ACT FIVE
FADE IN
33 INT. CAELIAR QUORUM
The Caeliar Quorum is silent, staring in awe and confusion at the projection of Erika Hernandez standing on the floor of their government hall, next to their own Inyx.
HERNANDEZ
As long as I have your attention,
I’d like to apologise for my fly-
by-night exit. I would have left
a note, but there wasn’t time.
The leader of the Quorum, ORDEMO, glowers down at her.
ORDEMO
Your sarcasm remains as blunt as
ever. No matter. Even if you were
sincere, mere words would hardly
repair the damage you’ve caused.
HERNANDEZ
Still exaggerating, I see, Ordemo.
INYX
For once, Ordemo has understated
the matter. The feedback pulse
you created to free Titan caused
significant harm to the apparatus.
But by Inyx’s look and tone, he is not annoyed at her - if anything, he is secretly impressed and proud of his friend.
HERNANDEZ
I won’t bother to beg forgiveness.
That’s not why I’m here. I’ve come
to ask for your help - and to tell
you why you should give it.
ORDEMO
You refer to the hostilities which
currently threaten your homeworld?
HERNANDEZ
That’s part of it.
ORDEMO
Then you’re wasting your time.
We don’t meddle in the affairs
of others, you know that.
HERNANDEZ
I do. But I’m not asking you to
help Earth - not directly. I’m
asking you to help the Borg.
INYX
Erika... the Borg are a brutal,
rapacious culture. Why would
you wish us to aid them?
HERNANDEZ
Because you created them.
And in a way, so did we.
Hernandez sends IMAGES through the telepathic connection...
34 MONTAGE
Lightning-fast clips from TTN 1x16 “Whatever It Takes”, VOY 10x20 “Dodo” and VOY 10x21 “Alpha”, showing...
-- The destruction of Erigol, the many city-ships trying to escape through subspace tunnels, only three succeeding
-- The city-ship Mantilis crashing to the surface of the frozen Delta Quadrant world of Arehaz
-- The surviving crew of
Columbia, freezing and starving, taking desperate refuge in an icy cave
-- The twinkling blue lights of the devolved Caeliar descending on the humans, ready to consume them
35 END MONTAGE - BACK TO SCENE
The horror spreads throughout the Quorum. They cannot deny the truth of these images, they are in all their heads.
INYX
Mantilis... it must have survived
the Cataclysm.
HERNANDEZ
With humans and Caeliar onboard.
They tried to unite for survival, but
instead of fusing strengths, it
amplified the ugliest parts of both
species. Your paranoia and need
for conformity got tangled up with
human barbarism and violence.
It was a recipe for disaster.
INYX
No, Erika... it’s nothing less than
a complete abomination.
HERNANDEZ
The Borg Collective has abducted
trillions of sentient life forms over
the past several thousand years,
and laid waste to vast swathes of
the galaxy. But I promise you, the
drones are not to blame. We are.
And I’m going to need your help
to make it right.
ORDEMO
What, precisely, are you asking
of us, Erika?
HERNANDEZ
Bring Axion here to me, and I’ll
explain everything in person.
ORDEMO
And if we refuse?
HERNANDEZ
Then you can stay hidden and
afraid, until the Borg find you.
And mark my words, Ordemo
- they will find you.
As the gathered Caeliar consider her words...
36 EXT. SPACE
A DOZEN Borg Cubes zoom through space... They pass JUPITER, identifiable by its unique cloud patterns, and keep going.
AKAAR (v.o.)
The Borg fleet has passed Jupiter.
37 INT. PALAIS - MONET ROOM
Bacco sits at the end of the conference table, beneath the portraits of her predecessors. Admiral Akaar sits along one side, with Piñiero, Seven of Nine, and Jorel also present. Secretary SIVAK and bodyguard WEXLER hover nearby.
AKAAR
(continuing)
Four minutes to Earth orbit.
Bacco doesn’t respond. She stares along the table length.
BACCO
Why do you think Zife kept that
painting in here?
Baffled, they all turn to look where she is looking - at the reason for this room’s name. The Monet classic “Bridge Over a Pool of Water Lilies” hangs on the opposite wall.
PIÑIERO
Ma’am... the Earth is minutes away
from obliteration. Is this really the
time to discuss Min Zife’s interior
decorating choices?
BACCO
Well, we won’t be able to discuss
them in four minutes time, will
we? This used to be just another
meeting room before the Dominion
War. Then Zife came along and
had it rebuilt top to bottom, with
every fancy gizmo he could find.
But he left that painting right
there. I’m just curious why.
(to Seven)
Miss Seven? Any thoughts?
Pleasantly surprised at the proper use of her chosen name, Seven deigns to consider the painting.
SEVEN
Its placement opposite the chair
of the president suggests it was
retained for his benefit. Perhaps
he found it helped him to focus.
AKAAR
I served under President Zife, and
I know exactly why it’s there. It
was a reminder - to himself, and
to the rest of us - that this is what
is at stake if we fail. It was one
of his first decrees as president,
when everyone else in this
building was obsessed with
strategies and casualty reports.
He left that painting there to
remind us why we fight.
Bacco nods, sharing a small smile with Piñiero. Right at the end of everything, Zife is somewhat redeemed.
Akaar places a hand to his ear, listening to a report. Then he turns back to Bacco.
AKAAR
Ninety seconds until the Borg are
within firing distance of Earth,
Madam President.
BACCO
(deep breath)
Thank you, Admiral.
38 EXT. SPACE - EARTH ORBIT
The Borg cubes split, spreading out into a wide formation to cover as much of the Earth as possible. The dark shapes swarm across the familiar blue-green-white world...
BORG VOICE (v.o.)
