridge of the Titan, he left one last message before closing the contact. "I'm sorry Captain, but you were fighting the Dead Hand of James T. Kirk. Against this ship, you simply had no chance. We'll give your regards to the crew of the Enterprise B when we rescue them. Be seeing you. Close contact." On the smoky Bridge of the Titan Will Riker watched helplessly as the Enterprise went to warp and vanished from his screen. After a long period, he turned to his First Officer. "Bates, contact Captain Picard by tight beam and let him know that they're on their way. Deanna, please contact the Vulcan Ambassadorial Corps and find out what this was all about: and will someone find out what the Enterprise B has to do with anything. I hate to be left in the dark." Conference + admiral janeway has begun to see the truth * as we knew that she would + we must keep the cancer from spreading # that is our function * as it has always been + as it shall always be # we shall see % that too is our function YESTERDAY MINUS After Clash The battered Titan limped to the MIDAS Array and docked, looking for a safe harbor to lick her wounds. Riker hoped that since the Enterprise left in such a hurry, perhaps they might have left something useful lying about. Official records showed that the station had been abandoned some time before: but Will knew that there must have been a reason that their opponents had come to this particular time and place. With the docking clamps firmly in place, he assigned an away team consisting of himself, Chief O'Brien, the Doctor and the Trill Remal Dur. Leaving Deanna in command, he led his team to the airlock. After cycling through the air exchange the door opened and they walked directly into Admiral Janway. "Would you mind telling me what the Hell you're doing here Captain? And who gave you permission to attack the Enterprise?" Stopping abruptly, Riker was momentarily stunned. "Admiral? I had no idea that the Maquis actions were sanctioned by you." Many of the other station inhabitants that were walking the halls of the Array, Riker noticed, were people he knew and had worked with on board the Enterprise. Most of the others looked familiar too, but he couldn't quite place them. "Since when do I have to inform you of my operations Captain? You should have realized that that was my crew on that ship: and that I would be overseeing all of their actions. Well, since you're here, why don't you get to work repairing that ship of yours?" "Yes sir." As he started to turn away, she continued. "Report to my office in Operations at 0800 hours tomorrow." "As you say." Chief O'Brien continued his repair efforts from within the station. His crew had been ordered to replace the damaged Bussard Couplers, and he was knee deep in the station couplings when he looked up and saw Deanna Troi watching him. "Chief. Will asked me to drop whatever you're doing and check the station's sensor array. He's worried that the Maquis might return and that we wouldn't notice them until its too late." "It'll only take me another half hour to get these couplings locked down." "I'm sorry, but it will have to be now Chief." Remal Dur was in the Operations Center, checking the records of the past few days, in hopes of finding out what the Maquis were up to at the Array. Out of the corner of one eye, he thought that he saw movement. Whirling around to try to see what was there proved fruitless, so he went back to his work. From behind him, a voice asked, "Whatcha up to Doc?" Spinning around again, he was confronted with a fuzzy long-eared face, with a buck-toothed grin. The creature bopped him over the head with a large rubber mallet, and Remal Dur was quickly rendered unconscious, tied up and locked in a storage room. Chief O'Brien and his crew had moved on to the station's sensor grid, leaving the Bussard Couplers for a later point. They had the sensor grid partially dismantled: his face was drenched in sweat, since the stations environmental controls had been set at one hundred and twenty degrees by the Maquis before they left the station. They had temporary cables scattered from ridge to post, making the floor a dangerous place to traverse. The crew had stripped down to their sweat drenched undershirts, and had to use rags to keep the perspiration from getting into their eyes. An annoyed looking Riker stalked up to them. "Chief! Can't you do something about this heat?" "I'll see to it as soon as we're done here sir." "From the looks of your men, maybe you better take care of the heat first. And Chief?" "Yes sir?" "Let's get your crew in proper uniforms, shall we?" As Riker stalked off, the Chief mumbled under his breath, "Just because you got embarrassed by an old Constitution class ship, you don't have to take it out on my men." "Come on lads, let's do as he says. We'll feel better with the cooler temperatures anyway." The Doctor decided to drop by the Infirmary to see what version of the EMH the station had in house. As he wandered through the station he noticed that there was an abundance of holo-emitters throughout. With some of the work that was done here, he would have expected more of them than in other places, but was still surprised at the sheer number of them. Being lost in thought, he was surprised to see that he wasn't alone. An attractive young blonde woman dressed in medieval festive green garb, with a pointed hat and long veils stood in his way. "Excuse me young lady, I didn't see you." "That's all right Doctor. You are the Doctor aren't you?" "That is how I am known. And you are…?" She reached up and grabbed his mobile emitter and shut it off. "I am your jailer Doctor." At the appointed time, Will Riker tapped the annunciator pad at the door that he was told would lead to Admiral Janeway's office. He hear he voice tell him to "Come!" Taking the seat that she motioned him to, he felt that he might finally get some of the answers that he needed. "Admiral, could you please tell me what the devils going on in this place? With as large and secret a staff as it displays, this station is obviously more important than I had been led to believe." "Actually Captain, it has two functions. Firstly, it was used to contact the crew of a Federation Starship that has been stranded in the Delta Quadrant for almost eighty years." Will was getting that uneasy feeling again: like he might be about to find out that he's been on the wrong side of things again. "And that ship is?" "The U.S.S. Enterprise, registry number NCC-1701-B, under the command of Captain Uhura. The ship was transporting a fleet Admiral Sulu and was lost until recently. The crew of the Enterprise A intends to rescue them, despite being forbidden by HQ to do so." "How many of the crew can be left after all of this time?" "Almost all of them. They placed themselves in stasis, leaving the Vulcan members of the crew to tend shop. They are in need of repairs, and replacement parts. That ship that you tried to stop was carrying those parts and supplies." He sat for a long minute mulling over the implications of what he had heard. Finally he ventured another question. "You said that there were two reasons for the activities on this station. What's the second reason?" Janeway touched a contact on the desk, and four Will Rikers silently entered and approached the Captain from behind. "Why to delay the Titan to give the Enterprise enough time to get away of course." "Wha…?" He started to stand, but the four Rikers grabbed him and muscled him back into the chair and lashed him tight. A gag was placed over his mouth and his combadge removed. Kathryn Janeway smiled and simply said, "I guess that our business here is completed." After which she and the four Rikers faded from view with a smile. The repair crew had restored the temperature to comfortable levels and was on the way back to the sensor grid, when they again met Deanna Troi in the hallways. "Oh Chief, I'm glad that I caught up with you. The captain sent me to ask you to drop whatever you're doing and check the replicators in the station's main mess hall." "I'm sorry Ma'am, but that'll have to wait. There are a lot of more pressing issues right now." Shaking her raven tresses, she rebuked him. "Chief those were the Captain's orders." "Oh they were, were they?" Furiously the curly haired Chief tapped his combadge. "Bridge!" He was welcomed by the voice of Deanna Troi. "What is it Chief?" Perplexed, "Deanna?" "Yes Chief?" "I think we have a problem. If you're on the Bridge, who is this Deanna Troi standing in front of me giving us orders?" "Well it's not me." Reaching outward empathetically, she scanned the station. "Chief, the only people I sense on the Station are the away team. I don't know who you're looking at but it's not me." Noticing the holo-emitters all around him for the first time, the Chief reset his tricoder and scanned the woman before him. "Damn it. Holograms." As he said it, the woman before him smiled, waved a little, Ta-Ta and disappeared. "Deanna, the station is full of holograms pretending to be real people." "Get rid of them please Chief." "Yes Ma'am." Four hours later all of the rogue holographic programs were weeded out and shut down. Since the Titan's sensors were still down the repair crew had to finish their task with the station's sensor grid, and once completed they used it to scan for the missing members of the away team. They found Mister Dur tied up in a closet off of the Operations Center and the Captain tied and gagged in that Station Commanders office. It took a while longer to locate the Doctor but eventually, his mobile emitter was found on the floor of a hallway, near the infirmary. When the entire away team was reassembled, and each had related their stories: it was decided that Dur and the Captain would check the Array's logs to see if the Maquis had indeed opened communications with the Delta Quadrant. If they had, they would try to discover if they had actually contacted a lost Federation ship: and if that was true Fleet HQ had some questions to answer. It was found that all of the holo-characters that the had met had been taken from Reg Barclay's old quarters by B'Elanna Torres, and set up to be used as a diversion and delaying tactic. Although being annoyed at falling for it, Riker couldn't help but admire Torres' ingenuity. The also discovered that the Enterprise had indeed contacted Captain Uhura. Will decided then and there to open communications with the lost Enterprise B, and to keep them open. "Mister Dur, let's learn how to use this array and open some communications with the Delta Quadrant." TODAY Head to Head Captain Picard had been warned by Riker that the Maquis Enterprise was on her way, and he was waiting. The Federation had known for some time that the Borg had been rebuilding the Collectives Trans-Warp Conduits and had kept starships in the vicinity to monitor the Conduit's activities. Fortunately, this entrance had not seen activation since the Voyager had returned home through it. The last ship to monitor the opening was Voyager: and they should have still been here. Captain Picard, knowing nothing of Voyagers discovery of the Enterprise B's high warp message torpedo, couldn't understand the starship's absence. Knowing that this was the Maquis' destination, he could only fear that they might have surprised the Voyager and somehow caused their destruction. The only other option that seemed likely was that they were displatched by the Borg, and he'd rather face the Maquis than the Borg any day. Placing the newest Enterprise on yellow alert, he took station at the entrance to the Conduit and awaited the arrival of the Maquis. The older Enterprise traveled for three hours before uncloaking. They had defeated the only known ship in the area and were anxious to begin their journey to the Delta Quadrant. Their plan was really quite simple. If the Conduit were again open, B'Elanna would use the codes that Voyager had previously discovered, to open the Conduit. They would then cloak, enter the Conduit and travel as far as they could, all of the time hoping that the Borg wouldn't be looking for a cloaked ship. If the Conduit wouldn't open, they would use the Bajoran wormhole to go to the Gamma Quadrant, and there attempt to access a Conduit that Seven of Nine had claimed was there. If that too failed, they would try to build a slipstream drive, and if that too failed, they would have to look for another way. Ro suggested petitioning Q, but no one really knew how to contact the Continuum. But pessimism was useless. So far everything had gone according to plan, so the crew felt only unbridled optimism. "Mister Spock, how long till we reach the border?" "Approximately seventy-eight point two four minutes Captain." With a grin the captain said, "Approximately… seventy-eight point two four minutes? That sounds like quite an approximation Mister Spock." "I do try to be accurate." "I think that you succeed." "Sir?" It was the helmsman. "Go ahead." "A large vessel is blocking our path. Sir it's the Enterprise." "Damn! I was hoping to avoid this. Mister Scott, take us to Red Alert. Let's hope that we don't have to come to blows with Captain Picard." "Aye. That's a good thing to hope for Laddie. I doubt that this old girl would stand up to a ship like the Enterprise E." "Captain Picard?" "What is it Mr. Hought?" "A Constitution Class Starship has just entered the system at high warp. I'm bringing it up on the screen sir… NCC-1701A… it's the Enterprise A sir." "Damn! I was hoping that it wouldn't come to this." "As was I sir." "Hail them Mister Hought." Tom Riker called over to the Captain. "Chakotay, we're being hailed." "On screen Lieutenant." The smiling face of Jean-Luc Picard came into view on the viewscreen of the older ship. "This Captain Jean-Luc Picard, of the Federation Starship Enterprise. Who do I have the pleasure of speaking to?" Rising, the Native American said, "I am Chakotay, Captain of the Federation Starship Enterprise" and then he bowed politely, and continued, "Retired. The ship that is, not her Captain. How may I help you Captain Picard?" "You can lower your shields, and surrender your vessel." "That I cannot do. Anything else I can do for you? If not we must really be on our way." "That I cannot allow. I am strict orders to stop you from traveling through Borg space. The Federation, cannot afford to have the Borg reminded that we are still here." "If you believe that the Borg have forgotten about us, you really don't know the Borg at all." At this Picard almost lost his composure. He had once been assimilated and served the Borg as Locutis. 'How dare this upstart infer that he didn't know the Borg.' "Captain I was once assimilated by the Borg. I assure you I know the Borg!" "Then you know that they will only come back here when they are ready to come back. The Borg feel that they have a destiny to assimilate all intelligent life-forms. Patience is one of the only virtues that they do possess." Deciding to take another tack, Picard lounged back in the comfortable Command Chair. "You know that you are vastly outgunned. Your ship was once a force to be reckoned with, but her time has passed. Your Enterprise cannot hope to defeat a modern warship like this Enterprise." "Did you know that that was almost exactly the same thing that Captain Riker said before we defeated him? For the record, why are you trying to stop us?" "We have orders from Admiral Paris to do so. Even so, I would have detained you anyway to find out what you have done with the Voyager." Looking truly surprised, Chakotay registered a stunned reply. "What about the Voyager?" "She's not here, like she's supposed to be: but you are. You're not going anywhere until I know what you did to her." Now Chakotay was feeling indignation. "Captain Picard: do you know who I am? Do you know who most of my crew are?" "I'm given to understand that you are Maquis terrorists. I see Ro Laren, who once betrayed me to the Maquis, and Tom Riker who did likewise. Need I know more?" "I would say so! I am Chakotay! For the seven years that we were in the Delta Quadrant I was First Officer of Voyager, and most of my crew on this ship, were the crew of the Voyager. It was our home for over seven years, and none of us would ever see harm come to her, any more than you could wish to damage a ship that you had once served on." "My apologies Captain. Do you know why she is not here?" "I do. She received a message from a starship lost in the Delta Quadrant and took it back to Starfleet HQ. Last I knew, she was in Romulan space with Admiral Janeway." "That was the last I knew also: I have heard nothing about a lost ship but the Mission Board shows them as being here.' "Then I don't know either. We are attempting a rescue mission to help that stranded ship. Now will you stand aside?" "Let me contact Admiral Paris first." "Certainly. I would much rather settle this peacefully." As the two ships waited at station keeping for a reply from HQ: they sat silently with their thoughts. Picard looked at Ro Laren and Tom Riker envisioning the, what might have beens, had neither of them ever met up with the Maquis: and what rankled him the most, was that it was he himself who had delivered her into their hands. The guilt he felt for that act would put a cloud over him for all of his days. Ro had been his personal protégé and he had purposely put her in apposition that she wasn't ready to handle: and as a consequence. He had loved her as a mentor and now he was being ordered to be the one to arrest her. Who says that Fate doesn't have a sense of irony? And Lieutenant Riker: for all intents and purposes, Tom Riker was Will Riker, and Picard had never had a closer or truer friend. It was he that got Tom posted on the Ghanges before he had been able to be rehabilitated after his eight year ordeal of isolation. It was Jean-Luc Picard who pushed him back into his career, without giving him time to heal. He saw only Will Riker in Tom. Where one was a confident whole, was the other one a shattered man who needed to be reinforced before being pushed too hard? Had Picard reinforced him enough? Was Tom sitting in that char over ob that Maquis ship, because Captain Picard had failed him? And there sat B-4. What had Picard ever done for this poor mockery of his dear friend Data? He tolerated him for a while, and when he became inconvenient, he had him disassembled and put in a closet. Perhaps he had failed B-4 the most. From the Maquis Enterprise, a feeble, slightly out of tune voice said, "Brother?" And from the sleek newer Enterprise, Commander Data responded. "Yes B-4, it is I: your brother. Are you well?" "Well?" "Are you happy? Are they taking care of you?" "They put me back together." "I am happy for that brother. Have you met our other Brother? Lore?" "Other brother? No. Is he nice… brother?' "Not always, but I do have hopes that he will be some day." "I am B-4." "Yes, I know." After which they waited in silence. Another two hours passed quietly, with little discussion around either Bridge. Both crews waited with impatience for Admiral Paris' reply. Finally, Lieutenants Ro and Hought spoke at nearly the same time. "Subspace disturbance materializing sir. I think that the Conduit is opening." Picard shouted "Hard a port full impulse!" While Chakotay shouted similar orders on the older ship. Both ship barely got out of the way when a Borg reconnaissance sphere materialized at the opening of the conduit, and traveled onward. Chakotay spoke first, "Captain Picard. Why don't we put our differences aside for now and work together to stop that Borg ship." "Acknowledged. Target his propulsion arrays, while we take out her weapons." "Agreed." The two Enterprises spiraled inward to avoid the Borg tractor beams, The larger Enterprise unloosed her massive phaser blasts on the sphere, while the smaller Enterprise showered her enemy with photon torpedoes. The first volley tore holes in the Borg ship which then ground to a stop. Before the Borg were able to adapt their shields to the phaser modulations, Picard was able to eliminate seventy percent of the Borg's offensive capabilities. They had caught the Borg with its pants down, but they no longer had the element of surprise. The sphere hit Picard's ship with her cutting beams and tore a large rent through the cargo holds. He was fortunate and hoped that he hadn't lost any men there. His anger gripped him. "Mister Hought: return fire! Fire photon torpedoes!" Only two of them impacted before the Borg adapted and the rest of the torpedoes proved useless. Since the sphere was motionless, Chakotay brought his ship in fast and furious, taking what shots he could, rocketing quickly past the Borg and then turning for another pass. His hit and run tactics proved no more potent than Picards attempt to hammer the Borg blow for blow. All of the time, they could see the Borg ship repairing itself. Their time was limited. Chakotay pulled back and hailed Picard. "Captain we need to try something new. Pull your ship back to a safe position." "Agreed." When both ship had rendezvoused he then asked. "Have you got anything new, Captain?" 'Grandson. Hear me. Your enemy cannot handle your communications.' Realizing what he meant, Chakotay hailed Picard. "I have an idea Captain, but I'll need your help. Can you create an artificial gravity well?" Looking at Geordi, who gave him a brief nod, he answered. "Certainly. But I happen to know that a gravity well has been tried to be used as a weapon against the Borg to no success." "I wasn't planning on using the well against them, I have something else in mind. If you create your well at this, " he tapped in a set of coordinates, "location, I think that we'll have a surprise for them. If I'm right, you'll see the results immediately. Then we will both swoop in and finish them off. Agreed?" "Agreed. We'll be ready to proceed in forty eight seconds." "We'll be ready." The time seemed to drag on forever, while both crews watched the Borg vessel repair itself. Forty eight seconds later a beam stabbed out from the Enterprise E's deflector array, and gravity well opened at the appointed place. Another beam stabbed out to the gravity well from the Enterprise A, and the Borg ship started to unravel itself. The Borg sphere was sliced in half longitudinally, then latitudinally. Like a sliced apple the once ship was quickly becoming unpeeled. Explosion erupted throughout the once vessel and smoke blossomed forth from within. Cheers rose on both Enterprises, just before the modified deflector array on Picards ship shorted out and blew. Picard felt the ship shudder, "Mister LaForge! Report! Can we still make our attack run?" "Affirmative captain. Only secondary systems were effected: weapons and shields are at one hundred percent." "Excellent. Make you attack run Mister Worf." Both Starfleet vessels made their runs and pounced on the damaged Borg ship, peppering it with wave after wave of photon torpedoes that impacted with the surface now that there were no more Borg shields to stop them. Within minutes, the sphere had been reduced to so much pea-sized wreckage and smoke. Picard stared in amazement. After long minutes he again hailed the Enterprise A. "It seems that your plan worked. What exactly did you do?" "Have you ever heard Project Pathfinder, captain Picard?" "I have. A former member of my crew, a Reg Barclay, was the one who discovered the process of using a gravity well to open a micro wormhole to the Delta Quadrant. It was really quite brilliant." "Well, that's what we did. During our time at the MIDAS Array, we built a duplicate of the array on this ship. We knew that we never had enough power on the Enterprise to open a wormhole all of the way to the Delta Quadrant, but we thought that if we were already in the Delta Quadrant, we could use it to communicate with the Enterprise B." "So you opened a wormhole in through body of the Borg ship. By moving your beam slightly, you were able to scatter the particles of the ship all over creation and effectively slice it to pieces. That was a brilliant strategy, and we should be able to use it against the Borg in the future. The Alpha Quadrant owes a lot to Mister Barclay and whoever it was in your ship that came up with that plan." "It was something that my Grandfather said to me. Sir, I want you to know that to us on this ship, Reg Barclay already is considered a great man, and we will forever be in his debt. You were lucky to have been able to work with such a man." "I'm beginning to see that now. I'm afraid that when he was on the Enterprise he never really received the respect that he deserved… the respect that anyone deserves. Being the flagship of Starfleet, the Enterprise was filled with Type A personalities: everybody fought hard to get there. Mister Barclay is a gentle man, who I fear was overwhelmed by those around him." Seeing the pain in her former Captain's face Ro sought to ease his pain. "Captain, I knew Reg too. You were always very good to your crew. Look at how Data had been welcomed with open arms. Reg was lucky to be assigned to the Enterprise: but he might have been more at home on a more relaxed ship. He would be welcomed with us for example." "Perhaps Data's an exception. I didn't do much for poor B-4 there." "That's all right. He's loved here sir. His innocence is refreshing. We're a crew of people who have always tried to do the right thing and been mistreated by our own people. We are all damaged people here, but we have each other. We need someone like B-4, who also needs us." "Tom and I are accepted here too. Would you tell Will that Tom and I are planning to be married?" After absorbing that bit of information, he continued with tear dampened eyes, "I'm happy for you Ro." Interrupting, Hought said. "Captain: Admiral Paris has ordered you to force the Maquis to surrender ofrto destroy them." Shaking his head, Picard muttered, 'That's just not right.' Deciding to lead with respect, Picard relayed the message to the older ship. "Captain Chakotay. Admiral Paris has ordered you to surrender or be destroyed. Can you show me a reason that I shouldn't follow those orders?' "Captain Picard. We too are under orders to complete our mission." "Can you tell me who gave those orders so that I can confirm them?" "We are under the orders of several people. Admiral Hikaru Sulu, who is on board the Enterprise B, was one." "You know that I can't confirm those orders, even if his commission is still active. You'll have to do better than that." The turbolift door behind Chakotay opened and three figures stepped onto the vintage Bridge who Picard definitely knew. "Admiral McCoy. Ambassador Spock. Captain Scott. This does put me in a quandary. Is this vessel operating under your authority?' Spock gave the traditional Vulcan salute, "Picard, friend of my father, and friend of mine. Live Long and Prosper." Returning the salute Picard gave the traditional response. "Peace and Long Life Ambassador." "Captain Picard, as you must know, Admiral McCoy is retired, and Captain Scott does not have the authority to override Admiral Paris' orders. This ship is under the authority of the Vulcan Ambassadorial Corps." "You understand Ambassador that I do not take orders from the Vulcan Ambassadorial Corps?' "I do: and thus our dilemma." At this Chakotay reentered the debate. "Captain, perhaps the question that you should be asking, is why is Admiral Paris giving such an order? I served for years with his son Tom, and these don't seem like the orders of a Paris." Unfortunately, Picard had been wondering the same thing: but still he had his orders. "I don't know for sure why he is so opposed to sending a rescue mission to the Delta Quadrant: but what just happened here, has convinced me that the Borg are still a threat. I am convinced that it wouldn't be wise to thumb our noses at them. For that reason, I cannot let you enter that Conduit." Spock looked up and said, "I am displeased to hear you say that Captain. Do you know why Captain Kirk had the record of success that he did? It was because he always had a few surprises for his opponents. We were there, and we learned to have a few surprises ourselves. Do not force our hand." "Was that a threat Ambassador? Well, do your best. I think that you'll find us prepared as well." Looking to Worf. "Cut communications, go to Red Alert. All hands to battle stations." The ships lighting changed to a shade of red, and each crewmember knew his place and quickly returned to their stations. The most powerful of Enterprises raised her shields, and charged her weapons. As Worf scanned his board, he saw and deflected the first attack. "Sir, they just tried to override our controls and shut down our engines. They failed in their attempt." "That would be Mister Scott. Very good Commander, target their engines and open fire." At that moment, the Enterprise A cloaked and moved off. The powerful phaser bolts impacted on no target. "Photon Torpedoes Commander. Full spread. Let's try to get them before they get too far away. They Maquis ship felt the torpedoes exploding all around them, but only one struck a glancing blow to their shields. "Full stop!" Ordered Chakotay. "Let them look for us." The aged Admiral reminded him, "Have you read Captain Kirk's old logs, like I told you to do? This situation is very much like another one, long ago." Chakotay had read them, and he knew what the Doctor was referring to but he hesitated to go there. Not yet anyway. "I read them, and I don't want to destroy that ship