EPISODE #66 of STAR TREK: SHUFFLE THE DECK
Star Trek: Shuffle the Deck
Balboa—Deep Space Nine—Federation Earth—Septos 14
#66
Even though it was happening inside of his mind, much like a dream, Jean Luc Picard could tell that the destruction he was witnessing was as real as it could be.
A massive fleet of Jem’Hadar swarmed around a planet, and with out delay, the ships began to bombard the world beneath them. Wave after wave of blasts were fired from the ships, causing untold damage. Picard could only hazard a guess as to how many ships were part of the armada, but it had to be in the thousands, perhaps even ten thousand. The attack went on an on.
The desired result was finally reached. The battered world exploded, and was obliterated. The Jem’Hadar fleet had taken no losses. Picard could only wonder why the Jem’Hadar felt it so necessary to use overwhelming force on a world that offered no defense.
The images in Picard’s mind shifted to another much smaller fleet of Jem’Hadar vessels. Picard recognized the formation, having seen it when he traveled to the other side of the wormhole to confer with Odo. The ship that had been Odo’s suddenly exploded, as did the others.
The dream ended, and Picard realized he was no longer on DS9. He was in the all white universe of the Celestial Temple. He knew he was in the temple because he had been here before. It was when he, Q and Evan Cooper were brought inside of the Temple, inside of the wormhole, and Sisko eventually sent Cooper on a mission to the Gamma-Quadrant to find the elusive Essians.
Picard was relieved when he saw the Founder, Odo, former chief of security on DS9, come out of the whiteness.
“Admiral Picard, it is good to see you again.” Odo said.
“When we last met, you showed me the Starship Sheppard you had found in the Gamma-Quadrant. I assume Spock’s team made it there?”
“Yes, they did.” Odo said. “However, right after the Sheppard vanished, on its way to who knows where, the ship I was on exploded. I was destroyed, and was brought here by the Emissary.”
“You were destroyed?” Picard asked softly. “What were those images that I saw?”
Q and Sisko came out of the whiteness.
“Q,” Picard said, “how are you still involved with all of this?”
“Me? What did I do?” Q said. “The images you saw of the Jem’Hadar attacking that world are compliments of me, which is about all I can do. What you are about to hear is the result of Riker and his Essian friends.”
“Riker?” Picard asked, “What does Captain Riker have to do with all of this?”
Sisko spoke. “The Essians are using Riker to funnel all of the Q’s power, so as to insure that Spock and the others can complete what must be done in order to save the galaxy.”
“And so,” Q said, “I have no real powers. But I can show events as they unfold, or have unfolded, as I wish to. Think of me as nothing more than a walking crystal ball.”
“Cue ball,” Picard said with ironic humor in his voice.
Odo took over, “And what he showed you: was the destruction of the great link.”
“Your world was destroyed,” Picard said, “by the Jem’Hadar? I thought, to them, you were Gods.”
“That is not the case any more,” Odo said. “The loss of the Dominion War cast doubt on that belief. The Vorta, seeing the end of our hold on the Jem’Hadar, began to undermine us as well. I was shielded from this truth by who I thought was a trustworthy assistant.”
“Weyoun,” Picard concluded.
“Yes,” Odo said, “I had once attempted to save a Weyoun clone, and I made the misfortune of believing I could trust one again.”
Picard turned to face Q and Sisko. “Very well,” Picard said, “what now?”
“You haven’t seen the rest,” Q said. “So pay attention.”
Picard found himself back inside of his mind. The Jem’Hadar fleet had destroyed the home world of the founders. The fleet would now be one of the more formidable powers in the galaxy. But that dominance would only last for a little more time.
Suddenly, with out warning, a massive fleet of ships came out of warp. The scope of the battle was unimaginable. The new invading fleet was comprised of thousands of Borg cubes. The Borg and the Jem’Hadar fleets engaged each other in what was no doubt one of the most epic fleet battles of all time. All though they put up a gallant effort, the Jem’Hedar, caught off balance, eventually lost the battle. Most of the Jem’Hadar ships self-detonating, rather than allowing them selves to be assimilated by the Borg.
Picard came out of it, and was, once again, in the all white universe, along with Odo, Q and Sisko.
“How did the Borg know to show up at the right moment to destroy the Jem’Hadar. It almost seemed like it was a set up.” Picard asked.
Sisko and Q both looked to Odo, as if Odo had the answer.
“Some time back, during the Dominion War,” Odo said to Picard, “I came into contact with a Founder named Laas. Unlike me, he did not trust the solids. While being taunted by Klingons on DS9, he killed them.”
“There had been other transgressions.” Sisko added. “But the Klingons demanded justice. To make a long story short, Laas escaped.”
Q smiled, “This is where it gets interesting.”
Odo continued, “Apparently Laas became aware of the coming Vorta/Jem’Hadar coup, but I didn’t believe him, nor did most of the Great Link. Apparently he, and some of the Founders who still distrusted the solids, made a deal with, as you would put the term, the devil.”
“The Borg,” Picard concluded softly.
“Yes, Jean Luc,” Q said with a broad smile, “the Borg.”
Odo looked to Q, then back to Picard, “The Borg and the Founders both want the same thing: a galaxy of order. It is clear they have entered an alliance, the Borg and the renegade members of the Great Link, to at last bring that order. The new alliance destroyed my home world. They then destroyed the Jem’Hadar fleet, taking out any real threat to the new Borg/Founder alliance.”
Sisko took over, “The Wave has affected the Transwarp conduits that the Borg use. The fastest way to this part of the galaxy is through the worm hole.”
“Can you close the wormhole?” Picard asked Sisko.
“Ah hah,” Q said, “This is where Riker and the Essians come into play. You will find this most interesting, Jean Luc.” Q said.
Sisko went on, “The Essians are drawing upon energy bounderies that include the Prophets. The Wormhole can not be closed. As it turns out, the Dominion fleet on the other side of the worm hole was destroyed by the explosion of Odo’s flagship, so that fleet no longer poses a threat. But the Borg fleet is on a direct heading for the wormhole.”
Picard felt the hair on the back of his neck prick up. “How long do we have until they get here? Warp speed doesn’t work over there either. If I’m not mistaken, the Great Link was several hundred light years from the wormhole. It would take that Borg fleet thousands of years to make that journey.”
“Not unless they use the same technology you used with the Sheppard,” Odo said, “and travel to the wormhole via another dimension. Before my death, I was well aware of the Vorta working on ways to travel in such a way as well. If the Borg were able to assimilate any vessel in that Dominion fleet that had information , such as tests, the Borg would no doubt be assimilating that data as we speak.”
Picard understood the gravity of the situation. If the Borg could travel via another dimension, and with a fleet of Borg vessels numbering in the thousands, they would be unstoppable.
And even if things ever went back to normal, the Federation, in fact the entire galaxy: would face an uncertain future with an alliance between the Founders and the Borg. It was a nightmare scenario.
“Well,” Picard finally said, “what can we do to counter this threat?”
Q looked to Sisko, then Odo, and then back to Picard.
“You’re asking us?” Q asked. “That’s why we brought you here.”
There was nothing but silence…
To be continued…
Star Trek: Shuffle the Deck
Federation Earth
