Abrams Universe TNG- Take TWo

[Garm Bel Iblis]

Okay, I've re-worked this based on popular opinion and have re-structured things. Here we go:

Captain’s log, Stardate 2364.08 Our destination is Planet Deneb IV, beyond which lies the great unexplored mass of the galaxy. My orders are to take on the remainder of my senior crew, most not notably my first officer, a highly experienced man, one Commander William T. Riker will be waiting to join the ship at our Deneb IV destination. Meanwhile I’m becoming better acquainted with my new command – this Galaxy-class USS Enterprise.



Jean-Luc Picard smiled faintly to himself as the turbolift made its quiet journey from Deck Thirty Six to Deck One. The doors parted and he stepped onto the massive bridge. The aft stations were manned by security and science personnel, the horseshoe-shaped tactical station was manned by a fierce looking Lieutenant Worf, the only Klingon in Starfleet. He rounded tactical and strode to the lower section of the command deck. The forward conn and ops stations were manned by specialists in their field. Cadet Wesley Crusher and Lieutenant Commander Data respectively. Picard still marveled at young Wesley’s drive and accomplishments. At the age of fifteen he was a sophomore in Starfleet Academy and had been assigned to Enterprise for field studies. Picard had only been too happy to grant the post to the child of his two dearest friends, Jack and Beverly Crusher, who were serving together to this day as Jack commanded Picard’s old ship, the Stargazer.

He turned back and took his seat in the captain’s chair. To his left, ship’s counselor Lieutenant Commander Deanna Troi smiled at him as he sat. The young Betazoid therapist and contact specialist, looking serene in her blue Starfleet uniform, swiveled the data screen away that she had been studying and gave him a welcoming smile.

He returned the smile and address the forward section of the bridge.. “Mister Data, you will agree that our mission to Farpoint Station is rather routine.”

The android pushed the ops panel away on its swivel with a hiss of air and turned around to face Picard. “Yes sir. Twelve years ago the Starship Malinche uncovered an alien life form that had been captured by the Bandi, the natives of Deneb IV. It had been forced to use its shape changing and replicator technology to simulate a starbase. Captain Sanders freed the creature when another of its race came to the planet in search of its lost comrade. Since that time, the Starfleet Corps of Engineers has been working in tandem with the Bandi, constructing a new base to Federation standards.”

Picard took in the information, all of which had been in the mission briefing, and nodded. “Excellent. So no complications are expected from our mission?”

“Nothing more than the usual risks involved in deep space exploration. When we depart the planet and our actual mission begins, we will be traveling into sectors of the galaxy that no Federation vessel has visited before.”

“Which, I believe,” Picard said with a smirk, “is the primary goal of this vessel.”

Data nodded and returned to his position.

“It’s quite an undertaking, regardless,” Deanna Troi said. “This ship is provisioned for a twenty year mission. Once we depart the Alpha Cygni sector, we’re going to be out of range of Headquarters and the rest of the fleet, putting more and more distance between us each day. It’s a good thing we have families aboard.”

“Oh, I agree,” Picard said. “One thing I’ve learned over the years is the value of having your children with you. The experience they can accumulate living aboard a starship is almost without limits.”

“Yes, well,” Troi said. “All of us have strong ties to our families. I’m just glad my mother isn’t aboard.” She turned over her right shoulder. “What about you, Mister Worf? The idea of a completely new sector of the galaxy must seem exciting to a Klingon warrior.”

The security chief crossed his arms over his gold uniform. “Each unknown system presents itself as a challenge for me. I find it… stimulating.” His reverie was interrupted by a series of tones from his board. “Captain, sensors are detecting a wave of energy approaching, bearing three one mark two eight zero.”

Troi shook her head. “I don’t sense anything.”

“It is a grid... some sort of lattice,” Worf said. “Forming all around us!”

“Red alert,” Picard said, “full stop, and raise the shields.” He stood and took a few steps forward.

At the rear section of the bridge near the entrance to the conference lounge there was a bright white flash of light and a man appeared, dapped out in Starfleet uniform; an admiral’s uniform to be precise. “Mon capitane! I’d thought you’d never get here!”

“I’m Jean-Luc Picard, captain of the USS Enterprise, and who might you be?”

“Q at your service,” the man said with a bow. “Of the Q Continuum. We’re a group of beings that guard this galaxy against trouble. And my, what bits of trouble you humans have caused.”

He marched around the tactical station under the watchful eyes of Worf, who never took his attention off the intruder. “Sir,” Worf said. “respectfully request to remove the uninvited guest.”

“Such a macro head,” Q scoffed. “With a microbrain. Your little centuries go by so rapidly, Captain. Perhaps you'll understand this better.” He snapped his fingers; in a blinding white flash his Starfleet uniform became a pale green costume of centuries past. “Actually, the issue at stake is patriotism. You must return to your world and put an end to the communists. All it takes is a few good men.”

Picard shook his head. “That nonsense is centuries behind us!”

“But you can’t deny that you’re still a dangerous savage child-race,” Q retorted.

“I most certainly deny it,” Picard said. “I agree that we still were when humans wore costumes like that four hundred years ago...”

“At which time you slaughtered millions in silly arguments about how to divide the resources of your little world. And four hundred years before that you were
murdering each other in quarrels over tribal god-images. And since there have been no indications that humans will ever change.”

“But even as far back as four centuries ago, humans had begun to make rapid progress!”

“Rapid progress?” Q asked. He snapped his fingers again. His Marine uniform was changed to that of the black uniform of the Eastern Coalition and a true follower of Colonel Green. “Rapid progress. Where humans learned to control their military with drugs, destroying your cities and killing hundreds of millions by lobbing crude nuclear reactors at each other.”

He flashed again and was attired in an old uniform, a blue jumpsuit from pre-Federation Starfleet. “Then later, on finally reaching deep space, humans of course found enemies to fight out there too.” He nodded to Worf. “You again found allies to permit still more murdering and all over again the same old story.”




Picard grabbed vainly at his temper. “No! The 'same old story' is the one we're meeting now! Self-righteous life forms who are eager not to learn but to prosecute, to judge anything they don't understand or can't tolerate.”

“Oh contraire,” Q said reverting back to a standard issue Starfleet uniform. “I’ve known beings through the eons. Some grotesque, some merely immature. But we’ve all come to the conclusion that humanity poses the greatest threat to galactic stability for the next five thousand years.”

“You mean to say,” Picard said, “that we’re a THREAT to the galaxy? We’ve created one of the most peaceful unions of inter-planetary cooperation this region of space has ever seen.”

“Tell that to the Vulcans,” Q said.

Picard winced. “Vulcan was destroyed by a rogue element from the Romulan Empire. That atrocity led to the Unification of the remnants of Vulcan with their Romulan descendants. They’re a valuable ally along with the Klingons. We’ve put aside petty disputes for the greater good.”

“I’m sure Spock is so proud,” Q muttered under his breath. “Regardless, you’re moving farther and faster into deep space. You’ve no ideas the terrors that await you.”

“Whatever challenges face us,” Picard said, “our primary mission to explore new life. We will face it directly, not cower in fear back on Earth.”

“You’re a stubborn man, Jean-Luc,” Q said. “Fine. Continue on your little adventure. This will not be the last time we meet.” He snapped his finger and in a white flash was gone as quickly as he came.

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

Chapter II:

Personal Log, Commander William Riker 2364.08. The USS Hood has dropped me off at Farpoint Station where I await the arrival of the new USS Enterprise to which I have been assigned as first officer. Meanwhile, I’ve been keeping busy.

William Riker scratched his beard and looked at the cards in his hand. Then back up the opponents around the table. Lieutenant Geordi La Forge, former conn officer of the Hood and soon to be chief engineer of the Enterprise stared back at him, his blue ocular implants spinning. Riker knew that Geordi’s enhanced vision allowed to him read the cards, but he’d always claimed not to cheat. Given the small pile of chips remaining, Riker thought it was safe to take him at his word. His other opponent was giving him a run for his money. She was ruthless and had cost him dearly when he’d tried to bluff. Finally he threw the cards facedown on the table and sighed. “Take it,” he said.

Doctor Katherine Pulaski smiled gracefully and took the chips. “That I will, Commander, thank you,” she said, scooping up the pot. “Another hand gentlemen?”

Before anyone could respond, Riker’s combadge sounded. “Operations to Commander Riker; Starship Enterprise on final orbital approach...”

Tapping the badge, Riker acknowledged the signal and alerted operations to prepare for transport.

“They’re ahead of schedule,” La Forge said. “They weren’t supposed to be here for another three days.”

“Let’s just hope something hasn’t come up,” Riker said, putting the cards and chips into his duffle. The rest of his baggage was sitting in a storage locker in the assay office.

/ / /

Less than an hour later, Riker materialized on the transporter pad of the Enterprise and was greeted by his new commanding officer.

“Riker,” he said firmly, “William T, reporting for duty. Permission to come aboard.”

Jean-Luc Picard smiled and offered his hand. “Welcome to the Enterprise, Commander Riker.” The two officers shook hands firmly and Picard led Riker to the nearest lift that ascended to the Bridge. Riker got a quick glance of the huge sophisticated command center before being led into the captain’s ready room.

Picard took a seat behind his desk, indicating the empty seats across for Riker. The captain then detailed the strange encounter with the Q being and replayed the bridge flight recorder logs of the incident.

“Nothing new there,” Riker said. “Starfleet’s certainly dealt with energy beings before. They always seem to be testing us.”

“Oh, I agree,” Picard said casually. “And humans have always passed these tests. Even dating back to the Organians and their intervention, we showed them that we were a peaceful society.”

“I’ve read the mission briefing,” Riker said. “It’s pretty broad. Alpha Cygni’s on the edge of explored space; do you think this Q is trying to warn us of what lies ahead?”

“It’s possible,” Picard said. “I’ve scheduled our departure for oh seven hundred tomorrow. I’d like you to coordinate with Mister Data, he’s my senior operations officer. He’ll be able to give you a full accounting of our journey from Earth, which until this Q business was relatively minor.”

“Of course, sir,” Riker said, standing.

“Again, welcome aboard, Number One.”

Riker left the ready room and this time took in the full scope of the bridge. In the center seat a young woman with startling dark eyes stood and approached him. “Welcome aboard, Commander, I’m Counselor Deanna Troi.”

“Will Riker,” he said, mesmerized by her beauty. “I wonder where I might find Mister Data.”

“He’s on special assignment, shuttling an admiral back to the Hood before they ship out.”

Riker soaked in her accented voice and perked up his eyebrows. “An admiral?”
“He’s been aboard since we made orbit,” Troi said, “checking over our medical facilities.”

“Buy why a shuttle?” Riker asked. “Why wouldn’t he just beam over?”

Troi smiled softly. “He could, but the admiral is a rather…remarkable man.”


- - -


Leonard McCoy, Admiral and MD, coughed, wheezed, and shuffled his way down the corridors of this new monstrosity of a ship. Next to him, a pale white fellow named Data followed alongside him. “Well,” McCoy said, “this is a new ship.”. “I was the doctor on the first one you know.”

