Ti’Hat and the Vulcan: Chapter Thirteen
Tuvok patiently explained to the fourteen nervous Bint’Ari who had agreed to sacrifice themselves what would be required of them. Many continued to ask if there was any way that they could be rescued from the cube before it exploded, but Tuvok calmly explained why they could not. No one changed their mind about what they were going to do, and Tuvok found that a promising sign.
B’Elanna, seated inside of the shuttle, was having a hard time staying awake. She had not gotten any sleep since the invasion of Topachan, and that was well over a day ago. She was hoping that they could destroy the cube as soon as possible, so that she could finally rest
“How long after we arrive on their ship do we have before the bombs detonate?” Yipu asked.
“You will have to detonate the bombs manually,” Tuvok replied, “the transporter may adversely effect the timers. The last person to beam aboard will signal each of you when her is ready. You will all set the bombs’ countdown clocks at that point .”
“What can we expect from the Borg?” Oyi asked.
“The Borg tend to ignore individuals,” Tuvok explained. “As long as you do not tamper with any of the systems on the Borg ship, they should ignore you. However, since you will each have a potentially lethal weapon with you, there is no way to predict their reaction. If they recognize the bombs for what they are, you can expect heavy resistance. Several Borg will come upon you, attempting to eliminate the threat.
“Use careful judgment, though. If a single Borg is coming towards you, chances are it cares nothing for what you are doing, and it will pass you by. Do not attack it, and do not get in its way. If the Borg mean to attack you, they will come forth in greater numbers.”
“So you are saying, if we have to fight, we will most probably be very much outnumbered.”
“That is accurate. However, the corridors on a Borg ship are quite narrow. The Borg will only be able to attack you two at a time, if you are positioned properly. When you are onboard, you will see what I mean,” Tuvok replied. After a moment of silence, he continued. “If there are no more questions, please prepare for departure. We must get as close as we can to the Borg cube, as the shuttles transporters are short range.”
Without another word, the group crowded onto the shuttle, as Tuvok and B’Elanna made their way to the cockpit.
“Lieutenant,” Tuvok began as the shuttle lifted off of the ground, “it would seem that Voyager is indeed still in this star cluster.”
“How do you know?” Torres asked.
“In analyzing the data from the Borg database, I came upon a reference to NCC-74656. It would seem that Voyager prevented another cube from assimilating a near-by civilization nearly a day after our scheduled rendezvous.”
“Maybe Voyager is still looking for us,” Torres suggested.
“There is a strong possibility,” Tuvok replied. “Before departing the area, Captain Janeway would undoubtedly retraced our steps, in order to determine out fate. If Voyager scans the area we were harvesting for missing diallosilicate, and realizes that we had not yet begun to gather the substance from the last nebula, they might search the area more thoroughly.”
“While we are transporting the Bint’Ari over to the cube, we might as well send a distress signal. If Voyager is nearby, they might pick it up.”
“Agreed. However, it seems that the Borg have a renewed interest in the assimilation of the Federation. The collective views Voyager’s as a considerable threat. They mean to eliminate Voyager, then move on to the Federation in greater force, to prevent a reoccurrence of a Federation starship so close to their home system.” Tuvok explained.
“Home system? I always thought that the Borg were decentralized. The whole concept of a home-base for the Borg does not seem right,” Torres said.
“True, but the Borg had to begin somewhere, and it is logical to assume that if the world that the Borg first came from were somehow destroyed or conquered that it would cause a serious disruption throughout the collective.”
“We are about to enter orbit,” Torres reported. “The Borg cube will be in transporter range in less than a minute.”
Tuvok rose from his seat, relinquishing control to Torres, and went to the back of the shuttle to prepare the Bint’Ari for their beam-over. They were divided into groups of two, and each pair was assigned one of the warheads that were stored in the far back of the shuttle.
Yipu, who was paired with Oyi, watched nervously as the two groups before them de-materialized with their warheads. The pair then picked up their warhead, and stepped forward to the transport area.
“Does it hurt?” Yipu asked Tuvok, a but nervously.
“The process is painless,” Tuvok replied, “Though you will experience a momentary disorientation as you rematerialize. That can be avoided if you close your eyes during transport.”
Yipu closed his eyes tight, as did Oyi. There was no reason to act falsely courageous now. After they had transported, they would not be coming back.
“The Borg see us, Tuvok,” Torres reported. The shuttle shook violently. “They are trying to lock on a tractor beam…”
Those were the last words Yipu and Oyi heard. The two opened their eyes after the unfamiliar tingle of transport faded. The first thing the two noticed was how dark it was onboard the ship. It seemed that the Borg did not light an area unless it was absolutely necessary, which it rarely ever was.
Yipu looked up and down the corridor they materialized in, and saw the endless row of Borg lining the wall. He was struck with the momentary fear that they might immediately attack, and he unconsciously grabbed the hilt of his aria. But the Borg remained motionless in their regeneration units, and Yipu relaxed. It seemed what Tuvok said about the Borg ignoring individuals was right.
Yipu noticed the fear in his comrade’s eyes, and placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. Oyi smiled wearily in return. Waiting was the only thing the two could do now, and Tuvok had said that the transport of all fourteen people would take several minutes. So the two sat down, waiting for the signal from the last group.