out there. They're not my enemy." "Well you're gonna have to do something boy." "Helm, bring us in as close as you can and prepare to uncloak. Prepare to target their weapons arrays only." The main problem with a cloaked ship, was that you had to uncloak to be able to fire your weapons, and Captain Picard knew that. They also knew that Picard had fought many cloaked vessels before and would know how to counter any regular attack that they might launch: so they had to out think him. "Scotty, launch the cloaked decoys." "Decoys away." It was Tom Riker who came up with the idea of a cloaked decoy. The decoys would travel to the far side of an enemy ship and start to uncloak. Once the enemies sensors detected a ship uncloaking, they would concentrate their defense on the presumed uncloaking vessel. Once they were distracted, the Enterprise A would uncloak, make their attack and recloak. "Decoys in place Captain." "Initiate Decoyed Attack Sequence!" Worf's deep voice shouted, "Decloaking Vessel off starboard." "Repel them Mister Worf." And the mighty phasers blasted the decoys. While the phasers were firing, and the sensors were blinded, Chakotay uncloaked and strafed the various weapons arrays on the newer ship and recloaked. "Report! What happened Mister Hought?" "Another ship uncloaked and blindsided us sir. Now that I know this tactic, they won't be able to do it again." "I hope not. Mister Worf, fire another spread of photon torpedoes: maximum dispersion." The weapons fired once again. The Captain was heard muttering under his breath, 'I hate fighting cloaked ships.' One of the torpedoes impacted directly on the Chakotays shields and their engines were damaged. Scotty quickly shut them down for repairs before they could start to leak any plasma. "Sir, it's gonna take me at least four hours to get these dears up and running again. Ye'll have to keep things quiet until we can move again." McCoy gloated, "I told you so boy. You're gonna have to use the weapon." "I won't kill the crew of one Enterprise so that I can try to rescue the Crew of another." "Then give them fair warning. They can outrun it, so let them outrun it." "OK Doctor, we'll try it your way. Scotty, have B'Elanna rig up one of the Decoys with a recorded warning message. Scotty, I want you operating the weapon. Ro, as soon as they have cleared the Conduit, send the signal to open it and take us in. We only need a few seconds to get into it." "What if they follow us?" "They won't" Picard ordered a sensor sweep for the Constitution class ship, but many of her sensors had been damaged when they created the gravity well. Hours crept by with no indications of her whereabouts. Finally they detected a vessel uncloaking beside them. True to his word, Mister Hought saw that it was just another decoy, but he was surprised that there was no attack that followed. Instead it transmitted a message. Captain Picard. I have too much respect for you to be the Instrument of your death, so I'm giving you a warning. If You study the records of Captain Kirk's first encounter With a Romulan ship, you'll see that the Romulans employed A Plasma Weapon that no amount of shielding can offer Protection. If you go to maximum warp right away, you'll Be able to easily outrun it. We will fire within the minute. Please heed my warning, and don't burden my conscience With your deaths. Adieu Mon Capitain. Data's fingers moved blindingly fast over his console. "He's right Captain, there was such a weapon. It has also been suggested that it was …" "Not now Data." The Enterprise uncloaked and a blast of Plasma streaked at Picard's ship. "Full astern! Maximum Warp!" and the ship was gone in a flash. From her long-range sensors, the Enterprise E could see the Enterprise A leap forward and enter the conduit. They were gone. Conference + the journey has begun % as it must * picard will not be satisfied with this % that is as it should be + he will not be alone * they will not be alone % they will be watched + that is our function % as it has always been Transit Chakotay had been in the conduit before, but this was different. This time he was rushing headlong into danger, instead of fleeing from it. This time he had a map of the Conduits and Hubs: and most importantly, this time he had time to be prepared. Just before they entered the Conduit they activated the cloaking device: knowing that as long as they let the Conduit pull them along, they wouldn't have to use the engines, with the exception of short bursts when they were turning: and they knew that if they didn't activate their engines, there would be no plasma trails or quantum eddies to notify the Borg that they were passing through. The only points of danger were at the two junction points where they had to make their turns. Four hours into the journey they had passed and traveled alongside dozens of Cubes without being noticed, but they were approaching the Hub where they would make their first turn. The Hub was filled with hundreds of Cubes, but they seemed to be engaged in a battle of some sort. There were Borg Cubes and Spheres being beset by what appeared to Jem Hadar fighter craft. If that were indeed what they were seeing there might be some sort of war between the Dominion and the Borg. That could only be a good thing, Chakotay felt, from his standpoint. They fired a short burst of their starboard engines, which sent them down a different Conduit. Unlike the first Conduit, this one was nearly devoid of traffic and they traveled unmolested for another two and a half hours: at which point they neared the second Hub. The next Hub had sustained damage, but was still usable. Few Borg vessels were to be seen, Chakotay assumed that they must have been pulled away to the main Borg engagement at the first Hub. Either way he didn't care, because it allowed the short burst from their port engines to go completely unnoticed. They had successfully made the transit to the final Conduit in their journey. This was a Conduit that Chakotay had never traveled before. It was one that should deposit them near the crippled Enterprise B: but the farther along that they traveled, the more damage that they could see to had been done to the structure. It soon became obvious that it might not take them all the way before it was completely unraveled. The Enterprise barreled forward for three more hours, but the more damaged the Conduit became, the more turbulent the ride became, until eventually the ship was rattling and shaking so badly that he thought that they might be destroyed. He ordered Scotty to divert all power to the Inertial Dampeners, and Structural Field Integrity, but the ride continued to roughen, and his teeth rattled together dangerously. It was no wonder that this Conduit was unused. The roar of the passage became deafening and it seemed that it would go on forever. Suddenly they were disgorged and all was silent. The shaking stopped but the ship groaned and tumbled end over end: while Lieutenant Ro struggled with the controls in an attempt at righting the ship, and returning them to stability. After a few tense moments the ship was wrestled to a stop. Everyone sat in their seats panting in exhaustion. They had made it. They were in the Delta Quadrant. After a quick scan of the surrounding space, to make sure that they were relatively secure: Chakotay ordered a day of rest. His crew had been through an enormous amount of pressure over the past few days, and very few chances to relax and celebrate since they had been incarcerated. They desperately needed it and they had earned it. The sole exception had been Ambassador Spock, who insisted on taking the time to confirm their position, and to use long-range scanners to find a gravity well. He had remembered how slow communications had been in the Enterprise B's time, and, illogical as it may be, he was anxious to contact his old shipmates, and let them know that they had safely made the transit. Some crewmembers lay down for a long well deserved nap, while some of the younger members had a sing-a-long. On the Bridge, Doctor McCoy sat sipping a mint julep, and listened to the singing and celebration on the intercom. "Lord Spock, how I've missed this!" "As have I Doctor. As have I." Twenty-four hours later they were ready to depart. They were slightly off course from where they thought that they would wind up, but they were still within spitting distance of the stranded ship. They had one last duty to perform before they moved on. Chakotay gave the order. "Ro, if you would send the signal." She again sent the signal that should open the Conduit, and it did open, but it was a ragged violent storm that met their eyes: a red devouring maw that ominously appeared as the depths of hell itself. At the Science Station, Spock scanned the anomaly. "If we try to enter here, we will be torn to pieces. We won't be able to use this Conduit to get home again." After a long silence, Chakotay said, "Then we'll have to find another way. Tom, Spock has found a gravity well five point two light years from our present position. Please take us there and position us to open communications with Admiral Sulu and Captain Uhura." They aligned the Enterprise with the gravity well and dropped their cloak. The cloak drained so much of their power that there wouldn't have been enough left to open a wormhole. When they were finally in place, Ambassador Spock, gave the order. "Open the wormhole Mister Scott." The beam lanced outward, creating another micro-wormhole. "Wormhole established Laddie." "Very good. Lieutenant Ro, please open hailing frequencies." "Done sir." "This Ambassador Spock, calling the U.S.S. Enterprise." "Saavik here. It is nice to hear from you sir. Were you able to make the passage successfully?" "We were. We are now in the delta Quadrant. I have estimated that we will arrive at your location in sixty seven point three two four standard days." "The Captain will be happy to hear that sir. It has been a long time. I personally have spent six point three four years out of stasis. Sir, we have suffered several attacks by the indigenous space faring races in the past several years. We have been able to defend ourselves up to now, but we can't for much longer. Do you have the replacement parts that Admiral Sulu requested?" "We have everything that you'll need Commander. You should awaken your crew soon to make your preparations for a major overhaul." "Yes sir. Spock… you addressed yourself as Ambassador. Does that mean that you are no longer in Starfleet?" "I left Starfleet long ago. Surprisingly, Doctor McCoy stayed with the Fleet until last year. When he retired, Admiral McCoy had been the longest serving human in Fleet history. Only Captain Scott presently holds a commission on this ship." "And that ship is… ?" "Why the Enterprise of course. The same one that many of you had served on so long ago." Plots Within Plots Admiral Janeway found the climate of Romulus much more agreeable that that of Vulcan. When the first Romnlans emigrated from Vulcan to Romulus, they made a good choice. Why, she had to wonder, did some of them now want to emigrate to the Large Magellanic Cloud? On a hilltop overlooking the city she picked a flower and found that she missed her dog. It was a disaster for her when she was whisked away to the far side of the galaxy before she could have him shipped aboard. It was bad enough that she had lost her fiancé as an upshot of being lost, but she was also deprived of her dog. When she returned home, she found her and vowed never to let herself be separated from Molly again: which was a major reason that she accepted the Admiralty: so that she wouldn't have to abandon her again. Unfortunately the Romulans wouldn't let her beam him down with Molly, and they were again separated: she was feeling somewhat lost without her. She'd been here too long and was longing to see a friendly face. It was a beautiful park, in the spring of the Romulan year. There were families and lovers walking aimlessly. It was nice to see that people were basically everywhere: and it was uplifting to see love flourishing in the faces of people that she had been raised to think of as enemies. As she was lost in her melancholy, one couple strolled to within a few paces of her. Chatting quietly between themselves, the couple nonchalantly turned to her. She looked up in their faces, truly noticing them for the first time. She had been longing to see a friendly face, and there it was. "Hello Admiral. It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" Although he had been surgically altered, she knew him in a second. "Harry? Harry Kim, what are you doing here?" With a grin he said, "It's good to see you too." She reached out as if to hug him, but thinking better of it, turned the motion into a stretch. Harry was dressed in the clothing of a member of the Romulan labor caste. Turning to the young woman with him she quickly sized her up. She too was dressed in the clothing of the labor caste, but her bearing was that of the aristocracy. Her short blonde hair was cut in the latest style that was most popular with the military. "Harry, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" "Oh sure. Admiral Kathryn Laneway, this is Sela. She's a full Commander in the Romulan fleet, but she's also a representative of the Tal Shiar: Romulan Intelligence. We've come to offer you some help in your investigation." "Forgive me for asking Harry, but where have you been for so long, and how do you come to be here," waving her arm over Harry's body, "disguised like that?" Deciding that she was one of the few people that he could trust, he winced and started. "Ma'am, a while back I was recruited into a special division in Starfleet Intelligence. Eventually they sent me here, to make contact with Sela here. She had quietly made contact with Starfleet, to warn us that some of the top leaders of the Tal Shiar had been acting strangely." "Usually the Tal Shiar reports to the Senate on all of their operations, but not recently. She has, from the periphery, noticed operations that have been kept from the Senate entirely. This flies in the face of law, and in the face of tradition. This shouldn't be possible: but it is. When she reported these activities to her supervisors, she was placed on an elimination list and has been in hiding ever since." Stepping up to look the Admiral in the face, Sela decided to tell the rest of the story herself. "The Tal Shiar and the Cardassian Obsidian Order have long had a cordial working relationship: and if truth were to be told, with Starfleet Intelligence as well. All of our Intelligence Services generally have cordial relationships and the operatives of the various Services are often on a first name basis: therefore I sought out one of Obsidian Order seeking asylum. When I tried to make contact, I found that the Obsidian Order was never reinstituted after the Dominion War like the Tal Shiar had been: so I turned to Starfleet Intelligence: which led me to Harry." Taking it all in stride, Kathryn pushed beyond her suspicions and decided to, for the moment, take things at face value. "And why have you now come to me?" Taking the lead, Harry answered. "Because you have been asking a few too many questions about one of the leaders of this group, and you needed to be warned about him." "And that leader would be?" "It was Over Centurion Zeral who ordered Sela's elimination, and we've been told that if you keep poking around in his affairs, yours too. We know some of the projects that he's involved with, but we can't really piece together what his motives are." "Well Harry: that I think I can provide. Over a decade ago, an alien race infiltrated many of the top brass in Starfleet HQ. They were similar to the Trill, in that they would live a symbiotic life with the host individual, but unlike the Trill, they would forcefully take over a person's body and memories, and turn them into unwilling puppets. It was only through the greatest stroke of luck, that Jean-Luc Picard of the Enterprise stumbled on to this plot and was able to stop the aliens." "After the attempted coup was prevented, Starfleet Medical have set up stringent checks from Starfleet ever being infiltrated again. One of the signs of infiltration, is a special mark that is left on the back of the victims neck. Over Centurion Zeral has such a mark on the back of his neck. The Romulan Empire is being quietly conquered even as we speak." Frowning, Harry had that look of a man who had just seen all of the puzzle pieces drop into place. "And you say that Starfleet has taken measures to insure that it never happens again? What about the other branches of the Government? Has Starfleet Intelligence been protected in the same way?" Getting one of those bad feelings, Kathryn shook her head. "I don't know. Why?' "Because there are people in SI that are acting like the Over Centurion. Do ou know where Chakotay and the other Maquis members of the crew have disappeared to?" Kathryn numbly shook her head, and Harry continued. "Admiral Paris, had been ordered by SI to keep them locked up in a prison camp, until recently. They'd still be locked up, if it weren't for Captain Sulu accidentally discovering them. Ambassador Spock led a commando mission, which freed them. His group had operate under the strictest secrecy so that SI couldn't stop them until they were in a place of complete safety." "And are they in such a place by now?" "Yes Ma'am. They should be approaching Ocampa any day now." Approaching Ocampa The Delta Quadrant can really be a beautiful place if one looks beyond its inhabitants, and in that realm, they sport some of the best and some of the worst. The Ocampa people belong among the former. It had been almost two weeks since the Enterprise had survived her transit through the Transwarp Conduit, and they had made good time on their journey. Traveling cloaked might have been safer, but it meant that their sensors weren't able to function optimally; so they were mostly uncloaked. On the fourth day, the sensors picked up a Talaxian trading vessel. The Talaxians were another one of those people that were among the best of the Delta Quadrant. During the Voyager's time in that space, the Talaxians were some of her most loyal allays: indeed, one of the Talaxian Traders, Neelix by name, joined the crew of Voyager, and proved himself to be a pearl of great price, who had saved the ship on numerous occasions. Chakotay, knowing that it had been more than a decade since he had last seen Ocampa knew that, with the inhabitants seven to eight year life spans, there was little likelihood of any of those Ocampans that he knew still being alive. When the Talaxian Vessel was sighted, he decided that it might not be a bad idea to gather a little intel: and a Talaxian Trader was usually pretty good at keeping an eye on things that might affect his business. That also made them a good source of information. "B-4, please plot us an intercept course with that Talaxian Ship there. When you get to three hundred kilometers of it, please bring us to a complete stop." B-4 replied with a simple, "OK." By now Chakotay had learned that B-4 could do almost anything that his brother could do, if you explained things to him completely and unambiguously. The android's main problem wasn't his understanding of what you said: it was that he had never received any of the subroutines, which would allow him to make independant decisions. Chakotay had come to look at him as a loveable younger brother, who needs to be led about by the hand. "Tom, would you please open hailing channels, F-22. If I remember correctly, those are the Frequencies used by Delta Quadrant Traders for hailing each other." "Hailing frequencies open sir." "Thanks Tom." Straightening his uniform, and trying to look as friendly as he could, Chakotay made his call. "This is Captain Chakotay of the Starship Enterprise, formerly of the Starship Voyager: calling the Talaxian Trading vessel. We bring tidings from your countryman Neelix, and request a visit to renew acquaintances with your people, and catch up on how things have transpired in our absence." "Captain Chakotay, I am Betyx, Captain of the Rhotaar. I have heard of Neelix: he is an Honorable Trader." In the Delta trading community, there are few compliments more respected than that of Honorable Trader. "I would be honored to meet with a friend of Neelix. After he left with the Voyager, we have lost track of him and feared for his safety. Any word of him would be most welcome." "You will be glad to know that he is well. He settled on a Talaxian Colony that we found at a great distance. He found love and family, which ended his wanderlust. I spoke with him just a week ago: just before we began our journey back to this place. His wife had just had another son. It is a time of great joy for him." "That my friend is good to hear. Let us meet and swap stories. Would you like to come aboard the Rhotaar, or should I join you on your Enterprise?" "As you prefer, my friend." "Why don't you open your bay doors and I'll come aboard your ship: it's so much bigger than mine, and I could do with a good stretch of the legs." "We'll be waiting for you." Chakotay and B'Elanna met Betyx in the shuttle bay and gave him the coordinates for the world where Neelix settled down, then proceeded to give him a tour of the Enterprise, after he had cautiously locked up his ship. The Talaxian was amazed at the sheer size of the Enterprise, and astounded by how many crewmembers she held. It quickly became obvious to him that this was the most advanced vessel that he had ever been privileged to behold. "This ship is even larger than the Voyager isn't it?" Strolling alongside the short Talax, the tattooed Captain of the Enterprise spoke openly. "You're right: it is larger than Voyager. It's also much older than Voyager, but she has just had a refit and is probably about equal with Voyager in most other areas: although Voyager still has a higher top speed." "It's just like new. I never would have known that it was an older model if you wouldn't have told me." Pleased with the compliment, Chakotay continued the tour. He demonstrated the transporter technology, which was generally unknown in this area of space, and gave him a tour of the general layout of the Galaxy in the astrometrics lab, finishing with the holodeck before moving on to the Bridge. Betyx was nearly overwhelmed with the standards of what he considered as luxury on the large ship. "If your Voyager was anything like this ship, I can see why Neelix would have wanted to spend time on it." He said when he saw the holodeck. What surprised Chakotay, was that the thing that most impressed Betyx, was the replicator. He could see the value of not having to drag arounds stores of goods, which would take up so much room that could be used instead for precious cargo. Although he had been interested in the sights and sounds of the many other worlds in the distant Federation, which he had been shown on the Holodeck: it was as nothing compared to being able to sample the cuisines of the exotic lands. There are few things that personify a people more than to taste their foods. The spaciousness of the Bridge, after the cramped confines of what passed for a bridge on his one-man Trading Vessel, seemed almost opulent. The friendliness and blatant camaraderie there, almost made the thought of returning to the lonely Bridge of his ship seem unbearable. Talaxians are generally a gregarious people and greatly enjoy the company of family and friends. Still it was his ship, he was proud of her and loved her in his own way. After the tour, Betyx met with several of the senior staff in a well apportioned meeting room, which had a large simulated wood table in the middle, near a large and thick window, with comfortable, well designed chairs that seemed to adjust themselves to the user: a useful feature in a chair that might be used by any of a hundred or so different races of beings. Captain Chakotay sat at the head of the table with Betyx on his right and B'Elanna on his left. At the far end of the table sat three older humans whom he had been informed had served together on this ship, many long years ago. The meeting started off with a bit of small talk and a chance to spend time getting to know each other. After a round of drinks, which had been supplied by the one called Scott, the meeting began in earnest. Brushing back his long blonde hair, which showed off his brilliant orange and yellow spotted hairline, which Betyx was very proud of, he decided that it was time to talk shop. "Well my friends, I know that you didn't give me a call just to make acquaintances, so why don't you tell me how I in my little ship can be of service to you." As Captain, it fell to Chakotay to take the lead in most negotiations, although Spock, as always, stood ready to offer assistance if ever any were required. "My friend, I commend you for your perceptiveness, we do indeed seek information. We seek only to be brought up to date on the affairs of this area of space: but we're doubly elated when we are able to make new friends in the process. We have been away from this place for nearly a decade and are curious about what surprises we might expect." "I can't agree more with you. As a trader, I know the importance of having both good information and good friends. I'll be overjoyed to help you in any way that I can. If you can show me your flight plan, I can tell you what to expect in that area." "If you look at the screen before you, you'll see our three destinations. We wish to first look in on the Ocampans, and see how they are faring. We had an Ocampan crewmember on Voyager, so we have tender feelings toward her people." "I have bad news for you there. Three years ago, the Ocampan people were forced to leave their underground homes. They had run out of supplies, and since their supplier was now gone, they had to seek sustenance elsewhere, but they didn't find much on the surface. Within a year, most of them had died of deprivation. Then the Kazon came and offered them the protection of becoming a conquered world. They exchanged starvation for slavery and subjection. The Ocampans were such a wonderful people too. It's hard to think about how they've been abased." Chakotay felt his heart run cold, and a tension like a closing first around his still beating heart. "We were hoping to give them several replicators that we brought along for that purpose." "That was a nice idea, but it's probably too late now. Where's your second stop?" "The second stop is to check on the Caretakers Array. That was the base for the Ocampan's Protector. We hoped that someone else from his race would have rebuilt it and was now helping the Ocampans. If so we would petition him or her to help us in our return journey when the time came." "I don't know of anything happening there, so I can't really be of much help there. Your last stop?" "Our last stop is a rescue mission. One of our ships has been stranded there for a very long time, and we just recently found out about it. We've brought spare parts and hope to repair their ship, and take them home. If we can't fix it, we'll crowd everyone into this ship and head for home. It wouldn't be pleasant to have that many bodies crammed in here, but we would make do." Looking around, Betix marveled. "This is a huge ship: how many people are you talking about?" "This ship is designed for a crew compliment of over four hundred people. Presently we have about a hundred and fifty on board. The ship that we are traveling to has a crew of almost eleven hundred." "My lord… " "That place on your screen is our ultimate destination." 'That must be why the Vidiians and the Kazon have banded together in that area. For the past couple of years, they have been working on some project in cooperation with each other. That must be it." "That is unfortunate… Still we don't have a lot of choice in the matter: we're going to have to at least try." Chuckling and leaning back in his chair, Scotty commented. "Oh we'll more than be able to try. This ship has had a few additions that even Voyager never had. We'll be able to give the beasties more than a run for their money. From the reports that I've read, I doubt that they've ever encountered a cloaked ship. " "No Mister Scott I suspect that they haven't. I think that maybe we had better use that bit of technology and swing by and see how the Ocampans are faring." Turning to the Talaxian, Chakotay asked his intentions. "Betyx, my friend, we're going to be heading into territory that may be dangerous. Where would you like to be dropped off?" "Actually, I need to go that direction, and I was hoping that I could hitch a ride with you. I think that I'd stand a better chance of surviving the trip with you than by myself." "Well, you're welcome to stay. Secure your ship in the Shuttle Bay, and we'll find some quarters for you." Touching the intraship communications panel he said. "Lieutenant Ro, engage the cloak, and set a course for Ocampa." Conference S they are near the objective C both theirs and ours S and no sign of our adversaries yet T that is to be expected C and to be hoped for S let us hope that we are not forced to act T that would be distasteful C there is still much left to do T and if they are destroyed by those not our enemies? S unfortunate but not our problem C if so we will observe S such is our function Deep Space Twelve Captain Picard brought the Enterprise to station keeping, at a distance of twenty kilometers from the Array: the Titan was already docked and making repairs. Riker and his crew had already made the station fully functional, and removed all of the booby traps. Picard was still kicking himself for being tricked like a rank amateur and letting the older Enterprise escape. He assumed that they not as well trained as Starfleet personnel and underestimated them. Standing, he straightened his tunic and said, "I'm beaming over to the station." Falling back on years of routine, and giving no thought to Data's recent revival, he said, "Data, you're with me: Mister Worf, you have the con." Data said, "Captain, it will take me a few minutes to adjust my mobile emitter. Please stand by." That flew in the face of Picard's routine. He made a mental note that he was going to have to get used to a few new routines. 