“Yes Admiral,” Data said. “Starfleet Academy has made the study of your career required reading along with James Kirk and Mister Spock.”

McCoy actually smiled. Ah, Jim, he thought of his old friend. “History books, huh? You sure know how to make a man feel is age, boy.”

“Sorry sir,” Data replied quickly. “If that subject troubles you…”

“Troubles me!” McCoy spouted, slapping Data on the arm. “What’s so damned troublesome about not having died? One of the few benefits of living this long is that I’ve got my fingerprints all over your Sickbay. First time your doctor saves some poor kids life my work will speak for itself.”

<> <> <>

Chapter:

Jean-Luc Picard emerged from his ready room and nodded to his new XO. “Did you signal the Hood, Number One?”

“Aye,” Riker said, “your exact message: Bon voyage, mon amie.”

“Grand,” Picard said, settling into his command. “I think it’s time we got underway ourselves. Mister Crusher…”

Suddenly the main viewscreen was overlapped by the image of Q. “Your still planning to go, aren’t you?”

From behind, Worf leapt over the tactical station, phaser in hand, trained on Q.

“Lieutenant!” Picard barked. “Do you intend to blast a hole in the viwer?” He turned back to the screen. “If you’ve got something to say to us, Q, do so and be gone. Otherwise, we’re getting underway.”

“Humans fly into trouble like moth’s to a flame,” he said. “So be it.” He snapped his fingers and his image vanished and Q stood on the deck. “I ask to join you.”

“To join us as what?” Riker asked.

“As a member of the crew,” Q said calmly, “willing and able, ready to serve.”

“Ready and willing,” Picard said softly. “What would you do? Would you start as an ordinary crewman? What task is too menial for an entitiy?”

Q smirked. “Don’t mock me, Jean-Luc.”

“I don’t,” Picard said. “You are our primary mission to seek out new life-forms, and you certainly are unique.”

“I’m bored,” Q said, “my existence without purpose. I neither expect or require any special treatment and if necessary, I will renounce my powers and become as weak as all of you.”

“No,” Picard said flatly. “I don’t trust you.”

“That may be so,” Q said, “but you do need me. You’re not prepared for what lies ahead.”

“We cannot be prepared for what we do not know,” Picard said, “but I do know that we are ready to encounter it. That’s why we’re out here.”

“The arrogance,” Q spat. “You don’t have a clue as to what’s out here.”

“You judge yourselves by the weak adversaries you’ve encountered thus far. The Klingons, the Breen, the Cardassians. They’re nothing compared to what’s waiting. You are about to enter areas of the galaxy that contain wonders more incredible than you can possibly imagine, and terrors to freeze your soul. I offer myself as a guide only to be rejected out of hand.”

“We’ll just have to get along without you,” Riker said.

“Your help is not required,” Picard said, ending the conversation.

“We’ll just have to see how ready you are,” Q said taking a step forward, snapping his fingers.

The ship rumbled and was propelled into high warp.

“Velocity’s off the scale, sir,” Cadet Crusher reported. “I’ve no control of the helm.”

A moment later the ship settled into sublight speeds.

“Full stop,” Riker snapped.

“Helm’s answering,” Crusher said, “full stop.”

“Status,” Picard said to Data.

“According to these charts, we have traveled seven thousand light-years and are located near the system J-25.”

“Time to the nearest Starbase,” Riker said.

“At maximum warp it would take two years, seven months, three days and eighteen hours we would reach Starbase 185.”

The crew stared at crew in horror. “Why?” Riker demanded.

“To give you a taste of things to come,” Q said. “Comparmiso, capitan. The hall is rented, the orchestra engaged. It's time to see if you can dance." He snapped his fingers and was gone again.

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

Chapter III:

Captain’s log supplemental. Enterprise has been stranded seven thousand light-years beyond the borders of the Federation. I feel compelled to investigate this unexplored sector of the galaxy before heading back.

Picard paced the space between the conn and ops station and his command chair. Enterprise had been proceeding on a general course for home when they’d picked up a strange series of energy readings coming from a nearby star system. Upon arrival they’d found the two planets completely destroyed all signs of civilization forcibly scooped off the face of the worlds by some sort of immense tractor beam. What’s worse, the energy readings were less than four days old. What appeared to be some sort of engine emission had been detected and Picard had ordered an intercept course.

<><><>

Geordi La Forge descended the ladder lining the port side of main engineering next to the warp core. After three years aboard an Excelsior-Class ship, the shear enormity of this Galaxy-Class beauty was staggering. The matter\antimatter system was the most advanced piece of engineering ever constructed. He knew it would be. His wife, Doctor Leah Brahms had designed the thing at Seran where she worked with Starfleet Engineering on new starship construction. Geordi missed his wife terribly. He’d met her only four years ago when he was twenty-five and they’d fallen in love immediately. She’d been the one to encourage him into switching from command back to engineering that had been his specialty. After years as conn officer on the Hood, the opportunity to follow Commander Riker aboard the new Enterprise as her chief engineer had been a onc in a lifetime opportunity.

Enterprise was scheduled to be away from Federation space for the next several years, but they’d be taking an elliptical path that would bring them back towards home and Seran in twenty-one months. But what had happened a handful of hours ago turned his blood to ice. The ship had been flung to the edge of the Alpha Quadrant and were seven years from the Federation border.

“Lieutenant,” a voice said from around the main console. A stocky bearded officer in engineering gold approached carrying a data padd. “Lieutenant Leland T. Lynch, sir.” He offered his hand which La Forge shook firmly. “Assistance engineering chief to the boys back at Utopia. Been fine tuning this baby all the way from Sector Zero Zero One.”

Geordi took the padd from Lynch and quickly reviewed the system status reports. The ship had been performing exceptionally well given these numbers. “This looks great,” he said, signing off on the report with his thumbprint and handing the padd back to Lynch.

“I’ve got the main warp efficiency up to ninety-two point eight,” Lynch said. “From the captain’s announcement earlier, it’s a long way home from here.”

“That it is,” La Forge agreed. “You’ve done an excellent job, Mister Lynch, I expect more of the same.”

Lynch smiled, nodded graciously and returned to his post. La Forge approached the master display console and input his command codes. “La Forge to Bridge, all system diagnostics complete, Captain. Ship’s as ready as she’ll ever be.”


<><><>

“Excellent work, Mister La Forge,” Picard said to the chief. “Enterprise is approaching the coordinates of the energy emissions. Have all systems standing by. Picard out.” He cut the connection and re-adjusted himself in his chair. “Mister Data, have you completed your analysis?”

“Yes Captain, however the readings do not correspond with any known energy profile.”

“Time to intercept?” Riker asked.

“Seven minutes to visual range with what ever is generating the energy,” Data said.

“Let’s put up the shields and go to yellow alert,” Riker said to Worf. “I don’t want to be taken by surprise.”

Worf’s hands immediately found the necessary controls and the ship went to alert status.

The time ticked by until Worf announced, “Picking up a vessel, Captain. Bearing two four nine mark twelve.”

“On screen,” Picard said, turning his attention forward.

The forward viewer fizzled and the image of a massive cube shaped vessel appeared. It’s outer sections were covered in a haphazard alignment of conduits and all forms of technology.

“Full scan,” Riker said.

“Data?”

The android studied his readings carefully before reporting. “The ship is strangely generalized in design. No specific command center, no engineering compartment. I can identify no life or living quarters.”

“Hail them, all languages, all friendship greetings and linguacodes,” Picard said turning to Troi.

The contact specialist sent out the comprehensive com pulses. The Enterprise’s communications array would attempt to make contact with the alien vessel and attempt to create a communications bridge that would enable two-way communication. “No response,” she said. “I’m also detecting no life over there.”

Picard rose and paced several steps. “Mister Crusher, prepare to withdrawal.”

“La Forge to security!” came an urgent com call. “We have an intruder in main engineering.”




Chapter:

Geordi La Forge had ordered everyone out of the area the minute the intruder beamed in. What beamed in was a question none of them could answer. It was obviously a cybernetic life-form, pasty white skin covered in technology. It’s right arm had been replaced with a prosthetic that contained several tools. The creature stared ahead, not blinking, making its way for the systems access station near La Forge’s office.

Geordi breathed a sigh of relief as he heard the sound of running footsteps. A three man security team lead by Worf came charging in, weapons in hand. Close on their heels was Captain Picard.

“It just beamed in,” La Forge said, “made a close study of the engine core then made it’s way in there,” he pointed the systems access station. “I’ve locked out the command functions, but I don’t think we should take any chances…”

He was interrupted by a high pitched squeal from the creatures arm. Several tubes emerged from it’s humanoid arm and the computer station came to life. Geordi checked another monitor. “It’s downloading the tactical database!”

“Worf,” Picard said with a nod.

The Klingon nodded to Carlisle his deputy chief and the young man sprinted into action against the drone and was caught across the throat by a vicious blade from the armature. He fell to the deck gagging, his throat slashed.

“Picard to transporter room two, lock onto Ensign Carlisle and beam him to sickbay, medical emergency.” As Carlisle was enveloped in the transporter beam, Picard turned back to Worf. “Neutralize the invader!”

Worf’s phaser came up and unleashed a hellish beam of nadion energy. The beam tore through the armor and conduits of the drone and burned through the other side of its body. It fell to the deck in a crippling series of convulsions. An instant later another transporter beam appeared depositing another drone. It continued the job of its comrade, downloading the data.. Subsequent phaser blasts did nothing to harm it, as they were deflected by an energy shield. When the download was complete, the newcomer removed several components from its fallen comrade and both of them beamed away.

“Red alert,” Riker’s voice sounded over the com. “Captain Picard to the bridge!”

<><><>


“Report.”

Riker spun around as Picard and Worf returned to the bridge. “Borg ship’s locked us in a tractor beam. We’ve been trying to break free, but so far nothing.”

“The beam is draining the shields,” Worf said. “They are sixty-two percent and falling.”

“Twenty seconds to complete shield failre,” Data said.

“Lock weapons on the source of that beam,” Picard ordered. “Fire when ready.”

The sound of the phaser arrays coming online and discharging filled the bridge. The forward viewscreen showed them lashing out, followed by a spread of photon torpedoes. All of them harmless evaporated against the hull of the cube.

“Again, Mister Worf,” Picard said.

Another spread of destructive weapons fire was thrown against the Borg ship, dissipating away.

“Data?” Riker snapped.

“Phasers are ineffective, I will attempt re-modulating the resonance frequencies, it may prevent them from adapting.”

“Shields have failed,” Worf thundered. “Some sort of laser beam is slicing in to the saucer section!”

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

<><><>

Katherine Pulaski rushed to the main surgical bay to the recently transported form of Ensign Carlisle. The vicious laceration across the young security officer’s throat was still spurting blood. “Get a clamp on him!” she snapped to her nurse.

Nurse Ogawa moved swiftly, applying the regenerative device over Carlisle’s throat and activating it. “Sealed,” she said. “He’s got massive blood loss and is going into shock.”