The clang of footsteps filled the hallway. Yipu and Oyi both leapt to their feet, ready to pull their arias out of their scabbards. A single Borg approached from one end of the hallway, and Yipu glanced down the other direction to make certain that no more were on their way. Satisfied that the Borg were not alerted to their intentions, he relaxed his grip on his blade, and began to sit back down.
Oyi, however, tightened his grip on his sword. Yipu reassured his companion, but Oyi did nothing but stare intently at the Borg who was coming closer by the second. Suddenly, Oyi burst forward, and attacked the lone Borg with more fury than Yipu had ever seen. Yipu, knowing the Borg would not ignore them now, drew his sword and watched for the Borg that would undoubtably arrive to eliminate the threat.
“What were you thinking!” Yipu yelled at his companion. “That Borg was alone, and would have ignored us. Why did you have to attack it? Now we are going to be up to our necks in Borg!” As he said that, two Borg removed themselves from their regeneration stations and moved towards the two Bint’Ari.
“You don’t understand,” Oyi replied, angrily. He was so nervous that he could barely hold his sword.
“If that was some kind of play to go down in a blaze of glory, then you are damned right I don’t understand. Your hotheadedness may have cost us our planet!”
“That Borg,” Oyi spat, and he glared at his companion, “was my father.”
Yipu did not answer. He was uncertain what he could say. No one from his family had been assimilated, he had no family. If one of his parents had lived to see this day, and had been assimilated, he might have reacted the same way. To see your own father taken from you, and transformed into a monster would be something very hard to bear.
Finally, Oyi shook off his shock and confronted the Borg that was about to come upon him. Both men fought hard, pushing the Borg that had lines up to confront them further and further away from the warhead. Finally, the communicator attached to the bomb beeped, the signal that all the Bint’Ari and the warheads were safely aboard. Yipu rushed back, and pressed the button that would start the timer on the detonator. Quickly he stood back up and lifted his sword, just in time to deflect the blow of the Borg that had caught up to him.
The fighting continued furiously until the very end, when both sides were taken up in the explosion.
——————————————————————————–
The noise inside the shuttlecraft was almost deafening. Every alert klaxon B’Elanna had ever heard was sounding, as well as a few she was completely unfamiliar with. It took all her concentration to ignore the alerts and keep transporting people over to the cube.
It was no strain for Tuvok to ignore the sirens, however. He was more concerned with keeping the shuttle out of the Borg tractor beam. Tuvok was an average pilot, but continually rotating the frequency of the shields while dodging Borg shots was something that was barely beyond his reach, by his own calculations.
“Lieutenant Torres, I will not be able to evade the Borg tractors for much longer,” Tuvok said, hoping his encouragement would speed her up a bit.
“I can’t go any faster! The transporter’s recharge cycle is longer than usual because of all the damage. Just one more-”
The shuttle’s engines whined, and sparks flew from the transporter system in the back of the shuttle.
“The Borg have locked on to us with a tractor beam,” Tuvok reported.
“What happened?” Ehy, one of the two remaining Bint’Ari in the back asked.
“We have to drop the shields each time we use the transporter,” B’Elanna replied with a silent curse. “They caught us mid-transport. Damn! The transporter buffers have been damaged. We can only send one pattern at a time!”
“Send the bomb! We have to get it over there!” Ehy cried.
“This may be our last opportunity,” Tuvok interrupted. “Our shields are draining rapidly. Once they go down again, the Borg will cut through our hull and we will be assimilated. If we send the bomb, no one will be there to signal the others.”
“Then do it!” Ehy cried. “We need to-”
Ehy disappeared in the familiar blue transporter effect. Almost immediately a loud clang was heard, and the hull of the shuttle began to squeal.
“The Borg have targeted us with a cutting beam,” Tuvok explained. As he did so, a bright green beam pierced the shuttle, and began to dissect the hull. A force fields automatically went up between the cockpit and the hull breach.
The final Bint’Ari, unfortunately, was on the other side of the force field. A panicked scream tried to escape his lips as the air seeped out of the damaged hull. Unable to hold onto his seat, the Bint’Ari was dragged around the compartment by the escaping air, and eventually into the still energized cutting beam which was making its way through the shuttle. He was fused into the deck plate of the shuttle, his remains nothing more than a solid brown puddle.
“How long until we lose engines?” B’Elanna asked, her eyes on the cutting beam.
“Nineteen seconds,” Tuvok replied.
“And until the bombs detonate?”
Tuvok said nothing, merely gesturing towards his console. B’Elanna peeked over, and saw two countdowns, each identical to less than a hundredth of a second. She held her breath.
Suddenly, the cutting beam stopped, and the tractor beam was released. Tuvok wasted no time. He turned the shuttle around and ordered B’Elanna to get the shields back up.
“What happened?”
“I would surmise that the Borg have detected the warheads, and have deemed our assimilation a waste of resources, for the moment,” Tuvok replied.
“I’ve got minimal shields,” B’Elanna reported. “I hope its enough.
“The cube has detonated,” Tuvok said. “Shock-wave approaching. Brace for impact.”
The force of the explosion was felt as the shock-wave slammed into the hull of the shuttle. The star-field outside began to spin rapidly, the planet below moving in and out of the shuttle’s viewfield. With the shields still up and the shuttle intact, it was a small matter for Tuvok to stop the shuttles spin.