'Perhaps', he thought, 'that it'll be a good thing. Maybe he was getting too set in his own ways.' But then he smiled and thought fondly, 'But isn't it nice to have Data back again.' Ten minutes later they were standing on a transporter pad, waiting for Chief Russell to send them to the station. Although Picard had been using this transporter for years, he still missed the more stylish transporter room on the Enterprise D. That ship was made to carry families and do research: so there were a lot of luxuries, and more thought was given to such niceties as wood grain finishes on Bridge consoles and stylized transporter chambers. What with the Borg attacks and the Dominion Wars, the new ship had been made to be more warship than family dwelling place. Picard understood the changes, but he still missed the hominess of the old ship. Looking up from his melancholy, he simply said, "OK Chief, energize." With a twinkling and rushing sensation, the Enterprise vanished from before his eyes to be replaced by an even more utilitarian transporter room aboard the station. Waiting for them was Captain Riker. "Jean-Luc, Data: it's only been a few days, so I'm sorry to have to meet so soon again, under the circumstances. Let's take a walk. It's not too far to the Conference Room." The door whooshed open for them and they turned right into the main Corridor. It was nicer than the corridors on the ship but nothing as nice as those on Deep Space Nine. "I heard that they got away from you too. I'm sorry to hear that… sort of." "So I guess that you had as much sympathy for them as I did?" "Maybe more. Tom was there you know." "I know: I saw him. Did you know that he and Ro are planning to get married?" "Huh. Should have seen that one coming. Data, how are you feeling, since you got your new body?" "I feel nothing sir. Any emotions that I may have once had were part of my emotion chip, and I no longer have that. I don't believe that there would be a receptacle for it with this body anyway." "I'm sorry to hear that. I know how long you worked to get them." "There is no need for regret, sir. I am no longer capable of feeling regret either." Thinking about it for a second, Riker replied. "You know, the Doctor is a hologram and has emotions: maybe he can help you recover them." "I will have to consult with him on the matter." Riker stopped at a door and tapped the annunciator panel. "Here's the Conference Room now." The door opened for them and they all took their seats, based on standard rank and seating protocols, at the large redwood table. "We'll be joined shortly by Admiral Janeway. I know that we're currently under Owen Paris' command, but I suspect that Admiral Janeway might be the person that we want to talk to." Picard agreed, with further clarification. "There's many a reason to go with Admiral Janeway: she knows the Delta Quadrant better than anybody, she knows many of the crew of the Enterprise A and she was slated to be commanding us right now, if other matters hadn't arisen that got in the way of that happeneing. More than that though, Ambassador Spock and Captain Chakotay said a few things that gave me cause to have doubts in Admiral Paris' orders." A testament to his discipline, Riker blinked only once, and then frowned slightly. "Admiral Spock? That makes sense. We knew that the Vulcan Ambassadorial Corps was involved, but I had forgotten that the Ambassador had served on the Enterprise A. Come to think of it, I think that he served with Captain Uhura of the Enterprise B, and with Admiral Sulu on that same Enterprise A." "Not only that Will, but Captain Scott and Admiral McCoy are on the Maquis Enterprise too." "No wonder that ship was able to perform better than a typical Constitution Class ship. How soon till Admiral Janeway makes contact?" "Soon Will." Twenty minutes later, the annuciator beeped and connection was made with Kathryn Janeway. "Hello gentlemen. I've taken time to read your reports, and have developed a strategy to deal with the situation. On my order, the MIDAS Array is hereby renamed, Deep Space Twelve. It will be used to open communications with the Enterprise B in the Delta Quadrant, and thereafter to offer any technical support to those known space faring friendly races in that Quadrant that we can." "The Titan will be assigned to the station until such a time as it is either closed down, or a replacement crew can be sent there. Commander Troi will be in Command of Deep Space Twelve. I'm sorry Will, but your shakedown crew will be with you a little longer." "Yes Ma'am." "Since Mister Data has been returned to us, and is now able to resume his duties as First Officer of the Enterprise: I am temporarily reassigning Commander Worf to replace Deanna as the First Officer of the Titan. Are there any problems with those assignments?" Looking around the table at the assembled staff, Riker said simply. "No problems sir." "Good. Jean-Luc?" "Yes Admiral?" "As you know, I am currently on Romulus. Voyager was called away and is now out of communications. I am currently on a runabout making my way to your location. I need you to rendezvous with me and bring me to Deep Space Twelve." "Of course Admiral." "One other thing Jean-Luc. The Doctor has contacted me requesting a hearing for two individuals who are now being held by your two ships. He claims that their rights have been violated, and he wishes to plead their cases." "And they would be…?" "An android named Lore, and a sentient hologram named… Professor Moriarty?" Sighing deeply, Picard responded, "With all due respect Admiral…" "Are these individuals being held on your ships?" "They are." "Then they will have their day in court. I have with me three Adjutants, who will hear the cases. The Doctor has offered to plead for them on their behalf: please give him whatever assistance he may require, and also supply a team to argue the case against them. This is a case with far-reaching consequences: I want there to be no doubts as to the validities of the arguments on either side." "I'll see to it Admiral. "Very good. Now on to some personal matters. Off the record, I've found some evidence to justify your concerns of Admiral Paris. We have reason to believe that he has been corrupted by alien parasites, that I believe you have some knowledge of Jean-Luc." "Will and I both have sir." "As you know, I served with Owen Paris' son Tom and his daughter-in-law, B'Elanna Torres. B'Elanna, along with the other Maquis members of my old crew disappeared several years ago. I have had reports that some members of my old crew were on the Enterprise A. Can either of you tell me if you actually talked with any of them? Tom Paris has been very concerned about his wife." Picard took the lead. "I can confirm it sir. Chakotay is Captain of the Enterprise A. B'Elanna Torres is there too. Chakotay told me that all of your missing crewmembers, along with the other Maquis survivors, had been imprisoned in a concentration camp, until they were freed by Ambassador Spock and his group." "Spock? How is he involved in this?' Riker and Picard then explained their conversations with the various members of the Maquis Enterprise people, and how Will had checked with the Vulcan Ambassadorial Corps, who confirmed Spock's authority. Kathryn shook her head, and said. "I really doubt that the Vulcans have the authority to steal a ship out of the shipyards, but I'll accept it for now. Off the record… I applaud them. Again, off the record… let's see if there's any way that we can help them, with the resources of Deep Space Twelve." As the new Commander of Deep Space Twelve, Deanna had to know what the Admiral had in mind. "What have you got planned Admiral?" "Nothing firm yet, but I would like to establish a Federation presence in the Delta Quadrant. There are a lot of fine people in that part of the Galaxy who could benefit greatly from the direct that the Federation could give them." "That's a tall order Admiral." "Then we better roll up our sleeves and get to work." Pain & Enlightenment Sela had left Harry on Romulus to keep an eye on the Over Centurior, while she took a small freighter to Cardassia Prime. She was determined to make contact with an old friend of hers who had once been a member of the Obsidian Order. She had often found that the Tal'Shiar had one great flaw: they were required to report to the Senate. This often hampered enactment of necessary activities. Politics really had no place in an efficient Intelligence Operation. She couldn't count on Starfleet Intelligence, because many of their operatives felt that their organization's powers were limited by the Federation Charter. There were some in that organization that were not so constrained, but she had no way of contacting them. Klingon Intelligence was almost an oxymoron. Of course they had an intelligence service, but it was crippled by the nature of being a Klingon. Klingons were like unstoppable forces and relished head to head battle. There were very few of them who felt that there was any honor with using guile to get what they need. For what she required, she needed the skills of the Obsidian Order. She had heard reports that since the time that her friend had been able to return from his exile after the Dominion Wars: he had quietly worked to reestablish the Order. If anyone was capable of reestablishing the Order it would be he. The freighter settled into its berth at a small spaceport in the minor agricultural trading port of Takar'Naal. The Captain of the ship had been a nice enough Farengi, but awful dull and very lecherous. She was happy to leave his company. Sela was an intelligent young lady who enjoyed the company of those as bright as herself. She hated having to act the part of a dull witted fertilizer sales representative. She knew that on many worlds that would be a position of great prestige: but Romulus was a marshal world. Agriculture in general was looked at mainly as a support service to the troops. Carrying her bag down the ramp to the port inspector's office, she pulled her hood tighter. Standing in the line at customs, she had a few minutes to reflect on her mission. Now that she knew that Zeral was being controlled by an outside, and relatively unknown foe, a lot of things fell into place. The unusual behavior of some members of the Tal'Shiar was beginning to make some sense now. Perhaps that was how a Reman was able to briefly become Praetor. Particularly when he was a clone of Jean-Luc Picard. That was always mystifying. Either way, that was the past. She needed information on the current situation. She needed to have Zeral interrogated by a professional, who wouldn't be swayed by politics or ethics. She needed a torturer, and that meant that she needed the Obsidian Order. She needed Garak. The inspector rifled through her bag, finding nothing out of order, as expected. She would have been a poor operative indeed if they had found anything. Putting the things in her bag back in order, she walked down the ramp and embraced her friend Elam Grarak. "My dear Sela, how nice to see you again. Why don't you come to my place of business and we can discuss your proposal. You know, I have missed you. It will be so nice to work together again." On the ride to the Headquarters of the Obsidian Order, Sela explained the situation to a fascinated Garak, who felt certain that they could come to some sort of agreement. Harry had been staking out the home of Zeral now for three days without sleep. He had been living on stimulants: he also knew that he couldn't continue that way for much longer. He had made notes of who came and who went, and if he didn't know who one of Zeral's visitors was, he snapped a hologram of them. Through all of it, his subject didn't go anywhere by himself: although when he did, Harry would be ready for him. On that particular evening, he began to doze off, drifting into a world of assimilations, that ranged from the Borg which assimilated individuals into a greater whole to the new creatures that subjugate individuals for their hidden plots: one overt and one covert, but still the same principle. On the edge of his awareness he also a vision of the Federation as a oozing beast slowly assimilating the cultures that it came in contact with. He saw a black man in a Starfleet Captain's uniform keeping the ooze from assimilating Bajor. The man looked through his soul and said, "You are the Kim. You are of Bajor." He suddenly started awake. He had dozed off and almost missed his man. His fatigue almost made him waste the past three days. Looking through the bushes, he saw Over Centurion Zebal climbing into a relaxation tub on his back deck, with a bottle of Saurian Brandy. Over then next hour Harry watched from his place of concealment as the Romulan drank himself into a stupor. Waiting a few minutes more, he turned off his personal cloak and crept up to the deck. With the almost silent hiss of a hypospray, Harry had him completely subdued. Three taps on his combadge later he heard the whine of a transporter and they were back on board Harry's cloaked runabout. As he secured his prisoner he said, "Computer, lay in a course for Cardassia Prime, and engage. Warp eight." Zebal shook the sleep out of his eyes: feeling the restraints on him, he immediately came to a full alert status and scanned the room about him. He had been around long enough to realize that he was in an interrogation chamber of the Cardassian Obsidian Order, and his blood ran cold. A deadly voice spoke quietly to him from the shadows in darkened chamber. "Welcome Over Centurion. May I call you Zebal?" With a cracking voice, "Call whatever you will. I think that there's been some sort of mistake." "I don't think so. You have an alien within you, and I need information from it. You can be a helpful being and cooperate, or you can fight us and suffer, ultimately causing the death of the parasite. Either way you will answer my questions." "Who are you?" "Oh I don't really think that you need to know that right now: do you? Shall we get started?" For three days Harry could hear the Over Centurion's screams. As time wore on his sobbing became more pronounced and his whimperings more protracted. Finally there was silence, and Garak exited. Wiping the green blood from his hands he said. "I think my friends that we have a bigger problem here than we ever suspected." Garak washed, took a short nap and met with Sela and Harry in an adjoining conference room. "Well I'll tell you what you want I learned from the alien before the parasite died." Looking a little less green, Sela hopefully asked, "Then Zebal yet lives?' "He lives, but he'll need a lot of help dealing with the things that he has done while under the influence of the parasite. The Romulan Empire is less forgiving of these kind of things than the Federation was when it happened to them." "The parasites have been slowly infiltrating the various Intelligence Services for years in an attempt to topple our growing civilizations. They've lived in this quadrant for eons, and have been the downfall of many of the great civilizations throughout history. They see themselves as the great levelers of evolutionary development: and for the most part, they've been very successful." "For hundreds of thousands of years, they have prevented civilizations from advancing beyond a certain point, which they have arbitrarily set. This is why all space faring races are roughly equal in capabilities. This is why there are very few races like the Q or the Organians. The hidden enemy has quietly defeated all up and comers, and until Captain Picard stumbled upon them a decade or so ago, they have never been discovered." "That was the first incident that made them realize that perhaps they should become more aggressive with their tactics. Then the Borg came, and they found themselves unable to infiltrate them: then the Founders, who also could not be infiltrated, and finally Voyager brought word of the many peoples living in the Delta Quadrant that they had until recently known nothing of." "The breaking point though was when they learned of Fluidic Space and Species 8472 with their adaptive abilities. They decided that something had to be done. Realizing that they may have set the evolutionary bar a little too low, they set out to genetically enhance the races that they knew that they could control: and to do that they needed governmental funding and secret bases." "They decided to infiltrate Intelligence Agencies, to get what they needed. Starfleet Intelligence incarcerated all of the Maquis that they could find, mainly because they needed a people that the rest of Starfleet wouldn't mind seeing go missing. Using the Maquis genetic pool, they would occasionally take tissue samples from the captives, and they set out to develop a Federation version of the genetically produced Jem Hadar. Their plans were interrupted by the escape of the Maquis, but they are even now recruiting new subjects from the Federation Penal Colonies." "The enemy's manipulations on Romulus had a parallel set of events. The Tal'Shiar rounded up all of the reunification dissidents that they could find. They knew that few members of the Senate would mind getting rid of those who advocated embracing the ideals of Vulcan logic: therefore they became the pool for the genetic experimentations." "The dissidents were told that they would be taken far away from the Empire where they could build their new civilization in peace. Many of them embraced the idea, and those that didn't found themselves going anyway. Shortcutting through Fluidic Space, they set up a camp on a beautiful world in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the dwarf irregular galaxy that orbits the Milky Way Galaxy." "It was felt that in that galaxy, which is twice as far away from us as the total long axis of the Milky Way, they could operate without distraction. Just as the escape of the Maquis slowed down one of their plans, Species 8472 put a stop to the Romulan version of that plan. Now the dissidents really are cut off. Who knows, maybe they will actually be able to build their civilization after all. We'll probably never know." "And now has come their biggest setback. Since they were first discovered by Captain Picard: they have waited patiently to be forgotten… and they would have been if they hadn't felt rushed by outside events. Ten or twenty years from now, Admiral Janeway probably wouldn't have recognized the telltale marks on the Over Centurion: but she did. Because of that, we have come into the picture, and their time is almost up. Now that we are alerted to their, admittedly ambitious manipulations: we shall drive them out of the Alpha Quadrant, just as we did the Founders before them." "My friends, on we three hinge the fate of the Alpha Quadrant. Don't you just love being in the middle of things?" Interlude i The Planet Medora In the Large Magellanic Cloud The population of Medora measured over twenty-seven thousand, with most of the population centered in the Capital City of Surak'Kai. The seven Warbirds in orbit insured that peace would be maintained from any outside source: although if the truth were to be known, they had yet to find any intelligent life in any of the surrounding systems. Crops had been laid in and with the help of their massive replicators, a sizable community had been established: complete with governmental buildings, dwellings and factories. A Senate had been elected and most important of all, the College of Logic had been established to promote the Vulcan style of logic, as taught by the great Surak. It had been several months since the last ship had arrived from Romulus, and the Medorans were beginning to worry. The doctors would take them to the fenced in hospital, a kilometer to the south of the community, for weekly physicals, to make sure that no one was contacting any indigenous forms of contagion. So far there had not been any cases of such, but the hospital was certainly large enough to handle an epidemic if it occurred. As far as anyone knew, only the first floor of the seven-story structure had been used for the weekly exams. If anything was happening on the upper floors, nobody knew about it. It was a time of optimism for the new community, which was only paralleled by the early colonization of America on the Earth. Both communities had the zeal of the social reformers, the promise of a great destiny and a greater future: cut off from the cares and problems of the old world they burned with the hope of the new. Therefore everyone was surprised when, after months of isolation, a singularity opened above the city, disgorging a fleet of bioships, which were being led by the Warbird Talon. The Occupation Under the cover of its cloak, the Enterprise A slid slowly into the Ocampan system. Their scanners showed them that the debris from the Caretaker's Array still drifted through the system in ever widening orbits: but where once, at the period which Ovampa was still under the protection of the Caretaker, there was only serene space above the planet: there now orbited more than a dozen Kazon warships. As inconspicuously as possible, the Enterprise glided into a polar orbit, and began a passive scan of the planet. Chakotay was somewhat afraid than an active scan might give away their presence, so they stayed with the passive. On the surface, could be seen a concentration camp, not too dissimilar from the one that the Maquis had inhabited such a short time ago. It wasn't more that four kilometers from the site that he had remembered as the Ocampan underground city: but instead of the well-hidden subterranean community, there was only wounded earth. The Kazon had strip-mined the protecting layers of rock, and were excavating the city beneath. From their orbital position, it appeared that the Ocampan inhabitants were being used as slave labor, and forced to be unwilling participants of their own city's plundering. On the ground, just outside of the concentration camp, they could see a Vidiian vessel, which was in the process of loading a cargo of living Ocampans. There appeared to be in excess of a hundred captives awaiting boarding. Without initiating active scans, they had no way of knowing how many were already stowed aboard. Chakotay had a particular hatred of the activities of the Vidiians: although he had known that not all of their race, were as culpable in the harvesting activities as others he had a hard time dismissing any of their people for the crimes that their society condoned. The Vidiians suffered from a degenerative disease called the phage, and continued their race's existence by plundering other uninfected races for their body parts. The harvest was really a raid on an unsuspecting people, where the clueless races body parts were stolen from them and used for transplants to save the lives of Vidiians. To the Vidiians it was a noble and holy cause. To the races that they saw as fodder, it was a death sentence. Watching the harvest in process, Chakoty knew that he could never allow it to see fruition." Through clenched teeth, he selected an away team to beam down for reconnaissance. With himself as team leader, his team also numbered Tom Riker, Ro Laren and B'Elanna Torres. Leaving Mister Spock in command of the Enterprise, the away team beamed down to a concealed location west of the compound. Climbing in single file over the rocky terrain, they sidled their way toward a hollow which offered enough concealment that they could feel relatively safe from detection, while at the same time offering a position close enough for them to set up their equipment. They heaved their heavy packs over the rim of the hollow, and slipped inside as quietly as possible. Ocampa was in the middle of its warm season in this hemisphere, so they found themselves covered in sweat as they set about unpacking their observation equipment. Chakotay was insistent on using only passive scanning techniques, so that necessitated their use of bulkier, less technological methods. Unfortunately, the gear for that was heavy and difficult to carry. Ro and Riker set up telescopes while B'Elanna prepared the listening devices. Chakotay carried heat-sensing devices that would be able to get a rough idea of how many people were involved of each kind of species. Vidiians had a body temperature of thirty-five point nine on the Celsius scale and would show up as a bright orange on the scanner. Kazon were slightly cooler at thirty five point two and showed as bright green. Ocampans were hotter than the other two and showed as a bright red. The scanner would count the number of heat signatures and inform Chakotay of approximately how many of each race were present. After a couple of hours he had an approximation, he informed the others on the team. "Listen up people, There seems to be about twelve hundred Kazon, four thousand Ocampans and only about fifty Vidiians. Have you figured out what is going on down there yet?" B'Elanna spoke first. "I've been listening to the various conversations and I think that I have a pretty good idea of what's going on down there. As seems pretty obvious, the Vidiians are exporting Ocampans to be harvested for their body parts. The Kazon allow them to do this as part of a treaty, which grants the Kazon immunity from harvesting for another fifty years, and free right to whatever resources and technologies that can be found in the city below." "What are they hoping to find?" "It seems that the Kazon were not pleased that Voyager denied them the technology of the Caretakers Array, and the only other place that they knew of that might hold Caretaker Technologies was on the planet Ocampa. When threatened starvation forced the Ocampans to the surface, the Kazon were there waiting for them." "Have they found anything of use yet?" "Two things so far. They've found depleted replicaters, which they hope to which they hope to reverse engineer and learn the principles of how to build their own." "That doesn't sound too bad." "No sir. The other thing is a working transporter system. They haven't figured out how to make it work yet, but their engineers are confident." "That could be a problem. The Caretaker had a better transport system than we have. If possible we should try to deny them of that artifact." Turning to Ro he asked, "Have you anything more to report from your end?" Ro took the lead and answered. "Only that the Vidiian ship is almost loaded and will be ready for take off in an hour and a half." "Recommendations?" "We follow it out of the system, where there are no Kazon warships, jam their communications and liberate the Ocampans." "And what would you have us do with them?" "Take them with us. I'm sure that we can find a world that they can live on in safety. We can't let them become transplant material for the Vidiians. It would be so much easier if the Vidiians didn't insist on transplants coming from live donors." "Unfortunately they do. And you're right: we'll have to stop them. Anything from you Tom?" "Yes sir. The Vidiians have already harvested most of the population of Ocampa. Those four thousand in the camp are all that is left of them. If we don't do something, their species will be extinct within six months." Chalotay mulled it over for a minute before announcing his conclusions. "Well my friends, we'll have to deal with the immediate problem first. Captain Uhura will have to wait a little longer. We need to get those Ocampans off of that ship, and to safety. Then after we have repaired the Enterprise B, we'll use both ships and try to free those people in the camp. Let's get back to the ship and prepare for battle." Defining Life Deep Space 12 The trial was to be convened on Deep Space Twelve at noon on the day after tomorrow. For the Doctor, it would be his first true forum for him that might successfully launch his crusade for the Rights of A.I.s (Artificial Intelligences). For Lore it meant life and death. Commander Walter Fiese had been appointed by Starfleet Command to act as prosecutor in the case before them. Friese was a slightly balding middle-aged man whose slight stature belied his powerful presence. His penetrating blue eyes hid behind them the fire of the near fanatic. He had made it his mission in life to see to it that the absurdity of those who tried to ascribe humanity to mankind's tools, was never allowed to be spread to the general public. Despite his mania, he was no fool: and he was certainly not a man to be underestimated. He was one of the most distinguished legal authorities in the Federation. It was no fluke of fate that he had been chosen for this task. Years ago, a similar trial had taken place on board Captain Picard's