“Prepare a stasis tube,” Pulaksi ordered. “We’re going to have to stabilize him first!”

Before anyone else in sickbay could respond a thunderous explosion sounded over head. Eyes darting to the ceiling, Pulaski gasped as a green energy beam descended, ripping apart the bulkheads. Entire sections of the deck began ascending towards the breach in the upper hull. Her ears were pierced with the sounds of screaming only to muffled by the vacuum of space.


<><><>

“Sections twenty seven through fifty-three on decks one through twelve are gone,” Worf said grimly.

“Data, the phasers,” Riker said quickly.

“Re-modulation complete, Commander. Phasers ready.”

“Fire!” shouted Picard.

This time the modified phaser beams tore a breach in the Borg ship’s hull, destroying the tractor beam generator.

“Tractor beam released,” Data said. “Emergency forcefields are maintaining our structural integrity.”

Picard took a step forward and peered over Cadet Crusher’s conn panel, tapping in several commands, brining up on a local star chart. “Course one two nine mark twelve, take us into that nebula, warp factor nine.”

As the captain’s words left his lips, Cruhser was already fast at work plotting the fastest route to the Mutara-Class nebula eighty billion kilometers away. “Course plotted, sir.”

“Engage,” Picard said grimly. As the ship’s warp engines flared to life he turned to Data. “The Borg ship?”

“They are in pursuit at warp eight point four,” the android said. “I believe we damaged a power grid that is hampering their warp drive.”

“Maintain course for the nebula,” the captain ordered. “Damage report.”

Data accessed the necessary systems. “As Lieutenant Worf said, decks one through twelve in sections twenty seven through fifty three have been extracted. One hundred forty one crewmen were in those sections and are missing, including seven people in Sickbay.”

Picard felt has if he’d been kicked in the stomach. Days out of Earth on their first and lost more than ten percent of their crew. His voice was dry and throaty. “Time to the nebula?”

“Approaching now,” Wesley said.

“Engage impulse engines and take us in,” Picard said.

The ship came out of warp at the edge of the stellar dust cloud and headed for the dense field at the core.

“Field’s getting too dense,” Wesley said, his control of the helm slipping.

“Steady,” Picard said. “Analysis of the nebula cloud, Data.”

“Eighty percent dilithium, magnesium, chromium. It should deflect their ability to detect us.”

“Full stop, Mister Crusher,” the captain ordered calmly.

“The Borg ship is scanning the area with high-yield antiproton beams,” Worf said. “Attempting to locate us.”

“Let’s hope they don’t find us,” Riker said. He looked towards Picard. “I’ll have Mister La Forge begin analyzing our sensor readings of the battle, see if we can find a better way to penetrate their defenses. It’s a long way home with that ship out there.”

“Agreed,” Picard said. “Make it so, Number One, I’ll want a staff meeting in one hour.”


A little more than an hour later, the senior staff had convened in the conference lounge aft of the bridge. Picard reflected grimly it was the first time his new command crew had met in one place since coming aboard. And now dozens were dead, including their chief medical officer.

On the viewscreen on the far wall a sensor reading of the Enterprise’s battle with the Borg was playing out with a series of telemetry readings indicating power levels and internal sensor diagnostics. “There,” Geordi La Forge said. “This is when Commander Data started randomizing the phaser frequencies.” The graph of energy output on the Borg ship shifted several centimeters to the left. “There’s a two percent drop in power across the entire Borg ship. It’s just when the phasers hit the high narrow band.”

“Apparently the Borg shields and power systems are susceptible to those energy frequencies,” Data remarked.

“Right,” Geordi said. “If we can generate a concentrated burst of energy with that same frequency distribution… we could crack that ship open.”

“How do we do that?” the captain asked.

“The main deflector dish,” Data said.

“It’s the only component on the ship designed to channel that much energy at controlled frequencies,” Geordi offered.

“Unfortunately, such a blast would destroy the Enterprise,” Data said calmly.

“What if we could get farther away?” Riker said. “Increase the range of the deflector pulse.”

“We could install higher-capacity power transfers to the main ODN lines and re-route from the starboard impulse reactor. What do you think Data?”

“It could work. But it will take at least six hours to make the necessary modifications.”

“Let’s get to it then,” the captain said. “Use what ever means or crewman you need, Mister La Forge. Dismissed.”

Picard remained behind as his officers filed out. He walked to the viewport and peered out at the swirling mass of the nebula that hid his ship from certain destruction.

There was a flash of light reflected in the transparent aluminum. Picard spun around to find Q leisurely relaxed in one of the chairs.

“The Borg is the ultimate user, with the result that they are unlike any threat your Federation has ever faced. They have no interest in political conquest -- or wealth or power as you know it. They simply want your ship -- its technology. They have identified it as something they can consume and use.”

“Q,” Picard said coldly. “More than a hundred of my people have died. You brought us here; you must have the ability to send us back.”

Q dropped his feet to the deck and stood. “It’s not safe out here, Captain. Just like I told you. There’s a race of beings outside this little nebula looking to enslave your crew, absorb its technology and march over your entire civilization. This is the greatest threat your puny race will ever encounter. Use that knowledge, Jean-Luc.” He snapped his fingers and was gone.

<><><>


Captain's log, supplemental: The Enterprise remains concealed in the dust cloud. The Borg ship remains at the perimeter waiting for us. We continue to prepare our defenses for the inevitable confrontation. But, I must admit, on this night I contemplate the distinct possibility that no defense may be adequate against this enemy.

“Deflector modifications are complete,” said Lieutenant Commander Data, emerging from the aft turbolift

“What about shields?” Picard asked.

“Generators have been repaired,” Worf reported. “We’ll be modulating the nutation on the same frequencies as the deflector pulse.”

“How far away from the nebula will we have to be in order to deploy the weapon?” Riker asked. He stood near his chair next to Picard and Troi.

“At least one hundred thousand kilometers,” Data said, taking his seat at ops. “Any closer and we risk igniting the dust cloud.”

“All right,” Picard said, taking his seat along with Troi and Riker. “Take us out here, Number One.”

“Helm,” Riker said quickly. “Course one eight five mark five, half impulse until we’ve cleared the nebula, then punch it up to warp nine.”

“Arm phasers,” Picard said, “load all torpedo bays, engage.”

<><><>

It only took moments for the ship to clear the nebula and head into open space.

“Borg ship is in pursuit,” Worf said. The ship rumbled violently. “They’ve locked on to us again, shields are being drained.”

“Fire at will,” Picard said. “Data, distance from the nebula?”

“We have reached minimum safe distance,” the android. “Powering the deflector dish.”

“Launching torpedoes,” Worf said, “phaser spread continuing.”

“Tractor beam broken!” Crusher said.

“Go to warp five,” Riker said, “get us some distance. Time to deflector pulse?”

“One minute twenty five seconds,” Data said.

“The Borg are in pursuit,” Worf said.

Picard watched the data readouts on his armrest monitor. “Helm, all stop, full about.” He waited as his ship slowed to a stop and spun around to face the monstrosity bearing down on them.

“Deflector ready,” Data reported.

Picard took a step forward placing both hands on the back of Data’s chair. “Fi…”

The Borg ship opened fire.

“Direct hits to decks one through five!” Worf called over the klaxons and emergency alarms. “Shields have failed!”

As soon as he finished speaking transporter beams appeared on the bridge. Drones appeared, walking like zombies towards various crewmembers. Worf drew his phaser and fired the retuned phaser pulses at the invading soldiers. Two of them were vaporized in the blast; the other three marched on deflecting the beams with forcefields.

The lead solider made its way for Picard. Worf hurled himself over the tactical station to defend his captain and caught a Borg armature across his head, knocking him unconscious. Troi screamed as one of the Borg grabbed her and injected her with a trio of tubules. Picard cried out as a drone did the same to him. The two officers dropped to the deck in agony, their skin rippling with Borg technology replicating and breaking through their skin.

Finally in an act of defiance it was Data who leapt out of his chair and attacked the three Borg, breaking their necks and tearing their support tubes from their throats. Picard and Troi shook on the deck, more Borg implants erupting.

“Data!” Riker bellowed. “The deflector! Fire!”

Data lunged back into his seat and his hands sped across the control surface. “Deflector output at maximum tolerance. Firing…”


<><><>

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

The main deflector dish on the Enterprise was an oval shaped construction designed to sweep space debris away to allow a vessel to safely traverse the stars. Under special circumstances it could be retooled as a lens to focus different forms of energy.

It was not designed to channel raw power from a ship’s warp core and direct the power outward. But with a creative redesign of power transfer systems and a solidified enhancement of the structural supports, Geordi La Forge and Data and reconfigured the dish to fire a concentrated burst of pure destructive energy.

The white beams coalesced together and erupted away from the ship meeting the outer layers of the hull of the Borg ship. The massive cube began to implode in on itself, before its central power core erupted in a fireball that expanded in every direction. Debris from the eruption pelted the unshielded Enterprise tearing large breaches across its saucer section and crippling primary systems. In one last eruption, the Borg ship vaporized.


<><><>

The bridge was devastated, fire suppression clouds fell from the upper bulkheads, consoles had erupted in flames. The port side of the bridge had collapsed in on itself, burying three crewmen in the debris.

Riker was on his hands and knees coughing madly due to the smoke. Worf was slowly coming to and was headed for his station. On the deck Picard and Troi lie motionless, the Borg implants sparking.

Data quickly snatched a med kit from an emergency station in the starboard bulkhead and ran a tricorder over the two fallen comrades. The device emitted a single tone indicating… “They are dead, Commander,” he said to Riker.

<><><>

“Damage reports,” said Geordi La Forge, offering Riker a padd. Riker, seated behind the desk in the ready room, took the padd and switched it on.

“Give me the long and short of it,” Riker said.

“Main deflector’s burned out, warp drives off-line, we’re at thirty-two percent overall,” La Forge said glumly. “I’ve got teams on it and have pulled everyone with an engineering rating of two or above. I can have warp three of four in a couple of weeks.”

Riker’s stomach twisted. At that speed they were decades from Federation space. And if there was one Borg ship out here, there would probably be more. “What about the Borg technology? Did we recover anything useful?”

La Forge shook his head, “No, sir,” he said. “It all self-destructed when their ship blew. That’s what killed the captain and the counselor.”

“All right,” Riker said, brining them back on track. “Do what you have to, Geordi. In the meantime...” he was stopped by a white flash on the far side of the room.

Q appeared, looking serious.

“What the hell do you want?” Riker demanded.

Q put up his hands in a defensive posture. “Truly, Riker, understand me, what I did, I did to protect your Federation. Humans are going to be the dominating force in this galaxy in the centuries to come. To that end, your encounters with the Borg were paramount to your survival as a race.”

“We destroyed them despite what you did,” Riker said. “You cost us the lives of more than one hundred of our shipmates.”

“I’m not disputing that,” Q spat. “The galaxy’s a dangerous place, if you want to be safe perhaps you should have stayed home under your beds. Just the very existence of your race has already spread to the Collective.”