With no more emotion than if he had just laced his boots, Tuvok turned the shuttle back towards the surface. Torres, on the other-hand, stretched out her arms. Though she felt a range of emotions, from the thrill of victory to the sorrow of the loss of so many men, her body had other priorities. She fell back into her seat and promptly fell asleep.
——————————————————————————–
Xytin was beaming. Her abrupt change in demeanor had brought more than a curious glance from those nearby in the officer’s mess. Finally Chakotay, who had accompanied Xytin to get something to eat, had to ask why she was so happy.
“They’ve done it,” she explained. “The cube has been destroyed!”
“How do you know?” Chakotay asked. “Voyager moved back behind the nebula, so that the cube would not detect it. Since then, we haven’t seen anything it has done.”
“Ito has seen it, so I have seen it,” Xytin explained, with a grin plastered to his face.
“Ito is your husband, right?” Chakotay asked.
“He is my bond-mate, but I believe it is the same,” she replied. “It is so wonderful for both of us. He was without my voice for so long, and to be together again, especially now, is quite gratifying.”
“I think I understand what you are feeling,” explained Chakotay. “Is there any part of your experiences that are not shared with that of your other?”
“None. Our minds are joined completely. Anything he knows, remembers, feels, or otherwise experiences I can remember as clearly as he can,” Xytin explained. “What is this drink called? It is positively fascinating!”
“Hot chocolate, an Earth drink,” Chakotay replied, with a smile. “What does Ito think of your experiences on Voyager?”
“He is thrilled. We were always the type of people that suspected that there was indeed life on other planets, but we had no idea what type of people they would be,” Xytin replied. “When the Borg came, we knew for certain that there was alien life. Unfortunately, the Borg were not very friendly. We wondered if all of the other life in the universe were like the Borg. That was a frightening prospect. Now we know that there are those in the universe that are like us, peaceful and kind to other races.”
“We like to think of ourselves as kind and understanding, but we do falter from time to time,” said Chakotay.
“Of course, no one is perfect. Is it true that Ti’Hat and the Vulcan, B’Elanna and Tuvok, is it true that they are from this ship?” Xytin asked.
“Yes, it is. In fact, they are both very good friends of mine,” Chakotay explained. “For a while, I thought that they might be dead. When the Captain told me that you knew where they
were, you can’t imagine how relieved I was.”
“I am glad to have eased your concerns,” replied Xytin. “But your friends have been the saviors of my people. If you never lost them, my world might be conquered now.”
“Very true,” replied Chakotay.
“Mr. Chakotay, and Ms. Xytin! How are you doing?” Neelix approached (again proudly wearing his “chef’s hat”). “I trust the chocolate was to your liking?”
“Very good, Neelix. You are the first man I’ve met that could make anything so delicious. The men on my world don’t often cook.”
“Thank you, but there is more to come! And, if I do say so myself, you are in for a treat. For your dinner, I have prepared a delicious Vulcan delicacy, and if I do say so myself, it is absolutely fabulous!”
“I am certain it will live up to your renown culinary standards, Neelix,” Chakotay sarcastically replied.
——————————————————————————–
Janeway sipped her coffee as she looked over the sensor reports detailing the small Borg cube that they encountered. She was unable to discuss it with Seven of Nine before, as she was sent to the Command Mothership to assist in repairs. Though the Khamish reluctantly agreed to allow men to assist in the repairs, Janeway felt it best to send as many women as possible. Seven was an obvious choice.
Janeway set down her mug and replied to the chime at her ready room door.
“Come in.”
Seven of Nine walked in, and as usual remained standing in front of the table, even though Janeway had offered her a seat.
“Are the repairs aboard the Khamish ship completed already?” Janeway asked.
“No,” Seven replied. “But they are far ahead of schedule. I thought I would be more useful aboard Voyager.”
Janeway smiled, and decided to ignore the minor breach in protocol. “I suppose you are right. I did want to talk to you about the Borg ships we just encountered. Janeway offered the PADD with the sensor report on it to Seven.
Seven regarded the PADD for a moment, and looked back at Janeway, “Your question.”
“We have never encountered a Borg vessel of that type,” Janeway replied. “I was wondering if you could give me some information about it. I would like to know what to expect if we run into another.”
“It is a mid-sized attack vessel designed for maximum maneuverability. It is designed to combat species with a technology rating between .7 and 2.3. The Federation is classified with a technology rating of 3.7, so it would be inefficient to send such a vessel to aid in its assimilation. It also has a very limited range, and would not be well suited for a long journey to the Alpha Quadrant. ”
“Bridge to Captain,” Janeway’s communicator beeped.
“Go ahead Mr. Kim.”
“Captain, the Khamish Command Mother is signaling that it is ready to go,” Kim reported. “Our engineering staff will be aboard shortly.”
“Excellent,” Janeway praised. “Well ahead of schedule, too. Is there any word on that Borg cube that we detected heading towards the planet?”
“Xytin says that it has been destroyed,” Kim replied. “The probe we launched towards the planet seems to agree. We detected a large amount of radiation, indicating a nuclear explosion in orbit around the planet. No sign of the Borg cube has been detected.”