Enterprise. The case revolved around the question of whether of not Commander Data had the right to decline a Starfleet officer who wanted to dismantle and reverse engineer him, or whether he was just a machine that was owner by Starfleet who had no right of self-determination. That particular case was determining the status of one individual, but, thanks to the Doctor, this trial would be a test case for much wider principles. In Data's situation, the Fleet allowed the crew of the Enterprise to plead both sides of the case. There were some that said that such a precedence setting trial should never have been placed in the hands of amateurs, as it was. Friese was determined not to let that happen this time. He had no problem though with letting the defense field a team of amateurs if they wanted: although he insisted that a biological being be in charge of the Defense, since the status of A.I.s had yet to be established. Lore's Defense Team was to be headed by Lieutenant Hought: with the Doctor, Data and Professor Moriarty serving as the other team members. When informed of this, Commander Friese simply snorted and said that his case was already won. Since, of the A.I.s involved, only Data and the Doctor held Starfleet commissions, it had been decided that this case should be tried by a civilian tribunal rather than a military court. Adjudicators from Earth, Vulcan, Andor, Betazed and Trill were selected to decide the outcome of the case, while Deanna Troi, as Acting Commander of the Station was assigned the position of Intercessor. In Federation Civilian tribunals the Adjudicators perform the same roll as a jury in bygone ages, except that they were well trained in the law and considered more able to render an insightful verdict. The Intercessor directs the activities of the courtroom, and settles questions of protocol. Since the Intercessor must be a representative of the world where the trial is being held, there should be no question of the various systems of established rules governing the various local courtrooms in the Federation conflicting with each other. For a long time, there has been a longstanding academic debate among the Federation citizens, regarding the status of A.I.s, with the various factions of the media promoting each side: but since the Dominion War the question became more acute than ever. During that conflict, a reporter named Jake Sisko, wrote a piece about they way that the Dominion artificially created their Jem Hadar and Vorta. He compared them to holograms, which like the Jem hadar and Vorta, are artificial creations that are brought to life in adulthood with a full knowledge of what they needed to accomplish their task. He asked the question 'Are the Dominion creations any more alive than holographic creations, simply because they are biologically based rather than photonically based?' He then went into a long discussion about a self-aware entertainment Hologram, named Vic Fontaine. It was a brilliant piece, but all that anyone remembered it for was that one question. Today the matter was to be decided, and Deep Space Twelve was the place for it to be decided: but it was supposed to be all smoke and mirrors: but it turned out to be so much more than that. The trial was supposed to be a meaningless, though entertaining, distraction: to keep people from noticing the real activities of the station. The population of the Federation might be interested in the rights of A.I.s, but if they knew that there were Federation ships, that had traversed Borg space, thumbing their noses at the Federations most dangerous foes, there would be screams for heads to roll. Therefore, the trial was concocted to explain the reason that the Titan and the Enterprise were held for so long in station-keeping at the once famous station. The tribunal began simply enough with the reading of the charges against Lore being read by Commander Friese: which included, murder, treason, assault, attempted theft and contacting a dangerous life form. He brought forth a list of witnesses for the prosecution that read like a whose-who of Starfleet. Officers from the destroyed Enterprise D gave vivid testimony of Lore's discovery and reassembly, of his deactivation and replacement of Data, of his contacts with the Crystalline Entity, which caused the death of a whole colony of people, of his subversion of a group of Borg and his leading them into slaughtering their victims, rather than simply assimilating them. The litany of his crimes went from early morning and late into the night. For every witness that the prosecution brought forth, either Lieutenant Hought or Commander Data, speaking for the defense, would ask a few clarification questions, but nothing of substance. To the billions of viewers throughout the Federation, it appeared that even the defense team could not defend Lore. Many of the reporters had already reported his conviction, and were simply waiting for the sentencing. Many others of them, becoming bored with the inevitable outcome had already left the station. All was proceeding pretty much as Starfleet had expected. Then Professor Moriarty stood up and began the real defense. Looking out of place, though somehow very distinguished, in his nineteenth century formal attire, Professor Moriarty rose from his seat and turned to the Intercessor. "Esteemed Intercessor, if it please the court, I would like to call to the stand my first witness." With equal solemnity, Deanna Troi answered. "You may proceed Professor." "My thanks dear lady. The defense would like to call the android Lore to the stand." Still wearing his constricting chains Lore took the proffered chair. "You are the android Lore are you not?" "I am." "I only have a few questions for you at this time." Not wanting to have the subject of the Maquis come up accidentally, he added, "If you will answer them as briefly as possible, it would be appreciated. Lore, when were you created?" "Twenty three years ago." "And from that time until you were reassembled several months ago, how much of that time were you deactivated or left floating completely alone and inactive in the vacuum of space?" "Twenty-two years three months and eighteen days. I can tell you to the second if you require." "No thank you that will be fine. So you're saying that up until the time that you were recently reactivated, you had seen less than ten months of active life?" "That's right." "Thank you: you may step down. For the purpose of verification, I have an affidavit of verification of Lore's period of consciousness, derived from a panel of Starfleet Engineers who have studied Lore's memory records. I enter it into the record as exhibit A. I now call Commander Walter Friese to the stand as a hostile witness." Blinking back his surprise the Prosecutor stood woodenly and walked to the stand. Standing there he commented, "This is highly irregular…" "Yes sir but not without precedent, am I not correct Madam Intercessor?" Smiling she said, "I wish that I could read the emotions of a hologram, so that I would have some idea what you're planning, but you are correct. Please sit down Commander Friese." The prosecutor's irritation was obvious in his expression as he complied. Moriarty began, "You are Commander Walter Friese, is that correct?" "Of course I am." "You have publicly stated that you believe that Lore is guilty and should be deactivated, is that not correct?" "Certainly." "And you have made it a life's work to inhibit the growth of the rights of A.I.s, is that not also correct?" "It is essentially correct, yes." "Why?" "I beg your pardon?" "Why is it your life's work? What makes the issue so dear to your heart?" "I have children, and I don't want them to grow up in a world of engineered creatures, that would have such qualities built into them: that my children, and their children's children have no chance to compete in life's activities against them. Entities like that could bring chaos and domination to those of us created by simple evolutionary means." "As I understand things in this century, you are using the same arguments that are used against those who would promote genetic enhancements." "Exactly! Genetically enhanced humans are illegal in the Federation, and so should these creatures of artificial Intelligence be illegal. We have laws to prevent another Kahn Sing taking over the world: we should have the same laws for A.I.s!" Nodding knowingly, the Professor continued. "Tell me sir, when you find that a person has had a child genetically enhanced, what does the law do about it?" "Well, when discovered, the authorities imprison the person who enhanced the child and then they put the child in a facility with others of its kind." "The child is not killed?" "Well of course not." "Why not?" "We have no death penalty in the Federation, so certainly no one would put a child to death" "You bring up a good point. Are you sure that there is no crime for which there is a death penalty?" "Well, I guess that there is General Order Four, but it's never had to be implemented. No one has been put to death because of it. No. There is no death penalty in the Federation." "Then why do you want Lore to be permanently deactivated? For an android, wouldn't that be the same thing as putting it to death?" "I suppose so: but I'm not advocating his death simply because he exists, any more than I am advocating your death, hologram, because you exist. I am advocating his death because he has committed heinous crimes, that deserve death if anyone were to have committed them." "Really? Tell me… how old is your youngest child?" Startled by the abrupt change of topic the Commander stammered. "I don't see what my children have to do with anything… " Moriarty turned to Troi and said, "Madam Intercessor, my point will soon be made clear." "I'll allow it, but please don't dwell on the Prosecutor's family." "I won't." Turning back to Friese, "How old?" Scowling, "My Tammy will be two next July." "A girl? She must bring you great joy. Now tell me, how many children her age have been sentenced to death?" "Well that's a silly question… none." "Why not?" "Because no one that age could commit a serious crime. They are too weak and uncoordinated." "But suppose that they could. Suppose they asked a mentally unbalanced person to commit a crime for them, and that person did it in their name? Why shouldn't the two year old be put to death?" "Because that is too young an age to have accumulated enough life experiences to know the difference between good and bad. In our enlightened day and age, ignorance of the law is very often a viable excuse." "Thank you." Professor Moriarty turned to the panel of judges and challenged them. "It is my contention that the defendant cannot be held accountable for his crimes, because he too is but a child, without the life experiences to truly understand the consequences of his actions." "At the times of the alleged incidents, he had only weeks and later months of sentience behind him, and had only dealt with at most a few hundred people: he couldn't really understand the complexity of the world around him, nor the consequences of his actions." "When things didn't go his way he reacted as any very small child would at his age: he lashed out in a childish anger. The problem in his situation was that he was listened to by the Crystalline Entity and later by the Borg who killed in his name… but Lore was still acting just any child would in his circumstances." From behind Moriarty, Commander Friese stood and shouted in anger. "Balderdash! Look at the beast!" Waving his arm in Lore's direction. "That is no child! He was created as an adult, with as much knowledge as you or I." "Still looking at the judges, the Defender replied to the outburst. "Facts yes. Experience no. An A.I. may be created to look like an adult, but it is the life experiences that make a person a responsible adult. At his creation, Lore… and Commander Data for that matter… was nothing more than a computer that could move of its own volition. They both grew into the men that they are today. Commander Data has had decades to grow into the exemplary officer that you see before you. Lore may have been created first, but he was continually deactivated, and he has no more of life's maturations than Commander Friese's young daughter." Turning to Fries he said "No more questions. You may step down." Seething with rage, Friese stormed back to prosecutor's table. Moriarty then called a series of A.I.s who had grown from stock beginnings, gained sentience and became valuable members of society. He began with a Hologram named Vic Fontaine, who began life as a lounge act in a Holo-Program on Deep Space Nine. His program has been left running continuously until today: where along with his Ferengi partner, he runs a chain of holographic casinos on nearly every starship, space station and outpost that is too small to field a real casino in the quadrant. Witness after witness spoke on the necessity of having a time of monitored growth for an A.I. to grow into valuable members of society. Walter Friese tried to discredit each witness as best as he could, but his bigotry just accentuated the Defenses position. By the time that the Defense had rested, the Judges had long since made their decisions. After a two hour private discussion, they were ready to render their decision. Speaking for the Judges, the Adjudicator from Vulcan rose with the verdict. His deep and resonant voice needed no amplification. "We find that the defendant is indeed a child, and that he therefore cannot be held accountable for his past actions: but that does not mean that he will simply be set free. He is too dangerous to allow that action. Like any child, he will be appointed a legal guardian until such a time as a future panel will declare him to be a responsible adult." "Deep Space Twelve will temporarily be expanded to become a facility to house and oversee, those A.I.s who will be sent here, so that they can be watched over and encouraged as any child would be: but only in such cases as there might be, where there are no responsible beings anywhere else who will assume that task of guardianship." "A panel of the Federations Leading A.I.s will be appointed to make more permanent recommendations." "The Android Lore will be remanded to the care of the Deep Space Twelve staff. It is further ordered that deactivation will no longer be used as a means of punishment or incarceration for juvenal A.I.s, without either the A.I's permission, or a court order for it: throughout the Federation. A full written statement will be released later. This is the judgment of the court." And with that statement, Deanna Troi rapped the gavel, closed the court proceedings and dismissed the assembled crowd. Admiral Janeway couldn't have been more pleased with the outcome. Where she sought only an explanation for the recent activities at the Station, she now had an ongoing reason to keep a presence maintained at the Station for as long as necessity required it. If it took seventy years to bring their people back from the Delta Quadrant, DS12 would be able to keep in contact with them for the whole trip. This was a great success. Besides, her old friend, the Doctor won a great victory today. It was a time for celebration. Walking up to the beaming friend, she threw her arm around his shoulder and showered him with the praise that he deserved. Late into the celebration, she decided that Molly had been very patient to have sat so quietly through the proceedings. Tugging her leash she said, "Come on Molly, let's go home and get something to eat." Surprise Attacks The Surgical Strike had left Ocampa on a course that spiraled out of the system, with the Enterprise following closely under the cover of her cloak. It was Chakotay's plan to get far enough out of the system that the Vidiian ship wouldn't be able to receive outside help. Then the Enterprise would uncloak and take them by surprise. After they disabled the Harvester, they would beam the Ocampans out of the ship and take them to a place of safety. It was to be a nice simple ambush. Nothing could be easier, and the Maquis were particularly good at such hit and run tactics. The Harvester had left the system and had passed into its highest warp speed: which still seemed rather sluggish to the Enterprise. They traveled under those conditions for five more hours. The Bridge crew lounged almost dozingly in their chairs. Chakotay figured that the attack would begin in another three hours. 'Grandson, you have been betrayed! Stop your vessel now or be destroyed!' Instantly he sprung to action. "Emergency stop." The powerful ship ground quickly to a halt. "All crew report to you stations. All hands: battle stations. Prepare for battle!" Almost simultaneously a shudder rattled the ship as a bomb went off in one of the Jeffries tubes. The cloak was gone. The engines of the cargo ship in the shuttle bay came to life, and the small trading vessel opened fire on the bay's force field, causing it to collapse. The Talaxian Betyx quickly fired a tight beam at the Harvester: which then looped around and opened fire on the surprised Federation ship. On it's first run, the Harvester leveled its disrupters on the Enterprises warp engines before the Enterprise was able to raise her shields. After four direct hits, the warp drive was completely disabled. The Enterprise launched a volley of torpedoes, of which only one scored a glancing blow. The Harvesters shields easily held, and the Vidiians turned again for another pass. Chakotay wasn't one to wait to be hit a second time. "Full impulse Mister Riker. Hard right Ro, course one one two mark seven five: Z plus five seven kilometers." The Enterprise groaned under the strain of full impulse maneuvering: the inertial dampeners strained with the excessive demands that were put upon them. Those people not seated or secured found themselves thrown violently off of their feet. At the apex of their roll, Chokay ordered the attack. "Phaser one… fire! Phaser two… fire!" The Harvester's shields failed with the direct hit. "Fire three! … Fire four!" The Harvester shuddered as her control room lights dimmed and went out. She was dead in the water. Chakotay felt the elation of his first meaningful victory as Captain of the Enterprise. Sure they would need a few hours of repairs, but they were used to that kind of inconvenience. "B'Elanna! Beam those prisoners out of there. Why don't we save a few lives while we're working on our repairs. The transport went smoothly, and the entire Ocampan compliment were brought aboard in less than ten minutes. Temporary quarters had been set up for them in the crews quarters that were still unoccupied. They had to share rooms, and things would be cramped, but there would be room enough for everybody. It was a joyous scene of chaos. Then the traitorous Talaxian's second bomb rattled the ship and the lights of the Enterprise went out. The red emergency lights came quickly on, providing minimal illumination. On the Bridge too the shutter was felt. "B'Elanna! Report!" The Engineer responded quickly. "Another bomb sir. This one was intended to cripple the ship's computers: and it would have too, if this ship didn't still have the old style doutronic computer system. I don't know how, but Betyx knew exactly how to cripple a modern Federation Starship. We're lucky that we didn't have one of them. If we had had gel packs on this ship, like we did on Voyager, we could never get the ship running again. As it is, we're dead in the water, just like the Vidiian ship: but we will recover. It'll just be a race to see which ship is put in order first." "All right: make those repairs as quickly as you can. … Mister Spock, have the ship swept for more bombs. I don't want any more surprises." The ship lurched slightly as it was hit by a low powered disrupter blast. Still standing in front of his command chair, Chakotay looked around puzzled. "What was that? It didn't feel large enough to be another bomb. Tom?" Riker swiveled in his chair. "It's the Talaxian trading vessel sir. Betyx has opened fire on us with his vessel's disrupters." "You've got to be kidding me. What does he hope to do with those?" "Actually sir, with our shields down, he can destroy us if he hits us enough times: and he should be able to breach our hull several times before we can get our repairs finished. If he vents enough of our atmosphere, we'll suffocate." "Any chance that we can get any weapons on line before that happens?" "I don't think so." "OK: select our two best pilots: have them launch the shuttles and engage the trading ship in an old style dogfight. If they can't defeat him, they might at least buy us enough time to make some needed repairs. Tell them to be careful." The shuttles flashed out of the same bay that Betyx had earlier blasted open. If he hadn't done so, they never would have had the power to get the bay doors open. Ro piloted the Columbia while the Vulcan Ensign Haitar flew the Huron. Initiating an attack formation, the shuttles engaged their enemy. The larger Trading vessel altered course and brought her disrupters to bear on the Huron. Haitar threw his ship into a barrel roll and only caught a glancing blow. His phaser fire went wide of the mark, but Ro's hit true. Betyx's ship rattled and lost its rear shielding. He turned to protect his exposed side and opened fire again on the Vulcan. Ro flipped on her companel and hailed the Talaxian. "Betyx, what do you think you're doing? Why did you attack us?" She was somewhat surprised when she received an answer. "To keep your people from getting a foothold in this part of the Galaxy. For eons, every time my race has attempted an incursion into your part of the Galaxy, we have been stymied by an unseen enemy there. We cannot let the enemy know that our influence is more widespread than they had thought. If you return they might discover our existence, and that we cannot allow." Ro's ship shuddered again as Betyx scored another glancing blow. "What incursions? The Talaxians have not even been to the Alpha Quadrant." "Not the Talaxians, you primitive beast: you don't even know who your true enemy is! Well, die in ignorance, child!" His ship swiftly veered off and brought his disrupters to bear on the Huron, whose already damaged shields gave fully away. The Vulcans shuttle was left without shields and weapons: barely able to maneuver. Betyx turned toward the Columbia. "Betyx! Why help the Vidiians? Certainly they're not your people." "The Vidiians are just livestock, like all of you humanoids. They just offered me a convenient way to take care of you. Besides, they paid me, and I still have enough of the trader in me to care about such things. Well Lieutenant, it's time for you to die." Triggering his disrupters, the trading ship pummeled the small shuttle. With the first volley, the Maquis ship lost its shielding. The larger ship swung back for the kill, but in his arrogance he had assumed that the Huron was no longer a threat. As he zeroed in on the Columbia, the Huron blindsided him. Haitar, hiding in a cloud of debris, set his ship on a collision course: beaming out at the last possible instant, as the shuttle impacted with Betyx's ship, which burst into flames and shortly thereafter into a ball of fire as the main engines exploded. Repairs on the Enterprise were slow, but steady. The hours dragged. Spock found and disabled four more bombs while B'Elanna and Scotty worked at restoring the damaged systems. Main power was restored first and the computers next. Impatiently, Chakotay paced the Bridge watching the Vidiian ship hanging out in space before them. He knew that it would be a race to see which ship could become maneuverable first. If it was their enemy, the Enterprise would never accomplish their mission. Hours passed as one system after another was slowly brought back to life. Two phaser banks and minimal shields had been restored when he saw the Surgical Strike begin to lumber forward. Flipping the Com switch, "B'Elanna, tell me that you've got good news for me! The Harvester's got their engines running… they're turning toward us." Scotty returned, "We can give you thrusters at best sir. You've got two phaser banks and the shields are at thirty percent." "That won't be good enough, can we transport one of Betyx's bombs onto the Harvester?" "Not while their shields are up." "Here they come! Tom! Shields up! Hit them with all that we've got! Target their weapons!" Riker shouted back through the klaxons sounding all around him, targeting's down sir. I have to try to hit them manually." The Vidiian ship bore down on them. The Enterprise phasers went wide of their mark, while the Harvester struck home: shredding what remained of the Federation Ships shields. The Enterprise was a sitting duck as the Surgical Strike looped back for the killing blow then stopped. With the Bridge consoles smoking and inoperative around him, Chakotay saw them stop and a chill ran down his back. 'They don't want to kill us.' He thought, 'they want to harvest us.' Spock spoke up from his science station. "Sir, they're hailing us." "On screen." For the first time, Chakotay saw the face of his adversary. "This is Harrar, Captain of the Surgical Strike. You vessel has been disabled, prepare to be boarded." "This is Chakotay, Captain of the Enterprise, and there is no way that we will let you board us." "You really can't stop us. If you try to fight us it will just cause a lot of unnecessary suffering and death." "You're just going to kill us anyway, so we might as well fight you." "While it is true that many of your body parts will be harvested, it won't happen for quite some time. There is no reason that you should deny yourselves the extra months of life, so again I say: prepare to be boarded." "If you board this ship Captain Harrar, I will destroy it and your boarding party will die along with us." After a minute of silence, Captain Harrar nodded. "Unfortunate. Very well. I hope that you see that we cannot leave a foe to return to fight us another day. I bid farewell to you and your crew." Turning to his First Officer, "Gallar, destroy that ship! The Surgical Strike began its final run. Powering up her disrupters, she turned and lumbered forward. Chakotay and his crew waited tensely for the killing blow. The Harvester fired her engines and moved on the helpless Enterprise. Harrar had had a different set of priorities than did Chakotay, while he was making his repairs, which allowed him to get his engines and weapons on line first. Unfortunately for him he considered long-range sensors unimportant in his current situation. If he had had a different set of priorities, perhaps he would have seen the Federation ship screaming toward him at warp nine point seven. Perhaps he would have been prepared when his ship was blown to pieces by modern Federation firepower. He never knew what had killed him. He never had a chance to contemplate his death. Chakotay was stunned by the scene which unfolded on the screen before him. He was shocked as a brace of photon torpedoes flew in out of nowhere and obliterated the already battered Harvester, and by the glimpse of a starship that flew through the debris and flashed past them so quickly that he never got a good look at their savior. The silence on the Bridge of the Enterprise was deafening as everyone held their breaths. They couldn't believe that they were still alive. The voice of Spock shattered the silence. "Sir, we are being hailed." Chakotay whispered, "On screen." A face came on the viewscreen, and the Bridge broke into cheering. "Enterprise, this is Tuvok commanding the U.S.S. Voyager. May we offer some assistance?" Confirmation # the enemy is here C that is unfortunate + they are more widespread than we suspected M now we know + knowledge is power C they will be contained # it will not be easy M that is to be expected Deep Space Nine The shuttle from Cardassia Prime arrived at Deep Space Nine, early in the station's morning period. It was a natural stopping off point on his trip back to Federation HQ. Agent Henderson had provided him with the name of a one-time operative of Section thirty-one who was stationed there who would be useful if he needed help. Surprisingly enough, Garak had provided him with the same name as someone who could be trusted, and who could also help him to get his information to the proper authorities. Harry had set up an appointment to meet with him while he was still on route to the station. With his usual efficiency, Garak had purged the new Obsidian Order of the few parasitic enemies that had found their way into the recreated organization. Measures were taken to ensure that no one in the Cardassian government above the position of canine catcher could escape a quarterly search. The captured alien: both through interrogation and dissection: provided them with a simple method of adjusting simple medical and security scanners to detect their presence. That information had to be disseminated as widely as possible. With Sela on his arm, posing as his wife, he came through the airlock, where the station security man absent-mindedly checked their credentials and passed them on. The security man had given them a PADD with a temporary room assignment, and a map of the station. The room that they had been assigned was a typical type of room: like one that a civilian traveler, anywhere in the quadrant might find anywhere: comfortable and utilitarian. They didn't expect to be there for long so luxury