“The Voyager Captain seems awfully hesitant to attack the Borg ship,” the Khamish Lieutenant commented.

“The Captain must have a lot on her mind,” the Colonel replied. “Are the fighters deployed yet?”

“All of the motherships have deployed except for Delta Mother. She was the farthest away from the nebula when the order was given.”

“Relay that Delta is to stand by. We don’t a cube sneaking up on us while the bulk of our forces are fighting with smaller ships,” the Colonel ordered.

“Yes, sir.”

“Have the Borg responded to our attack posture?” The Colonel asked.

“No, sir. They know that we are here, I am certain of it. But they are just sitting there, doing nothing. I don’t understand it.”

“Send them a message stating our intentions, Lieutenant,” the Colonel ordered.

“They are not replying.”

“Well then, send Beta and Gamma groups in for attack. We’ll see what they respond to that.”

“Yes, sir.”

The Khamish Colonel watched confidently as the two groups of fighters surged past their motherships towards the Borg ships. She was struck by the ironic beauty of it. There were five thousand small ships in each of those groups, and the great mass moved forward at her order. The Beta and Gamma Motherships looked naked after their fighters went forth, when compared with the Delta ships, who’s full compliment of fighters still surrounded it.

For a moment, the Colonel wished that she could be in her fighter, one of the tiny ships attacking the Borg. Even though she was arguably the most important part of the attacking Khamish fleet, she felt that those who were out in the fighters doing the dirty work were the ones that were really doing the fighting. But when there were Motherships involved, her place was on one of them. She would have to be content with that.

After the battle had been going on for several minutes, the Colonel returned from the viewport to her Lieutenant’s side.

“How are they doing out there?” she asked.

“Very well!” the Lieutenant excitedly replied. “It seems that those smaller cubes can’t even stand up to our bolt guns, when so many are firing at once. Each of the three Scout cubes are damaged about twenty five percent, and they haven’t even been laced yet.”

“What about the larger one?”

“It is proving to be a problem. Bolt-guns are having no effect, just like on a full-attack cube. But this smaller one is much more precise. Casualties around that cube are high.”

“How soon until we can fire with the monofilament cannon?” The Colonel asked.

“A few minutes yet. This cube moves a lot faster than a full cube, and the fighters are having trouble staying close enough to lace it.”

“Colonel!” the call came from the front of the bridge.

“What is it, Lieutenant?”

“Two more scout cubes have emerged from the nebula. They are heading straight for us,” the Lieutenant reported.

“Well? Shoot them!”

“We can’t hit them! They are too fast for our targeting system.”

“What about Alpha Mother? Have her fighters attack the cubes.”

“Alpha is too far away, Colonel. Those cubes are much faster than our fighters, anyway. I am not certain they’d get here in time.”

“How long would it take us to deploy?”

“Too long Colonel. We have already begun the process, but the cubes will be upon us before we get enough fighters out to make a difference.”

“Helm, back off!” the Colonel ordered, rushing to her command station. “Keep trying to hit them!”

“Colonel,” the Lieutenant argued, “If we move, our fighters can’t deploy!”

“Don’t you think I know that!” the Colonel shot back. “Move!”

The younger officer complied, and entered the heading into the computer. The ship shuddered under the impact of several rapid Borg shots. The viewscreen was struggling to keep up with the Scout cubes, which were blazing around the Command ship at an incredible rate.

“Move us towards Alpha Mother. Hopefully their fighters will reach us before we are destroyed.”

“Aye Colonel,” the Lieutenant replied.

“Colonel, the Borg cube has been destroyed. Beta Blue and Gamma Red is on their way to aid us,” the other Lieutenant reported.

“The Scouts are coming around for another pass, Colonel,” the Lieutenant reported.

“Brace for impact!”

“Colonel, it’s Voyager! They’ve destroyed one of the cubes!”

The ship shuddered again, and several terminals erupted in an explosion of sparks. The viewscreen swung around to the lone cube, swooping down in front of the Command Mothership. Voyager’s torpedoes entered the picture from above, and collided with the smaller ships. As Voyager entered the picture, the cube was destroyed by a series of phaser shots from the Federation ship. The Colonel lowered her wings in a sigh.

“Signal Voyager our thanks,” the Colonel began. “Make a note: All fighters to be deployed upon detection of a Borg vessel. I don’t want this to happen again.” She turned to her Lieutenant. “Status?”

“We have sustained heavy damage. It will take some time to repair. It will be at least twelve hours before we can go into Warp.”

“What about the battle? How are our fighters doing?” the Colonel asked.

“One scout left, sir. One of the two that have been destroyed already were not laced at all. The bolt-guns were enough.”

“That is good news,” the Colonel replied. “As soon as that cube is down, recall all fighters to their Mothers. Set up fighter patrols after they have returned. We are going to be here for a while.”

—

“It seems I owe you an apology,” Ira began. “Planet-bound sensors picked up the cube almost a cycle ago. Perhaps I was foolish to have questioned you, Mr. Tuvok.”