“Collective?” La Forge asked. “You mean the Borg are some sort of group mind?”

“Exactly,” Q said. “What one knows, they all know. Your little trick with the deflector? It’s a one shot. The rest of the Borg now know how to defend against it. You’ve got to warn your superiors to prepare for them. They will be coming.” He snapped his fingers and disappeared. The deck shift under Riker and he nearly fell to the deck.

“Bridge to Riker,” Data’s voice said. “Please come to the bridge.”

Riker headed out, La Forge in tow. The main viewscreen showed a vibrant blue planet spinning beneath them. “Earth,” Riker said.

“Yes sir,” Data replied, vacating the captain’s chair and taking up a position at ops. “One moment we were moving through sector J-25, the next we were in the heart of the Terran system.”

“Mister Crusher,” Riker said, “set a course for McKinley station. Worf,” he said turning to tactical. “Contact Starfleet Command. Let them know we’re home early.”


<><><>


Will Riker switched off his padd, sat back in the plush conference room chair and waited for the assault to begin. Thanks to the quick temper and direct personage of Admiral Nora Satie, he didn’t have to wait long.

“Commander Riker, you’re telling us that this...this... Q, flung the Enterprise to the edge of the quadrant in the path of this cube ship, which killed over one hundred of your fellow crewmen, then just sent you back?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Riker said evenly. “My entire crew will vouch for that. Q said it was to let us know what is out there and that the Borg will be coming for us. The information gathered during our encounter may lead to a defense when they reach our borders.”

From across the conference table, Admiral Toddman, chief of Starfleet Security leaded forward. “My people have gone over the sensor logs since Enterprise returned home. If this Borg ship is indicative of what they possesses as a race, and if what Q said about them being able to adapt to the deflector pulse weapon, we’re in serious trouble. That entire monstrosity was decentralized, all units working independently to keep the vessel running. Projections show that a Borg ship like the one you faced could continue to function even if seventy-eight percent of it were inoperable.”

“And with the exception of the deflector weapon,” Admiral Whatley said, “our best weapons barely made a dent.”

“Commander Riker,” Satie said, “am I correct in the fact that you turned down the command of the USS Drake in order to take the XO billet on the Enterprise?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Riker said. “I found that a post aboard the flagship was a better career opportunity for me than the command of a light cruiser.”

“So you do think you are ready to command a starship?” Satie asked.

“Absolutely,” Riker said, feeling a strange feeling in the back on his mind.

Satie tapped in several commands into the padd. “Then as of this Stardate I hereby promote you to the rank of Captain. The Enterprise is your ship now. Once repairs are complete we will have new orders written up. Most likely it will be to search out these Borg and find a way to stop them before they reach the Federation.”

<><><>

Captain’s personal log Stardate 2364.11:I ever wanted to become a captain under these circumstances. When I turned down the Drake to be first officer of the Enterprise, I seriously thought I’d learn a great deal from Jean-Luc Picard. He’d commanded a deep space explorer for the better part of two decades. He’d have a great deal to teach me. Then on our first mission out, the captain is killed and I’m thrust into command to make something good come from all of this death. It’s a fine crew; I’ve got to make these losses count for something.

Captain Will Riker sat at the helm of the Shuttle Cochrane as the sleek craft ascended from San Francisco and made her way towards McKinley Station. At his side, Lieutenant Commander Data was prattling on about ships’ status and his endeavors to research anything Starfleet might have on the Borg.

“I have reached in impasse in my search,” Data said. “I was correlating Federation contact with cybernetic life-forms and was stopped by a security block during an encounter in the mid twenty-second century.”

Riker keyed in their orbital slot and activated the impulse engines. “Two hundred years ago?” he asked.

“Yes, sir, a Starfleet team found a crashed ship in the Arctic Circle. The vessel had been buried in the ice for nearly one hundred years. All of the information I could find said the team disappeared along with the corpses in their transport ship and was subsequently destroyed by the NX-01.”

“Archer’s Enterprise,” Riker said.

“Precisely,” Data said. “One member of the team transmitted images of the bodies to a colleague at Cambridge University. I was able to obtain one of the images from that professor’s personal journals.” He handed a Riker a padd that held a fuzzy image of a pasty white humanoid lying on a bio bed. A Borg drone.

“Starfleet’s known about them for two hundred years,” Riker realized.

“At least of their existence, all of the information has been classified,” Data said.

“Tell the Enterprise we’re not coming back yet,” Riker said. “Bring the shuttle about, Data, take us back to San Francisco. We need some god damned answers.”


<><><>

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

<><><>

Riker and Data hadn’t even waited for the shuttle’s engines to cool before disembarking and heading back into Headquarters. They strode past security officers, and made their way for the office in question. Slapping the call signal, the doors slid into the wall, and Riker marched in, Data in his wake.

Behind her desk Admiral Satie looked up sharply. “Captain Riker, I’d have thought you’d returned to your ship by now. Your departure has been moved up forty hours. You have a lot of work to do.”

“Admiral,” Riker snapped, snatching the padd from data and throwing it on to the desk. “I was under the impression Starfleet had no knowledge of the Borg.”

Satie took the padd, studied the image for a long moment, then slowly looked up.

“Captain,” she said with a sigh, “we known about them for quite some time. When the Borg that Archer encountered were destroyed, they communicated the location of Earth to the rest of their species. Our best estimates indicate their home was deep in the Delta quadrant. The Raven was dispatched to investigate rumors of El-Aurian refugees who had lost their world to a race described as very similar to the Borg.”

“So we’ve been sitting on this for two centuries?” Riker asked.

“No quite,” Satie said. “Starfleet Intelligence along with some more covert organizations have been building a hopeful defense against the Borg for some time. We have weapons, defense grids and sensors that are ready to deploy should the Borg come. These defense have been added to your vessel I might add.”

“I don’t understand why I wasn’t told about this,” Riker said. “You were sending the Enterprise into harm’s way without all pertinent information.”

“We wanted an unbiased opinion,” Satie said. “If we sent you out with the thought that you would find the Borg, you most likely would have come up with that.”

“I’m not sure I like that implication,” Riker said. He nodded to Data. “Data’s my new XO and he’s been incredibly thorough in his research. We’ve got good people on that ship that would have given you an honest appraisal of the situation.”

“I know,” Satie said, “I was the lone hold out of the admiralties decision. Very well. I’ll release all classified information on the Borg to you and your senior staff.” She stood, pushing her chair back. “You may be the key to the survival of the Federation. I don’t envy you your task, Captain, but I wish you good luck. For all our sakes.”

<><><>

Geordi La Forge sat in the command chair on the bridge of the Enterprise eagerly awaiting the captain’s return, which would allow Geordi to return to main engineering to get his hands around the repair and refit teams. The McKinley boys were good, but the schedule was starting to lag behind and La Forge was going to have to crack some skulls to keep their current launch date.

The orders had come in less than forty-five minutes ago. The ship was being sent to a distant corner of the Beta quadrant where a long-range science vessel had disappeared more than a decade ago.

Information de-classified by Starfleet gave detailed accounts of two Federation scientists, acting on information obtained from various sources had set off in search of the Borg . They’d not been heard from sense. Their last known location had been transmitted to Deep Space Four in the Omega Sector. Enterprise would head to the remote part of the galaxy and attempt to determine the fate of the lost USS Raven.

“Lieutenant,” said Worf. “Captain Riker’s shuttle is on final approach.”

La Forge stood. He could sit around on the bridge any longer. “Thanks, Worf, you have the bridge, I have to get back to my engine room.”

<><><>

System status reports showed the ship was ready for departure and after ten weeks in dock, Will Riker was anxious to get underway. He stood in his read room, watching through the port as the last of the supply shuttles pulled away and the McKinley EVA crews disembark aboard their workbees. Enterprise was his ship now, and he’d been given a mission greater than he’d ever thought possible. The very survival of the Federation hinged on what they found.

Starfleet Tactical hadn’t been kidding when they promised an upgrade to the Enterprise’s defensive systems. He’d skimmed past the tech updates on his monitor and was shocked to see a separate fusion reactor had been installed to only operate the new weapons array. A massive ionic phaser pulse cannon had been installed along the dorsal section of the saucer where the captain’s yacht had used to be. A full complement of new warheads called quantum torpedoes had been shipped in from the teams at Utopia Planitia and Starfleet Engineering had really done a number of their own by installing a third warp nacelle along the engineering hull. Raw data only showed power systems on the ship forty-percent higher than before. New redundant shield generators had been installed, and the outer hull had been fitted with ablative armor.

In two months Enterprise had been retrofitted into a warship.

And Riker hated it.

Starfleet was a defensive organization, not a military one. Beefing up your ships with overwhelming weapons was diametrically opposed to peacefully seeking out new life. But with the events at J25, peace may be a long way off. The rest of the fleet was undergoing the same upgrades and retrofitting as the Enterprise and a sizeable battle fleet would be operational in a month’s time.

Enough, Riker thought, heading to the Bridge.

Data vacated the command chair and took his seat at the captain’s right. “Ship is ready for departure, all decks report ready.”

Decks full of specialists, Starfleet crewman and security personnel, Riker thought. The first to disembark had been the families after their return. He eased himself into the command chair and tapped in several commands, checking readiness and last minute updates. “Mister Crusher, thrusters, take us out. Once we’ve cleared spacedock, make your course for Deep Space Four and our rendezvous with the Stargazer, warp eight.”


PART II: Into the Unknown

“You don’t have to go, you know.”

Doctor Beverly Crusher put three more data padds into her every-bulging duffel bag and synched it shut. “Jack, we’ve been through this. You know this is what I want. We talked about it.”

Captain Jack Crusher crossed the small space of the cramped quarters he shared with his wife and sat on the edge of the bed. “Beverly, I just want you to be safe.”

Beverly put the bag on the deck and sat down next to her husband, taking his hand in hers. “I’m a Doctor, Jack, I need to be helping others. Besides, it’s going to take you months to get home.”

Jack winced at the remark. Their ship, the USS Stargazer had only recently returned to Federation space and docked her at DS4. They’d arrived to news that had broken the Crushers’ hearts and filled them with terror. Jean-Luc Picard, their closest friend had been killed on his first mission aboard the Enterprise. And Wesley had been at the helm.

Shortly after, Starfleet had recalled all of it’s long-range explorers. They’d be undergoing an extensive refit that would bring the forty-year Stargazer would be brought up to Starfleet specs and prepared to combat this new threat Picard had uncovered out beyond the border of the quadrant.

It was then that Beverly had received the personal request of the Enterprise’s new captain offering her post as CMO. Beverly had jumped at the chance. To serve aboard the flagship and to be with Wes was almost too good to be true.

“When are you scheduled to depart?” Beverly asked.

“Not for another twelve hours. Enterprise won’t be here for three weeks though. You’re going to go crazy without me, you know.”

Beverly smiled and kissed him. “Then we’d better make use of the time we have left.”