wouldn't matter, but after their time on Cardassia, these seemed nearly opulent. They had finished unpacking, so they sat back and took a few minutes to relax. Harry commented, from his big easy chair, "Well, we've got nine hours until our meeting. Why don't you look over the PADD and see what there is that passes for entertainment on this station. I was only here once before, and I don't remember much." Sela smiled slyly and put down the PADD. "You know that we're posing as newlyweds so…" She sidled over to sit next to Harry. "Maybe we aught to do what newlyweds usually do." Suddenly feeling self-conscious, Harry cleared his throat. "Um… look Sela…" "Harry: Romulans are a passionate people. Tomorrow we'll be going our separate ways. We've saved the Quadrant, so I want to party, and you need to party…" She climbed on his lap and kissed him passionately, and they spent the day doing what comes naturally to newlyweds. Nine hours later, they were sitting at a table in Quark's Bar. A thin man in Starfleet blue entered the bar and sat down with them. "I'm Julian Bashir: are you the person who said that Garak told you to contact me?" "I am. He sends his regards by the way.' "That sounds like Garak. You are?" "We have met once before Doctor. Do you want to know our cover names or our real names?" "How about the real ones, and if it becomes necessary, we'll move to the fake. You look vaguely familiar, but I can't quite place you." "My name is Harry Kim, and this is Sela. I was assigned to the U.S.S. Voyager, and was briefly on Deep Space Nine just before we got lost in the Delta Quadrant." "Of course. I recognize you now. And the young lady?" "Commander Sela of Romulus. Could we go some place more private?" "I think that you'll find Quark's to be a safe enough place." "I doubt it. I need to get a message to Agent Henderson." With the mention of that name, Bashir went white. "Why don't we go to my quarters?" Sela smiled her most engaging smile. "Thank you Doctor, that's very nice of you." After more than a decade of residence, Doctor Bashir's quarters had gained that homey, lived in feel. He had pictures of his family, of his friends at Starfleet Academy and Starfleet Medical. His walls were adorned with the various awards that he had won over the years, and pieces of art that he had accumulated. He seemed to prefer the historical holographic pieces of art. He sat in a comfortable looking chair and motioned for Harry and Sela to take the divan. "Now why don't you tell me what you know about Section Thirty-One?" "I know a great deal about it Doctor. I was recruited by them, shortly after we returned to the Alpha Quadrant. I know that you have undertaken occasional missions for them, and I know that they will soon contact you. When they do, I need you to relay a message to them." Bashir's dealings with the section, had been anything but pleasant for him. Coldly he asked, "And what is this message that you would have me give them?" "A very simple one sir. Tell them to contact Garak immediately." Julian had long known of the Cardassian's activities in the Obsidian Order, but he never suspected that Garak knew anything about Section Thirty-One. "What does Garak have to do with anything?" Sela replied, "Surely Doctor you must have guessed that Garak, besides being a member of the Order, also had contacts with Section Thirty-One. Who do you think helped Agent Henderson get in and out of the Station, when he paid you his little visits?" "I guess that I never thought about it. Can you give me any idea what this is all about?" "Certainly Doctor. It all began when I noticed a number of our Senators acting strangely… " And she filled in all of their activities over the past several months, with Harry filling in a few of the details of the plot along the way. Harry finished the summation. "In short Doctor, we would also like you to try the modifications on your medical scanners, and make sure that your station is free of the parasites." Julian nodded and said, "I would be happy to. I haven't always been happy with the things that Section Thirty-One has done, but I can fully support this effort." The conversation became more casual from that point on, with Sela discussing her plans to take her report to the Senate, while Julian discussed holosuite programs and the problems that he encountered when it was found out that he had been genetically enhanced as a child. As he rambled on Harry glanced around the room until his eyes lit on a holo-photo of Julian and other station personnel, dressed in ancient baseball uniforms. In the center stood the black man that Harry had seen repeatedly in his dreams. It captivated his attention until he finally had to ask, "Julian, who is that black man with the beard in your photograph over there?' Turning to look, the Doctor answered. "Oh. That's Captain Sisko." He stopped as if that were explanation enough. "Who?" "Captain Sisko… Benjamin Sisko… You know: from the Dominion War…" "Sorry. Fighting Borg in the Delta Quadrant at the time." "Oh, I see. Well, he was the Captain of this station for a long time: but he's gone now." "Can you tell me where he is? I need to see him." "Why?" "He's been appearing to me in my dreams, and he wants me to come to him. I know that that sounds crazy, but that's the way that it is." After a long pause Bashir broke the silence. "Actually, it doesn't sound crazy at all: but seeing him may be very difficult. No one's seen him for quite a while: but I think that I know where he is. What does he say to you in these visions?" Harry recounted the recurring nightly dream that he had come to know so well. When he finished, Julian asked, "He said that you were the Kim? That you were of Bajor?" "Yeah. That was really strange because I've never been to Bajor before. Can you tell me how to find Sisko?" "Maybe. I'll have to take you to see Colonel Kira tomorrow, after Sela's ship departs. She's the station's Commander, and this request will have to go through her. Tell me: does this have anything to do with the other matter that we've discussed?" "Not as far as I know. Why don't you tell me about this Captain…" Harry and Sela spent the night alone in their room. They knew that it might be a long time until they could be together again, so they wanted to make the best of this last night. In the morning, Harry walked her to the airlock where she left for Romulus. After a tender parting kiss, Harry turned quickly away and headed for Colonel Kira's office, where Julian would be waiting for him. The Colonel was a Bajoran patriot who was a freedom fighter during the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor: she served long as Benjamin Sisko's First Officer on the Station, until his responsibility as the Emissary of The Prophets took him away from his beloved station and now Kira served as the Station's Commander. A more extraordinary woman who could balance both faith and duty couldn't be found anywhere. At the appointed time, Harry presented himself at her office. With Julian at her side, she felt that she was ready for anything that Harry had to say. Sizing up this red haired Colonel, Harry proffered his hand. "Good morning Colonel. My name is Harry Kim, and Doctor Bashir suggested that I have a talk with you." He hoped that Julian showed enough discretion as to not mention his Section Thirty-One connections to her. That could only confuse things. Warmly smiling, Kira took his hand. "Good morning to you Mister Kim. The Doctor here, tells me that you want to find the Emissary." "Emissary? I want to find Captain Sisko." "Same person. Now why do you want to see him so bad that you'd make a trip all of the way out here?" He again went through his explanation of his dreams and what was said to him in those dreams. Kira gasped when he said that Sisko had called Harry, The Kim, and that Harry was of Bajor. Those were very similar to the words that the Prophets said when they confirmed Benjamin as the Emissary. She sat silently in thought for a few minutes, before she could proceed, but all at once, she knew what she had to do. "I will take you to him. The last we knew, he was called home to live with the Prophets, in the Celestial Temple. No one has seen him since, but if he has been calling to you, perhaps you'll be able to make contact with him where we have failed. I hope so. You see, he might be a Starfleet Officer to you, but to the Bajoran people, he is the most Holy of Holy men." She tapped a contact, and contacted Lieutenant Commander Davis: the current Commander of the U.S.S. Defiant. "Jerry, will you get the Defiant ready for a trip into the Wormhole? We've got an important appointment to keep." Interlude ii The Planet Medora In the Large Magellanic Cloud The Talon and the Bioships, had landed on the Hospital grounds, and an Army of Species 8472 swarmed out of their ships and secured the hospital in short order. All of the Hospital's personnel were subjected to the new scanners, and those that hosted the Parasitic enemy, were encased in individual force fields, which prevented the creatures from fleeing the hosts body. Fortunately, the seven Warbirds in orbit had been taken by surprise. When the singularity opened above the city, another opened in orbit disgorging three Warbirds with a fleet of bioships following behind: using Tal'Shiar security codes, the seven Warbirds were shut down while the Tal'Shiar secured the disabled ships. After those ships had been cleansed of Parasites, they were returned to service with new commanders. Tal'Shiar forces then methodically scanned the population of Medora, eliminating the last of the remaining Parasites. When the planet had been completely purged, the populous was presented with a decision. Supreme Commander Ruvak of the Tal'Shiar transported into the Medoran Senate. Moving with stately purpose, he took the dais, and addressed the assembled lawmakers. "I have come to address you this morning with news of the gravest import. As many of you have already been informed, the Empire has now weathered one of the gravest threats to our civilization in history. An alien parasitic race has been slowly infiltrating many of our highest-ranking departments, by taking control of the bodies of many of our leaders. Fortunately, Tal'Shiar operatives discovered the plot and the Alien Parasites have all been rooted out. Medora was the last outpost in the Empire that had not been cleansed. We have come here and done so now." "The invaders needed subjects for vile experimentation. You were to be those subjects, but you have now been saved from that fate. The enemy brought you here through a dimension called Fluidic Space, which housed a race called Species 8472. This was seen by them as an invasion, and Species 8472 began a defensive war with the Empire." "Had our operatives not discovered these activities Species 8472 would have laid waste to the Empire. As it is, their true enemies have been dealt with, and hostilities have ceased. They have guided us here to tell you that after we return home, Fluidic Space will be forever closed to us. Therefore, you have a decision to make." "The Medorans can return with us to the Empire now, or stay here: probably to never have contact with their homes and families again. I will be honest with you: there are many within the Empire that were happy to see you go, so if you wish to stay, you will be able to do so with the blessings of the Empire. I can also promise you that if you wish to return, you will suffer no recriminations." "For those who wish to stay, we will leave behind as many of the Warbirds, for your protection, as you are able to man with crews. For those wishing to go, we will be leaving tomorrow morning at 2770 Hours, local time." Slightly over twelve hundred Medorans chose to return to Romulus, leaving more than twenty five thousand Medorans to build their own new and shining civilization in the galaxy of the Large Magellanic Cloud, orbiting the Milky Way Galaxy at a distance farther away than the total diameter of the larger Galaxy. Many Medorans, were left to feel more alone than any Romulans before them. Slipstream Tuvok had been frustrated. For the last couple of years he and his crew had striven to make the Slipstream Drive into a useable system of propulsion, but his goal had continued to elude him. Getting the drive to create a slipstream was no problem: the problem was that they had no computers that could react fast enough to conditions to be able to control the finicky system. Once they achieved a slipstream, things would inevitably become unstable, and the ship would be thrown violently back into regular space: several times with near disastrous results. It was Lieutenant Nog who came up with the answer. Several years earlier, he had gotten to know a cadet who had previously dropped out of the Academy: but like the Prodigal, he had returned to the fold. Wesley Crusher had been trained by a mysterious being, known as The Traveler, who had the ability to use his instincts to adjust regular Warp Engines and make them do amazing things. At one point, the Traveler had flung the Enterprise D several Galaxies away in a matter of moments. The Traveler had trained Wesley in some of his tricks. Nog had suggested that Mister Crusher might be able to control the Slipstreanm Drive. So far, Crusher had been unable to get regular Warp Drives to do the things that the Traveler had been able to: but the Slipstream Drive was not a regular Warp Drive. If Wesley could control the erratic system, Voyager could travel nearly anywhere. Nog was right: Wesley had no problem stabilizing the Drive. When Admiral Janeway was informed of this, she authorized Voyager to attempt a rescue mission, with a warning that they might encounter Chakotay in the Enterprise. They traveled above the plane of the Galaxy, so that they could avoid any gravity wells that might throw them out of slipstream: they made better time than they could have imagined. As the sleek ship rose above the Galactic Plane, they received a view that few Federation citizens had ever before been witness to. The sky above thinned into a near darkness, while just below them hung the brightly glittering Milky Way Galaxy, with its enormous central bulge and broadly swirling arms. It seemed almost a living thing below contrasted to the starkness above them. To many aboard, the silent, still, tableau, seemed almost as a spiritual experience. From that position, with nothing to get in the way, they were able to achieve velocities that they had never imagined. In less than twenty-four hours, they had nearly traversed the distance to their destination. That was when they received the signals on Starfleet Channels. Hearing the Enterprise in communication with her shuttlecrafts, obviously in a pitched battle, forced Voyager to abort her flight, slow down, turn around and come to their aid. Once the enemy had been subdued, Tom Paris announced that wanted to be with his wife again, so he hailed the Enterprise, and turned to his Captain. "Sir, the Enterprise is coming on screen." Raising an eyebrow Voyager's Captain acceded. "Enterprise, this is Tuvok commanding the U.S.S. Voyager. May we offer some assistance?" He could hear cheering on the other ship. Most of the crew of the Enterprise had once been members of the crew of Voyager, so it was a surreal reunion, as the Voyagers finally returned home: and doing so in the Delta Quadrant brought them full circle. It was a strange spectacle to see Enterprise crewmembers seeking a healing and nostalgic experience in that place. After all that they had suffered in the camps, after the heavy schedule of the recent months, many of them openly wept as they walked the halls that had been their last happy home. There were also comical moments as they met the new occupants of their old rooms. B'Elanna, found a Ferengi in her old room. She was half Klingon, and Klingons rarely had use for Ferengi. He had set up a small casino in her room. It was a monument to luxury and greed. She had always lived a relatively Spartan existence, so all of the fluffy pillows didn't go over well with her. It was all that her husband could do to keep her from trashing the place. When the Ferengi said that 'as the son of the Grand Nagus, he had to be an example of greed to those about him she stalked off growling. It was fortunately for Tom Paris, he hadn't changed the quarters that they had gotten after they were married. The meeting in the Captain's ready room looked like a Voyager Family Reunion, with the entire senior staff in attendance, with the notable exception of Kathryn Janeway. As Captain of the Voyager, Tuvok chaired the meeting, even though MacCoy outranked him, and Scott and Spock had held the rank earlier than him. After introductions were made, he had Chakotay and Spock give an accounting of the Journey that led to the Delta Quadrant, from Tuvok and Paris' meeting with the Ambassador, to the point that were rescued from the Vidiians by Voyager. He also told the Enterprise officers of the Species 8472 conflict with the Romulans, of the Parasitic Alien Invasion, of the taming of the Slipstream Drive and of Admiral Janeway's sanctioning of a rescue mission. After concluding his narrative, Tuvok looked at the gathered officers around him and asked, "Where do we go from here gentlemen?" "Chakotay smiled and replied, "Well I don't know about you, but my people have a mission to complete. Why don't we finish our repairs, then we can take both ships and become the Calvary, for our lost Brothers-In- Arms." The Vulcan Captain then said, "I concur. But whose mission will we complete? Yours or ours?" He looked over and saw the slightest of nods from Spock. Chakotay frowned. "What do you mean? I thought that we had the same mission: to rescue the crew of the Enterprise B." Spock spoke up and turned deferentially to Tuvok. "Captain, if I may?" "Your assessment of the situation would be most enlightening Ambassador." Spock turned to Chakotay. "Our mission Captain, was to repair the Enterprise B and accompany her back to the Alpha Quadrant: preferably through a trans-warp conduit. Voyagers mission was to bring them home: I assume that that would mean abandoning their ship in the Delta Quadrant and ferrying the crew home." The other Vulcan commented. "An accurate assessment Ambassador, with the following caveat. We were to destroy their ship, rather than let it fall into enemy hands, before the return trip." "An eminently logical deduction. But knowing Captain Uhura as I do, I doubt that she will stand to see her ship destroyed." "I served with Admiral Sulu on the Excelsior, and I suspect that he too will oppose the destruction of that vessel. I suggest that we go to them, and let them decide on the proper course of action." "Agreed." Three days later, the repairs to the Enterprise were completed and their journey was resumed. Some of the Occampans were beamed over to Voyager to make more room on the Enterprise. As usual on the Enterprise, Scotty handled the transport. It wasn't that there weren't others who could do it: it was that he enjoyed the feel of the old controls under his fingers. He enjoyed being in his one true home. For days, with the help of B'Elanna and the Voyagers engineers, he had been so busy with his mistress' repairs, that he gave little thought to anything else. His world consisted of him, his fellow engineers and his ship: there was nothing else: nothing more. Only his fellow engineers could truly understand what this meant to him. There has always been an unspoken bond between all ships engineers. When one ship is in need, other engineers, knowing how they would feel, race to the rescue of the stricken vessel, and nothing else matters. But as Scotty handled those transporter controls, he knew that that wasn't true. Just because he had missed something, it wasn't necessarily unimportant. It wasn't just he that had missed it, it was everyone. How could that be? He tapped the companel. When Chakotay answered he gave the dire news. "Sir, we have a problem. It may be impossible to save the crew of the Enterprise B." The Emissary Harry was no stranger to wormholes, but the idea of stopping in the middle of one bothered him immensely. On Voyager, he had studied almost a hundred wormholes, and the one thing he had learned about all of them, was that all of them were dangerous. As Colonel Kira piloted the Runabout towards the only wormhole that she had ever known, Harry found himself with a strange sense of serenity. From personal experience, he knew that he should be in a state of near panic but it was as if he was returning home for the first time. Turning to the attractive pilot he asked, "Colonel, what can you tell me about the wormhole and the aliens who inhabit it?" "You'll have to excuse me, but I cannot think of them as aliens. They are the Prophets. They are my Gods, and the Gods of my people: and the wormhole is their Celestial Temple. It is histories only stable wormhole because it is more than a wormhole. It is the home of the Gods who have watched over and protected Bajor throughout its history." "To many it is merely a means of travel to the Gamma Quadrant: but to me, every time I journey through it is a potential religious experience. Since the end of the Dominion War, and the defeat of the Pah'Wraiths: thousands of Bajorans travel there hoping for a spiritual experience." "That's very interesting Colonel. Do many of them receive visions during their pilgrimages?" "Not so far, although many thousands have received comfort and inspiration in the Celestial Temple journeys." "I can see that your people have a fulfilling relationship with your deities. I wish that more worlds have such tangible and helpful Gods." "There is a growing movement on Bajor that feels that the worship of the Prophets might be for more than just the Bajorans. They argue that since the Prophets chose an Earthman as their Emissary: Worship of the Prophets might be meant for a wider audience. Thousands of years ago, Bajor was the seat of an Empire that spanned this part of the sector. Part of the reason for that was a missionary zeal for spreading our faith. Some argue that we should do so again." "Well that sounds kind of ominous." "Oh I wouldn't worry too much: they are a small minority, and Bajor is not the Empire it once was. The problem is that until the Emissary returns to give us instruction, we're stumbling in the dark, and the new Kai was specifically chosen to not be too strong a leader. The last Kai nearly led us into complete ruin… We're coming up on the wormhole now. Keep your eyes open: it's a beautiful thing to behold." The Celestial Temple opened its gates with a swirling maelstrom of multi-hued lights, and Harry had to agree that it was one of the most beautiful sights that he had ever seen. The wormhole itself, was unlike any that Harry had seen before. Within the usual vortex, there were swirling ribbons of whitest light that corkscrewed about them while balls of rainbow incandescence floated aimlessly throughout. The cacophony of colors would have become hypnotic if it were allowed to continue for too long. Then the runabout drifted to a halt, with the beautiful storm continuing about them. Everything seemed to glow with a slightly skewed color scheme. Abruptly the runabout was gone and Harry found himself standing on a grassy knoll, with a five year old Kira kneeling in obeisance before her Gods. What it was that she was seeing, he could only guess at: it was obvious that she was seeing something different than he was. He turned from her, blinked and she was gone. He blinked again and the grassy knoll was replaced with his dorm room at Starfleet Academy. He was looking out the window at the Bay, and he blinked again, and found himself in the Mess Hall on Voyager. Neelix looked up from his cooking and said, "The Kim is here." Behind him Kes spoke next, "He will be up to the task." Spinning to see her he was now in a Borg Regeneration Alcove, and Seven of Nine said flatly, "He is the Paladin." Then he was back on Romulus, where Sela continued the bizarre dialogue. "He is of Bajor." From Kes. "He is linear, as was the Sisko." Naomi Wildman took his hand and led Harry down a corridor of Voyager. "The Sisko can still be linear. The Sisko will instruct him." Then he was back on the same grassy knoll where he was when he first arrived at this strange place. Of in the distance, he could see the same Starfleet Captain that had haunted his dreams, approaching him through the tall grasses. As he drew near, the scenery grew more firm. It appeared that he might be spared another perceived special drift. Presently the Captain stood before Harry, and with a bright and friendly smile he extended his hand. "You must be the Kim. I'm the Sisko." Taking the proffered hand Harry cautiously answered him. "I know who you are sir. What I need to know is why I was summoned to this place?" "You won't understand this answer yet, but you were summoned because, you are of Bajor." "So I've heard. What's that supposed to mean?" "It means that your fate, as mine, is inextricably linked to that place. I was called as their Emissary. It was my job to remind the Bajorans of who they are and to protect Bajor from the enemies within. You are called as their Guardian: or if you will be better known, the Paladin. It is your fate to guard Bajor from those enemies without, until the time that the Prophets have suitably prepared me to return to Bajor." "What enemies are those? Who am I to have the power to save any place from anything?" Flashing that ultimately friendly smile again, "Have you not recently saved both the Federation and the Romulan Empire from a hidden adversary?" "Well… yeah, but… " "That enemy is but one side of a war that has been waged across the Alpha Quadrant for thousands of years. Long ago the Bajoran Empire fell victim to this war and suffered greatly for it. That will not be allowed to happen again. You know of one side of the conflict, but not the other." "Harry… may I call you Harry?" "Of course." "Do you know why Section thirty-one recruited you, and Doctor Bashir for that matter, over all of the peoples of the Federation?" Harry had indeed often asked himself that most frustrated of questions, 'Why me?' "No sir I don't know why I was chosen." "Well let me enlighten you. Section Thirty-One chooses all of its operatives from among the genetically enhanced. Have you never suspected that you might be enhanced, even as Doctor Bashir has been enhanced?" "It never occurred to me to even consider the option." "Think about it now. It's no accident that you are a three time Parrises Squares Champion, nor is your photographic memory an accident of birth. This is why you were chosen by Section Thirty-One, and this is why you have been chosen to be Bajor's Paladin." Harry stood on that knoll for a long time digesting the new revelations about his life, while Benjamin Sisko waited patiently. Finally, "I don't see what difference any genetic enhancements that I might have would make. If I am enhanced, it obviously isn't a great enhancement, or I would have noticed it by now, so I still don't have what it takes to be anyone's savior." "Your humility was another reason that you were chosen." Getting annoyed Harry snapped back. "What does any of this have to do with this secret war that you've mentioned?" "It has everything to do with it. The great issue of the war is evolution. Your enhancements sidestep evolution." "You have already met one side of the war. It is the mission of the parasitic aliens to prevent the various species of the Galaxy from evolving beyond an arbitrary point that they have set. They seek to limit evolution, and make all species roughly equal in development, and they have generally succeeded. How many alien races have been found that are light years ahead of us in development? Not many." "Their opponents are more benign. They wish to study evolution in its purest state: therefore they oppose the parasites whenever they discover a nest of them. Unfortunately, their wish to study evolution in its purest form, presupposes them too work to prevent artificial genetic enhancements. They have hindered the activities of section Thirty-One for centuries: which may be a good thing, or the section would have been running everything by now." Harry now understood the nature of the conflict, but had a lot of questions. "I still fail to see what any of this has to do with either Bajor or with me." "The Prophets have guided Bajor for thousands of years. With their guidance, in another millennium… two at the outside, the people of Bajor will evolve and join the Prophets in the Celestial Temple. The parasites adversaries see this gentle guidance as interference with evolution, and have set themselves the task of preventing this. As they stopped the prophets at the zenith of the Bajoran Empire, so shall they work against them again. This cannot be permitted, and only your enhanced and multi-faceted mind can bring salvation to Bajor." "As I am speaking now speaking to you, so am I speaking to Colonel Kira. She is being given instructions on what she must do. She will inform the new Kai and the Vedics of what is about to begin, and she will gain for you all of the resources of Bajor. It is now time for you to learn of what you must do." Nervously Harry answered. "I'm ready." "There are two people that you must bring to Bajor. What do you know of a place called Talos IV?" confluence # all is proceeding well here on the enterprise a + and here on the voyager T we are waiting on the enterprise b S things are proceeding well M so it seems # is it not so? M something feels wrong T will it hinder us? M no T then everything is well Rescue Uhura had long ago healed completely from her injuries, but she still awoke every morning with a stiffer back than she ever had had prior to their encounter with the Kazon. Since they had received word that a rescue ship was on the way, she had ordered the crew to be wakened from stasis and prepare as much as they could. After eighty years in stasis, many of the ships systems needed retuning and refurbishing, so there was plenty of work for them to accomplish. She lay sleeplessly in her bed, anticipating her reunion with old friends. Of course it wouldn't be just anybody that would be coming to their rescue: it was her dearest friends: in many ways her family. And 'where', she wondered 'did they get the Enterprise? How could it still exist after so long a period of time?' She couldn't wait to get her arms about her old comrades-in-arms. 