“An apology is not necessary,” Tuvok replied. “You assistance is, however. In order to insure that the warheads are not disabled by the Borg, someone must go onboard the cube to guard them.”

“But when the bombs go off,”

“The ones who go onboard with them will be killed by the blast,” Tuvok finished.

“There is no way to get them off? I mean, you can’t teleport them off? There has to be something.”

“The Borg could disable the warheads in seconds. The transporters on our shuttle do no have the capability to transport more than two people and one piece of equipment at a time. It would require several minutes to transport the fourteen people required to make certain that the warheads are detonated.”

“So I need to ask fourteen people to go to their deaths.”

“Usum, thousands of people died during the first Borg assault. Many more will die when they attack again. It is highly probable that your world will not survive another Borg attack. The sacrifice of fourteen people would be the logical course of action, if it would prevent the deaths of so many others.”

“Logical, yes, but not easier,” Ira replied. “When the Borg invaded, each person on the planet had a chance at living. If they fought hard enough, they would survive. But finding people who are willing to sacrifice themselves. That is a difficult decision for anyone to make.”

“Death in order to save an entire civilization should not be a difficult decision. If one death will prevent millions, that one must be sacrificed,” Tuvok replied.

“It is hard to find any that are so noble, even among a people who are all good at heart,” explained Ira.

“It does not require nobility, do to what it logical,” Tuvok countered.

“My dear Tuvok,” began Yavitz, who was quietly listening to the discourse between her other and the Vulcan, “sometimes it is indeed difficult to do something logical without some noble spirit. We Bint’Ari are not blesses with the freedom from our burdensome emotions, as you are. And our emotions, strongly influenced by our instincts, influence us to chose the path that will lead to our own survival. Asking someone to defy those emotions would be like asking you to deny your logic. They are too much a part of us.”

“Sir, I wish to be one of those who accompany the warheads onto the vessel.” Unexpectedly, Yipu stepped forward.

“Yipu! I can’t allow it,” said Ira. “You are needed here! Especially when this is over. Order must be maintained when the chaos of the war has subsided, and this is not an ideal time to lose the head of the Guard! There will be other people to volunteer.”

“Usum, I have nothing here. I have no family, for my parents died many years ago and I was an only child. I will never be bound myself. I live for my job, and my job is to defend my people from any danger that might present itself. To die in saving my kind- that would give my life the meaning I have always been looking for. Mr. Tuvok, I will go aboard the Borg ship. And I will find thirteen others who will accompany me. There are many in the Guard who feel as I do, who would gladly die to defend Bint’Ari.”

“That is a noble sentiment, Yipu,” praised Yavitz. “I can see why my other values your advice so dearly.”

“How long until the Borg cube arrives?” Ira asked.

“The Borg have not changed course or speed since we downloaded the information from the Borg transceiver,” B’Elanna replied. “They will arrive in orbit in four of your cycles. We managed to find seven warheads that were close enough to working condition to be of some use. We will have two people watch over each of the bombs until they detonate.”

“That is not a lot of time,” Yipu said. “By your leave, Usumi, I must go and find others who will die with me.”

Ira took a deep breath. “Very well, Yipu. I thank you for your sacrifice.”

With a slight nod, Yipu turned and hurried out of the room.

—

Janeway went to sickbay as soon as she came off duty. After the Borg ships disabled the Khamish Mothership, Voyager and the rest of the fleet had to remain behind until it could be repaired. Janeway ordered that a team of engineers be beamed over to the Command Mother to help in the repairs. After a couple of hours of dispute over having men work on their precious ship, the Khamish relented and the engineering team beamed aboard.

Since there was little for her to do until the fleet was up and running again, Janeway had decided to pay a visit to the mysterious Xytin’Ito. It seemed clear now that she and her crewmates had fled their world when it came under attack by the Borg. Analysis of the damaged part of her ship also showed that it was a Borg scout cube that had collided with the sleeper ship, destroying all but her hibernation pod. Ensign Nikolayevich suggested that the Borg did not destroy the ship because they simply could not see it in the nebula. A Borg scout would have no where near the established sensor capabilities of a Borg cube.

The fact that the Borg seemed to have a strong presence in this area of the cluster worried Janeway. Ensign Kim had already determined that Tuvok and Torres had indeed been to the other two nebulas on their flight plan, and had gathered the required amount of diallosilicate from each of them. But this nebula did not show signs that the shuttle gathered any diallosilicate at all. That left the possibility that the Borg found the shuttle as it arrived, and either destroyed the vessel, or assimilated it along with her officers. That was something she did not want to think about.

So Xytin’Ito became a valuable source of information. Perhaps she knew about the shuttle, or could give them some idea about the Borg presence in this area. There were so many questions Janeway had, and she was not certain how to begin asking them to the young woman who had, in all likelihood, lost her world.

Each of the Doctors were performing various tests on the unconscious woman. The Doctor, as usual, would not interrupt his work until the Captain demanded his attention. The same held true for each of the duplicates, none even acknowledged the presence of Janeway.