Attack continuing. The Federation
must be destroyed. All life on
Earth must be eradicated. All
other directives are suspended...
39 INT. ENTERPRISE - BRIDGE
Picard sits in his command chair, downcast, not expecting anything good to happen. And then it does...
The viewscreen suddenly WHITES OUT, forcing the crew to flinch back and cover their eyes.
Picard looks up in quiet amazement, hope threatening to force its way through his despondency...
40 INT. AVENTINE - BRIDGE
Dax is conferring with Kedair and Bowers at the tactical console when their own gigantic viewscreen WHITES OUT. She turns to the screen, a grin of victory filling her face...
DAX
Yes!
41 INT. VOYAGER - BRIDGE
The darkened and damaged
Voyager bridge is suddenly bleached out with overwhelming white light. LASREN pokes his head up from behind the Ops console in confusion...
Paris appears in the broken-open doorway of the ready room, and we can see that the same white light is shining in through the ready room’s windows. It’s everywhere.
PARIS
What the hell now...?
42 INT. TITAN - BRIDGE
Riker stands from his chair, staring into the light. It’s what they wanted, but now it’s here, he’s a little daunted.
Every screen suddenly goes BLANK, and then is overtaken by the OMEGA SYMBOL - a white
Ω on a black background.
HACHESA
Captain...
RIKER
That’s okay, Commander. This is
what we were expecting. Bridge to
Captain Hernandez - they’re here.
43 INT. TITAN - STELLAR CARTOGRAPHY
Still floating in
Titan’s holo-tank, Hernandez smiles wide, the white light shining on her face as well.
HERNANDEZ
Oh... I know, Captain.
44 EXT. SPACE - AZURE NEBULA
The WHITE LIGHT is shining out of a RIP in space, creating silhouettes of our famous four Starfleet ships. Then the rip tears wider open than even before...
...and the Caeliar city-ship of AXION emerges from it and into the Azure Nebula, more than dwarfing all four ships.
Its sheer size and force makes the space of the nebula rock and wave, causing the lingering debris of the destroyed blockade fleet to tumble away...
45 INT. AXION - OMEGA GENERATOR ROOM
As seen in TTN 1x21 “Almost Perfect”. A huge hollow sphere in the depths of the Caeliar city, with a WHITE SUN hanging in the centre of it - a giant OMEGA MOLECULE.
46 EXT. SPACE - EARTH ORBIT
The Earth, surrounded by a dozen Borg cubes...
47 INT. BORG CUBE
The four-sided viewscreen suspended in the central cavern, surrounded by rows and rows of Borg drones on all sides, and it shows the image of an OMEGA MOLECULE.
BORG VOICE
Particle Zero-One-Zero detected.
Directive Omega in effect.
BORG QUEEN (v.o.)
Converge on the energy source.
All other priorities and directives
are rescinded. Assimilate Particle
Zero-One-Zero at any cost.
48 EXT. SPACE - EARTH ORBIT
Every Borg cube immediately SURGES out of orbit, flying back the way they came without a second thought.
49 EXT. SPACE
Another battle elsewhere in space, as a dozen Starfleet ships harry a Borg cube and a sphere. The two Borg vessels immediately stop firing back and go to warp...
50 INT. PALAIS - MONET ROOM
Seven of Nine GASPS, shoving her chair back abruptly. Bacco looks at her confused, but Seven is suddenly miles away...
Then Akaar jerks back from his chair as well, in a most un-Akaar-like way, concerned and confused at the latest report coming into his earpiece. He rushes to a computer console tastefully incorporated into the wall.
Bacco purses at all this undignified last-minute chaos...
BACCO
Admiral, it’s been more than
ninety seconds. Either Starfleet
forgot how to count, or the Borg
decided to be extra-rude at the
last moment and make me wait
for my apocalypse. So which is it?
AKAAR
I don’t believe it...
Akaar looks back at Bacco, mouth agape and eyes wide.
AKAAR
Madam President... our scans at
this time indicate that all ships in
the Borg armada have reversed
course, including those at Earth.
They are now heading at maximum
speed... towards the Azure Nebula.
Bacco, Piñiero and Akaar are all astonished. Seven is still feeling the Omega. Jorel raises his hands into the standard shape, and begins to happily pray...
JOREL
Oh, praise the Prophets... praise
the Prophets...
51 EXT. SPACE - BORG FLEET
Cube after sphere after probe zooms through space, left to right, all getting there as fast as they can.
52 EXT. SPACE - AZURE NEBULA
The Caeliar city-ship looms over the four Starfleet ships.
53 INT. ENTERPRISE - BRIDGE
Every screen except the main viewscreen shows the
Ω symbol. The main viewscreen shows what it can of the Caeliar city-ship - only a thin slice of its mid-section, so much bigger is it than the
Enterprise.
KADOHATA
Main computer bypasses operating
as expected, Captain. The Omega
Directive is not hindering normal
operations.
PICARD
Thank you, Commander. All scans of
the Caeliar ship are to be treated
as classified information, to be
reviewed only on my authority.
KADOHATA
Understood, sir.
From the seat beside Picard, Worf leans in confidentially.
WORF
Captain... once the Caeliar have
Hernandez back in their custody,
they might reverse their course
and abandon us to the Borg.
PICARD
Possibly... though the departure
of the Caeliar is hardly the worst
outcome in this scenario. I’m more
worried about the risk of the Borg
assimilating Caeliar technology.
An alert on Choudhury’s tactical console...
CHOUDHURY
Incoming reports from Starfleet
Command, Captain. The entire
Borg armada has reversed course.
WORF
They are converging on us?
CHOUDHURY
Aye, sir.
Picard receives these reports stoically...
PICARD
Then we’re surrounded.
Off Picard’s grim mien...
BLACK OUT
END OF SHOW