'Spock's an Ambassador now.' She thought. 'I guess that it wasn't too hard to see that one coming, Doctor McCoy: an Admiral no less. It doesn't seem so long ago that they had to draft him to get him back into the service. I never really expected him to still be alive, but it's nice to be surprised. He certainly has aged, but Scotty? How can he still be alive? Why isn't he any older than the last time I saw him?' These questions, and a lot more continued to intrude on her sleep, making it a real impossibility. Since she couldn't sleep anyway, she decided to take her shift on the Bridge a little early and give Commander Zachary some unexpected free time. She decided on a little luxury this morning, taking a long hot shower: the kind with real water, not the functional but unsatisfying sonic kind. She walked on down to the Crew's Mess and joined the other members of the crew who were up and about at the early hour. Uhura enjoyed spending time with the crew. There were many officers who never took the time to build friendships with any but other officers, but Uhura had always enjoyed talking with others. She was a communicator from top to bottom, and she enjoyed getting to know everybody under her command. She genuinely liked them, and they knew it, so they generally adored her, and would go through hell for her. Cookie had fixed a fine breakfast and she spent time catching up with the latest gossip. She saw the anticipation in the actions of those at the table around her, and she shared it. They had waited a long time for rescue, and now that it was imminent, they had a hard time waiting: they were all like little children of Christmas morning, waiting for Mom and Dad to get up so that they could open their presents. Uhura could see how they all felt. She was a communicator, and had long ago realized that she saw everything as a form of communication. Mathematics communicated otherwise indescribable concepts about patterns and physical realities. Music communicated the musician's emotions, and could modify the mood of the listener. Art and poetry communicated concepts and body movements conveyed the truth about a person's thoughts. Uhura was one of those rare people who understood the importance of communication, and she knew how to use it well. She saw the antsy melancholy of those about her, picked up her harp and began to sing. The crew was used to her singing freely among them, so it was lucky for them that she had a beautiful voice and she knew how to select the perfect piece of music that the crewmembers needed to hear at each moment. She strummed a simple number at first, just to get their attention, increasing the speed and bawdiness as she really got into things. Swinging into standards that were perennial favorites at the Academy she invited those about her to join in. Soon they were making requests, and by the time that she left the Mess Hall the party continued in full swing without her. The melancholy had been replaced with the rowdy cockiness of youth. Commander Zachary fairly beamed when his Captain strolled onto the Bridge. He was incredibly happy to have her back at the helm. He certainly respected Admiral Sulu, but he was a stiff, spit and polish type. He respected the Admiral as much as he did his Captain, but he loved being around Captain Uhura: everyone did. Where the Admiral had his respect, the Captain had his devotion. Standing he welcomed his commander on the Bridge. "Captain, it's good to see you. You're up early." "I couldn't sleep Tom, so I thought that maybe you might want to get off a little early and try to get some shuteye. Anything new that I should know about?" "Not really. T'Ram and her crew have started harvesting the season's crops, and there's been some activity showing on the long-range sensors. Everybody's seeing things anticipating the Admiral's Enterprise to show up on the sensor screen. I guess that now that things are so close, it's getting doubly hard to wait." "I know what you mean. I suppose that it'll be a little bit of a letdown when its all over. You know, I beamed down to the farm the other day, and the Vulcans have created a model of efficiency in farming. The place is producing more and varied kinds of foods than we'll ever need. Not only that but it's beautiful. For a people that work so hard to hide their emotions, they can sure scream it through their works of art: and that farm is a work of art." "I know what you mean. It'll sure be a waste to have to abandon it when we're rescued." "Well you're welcome to stay if you like." "Nice of you to offer Captain, but I think I'll pass this time." "I don't blame you Tom." Their conversation was interrupted at that time by Ensign Va'Sha'Taa: a Blintar whose breather mask often distorted her voice in a nasal sort of way. "Captain, we have activity at the edge of our sensors." "The Enterprise?" "No Ma'am. It has a Kazon warp signature. It looks like three vessels coming in at warp seven." "Wonderful. OK, sound Battle stations. We'll just have to hold them off until the cavalry arrives." The Kazon cruisers had intercepted the communications between the two Enterprises and decided that if they were ever to stand a chance to finish off the Federation ship, they would have to do it now: before the other Federation Starship arrived. They were just glad that it was just another old ship, and that they wouldn't have to deal with Voyager again. The First Maje ordered his left wingship to close ranks. They had drifted too far from formation for his tastes. Either way he had figured out the starship's commander. That Admiral Sulu was a by the book kind of leader, and once you've figured out the book, you've figured out the commander. They had lost their previous engagements, but that had given him time to study his opponent. There would be no surprises this time. Captain Uhura studied the approaching crafts. "That one on the left is flying sloppy. Their pilot is inexperienced. Tommy, when the time comes, swing us wide and bear down on that ship. It'll unnerve their pilot even more." She silently blessed her stars that she had received all the information that the Voyager had gathered on the Kazon. For once she would be able to be inside their heads. "Ensign Va'Sha'Taa: do you have any of those Blintarese sub audible dirges that you're so fond of handy?" "Yes Captain. But they always do strange things to you humans. I don't believe that this would be a good time to put the crew into a deep depression." "You're absolutely right. But maybe our opponents would enjoy them. Judging by Voyager's reports on the physical make up of the Kazon, I believe that your dirges will have the same effect on them as they would on us. When I hail them, would you please pipe that wonderful music into our transmission. We've already heard it, so let's just make sure that it's for their ears only." After a few moments, the Ensign had things ready. Uhura always preferred to try to negotiate first, and hit later. She secretly felt that there were too many male officers who prefer the opposite. "OK folks let's get started. Ensign: if you would please hail the closing vessels." "Approaching Kazon ships! This is Captain Uhura of the Starship Enterprise. Why are you here? We have no desire to humiliate you, as we have had to do to your other vessels, which have tried to attack us in the past. There is already too much debris in orbit around this planet." She could see the left ship waver and drop farther back from the rest of the formation. That one was their Achilles Heel. A booming voice erupted from the viewscreen. This is First Maje Tenocht, of the Flaming Sword. We are a warrior race Captain, and we will not back down… Where is Admiral Sulu?" Reading the expression on his face, as he asked hopefully for Sulu, she knew immediately how to rattle him more. "The Admiral is sleeping in his quarters. He's not worried about this minor altercation. He's a competent commander, but he knows that I was bred for combat, where he is just a paper pusher." She hoped that Sulu never heard that she said that. "He knows that I am much more equipped to deal with you than he ever was. If you're going to attack, let's get it over with. I want to get back to my breakfast." It was all her Bridge crew could do to not burst into raucous laughter, but one quick glance from her stifled that impulse. The First Maje came back on screen, looking a little less confident. 'Maybe the dirges are getting to them after all.' Uhura thought to herself. "I was expecting the Admiral…" "Well you've got me. Look, I'd rather not have to kill you: you look like a nice enough guy. Why do your people keep attacking us? It's getting a little annoying. I'd rather try making friends than having to kill you." "We were paid by the Vidiians to disable your ship." "Really? Then there's no reason for us to fight. Our other ship has already disposed of the Vidiians, so if on the miraculous chance you were able to defeat us, there would be no one left to pay you. Are your losses worth it?" "The Vidiians…" "Are gone. Soon our other ship will be here with the slaves that they rescued from them. Then you'll have proof of what I say." After a long wait, the First Maje answered. "If we wait for them, we'll be outmatched…" "Friend you're already outmatched and you don't even know it." Forty minutes later, the Kazon ships still held position, while being constantly serenaded by sub audible dirges impacting them subliminally. Finally Ensign Va'Sha'Taa said "Captain, two Federation Starships are entering the system" "That God for that." "First Maje! If you check your sensors, you'll see that two Federation Starships have arrived. Would you like to see the freed slaves?" Immediately the leftmost Kazon ship bolted a ran from the system as fast as he could. It's Maje was heard on the comlink, screaming in terror, "VOYAGER!!! It's Voyager!!! Run for your lives!!" And the two other ships scattered, leaving the system at full warp. Uhura smiled brightly, "Ensign Va'Sha'Taa, I do believe that they loved your music. Would you turn it off now please?" "Yes Captain." "This is Captain Uhura of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Are we ever glad to see you." "Tuvok commanding the U.S.S Voyager. What was that all about Captain?" "Just sharing a little music between friends Captain. Speaking of friends, are my friends on the Enterprise there all right." "Aye Lassie, that we are. The Doctors brought a little good Kentucky Bourbon that he brought for this occasion. What's say that we all get together and swap a few war stories?" "I'd like that Scotty." U.P. NEWSWIRE Deep Space Twelve: The Hidden Hideaway By Jake Sisko Ever since the sensational trial of the renegade android Lore, the Federation's latest Outpost, Deep Space Twelve, has become a hive of industry that promises to revolutionize the long ignored world of Artificial Intelligence. In one of the Holo-Decks, an entire city has grown up overnight, with a current population of over twelve thousand holograms, who have downloaded themselves into the growing Holo-Metropolis. The city boasts a new University that promises to become the hub of many insightful philosophical discussions regarding all forms of A.I.s. A new wing is being built in another Holo-Deck, to house and train the Androids, Robots and other solid A.I. forms. It is reputed that the android Lore is currently housed in that new facility. Much of the station's day-to-day operations are handled by a staff consisting of Holographic versions of Starfleet personnel from the Starships Enterprise and Titan. Both ships had been held at station keeping until the station became fully autonomous: after which time they were released for active duty. Oen note of interest is that the Titan is still being manned by her break-in crew: making it the longest shakedown cruise in Starfleet history. The Station Commander, Deanna Troi Riker, boasts that DS12 is destined to revolutionize Federation standards, and help to create a new age for all types of intelligences. When a permanent Station Commander is selected, she will return to her regular posting on the Titan. Starfleet holds one part of the station apart for the rest of its activities. The station was originally designed as a sort of deep space telescope. With the repopulation of the station, that telescope is to be put back in service. Starfleet will administer its use. Mayor Moriarty says that when things become more established he hopes for the Holo-Metropolis to actively work to make it a lively tourist spot. To that end, he has invited a close personal friend of your reporter to help develop the casinos and nightspots of the city. He hopes to one day become the Risa of the sector. I for one can hardly wait. Spock Spock sat at the banquette table and with a detached air, observing the raucous activities taking place all about him. The bounty of the planet below them was laid out in what could only be called a feast. For some reason that Spock couldn't quite put his finger on, he found himself more detached than usual. Although he had just been reunited with his dearest friends, it was as if he were seeing them dimly through a fog. Even Captain Tuvok was more emotionally affected than he was. He heard snippets of conversations all about him, but found it hard to connect with any of them. His thoughts were so focused on the silence around him that he almost missed the clamor: very little was heard and very little was registered. "As your husband B'Elanna, I say you're staying on Voyager with me. Let Scotty be Enterprise's Engineer…" "The way I heard it Lassie, Jim didn't die on your ship after all. Captain Picard said that he was with him when he died just a few years ago: but I've also heard that he was resurrected later on. Knowin' him, he'll be waitin' for us when we get back…" "Why I let them scramble my atoms in that fool contraption, I'll never know…" "When you left the Excelsior, I knew that we had lost a good man. I'm really glad that you came back Captain Tuvok…" "So you people have been out this way before huh?…" "Haven't had real corn like this in years…" "So you've finally perfected the replicator? That should make the trip back more palatable…" "The Cubs? Really?" "I'm worried about what will happen to us when we get back. I'm not sure that Starfleet will ever forgive the Maquis…" T he hasn't heard us yet + he will. i have met him before and know his strength of will T he sees us but doesn't perceive us 'What was that?' Spock perceived a conversation that was not like the others. + finally T he is almost ready The room was almost black around him. Spock was slipping completely into a mode more suited for telepathic communication. Reaching out tentatively he attempted contact. "can you hear me?" + I can hear you son of sarek T we have much to discuss "you talk as if I know you" + we met once long ago T if you go to your quarters, we will meet you there Spock stood woodenly and mumbled an excuse to whoever the person sitting next to him was and ambled dazedly to his room. Along the way he was struggling to stay in his trance state. He didn't want to chance losing contact by bringing himself too much into the world. + release your concentration spock T we will appear physically in a form that you know He shook his head once and regained fully possession of his physical faculties. When he entered his compartment he saw standing before him two elderly farmers whom he did know: who seemed to be the very statement of inoffense. Their plain woolen cloths and simple sandals made them look nearly simple, but Spock knew them to be so much more than their rural appearance would lead one to suspect. "What are Organians doing here in the Delta Quadrant?" During Spock's time with Captain Kirk: on the Enterprise's first five-year mission under Kirk, he met these two Organians. That was a long time ago. Tension were running high between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, with the two on the verge of an all out war that threatened to exterminate both races. The Enterprise was dispatched to the apparently primitive farming planet Organia, to gather information of Klingon activities in the area. The Organian people seemed to be like sheep being led to the slaughter. Kirk and Spock tried to incite the populace to revolt against their Klingon oppressors, but the people were extreme pacifists and happily slaughtered in droves. Both Kirk, and the Klingon Commander, were sickened by the seemingly spineless Organians. During this mission, tensions finally reached the breaking point and war broke out between the two nations. As the first shots were about to be fired, all weapons on all ships in both the Federation and the Klingon Empire were rendered inoperable by the not so ineffectual Organians: who said that they found interference in the lives of others distasteful, but that they could not allow the two nations to exterminate each other. It turned out that the Organians were evolutionarily more advanced creatures composed of energy, who could take physical forms to communicate with lesser species: like the Humans and the Klingons. They brokered a peace treaty between the two nations and hadn't been heard from since. Until that day that is. Spock looked them over closely. They appeared to be the same two that he had met so long ago. Both seemed simple elderly human farmers from some long gone age. One was shorter and clean shaven, while the leader sported a slight goatee. "You are the same two Organians that I've met before, are you not?" The leader answered. "We are, Mister Spock. It is fortunate that you are here, for you have a vital mission to perform. Your Federation ships seem to have taken upon them the task of protecting the last remaining Ocampans. It is vital that their race is ensured survival." "I thought that you found interfering in the affairs of other to be distasteful." "We do: but it is still sometimes necessary: as it was in the case of our previous meeting." "Please explain." "It is our mission to make sure that new races have the chance to evolve naturally. Had you and the Klingons gone to war, many of the races that make up the federation, as well as the Klingons, would by now be extinct. We are the overseers of natural evolution, we had to stop your war." "And the Ocampans?" "They are about to take that evolutionary step to become as we are. They must be given that chance, and you are the ones that must give them that opportunity. We might have done it ourselves, if we had to, but since you seemed to have taken up that burden, the task is now yours." "So our Mister Scott had already figured out and informed us." "We are grateful for his wisdom. We have come to warn you that we have an age old enemy who seeks to limit evolution, and they have been found here in the Delta Quadrant. They are a parasitic creature who once tried to infiltrate your Starfleet leaders. It was your Captain Picard who exposed them and saved your Federation for the time being. The Talaxian trader Betyx was a victim to one such creature." "I've read a little bit about them. They will try to impede us in our mission?" "That is our fear. We felt that you should be warned so that you will be on your guard for them. Don't let them prevent the Ocampans from evolving." "How shall we know them?" "That information is already in the Voyager's database. The Federation has recently made great strides in detecting this enemy of all." Spock mulled over all that was communicated to him, and as he was formulating his next question, the Organians reverted to their energy forms and faded from sight. Rising from his seat, he returned to the banquet to inform the others of his visitation. T does he suspect that we are living on their ships as corporeal beings + we are living on most of the ships and planets of the alpha quadrant as corporeal beings T it is our job to observe evolution + therefore we watch them from within T does he suspect that + no. we appear as lower lifeforms when we observe them T so they never look for observers from within + therefore uhura never sees more in you than her pet tribble T and to spock you seem no more than a mouse scurrying across the deck + i preferred the days when i was porthos T contact spot and the others and let them know that all is proceeding well + and that we need a greater presence in this quadrant T i will inform them Talos IV Harry Kim lifted off from the nearly forgotten planet in his Section Thirty-One supplied shuttle: a seemingly beautiful Vulcan woman occupying the co-pilot's seat. It was a standard Section shuttle; similar to ones that had been used by Section Operatives for centuries, with high warp capabilities and Sulaban cloaking technology. Section Thirty-One had worked hard to make the universe forget the existence of the Sulaban. This ancient enemy had many devices that were simply too useful to the Section's covert operations, to be allowed to become common knowledge: devices like the cloaking device. The cloaking device, invented a hundred years after the Sulaban, by the Romulans, and used by the Klingons: was a crude and less effect device, built on entirely different principles. The Sulaban cloak was by now completely undetectable. He had studied all of the records of Talos IV and Harry knew that he was risking the only death penalty remaining in the Federation by simply going there, but he risked much more than that. The Prophets had assured him that his unique mind was capable of persevering through the probable trials ahead of him, but who really knew, so he brought along the Vulcan woman as insurance. If his mind was damaged, he hoped that hers would survive, for she was not just a Vulcan: she was an android Vulcan. The android woman had once, long ago, been one of the most important people in this section of the galaxy. She had had a long career as an explorer, and later as a leader of the Vulcan Reformation Movement. In her latter years she was one of the most influential people in the Vulcan political arena and had been responsible for helping reshape Vulcan into the vibrant world that it has since become. As she entered old age, and neared death: she returned to her roots and set out to explore many of the new and alien technologies that had been found in her later years by the younger generation of Federation explorers. She wanted to see what was new and interesting in the nearby section of the galaxy. On one such trip, she came to the world of androids, which she never left… until now. It was on that world, as her decaying body was succumbing to the ravages of old age, that she traded her decaying form for that of a youthful android body. The transfer of her mind, into the artificial body, was complete and she became virtually immortal: now she sat beside this young boy, on his bizarre quest, in her ancient body. She couldn't help wondering if he really knew how old she really was. Harry glanced over at his companion, and wondered what thoughts she contemplated. He felt reassured that if the illusionists of Talos IV were able to subvert his mind, T'Pol's non-organic android mind might be insurance for the success of his mission. Section records showed that her android form looked exactly like the biological one that she had worn in her youth. The Section had done a thorough job of erasing from all databases, the android planet which had been found by the Enterprise, under Captain Kirk, as well as the planet with the machinery that allowed the transfer of minds from biologic forms to android forms. Once section Thirty-One freed Harry Mudd from the android planet, Section Operatives transferred the mind switching machinery to the android planet. At that time Section leadership had felt that there might some day be a use for android operatives and android armies, but T'Pol ended those dreams when she landed on the planet. T'Pol thought back to that long ago day when she first landed on the world of androids. It was on the subterranean world of darkened tunnels that she found thousands of purposeless androids in search for a reason for their existence. There had been some evidence that someone else had been there recently and had been trying to create androids with diminished ethical functions. She had no way of knowing whether they had succeeded or not, but she immediately saw an entire civilization in need of guidance, and with her years of experience leading the Reform Movement, she knew that she could help them. She had lived long enough, and become experienced enough in dealing with non-Vulcan races, that she had no problem envisioning the many possible, non-pacifist uses, to which the childlike androids could be reprogrammed. She couldn't allow that and threw herself into her new task, expecting no compensation; but she unexpectedly received it. After years of laboring on the strange world, her ancient body gave out and she felt her mind fading into oblivion. Suddenly the darkness gave way to the bright lights of the laboratory where the androids transferred her mind into a young android body. Except for an attenuation of her psychic abilities, she couldn't feel any difference between her biological body and her new one. She had guided her charges for the decades since. And now for the first time since then, she was leaving her world, at the side of this young man from the latest generation of Federation officers. The shuttle approached Talos IV. The forbidden world looked innocuous enough, but both Harry and T'Pol knew that there was a good chance that neither of them would ever again see either sanity or freedom. They achieved what they assumed was a standard orbit, but really had no way of knowing for sure. The Talosians were an ancient race that had reached an evolutionary dead-end: they were the galaxy's ultimate masters of illusion. They also hoped to train a new race of adopted Talosians. Having failed in their previous attempts to fine an appropriate race to become worthy successors, they happened upon humans from Earth, and with two humans from Earth, (including a former captain of the Starship Enterprise) they were able to bring their plans to fruition. Starfleet Command had placed a death sentence on anyone who visited Talos IV: therefore it had been ninety years since the last time that a Federation vessel had approached this planet. Harry could help feeling an amount of dread as he made preparations for landing, and only T'Pol knew what she felt. They found a small village near a burned out tor, with adequate foliage to offer some degree of concealment as they set down the cloaked shuttle. They were there. In short order, Harry and T'Pol were on a dirt road approaching the village. T'Pol's heightened senses first detected the tremors deep within the ground, but soon even Harry could feel the ground moving beneath them. The earth below growled deeply just before the flailing creature burst through the ground before them opening a six meter wide chasm. They were thrown from their feet, one to the north and one to the south. The spinning snakelike dervish flung brilliant jade scales at them. Starfleet training held them in good stead which allowed them to evade the hurtling missiles. Unfortunately, some of the nearby villagers didn't seem to have fared as well. Although some villagers were immediately eviscerated, many had sustained only minor injuries. Harry pulled out his phaser and took quick aim on their assailant, but T'Pol whirled and knocked the weapon from his hands with a flying kick. As the started Harry Kim scrambled for his weapon, the Vulcan leaped over the twisting reptile and felt for the appropriate nerves. She wasn't at all sure that it would work, but when she applied the proper nerve pinch, the beast crumpled to the ground. Harry wiped the sweat from his head and said, "Good work T'Pol, but why didn't you let me blast it? It would have been a lot easier." "Perhaps, but I cannot condone more violence than is absolutely necessary. Even that creature has life and experiences pain. In any attack, the least pain inflicted to accomplish your goal is the best attack." "I suppose…" looking about at the injured townspeople, Harry continued. "Come on, let's help these people to get away before that thing wakes up." "An elderly man tried to push them away. "Leave us… That creature might wake up at any time. You look to be on an important errand of some sort: if you stop to help us you may fail in fulfilling