Chapter:

Ship’s Log, SS Raven, Stardate 2352.14. We’ve been tracking the Borg cube for seventeen hours. It dropped out of warp near a Class-J gas giant and took on a re-supply of antimatter from an asteroid field. After that it jumped to warp just in time for us to tag along and keep our refractive shielding online.

Yesterday afternoon we officially left Federation space, but we logged all our data and will be shipping it out to DS4 along with this log entry.. Erin ‘s not too happy about us staying out this long and with each passing day I regret bringing Anika along. We’ll continue our observations and report back to the Federation Science Council as soon as we’re in range again…”


<><><>

The log entry ended and a cold silence fell upon the conference lounge. At the head of the table, Lieutenant Commander Kathryn Janeway tapped the panel, shutting down the display. The ship’s new operations officer and chief science officer was fresh off her posting from the Orias Expedition aboard the Al-Batani and had come highly recommended by Admiral Paris at Headquarters.

“That was the last message of the SS Raven, received approximately ten years ago just prior to their disappearance. According to the de-classified logs they’d been trailing a Borg ship after they’d deviated from their assigned course. Making a march across the Romulan frontier and through several Klingon protectorates, Starfleet lost track of them. The Argus Array that’d been tracking their course showed them simply vanish in Sector 88797 on Stardate 2352.19.”

“Thank you, Commander,” Riker said, turning back to his senior staff. Worf, Data, Crusher, La Forge and Janeway all took their seats. “You all know what happened at J-25; it’s started a chain of events that Starfleet’s been preparing for since before the formation of the Federation itself. After we leave DS4, we’re going to Sector 88797. We’ll find out what happened to the Raven, or at least determine there’s nothing hostile out there. The outcome of our mission there will determine our next move. Starfleet’s ordered us on a general course to find the Borg. Best estimates from the NX-01 logs show that to be deep inside the Delta quadrant. Far beyond conventional warp drive.”

“Even with a third nacelle, we’re still forced to follow the laws of Cochrane-physics,” La Forge said with a smirk.

Riker smiled. “I know it’s been a tough transition. We’ve not served together very long, but each of you has proven yourself in this extreme times. Given the refit and the removal of civilians and families, the post of ship’s counselor has been cancelled across the fleet until further notice. However, we’re picking up our new medical officer at the rendezvous, which I’m sure you looking forward to, Wes.”

The young pilot smiled faintly. “Yes, sir. It’s been a while.”

“What is our Eta?” Riker asked.

“Eight days, give or take,” Crusher said.

“Good. Let’s make the most of it. Once we leave DS4, we’re no doubt in for an interesting time. Get your people ready. Dismissed.”

<><><>

Miles Edward O’Brien smiled in greeting as the captain entred transporter room three along with Cadet Crusher and Commander Data. They’d dropped out of warp around DS4 just a few minutes ago and were expecting their new chief medical officer. O’Brien homed in on the station’s primary transporter array with the targeting sensors and awaiting the confirmation signal. He’d spent a few weeks on the station years ago when the Rutledge had been out this way. It was during that trip that he’d decided to remain on starship duty. You’d never catch him sitting still on a space station with nothing to do. He needed to be out here making a difference. His reverie was interrupted by a com call from the station. “DS4’s signaling, Captain. Ready for transport.”

“Energize,” Riker said, turning towards the pad. A single column of the blue annular confinement beam took shape and an attractive red-headed female in Starfleet blue took form.

“Welcome aboard the Enterprise, Doctor,” Riker said, extending his hand. “Captain William T. Riker.”

“Doctor Beverly Crusher reporting for duty, sir,” she replied, shaking his hand. She then turned her attention on the young cadet and grabbed in him a tight embrace. A single tear emerged from the corner of her eye as she held on to her son.

Riker beamed. “Mister Crusher will escort you down to Sickbay, Doctor. All of your equipment and belongings will be sent to your quarters.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Crusher said, her voice raw.

“Welcome aboard, again,” Riker said, “if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to the bridge.” He left without another word, leaving the Crushers together.

They left the transporter room and headed towards sickbay.

“How’s Dad?” Wes asked.

“He’s fine,” Beverly said, “he sends his love. Starfleet ordered him back to Earth the refit, he really wanted to wait for the Enterprise to arrive.”

“I know. I miss him. No idea when we’ll be back, either.”

Beverly put a hand on his shoulder. “So. Sophomore at the Academy, field studies aboard the flagship. And you’re not even sixteen yet. Your father and I are very proud of you, Wesley.”

“Thanks,” Wes said sheepishly. “It’s been a mess though. I was on the bridge when Captain Picard was killed.”

Beverly remained silent for a long time as the continued down the corridor. “I know. I read the after action report. It must have been terrifying. I’m surprised you wanted to stay onboard.”

“It was a pretty hard decision. Captain Riker offered to let me stay on and continue my courses via subspace. If the Borg come for us, I’d rather be on the Enterprise than stuck on the surface of Earth.”

“Well, we can only hope we can figure out a way to prevent them from coming,” Crusher said.

“That’s the idea,” Wes said. “I just don’t think anyone has an idea how to do that.”

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

<><><>

Enterprise made good time to Sector 88797 after departing Federation space. With their new warp drive, they maintained the high-side of warp nine for long periods and raced towards their destination.

What they found their confused the science department and puzzled even the ship’s sensor arrays.

“Triquantum waves,” Janeway said from ops. “They’re a residual of transwarp drive.”

“Transwarp?” Riker asked. “I thought that was considered an impossibility.”

“Starfleet toyed with the idea several decades ago,” Janeway conceded, “as a part of the original Excelsior Program, but it died after several accidents. It’s still not impossible, just unobtainable given current Federation science.”

“So the Borg may have it?” Riker said.

“It’s entirely possible. When the NX-01 gave chase to the Earth freighter that had been taken over the by the Borg, they improved it’s warp drive immensely. Taking a ship rated for 1.7 and getting it upwards of warp five.”

“How recent is the trail, Commander?” asked Data, who was standing next to Worf at the tactical station.

“Impossible to tell,” said Janeway. “Could be a few months, could be a few days. Triquantum waves don’t dissipate the way normal warp trails do.”

“Where does the trail lead to?” the captain asked.

“Right here,” Janeway replied. “The trail ends about forty kilometers directly ahead. Just comes to a dead stop.”

“I have a theory,” Data said, moving away from tactical and descending the ramp. “The Borg could be using transwarp conduits. Research in transwarp drive postulated that corridors could be constructed in transwarp space, maintained by spatial manifolds which could be triggered by certain energy frequencies.”

Riker considered this and scratched his beard. “Kathryn,” he said, “launch a probe, right into the heart of the dead zone.”

It only took a few seconds for Janeway to program the Class-IV probe and get it launched out of the forward tube. The bridge crew watched intently as the device raced away from the ship. A few seconds later, space seemed to open up in a burst of emerald energy and the probe vanished.

“Data, I think you’re right,” Riker said. “Mister Crusher, take us into that conduit, one quarter impulse.” He turned around and met eyes with Worf. “Red Alert, Mister Worf.”

He and Data took their seats and the android XO called out. “Shields to maximum, arm phasers and load all torpedo bays.”

“Course laid in,” Wesley said.

“Shields up,” Worf said, “weapons ready.”

Riker leaned back in the chair and took a deep breath. “Engage.”


The trip through the conduit was a wild ride to say the least. The ship was pitched back and forth, it’s defensive systems being hampered. The forward scanners picked up large circular manifolds that maintained the integrity of the corrdir.

“Status,” Riker snapped over the rumbling and the alarms.

“Velocity passed warp nine point nine several seconds ago,” Crusher said. “I’m picking up an exit aperture at oh four seven mark one three. We’ll be there in about twenty-two seconds. Astrometric charts show it as deep inside the DELTA quadrant!”

“Worf,” Riker shouted. “Activate the cloaking device!”

Chapter:

There is no sound in space. So when the explosive triquantum energies of the transwarp conduit erupted, no one heard it. Just as no one saw the cloaked Federation vessel emerge from the corridor into the vast unknown depths of the Delta quadrant, seventy thousand light-years from home.

“Astrometric readings have been verified,” Janeway said. “Seventy one thousand two hundred fifty-five light-years from our last position.”

“IS the transwarp aperture stable?” Data asked.

“It seems to be,” Janeway said.

“Let’s hope it remains so while we conduct our research. It’s been there at least ten years at this point, it should stick around for a few days. Let’s get to work,” he said with a raw determination. “Commander Janeway, coordinate with tactical and set up a search grid. We’ve got the Borg signatures in the database and we know what we’re looking for. Also keep an eye and an ear out for any Federation signatures. It’s a long shot, but something from the Raven may have survived.”

<><><>

What started out as a three day expedition into this unknown corner of the galaxy, quickly increased to ten days, then twenty, then nearly a month of research. Enterprise had traveled nearly two hundred light-years from their entry point and followed a trail of energy readings, faint echoes in the subspace spectrum. Each trail led to a world that had been decimated in the same fashion as the planet they’d found at J25. The Borg had been busy, and for a long time. Energy decay readings and soil analysis of the planet’s crusts indicated that the destruction had happened from twenty years to three centuries ago.

On the first day of their second month in the Delta quadrant they came to the border of something that Riker had feared they’d find since they set out from Earth all those weeks ago.

The Enterprise arrived at the heart of Borg territory. There were no planets, only thousands upon thousands of internconnected structures, all with the same hull plating and design elements they’d found in the Borg cube. But here there were hundreds of vessels. Diamonds, tetahedrons, cubes, spheres, all of them swarmed the complex.

ON the bridge a dark hush had fallen upon everyone present. Kathryn Janeway swallowed hard and tried to get the sensors to cooperate with what they were showing. “Scanners are picking up trillions of life-forms,” she said in a whisper.

That meant there were nearly has many Borg in this one sector as there were in the entire Federation. If it came to war, the vast galactic differences would make little difference with those transwarp conduits.

“Get everything you can,” Riker said. “I want all shifts scanning contintulsy. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Find a way to either cripple or destroy that thing. Then start working on a way to take down those transwarp conduits. Those sptial manifolds holing them together have to have a weakness. Find it.”

<><<>><>

Seventeen hours later, Riker sat alone in his ready room, trying to concentrate of crew reports, engineering repair and service requests, and was failing at all of it. Sitting out here, cloaked, gathering tactical data on the Borg complex was making him nervous as hell, and he just wanted to get the data and head home. When his door chime sounded the first time, he got to his feet welcome his visitor.

Data entered, carrying a padd that he placed on the captain’s desk. “Our analysis of the Borg complex is complete,” he said calmly.

“Let’s have it, Data,” Riker said softly.

Data activated the padd which blinked with a three-dimensional hologram that rotated above the table. “The complex contains approximately five thousand individual structures spanning 650 kilometers. Vessel count is approximately three thousand five hundred seperate vessels and best estimates indicate a population of six point four trillion.” He pointed a series of conduits. “Each section is individually powered and shielded, containing weapons ports and power nodes. Starfleet Tactical was correct in their reasoning that even if nearly eighty percent of the facility were destroyed, the rest of the structures could still operate independently. Current Starfleet technology does not contain the means to destroy such a facility.”