“Doctor, have you found anything?” Janeway finally asked. At once, all of the Doctors looked up and began to answer at once. Annoyed, each of the Doctors looked down and returned to their work. The Doctor wearing the holo-projector seemed to be the one they appointed spokesman, and he stepped forward.

“Her brain is beginning to return to a normal synaptic pattern, as best as I can tell. I believe that her irregular brain activity could be attributed to a telepathic link she might possess with another of her kind,” the Doctor replied.

“How could that have caused such a reaction? Was the link forced upon her?”

“There is no way for us to tell that,” he replied. “But the brainwave activity she has been experiencing could best be described as a telepathic overload. When she was put into hibernation, there was a sort of block in the link. When she was awakened, the block was removed.”

“And a flood of telepathic energy overwhelmed her,” Janeway concluded.

“Precisely. I was also able to develop a sedative that would not inhibit that process, and she is recovering faster now that the rest of her mind is not getting in the way.”

“Good work, Doctor. How long until we can talk to her?” Janeway asked.

“I could revive her now,” The Doctor replied “though I would recommend against it. She could use the rest. But I suppose you will require me to revive her now anyway, so if you will wait a moment,” The Doctor picked up a hypo and pressed it to the woman’s neck with a hiss. A moment later, Xytin fluttered her eyes open, and looked around.

“Where am I?” she asked.

“You are onboard the starship Voyager,” replied Janeway. “You are safe.”

“A ship?” Xytin asked. “This room is huge. There is no way we are on a ship.”

“Voyager is significantly larger than the ship you were on,” Janeway replied.

“Larger,” Xytin replied. Janeway could see that she was trying to figure out her surroundings. “You aren’t Bint’Ari. Wait!” Xytin spun off of her bed and backed against a wall. “Your from the cube, you must be. You are the ones who attacked us!” Her eyes filled with panic.

“No, no, we are not the Borg,” Janeway comforted. “We are here to help you, not to attack you. We are not from the cube.”

“You don’t look like the Borg,” Xytin replied, as she eased her stance. “My beloved Ito has shown me so.”

“Who has shown you?” Janeway asked.

“Ito, he is my other,” Xytin replied.

“And you share a sort of link with this Ito?”

“Yes, our minds have been bound. You do not bind your minds with those of your mate?” Xytin looked confused.

“Humans do not have any appreciable telepathic abilities,” explained The Doctor, gesturing towards the captain.

“How terrible for you,” Xytin commented. “What about you? Aren’t you human?”

“I may look human, but I am, in fact, a hologram. I have no means of exhibiting any telepathic abilities,” The Doctor replied.

“A hologram? Fascinating!” Xytin said, completely awestruck.

“I have always thought so,” The Doctor replied.

“So you are in some kind of telepathic contact with this Ito?” Janeway asked, trying to get the conversation back on track.

“Oh yes, constant. It is taking some time to “catch up” on things – a lot has happened since I went into hibernation, and we honestly never expected to sense one another again. With the Borg, and all.”

“Well, Xytin, could you tell me, where was your ship going?” Janeway asked.

“We were fleeing the Borg. We had hoped to find another world that we could settle on, in order to preserve our society. We only had two ships equipped with the hibernation system though. The other ship was destroyed before we ever went into the nebula. We were our planet’s last hope, until Ti’Hat and the Vulcan came and lead our people to victory over the Borg.”

“The Vulcan? Are you saying that this Ti’Hat and the Vulcan came to your world, and helped you defeat the Borg?”

“My bond-mate is a communications executive. He monitored all the broadcasts that he could during the invasion. He heard so many tales about Ti’Hat and the Vulcan, about how they lead our people to victory after victory. Just prior to the re-taking of Topachan, our capitol, Ito suffered the same telepathic overload that I did, and that is the last he had heard of them until now. Apparently, their raid on the capitol was a success, and every Borg on the planet disintegrated. Now, according to Yavitz, Ti’Hat and the Vulcan are going to help our people destroy the cube that is approaching Bint’Ari as we speak.”

“Another cube? Are you certain?” Janeway asked.

“Well, Ito is certain. It is hard to explain how he knows, but he is absolutely insisting upon it.”

“Janeway to bridge. Is there a Borg cube on long-range sensors?”

“Negative Captain,” Kim replied. “Though the nebula is blocking a large area of space. There very well could be a cube behind it.”

“Move Voyager in a position to scan past the nebula, and hail the Khamish Command Mother and tell them why you are moving. We may have company very soon. Janeway out.”

“Are Ti’Hat and the Vulcan their names?” The Doctor asked, while Janeway was giving the order to Kim.

“I don’t believe so, but that is how my people have come to know them,” Xytin replied.

“Do either you or your mate know what their names are?”

“Ito believes that they are called B’Elanna and Tuvok,” Xytin replied.

Star Trek, Voyager, and related properties are © Paramount Studio, and the author makes no claim towards them.

Post your comments in the Forum!

---