“Well, if there is a Borg cube still there, I should like to have the element of surprise working for us,” Janeway said. “Mr. Kim, signal the Khamish Command Mother. We are going to proceed towards the planet at full impulse through the nebula. Let them know that they should be prepared to deploy their fighters as soon as we emerge on the other side.”
“Aye Captain.”
“Well Mr. Paris? Lets get a move on,” Janeway ordered, as she and Seven strode onto the bridge. Janeway was pleased. Not only did it look like they had found the missing crewmembers, they also might not have to face a Borg attack cube after all. Things were developing nicely. With any luck, Voyager could be on her way back towards the Alpha Quadrant within hours.
A pinkish-blue haze filled the view-screen as Voyager entered the nebula. Janeway had always found nebulae to be fascinatingly beautiful phenomenon, but this one gave her a sense of dread. This particular cloud had been the center of some very serious problems, and Janeway hoped that they rest of their trip through this cluster would go a lot more smoothly.
“We’re coming out of the nebula,” Paris announced. Almost immediately, the pink screen blackened, and several distance stars twinkled into view. Directly ahead, one of the stars grew in size dramatically, as the fleet closed in on it. Janeway ordered an all-stop, so that they could make a sensor sweep of the area, in case any Borg ships were still lurking.
“There is a large field of debris around the fourth planet. It was definitely a Borg cube. It seems that the Borg have been quite busy on the planet as well. I am detecting heavy damage to cities on the surface, as well as some atmospheric contamination. It seems that the Borg had already begun to assimilate the planet’s environment before they were defeated.”
“So you aren’t detecting any Borg on the surface?” Janeway asked.
“None yet,” Kim replied, “But the scan will take some time.”
“What about the shuttle? Is there any sign of it?” Chakotay asked, from the front of the bridge.”
“Nothing yet. I’ll try hailing-” Kim replied, and he hurried to send the message.
“Tuvok to Voyager,” the monotonous yet happily anticipated voice that filled the bridge began, “I am reading you. I am transmitting the coordinates of the shuttle to you now.”
“It is good to hear your voice, Tuvok,” Janeway beamed. “Is Lieutenant Torres with you?”
“She is, though she is currently resting. I would not advise waking her, as it has been a long time since she has taken to opportunity to get some sleep. The last person who tried to wake her was given adequate reason to fear for his life.”
“Understood, Tuvok. We will be sending a party down shortly. Also, a Bint’Ari native we discovered in a heavily damaged ship will be accompanying the landing party. Her name is Xytin. Are you familiar with an Ito, her husband?”
“Indeed I am. I will send word to him immediately that his wife will be arriving shortly. I shall also notify the head of the government that representatives from Voyager will be arriving within the hour. The shuttle is presently near the building that is being used for governmental activities, but the First Citizens are not there. There is yet another ‘celebration’ going on, it will take some time to determine the location of either of them.”
“Very well Tuvok, we shall see you shortly. By the way, I have heard some very interesting stories about you two from this Xytin. I am very much looking forward to reading your report.”
Tuvok replied in something frighteningly close to a grumble. “Indeed. I, however, am not looking forward to writing it. Tuvok out.”
As the channel was closed, Janeway let a chuckle escape her lips. “Something tells me that Tuvok did not enjoy his stay on Bint’Ari very much,” she joked.
“Are you kidding?” Chakotay replied, equally amused. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Tuvok enjoy himself.”
“True,” she replied. “But I’ll bet B’Elanna had the time of her life. It is not too often that she gets to indulge her Klingon half, and a full scale ground war against the Borg might be just the thing she needed.”
“Poor Tuvok. His entire stay on that planet must have been a nightmare. I can only imagine the total lack of logic that prevailed down there.”
“I’m just happy to have them back,” Janeway replied, as she rose from her seat. “Chakotay, you have the bridge. I need to get ready to beam down.” With that, she made her way into the turbolift.
——————————————————————————–
Word had spread quickly around the capital about the arrival of Voyager and the Khamish fleet. Within minutes of Tuvok’s contact with the ship, both of the First Citizens, several members of the Council, and hundreds of Bint’Ari people had gathered near the beam-down sight. After all, for most of the world, the only experience with aliens that they had was with the Borg. Many were afraid, but most were curious about this new alien species.
Within an hour of their conversation, Janeway beamed down with Kim, Nikolayevich, and the Khamish Colonel. The sight of the two humans brought little reaction from the Bint’Ari, since they had already seen Tuvok, who looked very similar to a human in most respects. The Khamish Colonel instilled a sense of shock and panic in the crowd, however. Tuvok and Torres immediately went forward to greet their crewmates, with no more than a passing glance at the quadruped Kham.
Yavitz and her other both hesitated at the sight of the large insectoid, but they thought it best to present their best faces, and greet the unusual being with respect.
“Captain Janeway, I presume,” Yavitz began, deciding it best to begin with the obvious. After the Captain returned her smile with a nod, she continued. “I am Yavitz, and this is my other, Ira. We are the Usumi of Bint’Ari. It is a pleasure to welcome you to are world.”
“Thank you,” Janeway replied with a smile. “This is Ensign Kim, and this is the commander of the Khamish fleet.”
“Does the Commander have a name?” Ira asked nervously.