“Not out right anyways,” Riker said, activating his computer terminal. “That star out there’s the biggest weapon we could have. We could set off a trilithium weapon in the core and wipe the place out in the shockwave.”

Data’s eyebrows rose in a simulation of surprise. “Captain, based on the Raven data as well as our own research, this site represents the focal point of the entire Borg race. Wiping it out would be tantamount to genocide.”

“I know,” Riker said. “And I posed the same concern to Command before we left. There reasoning being that the Borg operate on a single consciousness they don’t represent a civilization, just a single being, no different than a criminal.” He picked up a padd from his desk and handed it to his XO. “These are the orders written by Admiral Satie herself ordering us to use what ever means necessary to wipe out the Borg’s offensive ability.”

Data took the padd and instantly read the information stored. “If the Borg discover us, or the fact that it was Starfleet that destroyed this facility, they will counterattack.”

“That’s the number one fear on my mind and the orders stand,” Riker said with finality. “I don’t much like it, but we can deliver a crippling blow to the Borg’s ability to wage war, we may save the entire quadrant.”

“I must officially protest this course of action in my log,” Data said.

“That’s your right of course,” Riker said. “I’ll it right along side of mine. Prepare the weapon and lay in a course for the system’s sun.”


<><><>

Geordi La Forge extracted the second set of sensor relays from the photon torpedo casing and set it on the antigrav cart next to him. “I don’t know,” he told his companion. “This entire thing really has me bothered.”

Lieutenant Worf attached a series of relay components and set the system into a quick diagnostic mode. “You saw what the Borg were capable of. They killed hundreds in an instant, including the captain.” He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but the failure he had felt on that dark day still haunted him and he had declared to the dead gods of Sto-Vo-Kor that he would avenge the captain’s death.

“I know, but taking out this entire facility, it just seems like genocide.”

“If the Borg come to Federation space they will tear the surface of our worlds apart and consume them to continue their conquest,” Worf said defiantly. “We must stop them before such an attack comes.”

“There’s a lot of ‘if’s’ there Worf,” Geordi said. “We’ve no idea if they’re going to invade. There’s seventy thousand light-years between here and home.”

“Yes,” Worf said, “and the transwarp network that we used to get here will take them directly into our territory. Starfleet has sent us to deliver a crippling blow that will stop the Borg from invading.”

“That’s assuming that that base out there is their only centralized location in the galaxy,” La Forge. “I have really bad feeling about this.”

“Perhaps,” Worf said, sealing the torpedo casing and running the final checks on the trilitihium warhead. “But these are our orders and we must obey them. For the sake of our families and comrades back home.” He tapped his combadge. “Worf to Bridge. The trilitium weapon is ready. It will be loaded in the forward tube in moments.”

<><><>

On the bridge, Riker acknowledged the com call and told Worf to set up the weapon and get back to his post as soon as possible. Then he’d ordered Crusher to take them into firing range around the system’s star. The massive solar eruptions and fire raged on the G-Type star, almost identical to that of Sol. The Enterprise would have to enter the stars photosphere to guarantee the torpedo could enter the corona without being deflected by the massive gravitational forces. And that meant the shields would have to be up. And in order for the shields to be up, they’d have to drop their cloak.

It was going to have be calculated to the millisecond. It was a forgone conclusion that the Borg would detect the Enterprise when it de-cloaked even through the stars radiation. The trick would be deploying the weapon, and executing an escape at maximum warp before the Borg attacked. Estimates indicated that the level twelve shockwave that was produced by the destroyed star would take twenty nine seconds to reach the Borg complex and vaporize it. That was the only window that the Borg ships would have to pursues the Enterprise out of the system.

The aft turbolift doors hissed open, depositing Worf and La Forge, who took their respective stations.

“We’re in position,” Crusher said, “holding station.”

Riker rose from the command chair and pulled down on his tunic, adjusting the fabric to smooth it on his frame. “This is it,” he said calmly. “We’ve run the simulations, you all know what we are here to do. Everybody ready?”

His officers acknowledged they were ready and standing by. Riker returned to his seat and nodded to Data.

“Execute,” the android said.

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

<><><>

The entire operation had been rehearsed for five hours straight. And finally when it was time to execute, it went like clockwork. The modified photon torpedo erupted from the de-cloaked Enterprise and detonated within the corona of the star. The solar implosion tore the vast ball of hydrogen and radiation apart, expanding every direction in space. As soon as the torpedo had emerged from the launch tube, the Enterprise had gone to warp nine and re-cloaked.

Riker sat on the edge of his chair and gripped the glowing armrests. They were a hundred billion kilometers away before he allowed himself to take a breath.

“Complete destruction,” Worf said, a bit to proudly for Riker’s taste. “The Borg complex has been destroyed. A few vessels tried to escape the blast but were incinerated.”

Riker remained motionless, shocked that the plan had gone so well. The fact they’d eliminated all of the Borg ships was nothing sort of miraculous.

“Captain,” said Janeway from ops. “I’m picking up a Federation distress call.”

Riker bolted to his feet. “Triangulate and get a course. What’s the source?”

“Call signs and codes indicate it’s the USS Raven. It’s in a populated region about forty light-years away.”

“Populated by Borg?” he asked.

“No, sensors can’t ID tem obviously, but they’re definite not Borg.”

“Wes, set in a course, best possible speed. Mister Worf, send an array of Class 5 probes back to the Borg station. I want the debris analyzed. See if there’s any indication they got off a distress call of their own. Also look for any weapons or technology that can be salvaged.”

<><><>

At warp nine, it took them five days to reach the source of the distress call. They fell into orbit around a Class-M world that was heavily covered in vegetation and rare minerals that blocked most sensor scans.

“The kelbonite and rubindium below the surface are playing hell with sensors,” Janeway said. “But I’ve pinpointed the source of the transmission to within five kilometers.”

“Mister Data,” Riker said. “Prepare an away team.”

“You’ll have to go by shuttle,” Janeway added. “Transporters are iffy with that metallic mess.”

Data nodded. “Commander Janeway, Mister Worf, Commander La Forge, please come with me.” He tapped his combadge. “Doctor Crusher, please prepare a field kid for an away mission and report to shuttle bay two.”

<><><>

Through the dense cloud cover of the jungle world slow dissipated as the Starfleet shuttlecraft Beck descended into the atmosphere and skimmed the surface within a few clicks of the distress signal.

At the helm, Data operated the controls with a fraction of his concentration as his positronic brain calculated all avenues available to them and attempted to ascertain what they would find. The USS Raven had apparently been lost in a Borg transwarp conduit and ended up here in the heart of Borg space. The odds of their survival were minimal and it was most likely the distress call was automated and that the Enterprise had detected it when they’d departed the sensor inhibitions of the Borg home station. They were most likely to find a crashed vessel, and a few pieces of hull fragments scattered about the area.

So it was almost sheer surprise that struck Data as the shuttle came into range of an Aerie-Class science vessel situated in a clearing, mostly undamaged and none the worse for wear.

Next to him, Geordi La Forge whistled. “Would you look at that. What are the odds they’ve been out here all this time?”

“I would not care to calculate them,” Data said. From behind him at the auxiliary console, Doctor Beverly Crusher operated the bio-scanners. “There’s one life form down there. Male. Human.”

“Set us down,” La Forge said, getting up. “This should be interesting.”

<><><>

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

As soon as the shuttle had settled down on the surface and the aft hatch open, the away team was met by a human male, probably I his early sixties, hair wildly long, beard disheveled. He limped with the aid of a cane as he approached them.

“I am Commander Data of the Federation Starship Enterprise.”

“I’m well aware who you are,” the old man wheezed. “And I’m well aware of what you’ve done. Do you have any idea the disaster you’ve caused?” He began coughing violently, doubling over.

Beverly was immediately at his side, sweeping over him with her medical tricorder. “Easy, you’ve got severe infection in your lungs. I need to get you to sickbay.”

“The hell with you,” he wheezed between coughs. “You’ve doom us all.” Another fit of coughing and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Data turned to Worf. “Lieutenant, go with Doctor Crusher and return to the Enterprise. This man must be stabilized. Commander La Forge and I will remain on the surface and begin a complete search of the Raven and it’s computers.”

Worf didn’t like the idea of playing pilot and nurse, but he acquiesced to Data’s order and after the old man was secured in the passenger compartment, the Beck fired her antigrav thrusters and headed back into space.

Data and Geordi spent the next several hours reviewing the logs and data in the computers o the Raven. The man was indeed it’s former commander, Doctor Magnus Hanson. He’d shipped out with his wife Erin and their four year old daughter Annika 2354. After departing the Omega Sector they’d shadowed a Borg cube at close range for many weeks until it entered the same transwarp conduit the Enterprise had used. They’d escaped the Borg ships at a terrible price. Erin and Annika had been kidnapped by the Borg. Most likely assimilated into the Collective and used to destroy other cultures.

For the past ten years, Hanson had been studying the Borg facility. A simple individual did not pose a threat to the Borg and they had let him be for all of these years. He’d gathered gigaquads of data from the intricate relationship between individual drones and the hive mind to detailed scans and schematics for Borg ships. He’d even come up with a process to undo the assimilation process and disconnect drones from the hive.

What they found last was heart wrenching. Prior to their capture, Hanson had injected his wife and daughter with a combination of radio nuclides. Even after they’d been assimilated, he’d been able to track his wife and daughter across thousands of cubic light-years. But they’d never traveled far. His wife and daughter were members of Borg Unimatrix One. The very same facility that had been destroyed one week ago.

La Forge sighed heavily and sat back in his chair. This man had accumulated the data to defeat the Borg at every level and in return the crew of the Enterprise had murdered his wife and daughter.

<><><>

Six hours later the senior staff once again assembled in the conference lounge.

“Doctor Hanson has suffered a great deal of infection,” Dr. Crusher was saying. “He’s lived on his own for the past decade rudimentary supplies to keep him healthy. But he should make a full recovery.”

Riker, at the head of the table, leaned forward and laced his fingers on the table top. “Has the Raven been secured?”

“Aye, sir” Data said, “we have brought it aboard Shuttle Bay One. The tactical data analysis is ongoing. I suggest we get it back to Starfleet Command as soon as possible.”

Riker looked up at the ceiling bulkhead and the hidden communications array hidden within. “Riker to Bridge, set a course for the transwarp conduit, maximum warp. Maintain cloak and radio silence.”

Lieutenant Hayes, the gamma shift bridge officer acknowledged the order and the impulse generators kicked in as the ship headed out of the system.

“We’ve accomplished what we were sent out here for,” Riker said. “Hopefully, with the amount of damage we caused and the data we’ve obtained from the Raven, Starfleet will be ready for a Borg attack should it come. You’ve all done exemplary beyond anything I could have hoped for. I know the attack on the Borg station was anathema to everything we stand for as a United Federation, but we may have saved that very Federation from certain destruction. The data we’ve sifted through from Doctor Hanson has proved to have incredible adaptations in both offensive and defensive weaponry should the Borg show up. Dismissed.”