your mission. Just go, and leave us." Assessing the argument, T'Pol says, "There is some merit to what he says." Shaking his head, Harry answers the argument. "Our mission is one of rescue… we cannot save one group of sentient beings by the sacrifice of another group. We must succeed in saving both." The old man smiled and his facial features melted and softened. Before T'Pol and Harry's stunned faces, the old man's image reformed itself into that of a much younger man, wearing an antiquated Starfleet uniform. The reformed villager held out his hand to Harry who shook it and not to T'Pol who would not have shaken it. "You Mister Kim have compassion and my profound respect." Then he turned to T'pol and smiled. "And you my friend were one of my childhood heroes: I'm glad to see that you still are. My name is Christopher Pike: now why have you sought me out?" Kirk's World Repairs on the Enterprise B were finally complete. After many decades of disuse, the recently repaired engines of the mighty ship were ready for testing. Commander S'Tan, Uhura's Vulcan Chief Engineer, was overjoyed to see the replacement parts. She almost raised an eyebrow, which Uhura knew to be an almost unbridled display of emotion… for S'Tan that is. With the Enterprise A standing to port, and Voyager to starboard she gave the order. Looking to her first officer she said, "Take us out of orbit Pavel." The faithful Impulse Engines came to life as the largest of the three ships slipped out of orbit, flanked by the two smaller vessels. The Captain took what she assumed was her last look at the planet which had been their home and safe haven for the better part of a century, and was surprised to find a tear in her eye. "Aft screens off, forward monitors on screen." The planet known as Kirk's World vanished from the monitor to be replaced with a view rich with stars. Looking to communications she said, "Open a channel to Captain Scott." After a few seconds the familiar Scottish burr came on line and warmed her heart. "Scott here!" "Scotty. We're ready to test out our new warp engines. Mr. S'Tan may need your help in calibrating the new mixture. Will you open up a line with her and give her any advice that she might need?" "Anything for you Lassy." The Three-way connection was set up and they were ready to begin." "S'Tan, take us to warp one." "Aye sir!" The engineer's delicate fingers caressed the controls and brought the new engines on line for the first time. The Enterprise B bolted forward with a lurch. A slight thrumming pulsed through the decks of the ship that was once the Federation's flagship, evening out as warp was achieved. The Vulcan Engineer reported. "Warp One Sir." Over the commlink Scotty chimed in. "Nice work S'Tan. It looked good from here. Maybe a little dirty on the exhaust, but we'll get that worked out." A pleased Uhura, said "Take us to warp five S'Tan." "Warp Five, Aye." Again the engines thrummed and the ship achieved its goal. "Open her up S'Tan! Let's see what she'll do." "Aye Captain." As the ship accelerated, Pavel Chekov read off the speeds. "Warp six… warp seven…" "Lassy, yuir engines have a slight phase misalignment. She's leaking a lot of warp field energies." "Is that dangerous Scotty?" "Not at all… just a little inefficient." "OK good. We'll work out the bugs later." "Warp eight…" "This is B'Elanna Tores on Voyager. Your exhaust's noise is obscuring our sensors. We're going to pull back a ways until the test is over." "Warp nine…" "Thank you Voyager, keep us informed of your status." "Warp nine point five…" At that point the ship developed a strong shutter, which vibrated through the Enterprise B. With command instincts developed over years of command, Uhura reacted with swiftness. "All stop!" The ship slowed and the rattling quickly vanished. All three Federation ships were soon at rest. Turning on her commlink she hailed her companion ships. "Gentlemen: I would say that that was a successful test. What say we return to Kirk's World and work out some of those bugs in our engines?" There was no disagreement. After their return to the planet the various engineers went merrily about their work, realigning the powerful warp coils and honing the fields to smooth out the inconsistencies discovered during the test flight. Ambassador Spock beamed over to visit with his old friends and to find the answer to a question the was nagging at the back of his mind, ever since his visitation by the Organians: an event that has begun to seem more and more like a dream with every passing moment. "Captain Uhura, I request a boon." "For you Spock anything. What is it." "I wish to have your planet." "My what…?" "I wish to transplant the Ocampans to this world that your people have built over the period of your stay here. They need a new home, and we have one here that you are about to abandon. It would seem to be an eminently logical solution to the problem." "Eminently. OK Spock it's yours. Why don't we take them down to their new home tomorrow morning. You Know, it'll be nice to end all of the overcrowding on all of our ships. "Indeed." The one Ambassador, two Admirals and the three Captains beamed down with the Ocampan refugees. The crops were ready for harvesting, and the hastily constructed living quarters ready for occupancy. It was a Spartan encampment, but everyone was sure that the new colonists would, in time, add their own unique flavor to the place. The Ocampans wandered through the rows of corn, like newborn children. To the Federation officers, it was obvious immediately that the Ocampans were going to need a great deal of education before they would ever be able to take care of themselves. All of the Starfleet officers were in agreement that the Caretaker did the Ocampans no favor by providing everything for them. Intelligent beings need challenges to thrive, and theirs had long been totally stagnant. They would have to be taught how to fend for themselves. Perhaps some day they would become self sustaining: but that day was not this day. This provided a dilemma. How could the Federation officers return home, and abandon these innocent people to their sure deaths? But how could they not return home? Captain Uhura was the first to broach the subject. "They seem like little children. What's going to happen to them when we go home." With a total lack of emotion in his voice Spock matter-of-factly provided the answer. "They will die." Silence thickened the air for the space of many minutes, until Admiral McCoy said, "I'll stay with them. Hell as old as I am, and as short lived as they are, I'll probably outlive them all." Chakotay also volunteered. "We'll stay too. If we returned to the Federation, all of my people would probably be locked up in that concentration camp again. At least here we'll have the opportunity to do something worthwhile." Cool Vulcan logic put things in perspective, as Tuvok reminded them. "That's assuming that any of us ever is able to find our ways back home. The Alpha Quadrant is a long way away." The silence seemed to last forever and was broken by Tuvok's communicator. At the sound of the beeping, everyone present felt a bit of relief at the interruption. It seemed that almost anything would be a welcome distraction from the dour pronouncement that was just made by the captain of the Voyager. Tuvok moved away from the group to confer with his ship. When he returned his Vulcan demeanor was visibly shaken. "My friends we have a problem. With our more modern sensors, Voyager has detected a craft entering the system at high warp." Ice ran through Uhura's soul. "Have the Kazon returned?" "If only that were so. You've never had dealings with them before, but you are about to receive your baptism by fire. A Borg cube will reach the planet in three hours and seventeen minutes." The Borg Resistance is futile. The hive mind of this Borg ship knew that it is our mission to assimilate all superior lifeforms and superior technologies. The Borg have assimilated many advanced species, and this cube has the most advanced sensors yet to be encountered. Our voyage is a voyage of discovery and assimilation. In this manner can the Borg thrive and grow. The galactic fringe houses inferior species and has provided little worthy of assimilation. We cast our sensors in a new direction, and detect an unstable warp field generating a din of hyperspatial noise. We change direction to investigate. We are the Borg. If the owners of this field are worthy, we will assimilate them. If not they will die. Resistance is futile. The three Federation ships threw together some hasty plans and hastily left orbit to confront their new foe. By leaving the planet far behind, they hoped to lead the Borg away from Kirk's World and the Ocampa. Even if they failed in their mission and were to be destroyed by the Borg, they would have won some small victory by giving the Ocampans a chance at life. If they stayed in orbit, the Borg would surely notice them and wipe them out as an afterthought. The three ships representing the only Federation presence in this remote portion of the galaxy entered warp and selected an intercept course. Voyager as the newest and most modern ship took point while the two Enterprises trailed in a Vee formation. As acquirers of new technology, it was assumed that by placing the Voyager in the lead, the Borg cube would concentrate more on them; which it was hoped, might give the two older ships an opening. The Enterprise B had never before encountered the Borg, so Admiral McCoy went on board to act as an advisor in the matter. Captain Uhura had developed a strategy that required the presence of Admiral Sulu on board the Voyager: therefore the Admiral joined Captain Tuvok, his once junior officer on the U.S.S. Excelsior, on that modern vessel. He wasn't completely sure what half of the controls on Voyager were, but communications had changed little in his time in the Delta Quadrant, so he was stationed there. With Spock at his usual Science Station position on the Enterprise A, they were as ready as they would ever be. After an hour and a half of high warp speed the cube came into view. To the captains of the Enterprise A and the Voyager it was a sight that they unfortunately knew too well. To the Captain of the Enterprise B, it was a new sight, but the clear inhumanity of the vessel's shape ran shivers down her spine. Communications on all three Federation ships heard the cold voice at the same instant. "We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Your uniqueness will become a part of the Borg. Resistance is futile." Sensors show three vessels approaching. They will be assimilated. The lead vessel is identified as the U.S.S. Voyager. Last known to be commanded by Kathryn Janeway. The Borg have long sought to assimilate Voyager. It shall become one with the Borg. The second vessel is of a similar design, but more primitive, but there are many more beings on this vessel than on Voyager. They shall make useful drones. The third vessel is even more primitive than the second and it has a small crew. It is a ship of no consequence. Primary Target Voyager takes precedence. We will announce our intentions… "We are the Borg. You will be assimilated…" As the ship with the most experience, Voyager led the attack. Tuvok's calm voice said, "All ships', shields up. Enterprise A will relay all data and communications between the three ships. Enterprise B will do what she can to protect your nearly defenseless sister ship." On the Enterprise A you could hear Scotty cursing quietly under his breath at the insult that was placed on his beautiful lady, but he knew the importance to Uhura's plan of making the Borg think that the older ship was harmless and to be ignored. Voyager accelerated with her new slipstream drive and rocketed past the cube firing at her control nodes with pinpoint accuracy, only to watch the ship heal itself as quickly as it was damaged. The swift ship turned and hurtled again at the cube is Voyager made her second run. They couldn't have the cube leave the area to chase Voyager when the Enterprises couldn't keep up. Voyager has new capabilities. We must assimilate those new abilities. The Borg cube was opening an iris to release a sphere. Over the linked communications systems, Spock spoke quietly. "Uhura. Quickly. Like Commodore Decker, you must jettison anything that might slow you down and get out of that sphere's way." "Understood Spock." The Enterprise B jettisoned several escape pods and veered off. As the cube concentrated on the fleeing starship, its tractor beamed sucked the escape pods into the sphere's launching bay for assimilation. When one of the pods exploded, annihilating the launching sphere, the Borg were taken completely by surprise. From the monitored communications, they thought that the big ship was seeking escape: there was discussion of an attack. It was most illogical; most disconcerting. The Borg had no way of knowing that Commodore Decker had long ago discovered how to destroy an unstoppable doomsday weapon by flying inside the weapon and exploding his own ship. The Borg saw the escape pods as insignificant and never scanned them to see if they were carrying old style nuclear warheads. That lack of vision cost them a sphere. The cube moved towards the oldest Starfleet vessel. It attempted to flee, the Borg sensors showing no active weapons. The two newer ships flew in and interposed themselves between the old ship and the cube. Forgetting the ancient vessel, the cube again set its sights on Voyager. Cutting beams arced out and sliced a hole through the saucer, while the larger ship launched photon torpedoes at the source of the cutting beam. Uhura's plan to use the shared experiences of the original Enterprise's crew on each of the three ships to direct the battle worked well. For hours the Borg would clearly hear one ship tell another what to do and act then the Borg would accordingly. Surprisingly the Starfleet ships would always do something entirely different. The Borg couldn't understand how the closeness of longtime friends could convey bookloads of understanding with a few uttered references. Deciding to change their tactics, the cube went after the helpless ship that was floating derelict-like throughout the encounter. The cube's tractor beams grabbed the enterprise A like a vise and started to puller her in. Spock's voice said simply, "Corbomite…". The Romulan Plasma weapon on board the older Enterprise was activated. At point blank range the cube was hit by a ball of plasma which would have reduced an entire colony to rubble. By the time that the cube realized that the eldest ship wasn't as toothless as was previously thought, it was too late. Only smoking rubble and a cloud of ionized gas was left where a once mighty Borg vessel had been. The Enterprise A, now weakened and powerless drifted safely away from the rubble. There was cheering on all three ships. They had once again done the impossible and conquered the unbeatable foe. The rejoicing went on for what seemed like hours until the voice of Chakotay cut through the raucous din. "People we have another problem…" Through the smoke and rubble flew a fleet of over a hundred Kazon war ships, and the voice in the back of Spock's head said, "your real enemy now stands before you" Diversity Captain Riker was getting tired of being stuck at station keeping. He was fed up with this apparently endless shakedown cruise. He had the most powerful ship in the fleet and he wanted to test its muscles. He thought back nostalgically to that first heady race with the Enterprise. 'That is what commanding a Starship is all about,' He thought, 'the sheer joy and boundless energy of the union of man and machine.' "It's not hard to see what you're thinking about Will." Interjected Deanna in his reveries. "Don't worry, we'll be able to leave just as soon as a new station commander is sent to relieve me." "It's funny Deanna, but I was just think of the Titan and her crew as a fusion of man and machine, and here we are at a station of just that. Androids, robots, holograms and heaven knows what else: just off our port bow. They are all diverse kinds of man-machine hybrids." Scratching his beard he began to realize the enormity of the task that had been laid at his wife's door. He knew that he would probably have a harder time waiting for her to be freed from her burdens than she would. She has always been the more patient of the two. He looked out the window, and for just a split second, he could swear that the station flickered. It almost looked like it had moved over just a fraction of a degree. The Captain blinked twice and tapped his communicator. "Riker to bridge…" "Haught here. What can I do for you Captain?" "Do the sensors show anything odd about the station? Is there any chance that it just flickered or … moved?" Haught's nimble fingers checked his board. "Everything looks normal Captain. I can't detect anything out of the ordinary." "Thank you Mister Haught. That will be all." Riker shook his head and thought that he must be going stir crazy. 'Oh well' he thought, then with a grin to Deanna he said, "More time for us I guess." Professor Moriarty was the person closest to the outer hull when he heard the clunk of a tow cable as it attached itself to the main control deck. He felt the jerk as the station was towed to an orbit behind a nearby sun, to be placed behind a nearby star. Of all the station's current inhabitants, only Professor Moriarty had the acumen to realize that they might be in trouble. Hurrying to the nearest porthole he watched as the Titan receded quickly from view. 'When is Riker going to get that ship moving?' kept running through his mind, right up to the point, and beyond it, that the Titan faded completely from view. Scurrying from window to window, and porthole to porthole, he tried to catch a glimpse of who it was that was towing them away from the safety that they had believed was theirs: but nothing could be seen. Somehow he had the feeling that there was something always just outside of his field of vision. Thinking quickly he bolted for the command deck, but upon arrival, he found the place completely unoccupied: the control panels showing nothing out of the ordinary. An EMH Mark II rounded the corner and entered Ops shortly after he did. The sandy haired doctor immediately recognized the recently famous hologram before him. "Professor, someone is towing the station. Do you have any idea about what's going on?" "Not yet my friend, but I will. Have you noticed that all of the human population of the station has vanished?" Looking around him the doctor suddenly recognized what should have been obvious. "Where have they gone?" "Answer that my friend and I suspect that we will then be privy to the answers to many questions. Let us make note of what we do know. We know that something is moving the station, and that the Titan made no move to stop the theft of the station: add to that the absence of the human population from this facility." "Maybe the humans are trying to secretly do away with us…" "Perhaps, but after the recent trial, I would suspect that our disappearance would create quite a controversy and no one on a starship like the Titan could be involved with something like the theft of the station without it becoming public knowledge. I also suspect that not even the most ardent bigot would not wish to burden their movement with that kind of investigation." "Then why else would someone want to spirit us away in such a stealthy manner: and why now when our plight is finally getting the publicity that we've always wanted?" A light went on in Moriarty's eyes. "Perhaps for that very reason. It may be that whoever is towing us into hiding might be trying to save us from our new notoriety. They may expect that we will suffer repercussions for our actions." "Now that you mention it, with so many A.I.s all congregated in one area, there really wouldn't be a better time to strike against us. It is unlikely that you would be able to find so may of us in one place again. If someone is trying to save us, the question now becomes, how are they able to do so right under the Titan's noses?" A voice behind them spoke up quietly. "I think that I can answer that for you." The stranger told them an amazing story about an ongoing war of advanced civilizations: a war that had continued for millions of years, but a war that was soon to be derailed by an outside influence. The stranger offered the A.I.s a life of meaning and purpose, as opposed to the life of servitude and suspicion that they had been living with. They were told that if they agreed, they would be removed from the station and be taken to a place where their lives could have meaning. A hasty discussion, that took dozens of nanoseconds took place on the internal network system that had been set up for all A.I.s and it was decided that Deep Space Twelve would be abandoned by all non-biologicals. Within hours, that entire A.I. population of the station was moved to an unseen starship, and the station was quietly put back in place. The unseen starship fired up her engines and departed at a leisurely warp five. On the Starship Titan, no one ever knew that anything out of the ordinary had transpired. The Captain and his wife had an enjoyable night of intimate play and the crew that was missing from the station was returned to the station, never having known that they had been gone. On the bridge of the Enterprise, Christopher Pike was once more a starship Captain. The NX-01 was a fine vessel and he was glad that it had one more chance to save the galaxy. Interlude iii Medora It was a hard time for the colony in the Large Magallenic Cloud that had been abandoned by the Romulan Empire. Without contact with Romulus, they quickly ran short of supplies. The three warbirds that were in orbit had reconnoitered the surrounding systems looking for supplies, but all that they found were the abandoned ruins of civilizations long since dead. No on knew what had happened to them, but what supplies that they were able to salvage from them were not edible. The power cells for the replicators would be depleted within six months and Medora was looking at starvation. What was sad was that they knew that the people at home were probably very happy about the situation. There was little love lost in the Empire for traitors who longed for reunification with the Vulcans. It was going to be a long and cold winter. Greater Organia * we may have to interfere + is it necessary * it is unfortunate, but without voyager and the two enterprises the ocampans will be lost to us @ do the starships yet know that it is the enemy that approaches them * there is no indication of it + if we stop the enemy now they will just return @ then we must strengthen that quadrant before that can happen + it is too bad that we don't know where they come from indeed The Overt War Nearly a hundred Kazon warships were displayed on the viewscreens of the three Federation vessels. The all too recent joys of the Borg's defeat were quickly replaced by the urgency of a new and more dangerous situation. Surprisingly, it was Captain Tuvok, on board the Voyager that brought up an obscure point of history. "Admiral Sulu! You once told me a story of the Enterprise's first encounter with the Romulans. They had a weapon that at first glance made them seem invincible, but that weapon had a fatal flaw. The fleet before us has the same flaw!" At once the former members of Captain Kirk's crew, on all of the ships, instantly knew what had to be done. When Captain Kirk first confronted a cloaked Romulan vessel, it had an overwhelmingly powerful weapon: the same weapon that was just used to defeat the Borg cube. Fortunately, Kirk found that not only did the weapon have a limited range, it also traveled far slower than the Enterprise was able. Therefore, all that Kirk had to do was run away until he was ready to attack. The slowest of Federation Starships are still much faster than the fastest Kazon vessel. Sulu spoke for all of Kirk's former crew. "Understood Captain. Please co-ordinate the fleet's movements." It was at that moment that their unseen allies chose to make themselves known. "spock! the kazon are not your enemy, the creatures within them are the enemy of all, it is they who you must defeat" distantly he heard Uhura mention the Dolman as all of the faster ships began strafing runs on the slower Kazon ships, picking off the weaker vessels on the edges of the enormous fleet. The Enterprise trembled as one of the Kazon got off a lucky shot when Chakotay had brought them to their closest approach. Spock sent his thoughts outward. "Is there a way to defeat them without harming the innocent crewmembers of those ships?" "that has always been up to us, when we act you will know what it is that you must do, we will do to you what was done to you so long ago… wait for that moment…" The Vulcan Ambassador forcefully addressed his former crewmates, "Remember that which brought about a treaty with the Klingons. The same people are about to make it happen again. Why don't we treat the enemy like the captain thought that we had done with the tribble infestation so long ago." Captain Uhura's plan of using the old Enterprise crew's experiences like updated versions of the old World War II windtalkers worked perfectly in this in this modern war too: all Federations ships knew what to do, leaving the enemy clueless. The Kazon broke into three fleets: each attempting to focus in on a single Federation ship. As the Starfleet vessels flicked at their edges like annoying flies, each Kazon swarm tried their hardest to watch for any mistakes that their enemies might make, and then capitalize on it by engulfing those that they saw as invaders from the Alpha Quadrant. The leaders of each battle group stayed in constant contact with all of the ships in their command by visual transmissions. Their displays rotated continually with the scenes of the bridges of the subordinate ships on the left half of the viewscreen and the starfield on the right half of the split screen. As the largest and most populous ship, Uhura assigned as many of her people as possible to monitor each and every transmission link of each Kazon vessel at all times. When the time to act came, she was pretty sure that they would be ready. As the Enterprise B prepared for another run: the Kazon also made plans. As the Excelsior class ship sailed into the nearest swarm, the Kazon had changed their tactics. No longer were they firing blindly at the swift vessel: this time they uncharacteristically worked in unison and combined their individual tractor beams on Uhura's Enterprise. On their own, each ship's tractor beams would have been useless: like trying to stop the Enterprise B with tissue paper, but when combined she was caught in an impenetrable web which brought her quickly to a standstill. The second swarm then changed direction and went in for the kill. Uhura, was feeling a panic within her attempting to rise to the surface: but for the sake of her people she quickly reburied it. There was no way that she could see that enough of the Kazon tractor beams would be able to be disabled with sufficient time to save the mighty vessel. She could never have foreseen the possibility of a confrontation with so many of the enemy at once. Fortunately Spock, was not limited by human foresight and envisioned such a possibility: therefore he brought along an Artificial Lifeform. B4 reached out cybernetically and seized control of the tractor beams, which were holding the Enterprise B, and turned them all off at once. During their stay in the Badlands, the Maquis had studied the android in detail and found that he had this useful ability. The connections for this were left out of Data and Lore because those selfsame connections were found to have been the cause of B4's slower mental abilities. At that particular moment, Spock was mighty glad that they hadn't disconnected them. B4 shut off the Kazon tractor beams and as soon as her strings were cut, the Enterprise B bolted forward escaping the web. Seeing the larger ship's plight and subsequent rescue, Tuvok ordered multi-phasic shield rotations on his ship to prevent the same tactic being used against Voyager: then he did them one better. He had been using the wreckage of the Borg cube like a minefield: Voyager's tractor beams began grabbing pieces of Borg debris and started throwing it into the path of Kazon vessels. The effect was… interesting. Dozens of Kazon ships were irreparably damaged in just a few moments. Venting atmosphere from the damaged Kazon vessels, also tied up dozens more with rescue efforts. Not surprisingly, each ship received rescue only from other ships with the same clan markings on them. The Kazon clans have always competed with each other and it was reassuring to know that even under these remarkable circumstances they continued to follow form. Several enemy vessels attempted to use their tractor beams as Voyager had done, but found that their beams were to weak to move more than the smallest of debris. Beyond that, Voyager had mined the debris field, using her transporter, as Tukok and his crew had made their pass. Having dealt with the Kazon many times before, Voyager's Captain was pretty sure that they would imitate the same trick themselves: therefore he mined the debris field first. Chakotay had had as many dealing with the Kazon as Tuvok had had and he also suspected