“You would not be able to pronounce my name, nor could we translate it into something you could,” the Colonel replied, trying to keep the contempt out of her voice. After all, it was difficult to even imagine a drone as the head of a government. “You may refer to me as Colonel.”
“It is a pleasure to meet all of you,” Yavitz said. “I’d imagine that you would like to see your friends to your ship, but I would like to invite you all back for a reception later this evening. I know that we haven’t much here, after the Borg’s attack, but I think that some sort of official function should be in order.”
“Actually, we were hoping that you would be our guest on Voyager. Normally, we would be honored to accept your invitation to meet on the planet, but we feel there is some cultural differences that we should work out that might require a more neutral setting,” Janeway said with a glance towards the Colonel, who clearly was in shock at the number of men that were around her.
“Aboard your ship?” Ira asked. “That would be incredible. We would be honored.”
“Then it is settled. Tuvok and B’Elanna, I would like you to beam to Voyager, so that The Doctor can check you out. Ensign Nikolayevich will see to it that the shuttle makes it back to Voyager.” Janeway turned to Yavitz. “We shall see you again in six hours. Ensign Nikolayevich will let you know what to expect during beam up.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Yavitz replied. “I am looking forward to it.
Star Trek, Voyager, and related properties are © Paramount Studio, and the author makes no claim towards them.
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April 10, 2008
Ti’Hat and the Vulcan: Chapter Twelve
“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.
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April 3, 2008
Ti’Hat and the Vulcan: Chapter Eleven
Janeway sighed. It had been days since the fleet had left Kham, and there had been absolutely no sign of the shuttle. Despite their failure, she was impressed with the attitude of the Khamish Colonel. She had, not once, given any indication that Janeway was wasting her time on the search. She eagerly carried out any and all instructions that Janeway suggested.
The fleet was rapidly approaching the final nebula on the Sappho’s flight plan, and Janeway was trying to come to grips with the possibility that the shuttle would not be found.
“Captain, one of the Khamish ships is detecting a vessel, heavily damaged, at oh-two-six mark seven-three-five.”
“I’ll take it that it’s not the shuttle, Mr. Kim?”
“No, Captain. But it isn’t a Borg ship either.”
“Life signs?” she asked.
“Inconclusive,” replied Kim.
Another diversion. “Signal the fleet to stop here, and have them search as much of the area as possible, to keep them busy. Let’s get that ship in the shuttlebay.” Janeway rose to her feet, and tapped her comm-badge.
“Janeway to sickbay. Doctor, could you meet me in the shuttlebay? There may be a couple of people who need your attention.”
“I’ll be right there, Captain,” replied the Doctor.
“Mr. Kim, you have the bridge,” Janeway said as the turbolift doors closed in front of her.
—
The entire world celebrated the victory over the Borg. It had come so much sooner than Bint’Ari expected it, that most thought of it as a miracle. It took a while before word spread about why every Borg on the planet fell once, and to Tuvok’s displeasure, so to speak, that further added to their heroic status.
Tuvok, of course, did not participate in the celebration. He spent his time at the shuttle’s computer console, attempting to sort through some of the information he had downloaded from the Borg relay device.
“Don’t you ever relax?” Oro commented, as he made his way into the shuttle. “We’ve been up since before dawn, and won a great battle. Now you, well after dark, are in here working. Still! Tuvok, I don’t know what to make of you.”
“I am analyzing the data I downloaded from the Borg computer. I need to determine if there are any other Borg ships in orbit, so that Lieutenant Torres and I can be on our way. This information will also be of use to you. The Borg will, in all likelihood, return and attempt to take your planet again. Your people will have to prepare themselves.”
“I think you worry too much, Tuvok,” replied Oro. “I don’t think the Borg will be back for a long time. And we will be ready for them by the time they get here!”
“I would not be so certain,” replied Tuvok. “According to the data fragments I have managed to decode, the Borg have already dispatched a second cube to complete the assimilation of this planet. It is due to arrive in fifteen hours, and the Borg tend to be quite punctual.”
“What?”
“What’s going on?” Torres asked, as she stumbled into the shuttle. The worried look on Oro’s face suggested something was amiss.
“According to your friend here, another Borg cube will be here in less than a day,” Oro said.
“Fifteen hours, twenty three minutes, at their last known heading,” corrected Tuvok. “My decryption may be inaccurate; I will need Seven of Nine’s help to decode the information more precisely.”
“That’s not very good,” slurred Torres, who was more than a little drunk. “What are we going to do?”
“I am attempting to formulate a course of action,” Tuvok replied.
“If we could somehow stop the cube itself,” Torres sighed. “We would not have to deal with anymore drones on the surface.”
“Could we launch missiles at them?” Oro asked. “I mean, we know that they are coming. We should still have some nuclear weapons around from before Unification. But they are buried. It shouldn’t be too hard to dig them up.”
“The Borg vessel would have adequate shielding to withstand a nuclear attack,” Tuvok replied. “In addition, and such projectiles would be destroyed by Borg disrupter before it ever reached the cube.”
“That’s not possible,” Oro murmured.
Torres scratched her head. “Could we beam a couple of the warheads onboard? I mean, if we set off a nuclear reaction inside of the cube, their shielding should be worthless.”