As the officers headed out, the familiar twang of the warp engines fired up and the ship was propelled to maximum warp towards the gateway that would get them home. Riker stood and stared out at the stars streaking away as his ship made her way out of this sector of the galaxy.

“I told Jean-Luc Picard that humans hadn’t changed. That you were still barbarous killers, capable of justifying genocide for your own shortsighted goals.”

Riker spun around and sure enough Q was standing on the other side of the table, arms folded across his chest. “Welcome back,” Riker said softly. “Didn’t think we were lucky enough to have seen the last of you.”

Q actually laughed. “Riker, you have no idea what you’ve done. You think you’ve achieved some sort of victory out here? That Borg station you destroyed was one among THOUSANDS. All you’ve done is stomped on an ant hill. The colony will be riled now. You’ve shown yourself a threat. They’ll come for you and they’ll take away everything you have.” He snorted. “I thought for nanosecond that you humans would see past your weapons and hostile nature and actually think about the effects of the Borg as a race, not as a threat. To try and free the slaves that have been obtained over eons. But all you saw was another enemy to fight. And a fight is what you’ll get.” He snapped his fingers and was gone.


Chapter:

Captain Jack Crusher of the USS Stargazer looked at the starmaps and contemplated the long trip home. Stargazer was a solid, trustworthy ship, but she was old. Even with her four nacelle design that allowed them to ‘warp coast’ she was still only rated for a sustainable cruising speed of warp six. She could manage nine in a pinch but Commander Simeon would object, loudly, with his gnashing tongue and razor sharp teeth.

They’d been through a lot together over the past thrity years and Crusher would see to that the refit went smoothly and that they were all put back intot he field. He’d be damned if let them mothball her while Starfleet needed every available ship at the moment. The latest report from Command said the Enterprise had apparently vanished in a strange vortex out beyond the Federation’s border. Jack hoped beyond hope that they were safe and would soon return.

His thoughts were interrupted by an urgent start from LIeuteant Kellin at tactical. “What is it Brice?” he asked the security chief.

“Strange readings to port, about half a light-year,” Kellin said. “Snesors can’t make head or tail of them. They look like warp particles, but there’s a strange variance…” he stopped talking. “It’s a ship, possibly several. Running id search.”

He trailed off and didn’t speak for several seconds. “Lieutenant,” Crusher snapped, getting to his feet. “Report. What kind of ship?”

“Borg,” Kellin said. “At least a dozen cubes, coming out of Sector 54541. They’ll reach us in eight minutes.”

“Battle stations,” Jack said sternly.

The Borg armada never slowed, they pulverized the old Starfleet ship and continued on their mission. Their new directive was paramount. Species 5618, Human, had posed an imminent threat to the survival of the Collective. New directives were sent to all Borg ships. Assimilate the worlds comprising the United Federation of Planets and it’s allies.


Five Years Later:

“Holding station,” said Lieutenant Sariel Raeger, chief conn officer of the USS Enterprise. A rumble in the console was all the warning she got and she dove out of her chair just as the console overloaded and exploded into a thousand shards.

Will Riker put his hands in his face and felt the sting of fatigue and helplessness. Five years of this, maybe it would all be over soon. Five years of defeat and slaughter. And it was all his fault. They’d brought the attention of the Federation to the Borg and they’d returned the favor. They’d come to the Alpha Quadrant en masse looking for revenge. And they got it too. They’d wiped out the core worlds in a matter of weeks. Earth, Vulcan, Andoria. Then they’d hit the Romulans and the Klingons, the Tarleians and the Gorn. No one had been spared. Every bit of tactical brilliance recovered from Doctor Hanson and the Raven had been adapted to and now it was proving completely useless. The only defense the tattered remnants of Starfleet had left was sending suicide runs into the Borg ships, or beaming aboard with explosives and setting them off within.

The Enterprise itself had suffered immense casualties. Data, Wesley, Beverly, La Forge, they were all dead. Worf had survived battle after battle and served as tactical and first officer. Raeger and Riker were the only other officers rated for Bridge duty. Everyone else, thirty in all maintained engineering. A brief glance at the engineering panel showed the warp containment unit was down to twelve percent. They were virtually on the edge of collapse and total annihilation. Just a few minutes ago they’d sought refuge in a stellar dust cloud after being detected by a Borg cube. They would try to hold out here for as long as they could until warp power was restored.

Riker ran his hands through his tangled mass of unshaven beard and his wild hair. Personal grooming was a luxury these days, since everyone was needed at their posts. They’d resorted to stim shots and protein rations to stay as alert as possible and avoid the Borg.

And it was all for nothing. Everything was gone. Riker tore at the loose strands of hair and almost screamed aloud at the gods above. Or the Q that had warned them all those years ago.

Finally he got out of his chair and helped Raeger to her feet. “Switch the helm to the aft stations, and take over.”

“Aye,” she said quietly and moved towards the science station.

“Captain,” Worf said. “Forward scanners are picking up a quantum fissure forming, it’s gravitational pull is drawing us in!”

On the forward screen a blue swirling mass of quantum mist lashed out and pulled the Enterprise into…

“What at the hell!” Riker bellowed.

On the forward screen, through the damaged static the sensors were showing tens of thousands of Enterprise’s were appearing every second.

“Captain,” Raeger said. “If these quantum readings are right, we’ve shifted into a parallel universe.”

“We’re receiving a general hail from one of the ships,” Worf said.

Riker nodded wildly.

"This is Captain Riker of the Enterprise... that is, the Enterprise which is indigenous to this universe. We have all encountered a quantum anomaly. We think we have a way to return all of us to our proper realities. We need to find the ship which exhibits a particular quantum signature. Our Mister Data will transmit the signature to you now."

Several minutes passed. “Sir, a shuttle has launched from one Enterprise and is on course for the one that sent out the transmission.”

Riker pounded a calloused fist on the damage conn. “Damn it, Worf, get the weapons online! We’re not going back! We’re finally free and we’re staying here!”

“Gladly,” Worf said, moving towards the engineering console. “I can reactivate the forward photon torpedo tube, but it may hamper life-support.”

“Do it,” Riker hissed. “We don’t have much time.”

It took nearly twenty minutes to get the weapons activated. Worf moved back to tactical, his wild mane of hair tumbling about his tattered uniform. “They have re-launched the shuttle, it is moving towards the quantum fissure.”

“FIRE!” Riker bellowed. A spread of photon torpedoes emerged from the forward tube and homed in on the shuttle. Two hit, the other three went wild. “Hail that Enterprise! We’ll warn them off!” Riker turned back to the screen. It blinked. There stood Will Riker, a much more fit, healthier, BATHED Will Riker. On either side of him stood Deanna Troi and Worf. Behind him at tactical stood Wesley Crusher.


He didn’t wait for the man on the view screen to say anything. “We won't go back! You don't know what it's like in our universe. The Federation is gone -- the Borg are everywhere! We're one of the last ships left! Please, you've got to help us!”

The other Riker looked in shock as the aft console erupted and Worf attempted to gain control of the weapons.

“I’m sorry. There’s no choice. If this works, everything will return to-“

“NO! WE WON’T GO BACK.”

He cut the com and Worf continued fire.

“Sir the other Enterprise has opened fire!” Worf said. The ship rumbled violently. “They’ve hit our warp containment unit! System overload! IT’s going…!”

The Enterprise exploded.

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

Jean-Luc Picard floated in a void watching the events unfold in horror. Next to him, Deanna Troi’s eyes were stung with tears.

“That is what awaits you,” a voice said from the white void. “This is what awaits a militant destructive force on a course to eradicate another. Humanity strikes out in fear with the intent to kill, not to help.”

“Q,” Picard snapped. “Enough. Why have you shown us this?” Picard looked around to find some sort of sign of the being. The last memory he’d had before appearing here was the Enterprise attacking the Borg cube on the edge of the Delta Quadrant. A drone and grabbed him and the next thing he knew, both he and Deanna were here.

“To show your race that you will doom yourselves to destruction and conquest if you seek a resolution that ends in bloodshed. There’s always another way to killing, Jean-Luc and that’s what you need to retain.”

“Then we’re not dead?” Deanna asked. “You saved us from the Borg?”

Q said nothing and slowly approached them out of the fog. “You are the key, Jean-Luc, you contain within you to lead your people in the next century honorably. Without destruction. Free them, Jean-Luc, let them breath the sweet air of freedom that you claim to want to spread to the galaxy. Don’t turn a blind eye to the enslaved masses of the Collective. Make a difference, Mon Captaine. Help them.” He snapped his fingers….

* * *


The aft turbolift doors hissed open, depositing Worf and La Forge, who took their respective stations.

“We’re in position,” Crusher said, “holding station.”

Riker rose from the command chair and pulled down on his tunic, adjusting the fabric to smooth it on his frame. “This is it,” he said calmly. “We’ve run the simulations, you all know what we are here to do. Everybody ready?”

His officers acknowledged they were ready and standing by. Riker returned to his seat and nodded to Data.

“Belay that order, everyone,” a quick, stern voice came from the rear of the bridge.

Riker spun around in shock. “Captain!”

Jean-Luc Picard and Deanna Troi stood near the aft turbolift. “Mister Crusher, course one eight nine mark seven, warp six.” He marched down the ramp to where Riker stood. “Our friend Q found it necessary to save us from the Borg, he showed us a series of events that we have to avoid at all costs. There’s a scientist out there,” pointed to the viewscreen, “that can change all of this for the better. Assemble the senior staff in twenty minutes.”

He left the bridge and headed into the lift, leaving Troi speechless near the engineering station. “He’s under a great strain,” she said softly. “If you’d seen what Q showed us, you’d understand.”

Riker turned to the helm and verified the orders and got the ship moving. He turned back to Troi and pointed at the doors to his ready room. “We’ve got a few minutes to bring me up to speed.”

- - -


Beverly Crusher shut off the computer monitor and spun it out of the way on the flat surface of her desk. She had just finished her crew physical evaluations when the doors to Sickbay hissed opened. Peering out the glass wall, she gasped, dropped the padds in her hands and cried out, “Jean-Luc!”

Picard walked in, a small grin tearing at his lips. “Beverly,” he said, taking his old friend into a tight embrace.

“They’d said you’d been killed.”

“I had been,” Picard said with a wider smirk. “It’s a long story. I’ll go over everything at the meeting. How’s Jack?”

Crusher’s eyes darted to the deck for an instant then she met Picard’s gaze again. “He’s well. Stargazer’s on course for home finally. When Captain Riker offered me the post, I jumped at the opportunity.”

“I can imagine,” Picard said. “Beverly,” he said softly. “I want you know that when I was given command of the Enterprise, you were the only person I wanted down here as my chief medical officer. But..”

Beverly held up a hand. “You don’t have to say it, Jean-Luc. I know.”

Picard adjusted his tunic and looked around. “Well, you’ve certainly made yourself at home. Come on,” he said, gesturing towards the exit. “I think now’s the time to tell my story.”