treachery: unfortunately the ancient Enterprise did not have the most recent of Starfleet's technologies and was only slightly more advanced than the Kazon's best. His Romulan weapon only had enough plasma for one more shot, so he wanted to hold that in reserve for a more desperate situation: but he did have top notch sensors, so he had Tom Riker keeping a close watch over the situation looking for an opening. Marriage suited Tom well. He never thought that anyone existed who could make him forget Deanna, but he was thrilled to find out that he was wrong. Where Deanna had always made him question his motives for everything short of breathing: Ro Laren trained with him and fought alongside him: giving him encouragement and helping him excel in everything. He came to realize that, in many ways, Deanna had always held him back. He was now more driven, competent and alive than he had ever been before. Even as mundane a task as monitoring sensors became a challenge to do better than anyone else before had ever done. And today that drive was rewarded. While trying to keep a handle on the movements and tactics of over a hundred combatants, something itched in the back of his mind that he was missing something important. In the past he always found that friendly banter would usually free up those nagging thoughts that would hide in the back of his mind. Glancing at his wife, at navigation, he said, "Hey Ro! See any weaknesses?" Flashing a quick grin, the raven haired Maquis answered quickly. "Beats me. I don't even see why we're fighting." "I thought that we were fighting to stay alive…" "Yeah, but why are they fighting?" With that short exchange, everything clicked into place. Changing the focus of his sensors to long range, he spared a second to look back at Kirk's World, and everything became clear. "Chakotay, take a second to look at the sensor board!" On board the Enterprise B, Uhura knew that she was fighting a loosing war. She knew the lessons of history, and she knew that they had fallen into the same trap that the great powers did during World War III. In that great war: the four great superpowers in the world each had incredibly advanced aircraft. Each craft had all of the most advanced equipment and each nation had a fortune invested in each and every fighter. Because of the cost, the number of these super aircraft was few, but it was generally believed that one of these ships could defeat dozens of lesser fighters: and they were right. Unfortunately each craft could be easily defeated by hundreds of swarming lesser aircraft. The Four Powers held the world with a pact between them dividing up the world into four "areas of interest". The Lesser Powers were expected to follow the lead of the Great Powers, but they resented that imposition. The Four Powers had the few great aerial warships to keep the peace, but the Lesser Powers came up with a plan to defeat those selfsame warships. For a fraction of the expense of even one of the advanced warships, the Lesser Powers built thousands of less advanced airplanes that resembled the Spitfires of World War II. When thousands of Spitfires attacked the great aircraft, there were scores of Spitfires quickly destroyed: but it only took one Spitfire to get through to see success. In a short time, hundreds of Spitfires were knocked out of the skies: but those same skies were also quickly cleared of the advanced fighters. That left thousands of Spitfires left to lay waste to the now nearly defenseless Great Powers. When the Great Powers, as a last resort, released their nuclear weapons: World War III had begun. And now Uhura knew that they were in the same position as the Great Powers. Eventually the three Federation ships would be overpowered. That's when she heard Chekov explode. "Where are they going?!" Looking up she saw that the Enterprise A had broken from the engagement and was fleeing from the battle. "Enterprise! This is Uhura on the Enterprise B. Where are you going?" Scotty called to her from her old ship, "Lassie this has all been a diversion. Look back to the world with the Ocampa! There are Malon ships there takin' prisoners. This battle was to draw us away from protectin' them. We may have already lost the battle darlin', unless we get there now." "Understood. Godspeed my friends." And thinking to herself, 'Heaven help us all.' That was Spock heard again the voice of the Organian. "it is time spock, stand ready" The people who were assigned to monitor Kazon communications, who were on duty on board the Enterprise B suddenly saw the captains of nearly every Kazon ship scream as bizarre little creatures burst through their bodies, screeching in enormous pain. Inexplicably the host bodies for the enemy had suddenly became too hot an environment to sustain them. The plan had been to transport the beasts into the vacuum of space when this moment had arrived: but very few of them lived long enough to suffer this fate. Other members of the Kazon crews aboard each ship acted quickly in dispatching the beasts that had apparently killed their commanders. Not wanting to give them enough time to develop the idea that these creatures were some sort of Federation weapon, Uhura quickly hailed the Kazon fleet on a open channel. "Warriors of the Kazon, you have this day won a great victory against a hitherto unseen foe, who sought to enslave you and eradicate the Ocampan people. The creatures that had taken over the bodies of many of your leaders are the enemy of all that are living. We know not what you have done to defeat them…" she lied "but we congratulate you. Recently our people narrowly averted conquest by them, and we seek to root them out everywhere and prevent their destruction of other races." One Kazon second office spoke first, and therefore spoke for all. "Forgive us for not completely trusting you, but we must have more proof of this than your word." "Of course. We will allow for a delegation, of your choosing, to come aboard one of our ships and view our historical records. Beyond that, we can give you a technique that will allow your people to easily identify who has been infected by the beasts, and show you how to remove them without damaging the hosts." After a momentary pause, while the Kazon officer conferred with the seconds of the other Kazon clans, she received her reply. "We agree, and delegation will be aboard your ship shortly. Uhura breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at the screen showing the Enterprise A on her flight to confront the Ocampan's enemies. She knew that she dared not send either the Enterprise B or Voyager to their aide, for fear that the Kazon might take their actions the wrong way. "Godspeed my friends." She whispered silently, as she turned to meet the delegation. # it is done + the last of our enemies are contained # with the humans guarding them through their transformation… ~ the ocampans will be joining us in a few millennia + and no one is left to hinder our purposes The Covert War Christopher Pike sat in the shuttle, lost in thought. His mind drifted back to that fateful day so long ago. It had been nearly a decade since Spock had brought him back to Talos IV. In which time, he and Vina had spent an idyllic life, of tranquil beaches and exotic adventures: but he always knew their experiences were unreal therefore, other than contributing the genetic components to create a new race of Talosians, they were not really accomplishing anything: and a man needs to feel useful… so he went to see his benefactors. The Talosians had long ago rebuit Pike's body, as they had Vina's so long before. When Spock delivered Pike to them, on that long ago day, he also supplied the Talosians with the amassed human knowledge of human physiology: therefore they were able to recreate Pike… and Vina… with perfect, nearly immortal bodies. Unfortunately. The idea of a lengthy purposeless life rankled the soul of Christopher Pike. He came upon the Talosian that he thought of as "the tall one" and expressed his concerns over this matter. "My friend, you have given Vina and I everything. You have given us health, long life, happiness. You have taught us to develop mental abilities like those that you possess and with our many children, you have given us family: but it is an existence without purpose. Human beings must be involved in a cause. If we are to be truly happy we must feel that we are doing something to make the world a better place. Is there no task that we may undertake that will give direction to our lives?" The tall one looked at his charge thoughtfully and conferred with his brethren mentally. "We see that this is so. We too once felt as you do. At this time, our purpose is to raise your offspring up to be a better and stronger race than we became. Once our purpose was to protect weaker races from the manipulations of more advanced races. We were the protectors of free agency. Perhaps we were wrong to have abandoned this cause. Would this mission be of interest to you?" "It might be. Please, tell me more." "Since ancient times, there has been a hidden war taking place between two advanced races. One race sees itself as having the task of limiting evolution, and the other prefers to sit back and watch evolution proceed naturally. Where the former are predators, the latter are cold blooded researchers, who want to study chaotic natural evolution: this often forces them to hinder the freewill of those races in which they have taken an interest." "You said that the second group limits freewill. In what way do they do this?" "Both groups limit a races right to choose their own course. The first group conquers a race and retards its development, often stopping its forward growth: where the second group, who are creatures of pure energy, is only interested in natural evolution. When a young race chooses to improve itself through what the energy beings consider, unnatural means, they take steps to stop that races efforts. Therefore they try to stop genetic enhancement experiments, prevent the creation of artificial lifeforms, and prevent them seeking guidance from more advanced races. Both of the contending groups of beings are not willing to allow a young race the privilege of choosing its own course. One stops evolution, while the other demands that it follows the slow and blind path of random chance." "So the Talosians fit in how exactly?" "Like the energy beings, we once, long ago, were faced with a choice: would we become pure energy creatures too or see where we would go if we retained our physical bodies? Unlike our adversaries, we chose to retain our bodies, and we became pure telepaths: much greater telepaths and casters of illusions than any energy creature could ever understand." "We used our mental abilities to hide developing races from the attentions of this hidden war. We would seek out representatives of developing worlds and ask them if they desired our interventions. There are races that wish to give younger races a leg up: we don't do that, we just make it possible that they are able to do so if they wish. So tell me Christopher Pike: is this a cause that would suite your needs?" With a smile like a child who is about to set out on a great adventure, the once Starfleet Captain said, "It sure is…" And now the day had finally come. The genetically enhanced Harry Kim was piloting the shuttle that carried he and the Cybernetic Vulcan T'Pol to the Bejoran Wormhole: where they would meet with the one that has come to be known as the Emissary: he who is the representative of the benefactors of the Bajoran people known as the Prophets. Together they would decide the Alpha Quadrants place in the unseen war. Looking up at Harry he felt the need to give his new friend a measure of reassurance. "Say Harry, how are you feeling about violating General Order Seven and bringing the death penalty on yourself?" "To be honest Captain, I've been trying really hard not to think about it." "Well let me make things a little easier for you. We tampered with your perceptions just a little bit. We made you think that you were somewhere where you were not. You were never in reality anywhere near Talos IV, and the only person that you've actually dealt with isn't a Talosian. You've only seen me and I am most definitely a human, so you have done nothing to bring the Federation's ultimate penalty on yourself. Believe me, I would never have really put you in that position." "Well that's good to know anyway." T'Pol had been monitoring their position as Christopher Pike dropped all of the illusions. Instantly the starfield changed and she found herself staring into the swirling maw of extra dimensional energies, which she would have considered beautiful, if she knew that it was a safe structure. As it was she used all of her Vulcan training to push down the fear within her that was trying to drive itself to the surface. Despite the hidden turmoil in her she simply stated with a calm Vulcan voice. "I assume that we have arrived. There is a wormhole that has opened before us." Pike smiled and said, "My friends, welcome to the home of the Prophets." Then glancing at T'Pol, he reassured her. "A stable wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant." A startled Harry blurted out, "The Bajoran Wormhole? We weren't anywhere near there." The former captain of the Enterprise smiled once more and continued. "You just thought that you weren't anywhere near there, but we are. Take us in Mister Kim." With a quick blink and an "Aye sir." They were off. The shuttle was met by Benjamin Sisko, who led them to a place of conferences. The place where the Prophets lived was unlike any other place that T'Pol or Pike had ever been to, but they both had exceptionally disciplined minds, so the changing images about them was little more than an annoyance. A mind that was used to a three dimensional outlook is incapable of processing the apparently contradictory inputs that were assailing the small bands senses: therefore each persons mind would create and place understandable images in their minds, rather than to accept the insanity that was the reality about them. T'Pol found herself with childhood learning mates in the deep deserts of Gol, just before she was to set forth on her Aswan Ordeal. Harry Kim seemed to be once again with Coach Phillips, in his locker room at the Academy, preparing himself for the championships. Pike was once again on the Bridge of the Enterprise, as it approached Talos IV for the first time. Only the Emissary saw his surroundings as they truly were. After a few minutes of insanity, Christopher Pike said with a voice of granite, "That is enough of that. We'll never get anything done if we have to keep fighting for our sanity." With but a thought, he used the powers to cast illusions that he had learned from his benefactors and they all found themselves in an illusion that seemed to be a comfortable lounge at Starfleet HQ that they had all visited at one time or another. The lounge which had been built in the time of Zephram Cochran was a piece of history, and would probably be preserved as long as Starfleet existed. Pike thought that this would be an apt place for a meeting that would decide the fate of a great many worlds. # your people have done well spock + we are in your debt Spock: Our work here then is done? % your work is done, but not the work of your people # at least one of your ships must stay and safeguard the ocampans + we have repeledl the enemy there will be no more opponents Spock: We lack the resources to maintain a continuing presence in this quadrant. + you already have the means to make this part of the delta quadrant a part of your federation Spock: Explain! # it is distasteful for us to interfere in your development unless it is necessary % it is already in the back of your mind, think of bajor Spock: The wormhole! # yes, you have a device that allows you to keep contact with your deep space 12 Spock: We can transmit a transporter beam through the Wormhole and send people and supplies back and forth between the two quadrants! + you can indeed do that Speaking for the Prophets, the Emissary began the meeting. "Mister Kim, the people of Bajor are greatly in your debt. You were sent out to seek the aid of the Ancients of Talos IV and you have brought back, not only the salvation of Bajor, but perhaps the salvation of the entire quadrant." "You have all been briefed on the secret war that has been waged since time immemorial, and the place that the Talosian people had once played in it. As representative of the Talosians, I now turn the time over to Captain Pike." "The Organians are at this moment celebrating what they see as their greatest victory. They believe that their ancient foes have been contained, and for now they have been. In their headiness they seek to expand their influence to encompass the entire galaxy, and even beyond that. Their great battle has distracted them so if the Talosians are to take any actions, this is the time to do so: but the people of Talos IV are the champions of free agency. We will not interfere unless we are asked to become involved." "The Organians plan to extend their influence into the Gamma Quadrant through this home of the Prophets. They also intend to set up wormholes between the Alpha Quadrant and both the Delta Quadrant and the newly colonized Large Magallenic Cloud. It will be up to this council to decide if this will happen." Pike continued, "Captain Benjamin Sisko. I have come at the request of the Prophets, through you. Do the people of Bajor, and do the Prophets desire the aid of Talos IV." With a fire in his eyes, and a resonant voice of rumbling thunder, Benjamin Sisko said, "It is the wish of the Prophets and all of Bajor that we seek your aid. Please let the people of Bajor continue to receive guidance from the Prophets." "It is done." Spock: Then Deep Space Twelve will become to the Delta Quadrant as Deep Space Nine and Bajor are to the Gamma Quardant. # bajor? We know of no bajor "T'Pol of Vulcan. You are the de facto leader of a large android population in the Alpha Quadrant. It is up to you to speak as their advocate. At the gentle prodding of both the Organians and their adversaries, the rights and even the lives of A.I.s in the Federation are in danger. Do you wish to have the right to make your own decisions? We will not interfere unless we are invited to intercede. Is this your wish? With a firm conviction she answered, "It is." "Then you will need all of your faculties. We of Talos have learned more of telepathy than anyone else. You lost your natural Vulcan telepathy when you became an android. That which was lost can be restored to you. You will need it for the long tasks ahead of you." & i sense that something has happened, there had been a shift # there is a gap in my memory + is it possible that our unknown adversary has returned after so many eons & we thought that they were gone forever "Harry Kim. You are to speak for those that have been genetically enhanced people of the Federation. The Organians fomented the Eugenics War to instill fear and loathing of even the concept of genetic enhancements. It has become almost a racial hatred." "After the Organian Treaty between the Federation and the klingon Empire, they erased the genetic manipulations that made some Klingons look human. Many might view these interferences as a great service to the Federation. What say you?" Sensing a shift in the way of things, Spock probed gently. Spock: You know not of Bajor? + you have served the people of this quadrant well % but you are divided, it will soon be necessary for you to choose Spock: What would you have me choose between? With a quiet as profound as the rolling thunder of Sisko's reply and a conviction equaling T'Pol's, Harry Kim said simply, "I say that I am not a bad person, because of my enhancements. I ask you to return to us our freedom to choose such things for ourselves." # you are a divided creature spock both human and Vulcan but not either + you must either stay and shepherd these people % or you must choose to shepherd the people of Medora + if you choose to stay you must be made fully human % if you go to Medora you will be made fully Vulcan Spock: That is an illogical assumption. I cannot make such a choice. # brothers, our unseen foes are upon us……. The Organians with their primitive telepathy were pushed out of Spock's mind leaving him with a hole inside that he had never even noticed until they vacated it. The false images that they had implanted were dissipated and he found himself back in his quarters on the Enterprise A. As he started to full awareness of his surroundings, he first noticed the man lounging comfortably in the corner, on a chair that shouldn't be there. He looked up at the figure and recognized his old friend. "Captain Pike? What are you doing here?" His old Captain, who for some reason hadn't appeared to age a day, smiled warmly and said, "Spock my friend: I have a long story to tell you, and then you will be asked to decide the fate of the Delta Quadrant." Reconstruction Ambassador's Personal Log: Spock recording: In the last six months, the face of the Federation has been altered drastically: although few of its citizens will ever know of the changes. Captain Pike has visited me several times since that day in which everything was changed. He has told me that the Organians, and their adversaries, have forgotten the existence of the Federation, the Ocampans, the Medorans and many other peoples and cultures. He said that the Organians chose me as their agent because they considered a Human/Vulcan hybrid like me as some kind of threat. They hoped to have me modified to be either fully human or fully Vulcan, with a Delta Quadrant virus, which is similar to the phage. They hoped that it would be carried back, by me, to the Federation, where all multi-cultured hybrids would suffer the same fate. At my request, the Talosians, in the form of Christopher Pike, prevented that from happening. Although the Organians were defeated, not all of their plans were rejected. Deep Space Twelve has been modified and maintained, and a duplicate station has been has built here in orbit around Kirk's World, which has now been renamed, as New Ocampa by its newest residents. Regular transporter traffic through the micro-wormhole has allowed Captain Uhura's people to take shore leaves in the Alpha Quadrant. Admiral Sulu will stay with Captain Sulu and other family for some time, getting to know his grandson. Both the Enterprise A the Enterprise B have chosen to remain as the guardians of the Ocampan civilization, and to establish there a base from which a Federation presence will grow in the Delta Quadrant. Both ships would be obsolete in the Alpha Quadrant, but they can be a strong force for change here. The Ocampans and Talaxians have already petitioned for Federation membership, and we hope to see those petition be accepted some day soon. The Maquis on the Enterprise A have been pardoned and received commissions in Starfleet. They will stay here guiding the nascent Federation Delta. It appears that they no longer trust that they will be safe in that part of the galaxy and have chosen to settle in this quadrant. Doctor McCoy, Mister Scott and I will travel on Voyager to the Romulan settlement in the Large Magallenic Galaxy and offer them the same arrangement there that has been set up here: with wormhole transporters to home on Romulus: or as a Vulcan Ambassador I can offer our long separated brethren Vulcan citizenship. After that we will return. Voyager will be making shuttle runs between Vulcan and Medora, until Wesley Crusher is returned to the Titan. Then the Voyager crew will need to work on settling their slipstream drive problems without him. Harry Kim will return to his regular duties. He has already bought a second home on Bajor, and whenever possible, he visits there to take care of his special responsibilities on that world. Many people have believed that he goes there for rendezvous' with a mysterious Romulan lover of his, and that may be true, but only a few know his real purposes there. T'Pol has retained the NX-01 Enterprise: although thousands of tourists each year will insist that they have seen it still on display as a museum piece. With it's Sulaban cloaking device she uses it, as she did that day at Deep Space Twelve, to transport to safety refugee A.I.s, who are seeking asylum from persecution. The planet that we found Harry Mudd on so many years ago, now protected by the illusions of the Talosians, has become a haven for this group of dispossessed creatures. Professor Moriarty has joined with the Voyager's Doctor to crusade for their acceptance into Federation society. Until then, T'Pol is creating a great society in which they may flourish. Perhaps some day that world, which she has mysteriously named Tripp, will also be admitted as a full member of the Federation. Bajor and the Prophets will progress unimpeded to their path, unnoticed by the Organians. Someday, with the help of the Prophets, they will ascend beyond the need for the protection of Talos IV. The aliens who felt it their job to limit evolution have been stopped in their plans by the more advanced Organians. The Organians will believe that their vast power has won for them everything that they have striven for. They would find it hard to believe that there was a greater power that would be able to stop them, but that has been the case. The Talosians, through Christopher Pike and his descendants, will survive and thrive. In the words of Captain Kirk, they rated the game. The Federation will, to all but the most discerning of eyes, be completely unchanged, but it has been profoundly altered. The Enterprise E and the Titan have been returned to active duty, and the Titan has finally finished the longest shakedown cruise in history. And I? I am about to take my leave to meet my brothers and sisters in our neighboring galaxy. I believe that although much has changed, in most ways things will always remain the same: for as long as I have brothers and sisters, from any of the ships called Enterprise, I know that the galaxies will be in good hands. Spock out. Epilogue Many Years in the Future "Q! What was the point of that rather dubious story?!" "It was a story that was completely true Jean Luc:" Holding up his hands while sporting his impish smile, "I swear." "Like that engenders a lot of confidence in me." "Let me put this in as simple a terms as your backwards intelligence can understand: there are always bigger fish in the pond. The trick is to get the biggest fish to like you, and let's face it… I'm the biggest fish there is." "Fine, you're powerful: so what?" "If you're not a Q, everyone has within them an unfounded arrogance. Starfleet intelligence thought that they had the right to secretly control the Federation: but the body snatchers thought that they had the power to force a limit on evolution and were secretly pulling the strings of many of those in Starfleet Intelligence." "Those creatures were one-upped by they Organians who thought that they were the ultimate power. (Arrogant children if you ask me.), but even they were topped by the Talosians, and if I would have found it amusing to stop them, there would have been nothing that they could have done to stop me. The Organians used Spock and the Talosians used Pike: I've always liked you Jean Luc, so I want to offer you a second chance at life, in the same manner that the Talosians offered Pike a second chance." "Listen Q, neither Kim, Spock, Pike or T'Pol were truly dead, though I am: so what can I do now, but see if there really is an afterlife." "Come now Picard: you're talking to me aren't you? I want to show you that I can be as benevolent as those other hidden powers were to their friends. Why don't you choose one of those hidden places and be my agent there? It'll be fun. Just like old times: and you'll get a second chance to make the universe a better place. What do you say?" "Why would you do this Q?" "Why? I suppose that I would miss you if you were gone forever: and because I can. I am Q, there's nothing that I can't do…" "I'm sorry Q, but I could never be your agent." "Why ever not?" "Because I believe in the human spirit. I believe that one must be true to that spirit within oneself. It may be hard for someone like you to understand, but you must let me go." Sighing a mighty sigh, Q spoke resignedly. "I shall miss you Jean Luc. You humans have such a brief existence: I doubt that I shall ever again find one who I can come to cherish as much as I have you. I lament that I shall ever find another that I can call… friend" And with that pronouncement he released the spirit of Jean Luc Picard to complete its final travels. THAT Q THERE SHOWS SOME PROMISE. ALL OF HIS RACE ARE SO BACKWARD, THAT THEY'RE ALMOST BENEATH OUR NOTICE: BUT THAT ONE SHOWS SOME PROMISE. PERHAPS WE SHOULD MAKE OURSELVES KNOWN TO HIM AND SHOW HIM HOW UTTERLY INSIGNIFICANT THE Q REALLY ARE. SOON I THINK. I SUSPECT THAT HE WILL BE SURPRISED. HE ALMOST PREVENTED THAT STARFLEET OFFICER FROM REACHING HIS FULL POTENTIAL, THROUGH HIS NEARLY INSURMOUNTABLE ARROGANCE. BUT HE DEMONSTRATED A LOVE AND COMPASSION I NEVER THOUGHT HIS RACE CAPABLE OF. PICARD WILL NOW LEAVE HIS CRYSALIS OF MORTALITY AND BE SOON JOINING US. THIS IS GOOD. I LOOK FORWARD TO THE DAY WHEN MY GRANDSON, CHAKOTAY, WILL LIKEWISE JOIN US, BEYOND THE LIMITATIONS OF MORTALITY.
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