“That would require beaming the warheads from within the shuttle. The transporter system took heavy damage, and would not be able to perform a site to site transport at this range,” replied Tuvok. “It would be a slow process, and the Borg would have landed some soldiers by the time the bombs could be detonated.”
“What are you talking about?” Oro asked. “There’s no way we could get on that ship. You think that they will just let us on if we ask nicely? Excuse me, Mr. Borg, can me and my nuclear warhead come aboard please?”
“I’ll explain later,” replied Torres, who was not feeling up to explaining how they were going to get the bombs aboard the cube. “Can you get the warheads?”
“I can’t. I don’t even know where they are.”
“Who does?” Torres asked.
“The First Citizens know, and certainly the Council would know.”
“Well? Where do we find these people?” Torres asked impatiently.
“Let me think. They normally would be in the city, but they go into hiding when there is an emergency, like a war. A Borg invasion certainly qualifies,” Oro explained. “Yipu would know, He’s the minister of the Guard. He is camped not too far from here.”
“Go get him! We don’t have much time!”
Oro ran out the shuttle, and turned down the street. Tuvok returned, undisturbed, to his decoding of the Borg data. B’Elanna began to long even more for the safety of Voyager.
—
Janeway arrived in the shuttlebay to find The Doctor waiting there for her. The small ship was already docked. Janeway glanced over the hull of the ship, noting the heavy collision damage aft. The damage reports she read on her way down said that the ship was not attacked, it was just unlucky. It was probably hit by a stray asteroid, presumably while going through a nearby star system.
“Doctor,” Janeway greeted with a nod. “Are you detecting any life signs aboard the ship?”
“I believe so,” replied the Doctor. “It seems that there is some sort of hibernation unit on board, and the crew-members were all in a state of suspended animation. I do not know if the crew survived the impact. I will have to inspect the passengers to be certain.”
“Lead on, Doctor,” said Janeway, gesturing towards the ship.
The two climbed up the ladder on the side of the ship, and climbed inside the open hatch on the top of it. The ship was quite cramped, Each of the ships internal systems very much larger than their counterparts on Voyager. The air was stale, and Janeway thought that the climate control on the ship was probably damaged as well.
The Doctor lead her to the back of the ship. Janeway was greeted at once by the awful stench of rotting flesh. She steeled herself to cope with the smell and moved forward. The room itself was caved in at the side, due to damage from the collision. Several of the chambers were destroyed entirely, others were cracked open, and their occupants dead because the seal to their pod was broken before they could be revived.
Only one of the chambers was still functioning, and The Doctor’s tricorder suggested that the occupant, a fairly short woman, was still alive. The Doctor adjusted the controls of the pod, and the two waited to see if the woman could be revived. The process was slow, but finally the lid of the pod opened up, and the woman slowly opened her eyes. The Doctor scanned her vital signs, and Janeway moved to accommodate The Doctor.
“I can’t see,” the woman whispered.
“Your sight will return momentarily,” The Doctor explained. “Loss of sight appears to be a minor side-effect of the drug used in the hibernation sequence. It will reverse itself in a couple of minutes.”
“What is your name?” Janeway asked.
“My name? I’m Xytin’Ito,” replied the woman. He face tensed up. “Ito!” she cried, as her whole body began to tremble. The Doctor began frantically scanning her vital signs.
“What is going on?” Janeway asked.
“I don’t really know,” replied The Doctor. “I don’t know very much about her anatomy. Brain-wave activity has heightened dramatically, while other areas seem to be in a state of shock. I can’t explain it.”
“Is there anything you can do?”
“Nothing here. I need to get her to sickbay and run some tests. I need to determine a cause before I can even speculate on the treatment,” the Doctor replied hastily. Almost immediately, his hand was raised to his comm-badge. “Doctor to transporter room, two to beam directly to sickbay.”
“Aye, Doctor,” the chief on duty replied. Barely a second later, the Doctor and Xytin’Ito disappeared in a blue shimmer. Janeway hurried out of the ship, and made her way back to the bridge.
—
Yipu stepped into the shuttle, with a look of disbelief on his face.
“It’s true!” he exclaimed. “I can’t believe it, the stories are true!” He moved forward, and looked up at Torres. “Are you really Ti’Hat?”
Torres rolled her eyes. “Call me B’Elanna.”
“Oh, yes, of course,” Yipu replied. “I wouldn’t want to be named after that filthy animal, myself. Is it true that there is another cube on its way?”
“It is,” Tuvok replied. “We require several nuclear warheads. An effective countermeasure must be ready for use before the cube arrives.”
Yipu laughed. “Your crazy! Do you know what it is going to take to get any of them dug up? I don’t have the authority to order their excavation. Even if I did, it would take weeks to dig up them all.”
“Who has the authority?” Tuvok asked.
“Only the First Citizens do,” Yipu replied.
“Where can we find the First Citizens?” Tuvok asked, patiently.
“I can’t tell you that. They are in a secure area, and the location is classified.”
Torres grabbed Yipu by the collar, and lifted him to her height. “Look you little weasel. If you don’t tell us, you aren’t going to have a world left to defend!”
Yipu, to his credit, remained stoic. “Put me down, If you please. Fighting with me is not going to solve our problem.”
Torres grunted, then dropped the Bint’Ari.
“I don’t know where Yavitz is. I don’t handle her evacuation arrangements,” Yipu began. “But Ira, his sanctuary is just outside of Xenin.”