- - -

He recanted his tell, sparing no details about the destruction unleashed upon the Federation, the worlds that had fallen, and eventually the destruction of the Enterprise herself in a freak accident. The senior staff stared at him in quiet disbelief.

“So Q sent you back to set things right,” La Forge asked.

“Partially,” Picard said. “You were looking for the Raven when you set out. And on the planet we’re heading for you’ll find it along with it’s former command, Doctor Magnus Hanson. He’s been studying the Borg from afar for years. He’s on the verge of a great discovery. One that will end the Borg threat in quiet peace, not hellacious fire.” He was standing near the oval-shaped windows as the warp distorted stars raced by.

Riker was seated at the end of the table, his arm perched on the wood edge, staring off into the dark void. “It’s a hell of a thing, sir, and given Q’s powers I don’t doubt your story, but how do you know we can trust him?”

Deanna Toi cleared her throat from the other end of the table. “There was something about the way Q was so adamant about peace. It was as if he has a vested interested in humanity.”

“It’s good to have friends in high places,” Janeway remarked. “What exactly does this scientist have that can stop the Borg?”

“He’s come up with a way to neutralize the subspace field that links all drones together and creates the collective consciousness. Released into the unimatrix you found, it will liberate the Borg, severing their connection to the hive and releasing them to their former selves.”

“That’s a hell of an undertaking,” La Forge said.

“It is also a considerable security risk,” Worf said. “The complex we located had trillions of beings alone. With thousands of ships the entire population of the Borg could dwarf the four quadrants, leaving us with a disastrous humanitarian crises on our hands.”

“All true,” Picard said. “However, given what I have seen, even death is better than assimilation and we’ll do what we can for the survivors of the Collective. How long until we reach the planet?” he asked Riker.

“About forty nine hours,” the captain responded.

“Excellent,” Picard said. “When we reach orbit, you won’t be able to beam down, you’ll have to take a shuttle. The doctor will be in poor health, so I suggest sending down a full medical team and getting him stabilized quickly. Once he’s well, we can work on perfecting his anti-Borg technology.”

Riker pushed his chair away from the table and stood. “You heard the captain,” he said with a wry smile. “Keep us under cloak and maintain course. Dismissed.”

As the crew filed out, Riker remained and gestured for Picard to do the same. “Welcome home, sir,” he said.

“It’s good to be back. I realize it’s been months since Deanna and I were ‘killed’ but only a few moments passed for us while we were with Q.”

“Do you really think he’s got our best interests at heart?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Picard conceded. “Since that first meeting he’s stood on a soapbox, declaring us savages, too eager for battle than for peace.”

“If the future he showed you was true he may be right.”

“It was not pleasant, Will, I will tell you that. Billions died, worlds burned, it was a true apocalypse.”

“Given the circumstances,” Riker said, “the ship is yours.”

Picard held up his hands in protest. “No, you’ve got a good crew, and a solid command structure.”

Riker shook his hand and reached for his collar, removing the fourth pip. “Data won’t be offended. Besides, you’re the veteran here, sir. It’s an honor just to serve, sir.” He tossed the pip on the black table and gestured towards the exit.

“It’s good to be back, Number One.”

 

[Dingle Fritz]

Hmmm... hmmm.

I think I like the other version better BUT this is still a good story and I look forward to more.

 

[BrotherBenny]

I prefer this version.

 

[admiralelm11]

I like this version. I can say that the ending is a lot better. Keep up the good work because I can't wait to read more.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I do have one question though. What is it about all this that makes it *Abramsverse* TNG? Obviously it's an alternate timeline, but I think it should have more hints that it is the future of the Abramsverse specifically (the massive improbability that all of these characters will even exist in the first place in that timeline, notwithstanding ).

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

Chapter:

Jean-Luc Picard felt at home as he settled into the captain’s chair on the bridge. To his left, Deanna Troi had taken her own seat, Data returned to ops, and Kathryn Janeway relocated to the aft station’s as the ships new chief science officer.

Enterprise had made orbit twenty minutes ago. Riker had taken Worf, La Forge, Crusher and a medical team to the surface via shuttle, and they awaited word from Doctor Hanson. That word came in the form of a com call from the Raven just a few minutes later.

Riker’s face appeared on the main viewscreen. “Things appear to be working in short order. Dr. Hanson’s been brought up to speed, Beverly’s got him well enough to work. Geordi’s got the data transfer online. We should be ready to proceed in a couple of hours. It’s a pretty ingenious system he’s created. Once we integrate it into the ship’s computer, the pulse will cascade across the entire Borg Collective.”

“Grand,” Picard said. “The sooner the better. I’d like to get this operation underway as soon as possible.”

“We’ll be in touch. Riker out.”

“Information transfer commencing,” Data said from ops. “I will begin compiling the data and begin modifications for the subspace pulse.”

“Very good Data; use whatever resources and crewmen you require,” the captain said. He rose from his chair and headed towards his ready room. “Inform me when we are ready to proceed.”

<><><>

Kathryn Janeway had run the diagnostics four times just to be sure before she sent her report to Commander Riker. The information obtained from the Raven defied logical analysis. The subspace carrier wave needed to override the Collective’s control was going to demand the entire efforts of the engineering computer core. Dozens of terraquads of data were going to need to be allocated to the com systems to generate the pulse. Finally, after her simulations were complete, she informed Commander Riker that they were ready to start.

They assembled on the bridge with the entire crew holding its collective breath. Doctor Hanson had come aboard with the away team and had barely said two words the entire time. He wasn’t an elderly man, maybe sixty, but more than a decade alone in the wilderness had taken its toll.

“Modifications are complete,” Janeway said at last, turning around moving next to Worf at tactical. “We’re ready to give this a try.”

“Wait,” Hanson said. He rose from the chair next to Troi and paced slowly back and forth. He pulled a data padd from his pocket and tossed it at Janeway, who caught it with ease. “That is the signature of the transceiver assembly that maintains my daughter’s neural functions within the Collective. She is currently a member of Unimatrix Zero One aboard the station. Please save her.”

Janeway reviewed the information and turned her attention to the captain. “We’re going to have to be within twenty thousand kilometers of the Borg station to make this work anyway, sir. I’d say we can lock on and get her out without too much trouble.”

Picard nodded. “Make it so. Alert Chief O’Brien. Mister Crusher, hold station at twenty thousand kilometers from the Borg complex. Mister Worf, red alert, place quantum torpedoes on standby.”

Riker, who had returned to his seat at Picard’s right, spoke up. “Wes, what’s our ETA?”

Crusher’s hands were a blur as he piloted the ship towards their destination. “Fifty five seconds, Commander.”

“Beginning com system charge,” Janeway said. “We’re going to have to route everything but tactical, helm and warp power to the transceiver array.”

“Do what you have to do, Kate,” Riker said. “All hands this is the bridge, implement gray mode. Primary systems are being transferred. All decks stand by.”

“Holding position at twenty thousand kilometers,” Crusher reported.

“Transporter three to Bridge,” O’Brien’s voice said. “I have a lock on the lifeform Commander Janeway gave me.”

Picard stood, adjusted his tunic and took a step forward. What ever was about to happen he was going to face on his feet. This next step could spell a doom on his home unlike any other in history. Or they were about to liberate trillions of slaves from their faceless master. “Do it,” he said to Janeway.


<><><>

Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero One continued her assigned tasks. Those tasks being the continued operation and survival of the Borg Collective. The Borg Collective was all. The single directive for perfection was what motivated each drone to perform. The idea of perfection was what had created the Borg in the first place eons ago. Borg Cube 87987 had just docked with Unicomplex One and Seven of Nine was currently overseeing the assimilation process of nearly two million individuals from Species 218: Talaxians. The Borg had overrun the world on the far edge of the quadrant which had been invaded by Species 213: Hakonians. The Hakonians had resisted to the last man, even unleashing a metreon cascade weapon that had destroyed several Borg ships. After assimilating the cascade, the Borg had eradicated the Hakonians and assimilated their subject worlds. Millions of individuals screamed in pain as they were attached by their new Borg applications and injected with nanoprobes. Seven moved to the lower platform and helped restrain a child who was fighting against the two drones tasked with his assimilation. The young boy would spend several months in a maturation chamber as was the way with all assimilated children.

“Leave him alone!” a voice shouted from the dark. A figure had broken free f his restraints and was rushing towards Seven. “He’s just a child!” he thundered. “Let him go!”

“You will be assimilated,” Seven said. “Comply with our directions.”

“To Frax with your directions you freak!” he shouted.

Seven was about to inject nanoprobes into the creatures carotid artery when something terrible went wrong.

The voice of the Collective was gone. The voice of the others, a constant thrum of sound throughout her existence as a Borg were gone. She looked down; her implants were separating from her body, collapsing to the deck.

Seven remembered.

She was Anika

Anika Hanson.

Then she screamed.


<><><>

With the exception of the tones of controls surfaces and the thrumming of the impulse engines on standby, the bridge of the Enterprise was quite as a tomb. On the forward screen the entire Borg installation had shut down. Life supports still functioned but all other power readings were null.

“Transporter room to bridge. I have a young…um…naked woman down here. She’s unconscious. There’s an alien with her who appears to be in shock.”

“Transport the woman to sickbay,” Riker snapped. “Worf, let’s go greet our other guest in the transporter room.”

As Riker and Worf headed for the aft lift, Picard gestured for Hanson to follow him into the forward one. Giving the bridge to Data, he ordered them to re-cloak and begin a full investigation of the Borg station.

<><><>

Hanson and Picard entered sickbay at a run. On the main surgical table a human female, pale-skinned and hairless, lie unconscious beneath the diagnostic arc. “Beverly,” Picard said.

Crusher was running scans and applying hypos to the woman. “She’s going to be just fine,” she said.

Magnus Hanson wept. He caressed his daughter’s face with the back of his hand. As her eyes began to flutter, they burst open. “Papa?” she said.

“Yes, baby,” Magnus said, tears coming faster and his breathing labored. “It’s me. Everything’s going to be all right now.”

<><><>

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[Mistral]

Part one Chap 2 right at the end you use "crew" instead of "Q".
The time back to the Federation in Chapter 3 is 7 yrs but in Chapter 2 its 2 years.
Also, how do they know they are called the Borg-I never caught where the unknown enemy took on a name.

That notwithstanding-this is a hell of an epic! I loved the blending of what we know with the differences you thought up-and to bring it to the conclusion you did(Parallels) was superb plotting. Well done!

 

[Enterprise1981]

I do have one question though. What is it about all this that makes it *Abramsverse* TNG? Obviously it's an alternate timeline, but I think it should have more hints that it is the future of the Abramsverse specifically (the massive improbability that all of these characters will even exist in the first place in that timeline, notwithstanding ).

Most of all, the destruction of Vulcan has had a major impact on Federation-Romulan relations. In more subtle instances, Jack Crusher is still alive and commanding an intact Stargazer. Some of the characters lives and careers have taken different turns (Wesley Crusher a cadet at the Academy @ age 15).