The shuttle silently lifted off of the ground.
“We will be outside of Xenin momentarily,” Tuvok reported. “Could you please indicate a more specific location?”
“What do you mean we will be there momentarily? We’re not going now?” Yipu was visible flustered.
“The Borg vessel will arrive in less than fifteen hours. We do not have the luxury of waiting until morning,” replied Tuvok.
“As a boy, it was always my dream to meet the legends of old,” Yipu muttered. “I wonder if they, too are as frustrating as you are turning out to be.” Oro chuckled behind him.
“Trust them Yipu, they know what they are doing,” he reassured.
“Easy for you to say,” replied Yipu. “I can only imagine what Ira is going to say. And when you ask him to dig up the warheads? I really like my job, you know? I don’t want to lose it.”
—
“Report,” Janeway requested, as she returned to the bridge. She noticed the wear on Chakotay’s face as he rose, and realized how long it had been since she herself had gotten some rest.
“The Fleet is still in their search pattern,” reported Chakotay. “Still nothing, though.”
“What about that ship, do we have any idea where it came from?” she asked.
“According to their last known heading, it seems to have come right out of the last nebula that Tuvok and B’Elanna were scheduled to harvest,” Kim reported. “Sensors can’t penetrate the nebula, so I haven’t been able to determine a starting point for the ship.”
“How long ago did they pass through that nebula?” Chakotay asked.
“It’s been over a week,” Kim replied. “It is hard to give an exact time.”
“Could the shuttle have been damaged the same way?” Janeway asked.
“Maybe there is some kind of solid bodies inside the nebula, like an asteroid field,” Chakotay suggested. “Sensors would have a hard time picking up an asteroid on a collision course until it was too late to move.”
“Is there anyway we can go inside and check?” Janeway asked.
“I suppose I could boost the navigational deflectors, to protect Voyager, but I’m not certain I could boost the sensors enough to detect the shuttle,” Kim reported.
“Captain, there’s a problem,” Paris interrupted. “I’m detecting a Borg Scout ship, just exiting the nebula.”
Janeway walked up behind Paris, and leaned over the console. “Have the Khamish seen it yet?”
“No, it is holding position outside of the nebula, and is out of range of each of the Khamish motherships. One is heading towards the cube now, and should pick it up momentarily,” Paris replied.
“Looks like they’ve got it now,” Kim reported from his console. “We are being hailed by the Khamish Commander. They are requesting permission to, well, ‘rid the self-righteous Borg bastards of their worthless existence,’ I believe the translation went.”
“What is the Borg ship doing?” Chakotay asked. “It can’t possibly believe that it can take on Voyager, let alone the five Khamish ships.”
“It is holding position,” Kim replied. “Wait, Three more ships are coming out of the nebula. Two scouts and a larger ship.”
“A cube?” Janeway asked.
“Yes, but I haven’t seen a cube of that dimension. It is a lot smaller than a normal cube,” Kim replied.
“Signal the Khamish commander. Give them the OK to attack,” Janeway ordered. “And get Seven of Nine up here. I want intel on those ship designs.”
—
“You want what?” cried Ira. “You want me to give you our nuclear warheads? Why should I trust you?”
“Usum, there is a Borg cube approaching as we speak. We need those warheads to attack the cube itself,” Yipu pleaded. “We may have beaten the Borg this time, but we are in no shape to ward off another invasion!”
“How do you know they are coming again?” Ira shot back. “Our planetary scanners show nothing. How can you trust two aliens! How do you know that they do not want to use the warheads on us?”
“How can you say that?” Oro asked, angrily. “I have known these two since they arrived, and they have done nothing except support us against the Borg. Why would they, so suddenly, decide that they are our enemies?”
“Even if I tell you the location, it will take a too long to dig them up. There is no way we could have them ready by the time the Borg got here! These aliens must know this!”
“Sir, I know it seems a little hard to believe, but they say that they just need to know the location, and that they can retrieve the warheads without digging,” Yipu explained.
“This is just too much!” Ira almost burst into laughter. “Very well, bring them in. I should like to meet the fools that would be our saviors.”
Yipu rushed from the room, and Oro stood back, worried. He thought that this, his first meeting with the First Citizen, could not possibly go worse. It was one thing that the leader of your world knew your name, it was quite another that he thought of you as an imbecile.
Shortly, Yipu returned with Tuvok, and Torres, and Oro could not help but smile. B’Elanna stomped in, very much annoyed at being kept waiting. She looked as she often did, about ready to explode into a fit of rage. Tuvok, on the other hand, looked as if he could spend another year or so waiting for Ira to make up his mind. Total calm.
Ira, on the other hand, was not prepared for the imposing aliens. Ira awed at the height of Tuvok and B’Elanna, and it took a moment for him to gather his wits enough to open his mouth.
“Well,” Ira began nervously. He could not take his eyes off of B’Elanna’s angry face. “How, may I ask, do you expect to dig up any warheads before that cube you are babbling about arrives?”
Torres scowled, and Ira moved his seat back, unconsciously.
“We have the technology to transport the warheads directly to the surface, without having to unearth them,” Tuvok replied.
“How long will it be, before that cube you are talking about arrives?”
“It will be here in approximately thirteen hours,” Tuvok replied.
“That’s about fifteen cycles, Usum,” Yipu added.
“Yes, then, fifteen cycles. I will tell you the locations of the warheads. If what you say is true, we should detect the cube in about ten cycles. If we have not detected it in twelve, each of you will be arrested and executed for treason.” Yipu stepped foreword, in protest. Ira held up his hand, stopping Yipu in his tracks.
“If the location of those warheads became public knowledge, it would be a disaster for this world. Already there are those who believe if they were running things, we would have been much better prepared to fight the Borg. With so much of our military in shambles, civil war for control of this world is a very real possibility. If any of those opposition groups got hold of a warhead, it would destroy any hope of stability that Bint’Ari has. Laws have to be enforced, now more than ever, if we have any hope of keeping this world together. Yipu, it troubles me to do this to you, but you are a part of this. I hope for your sake that there is a cube coming.” Ira pulled a data chip from the computer on his desk. “Here are the locations of twenty of the warheads that we buried. Please do not be too troublesome about your apprehension should the cube not arrive as you claim it will.”
“Thank you, Usum,” Yipu replied, before he followed Oro, Tuvok, and B’Elanna out the door.
“I can’t believe I’m hoping for another invasion,” Yipu muttered. Oro chuckled, lightly, in agreement.
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March 27, 2008
Ti’Hat and the Vulcan: Chapter Ten
It was barely dawn, yet inside the city of Topachan, hundreds of Borg were hard at work. Darkness was irrelevant to them, their purpose on this world was the only thing that mattered. They had a great deal of work to complete before Bint’Ari was fully Borg, and there was absolutely no reason to let darkness inhibit their progress.
It was hard to say whether or not the Borg knew about the people massing outside of the city. At the moment, they, too, were irrelevant. Their assimilation was inevitable, but there were other, more important tasks at hand. Their assimilation could wait. And since they were not yet Borg, what they were doing now was inconsequential.
The people outside of the city saw the situation very much differently. Every second that passed was another bit of damage that the Borg caused their world. To the people, the death of every last Borg on the surface was inevitable. But, the Bint’Ari had less patience for inevitability than did the Borg. They wanted to take their world back, and time was in the way.
To these people, the reclaiming of their capitol was the essential first step in total eradication of the Borg. Resistance cells had already taken back a vast majority of the cities, but Topachan represented something very special to all of them. That city was all of Bint’Ari, and as long as Topachan was in chains, the whole of Bint’Ari was could not be free.
No one bothered to make extensive plans for retaking the city. A date was set, and word was spread. Everyone hoped that enough people would show up to mount a successful offensive. No one expected the masses that arrived to reclaim their society.
First there was the Guard. They had lost all control of the resistance a long time ago, due to a breakdown in communication. Yipu surprised the world, however, by gathering three hundred Guard units outside of Topachan before the liberation began. This was well over three quarters of the remaining units on the planet. The Guard gathered outside the city could in all likelihood retake it by themselves. But the Guard was not fighting this war alone.
Resistance cells, composed primarily of the average man, had come from all over the world. To them, this was Armageddon. The final confrontation between good and evil. And each of them knew that they would emerge victorious.
Perhaps one of the most unusual, and most promising of the people who were gathered outside of the city was a small group known as the Praetor Cell. Their group had attained legendary status throughout the world. Tales of their victories were told before battles. Their plights inspired victory where it was thought impossible. All because of two aliens, Ti’Hat and the Vulcan. Very few people knew their real names, but only because no one really cared what they were. They had become mythical figures. People referred to them the way that people of an ancient Earth referred to the likes of Hercules, Paul Bunyan, Ulysses, Moses, or Superman. People credited these two for the salvation of their world by the greatness of their exaggerated deeds. Though this was far from the truth, one could argue that the hope that they provided was enough of a driving force for the people of Bint’Ari to become their own salvation.
So, when the darkness fled before the child of morning, the rosy fingered Dawn, the Borg suddenly found reason to abandon their work. The surge of the not-yet-Borg Bint’Ari made themselves the utmost in relevance.
—
“The city is huge!” Torres marveled, as she studied the map that was laid before her. The Borg had brought about considerable change to the structure of the city, but they had not been there long enough to fully decentralized the city in the assimilation process. The maps were still of use.
“I would hypothesize that the Borg will be concentrated in these two areas,” suggested Tuvok, circling areas of the city with his finger. “The abundance of available technology would provide ideal points for resource distribution. Also, that the Borg will have established their planet-based hive mainframe in one of these areas, as well as a center for the assimilation of the Bint’Ari populace.”
“Is there time to let the other groups know to focus their attacks in those areas?” Torres asked.
“No,” replied Oro. “Dawn will be here in minutes. Besides, I don’t think this attack is going to come close to even resembling organized.”
“Agreed. It would be prudent to divide this group into two smaller units, and concentrate each on one of the industrial zones. Perhaps other groups will follow our example.”
Oro thought for a moment, then shook his head. “I don’t think the rest of them will go for it.”
“Why not?” Torres asked.
Oro rubbed his eyes, shaking off the sleep. “To be honest, most people are going to want to follow the two of you. Anyone chosen to be in the second group will view it as an insult. This is not a day for low morale among the troops.”
“That is most unfortunate,” replied Tuvok. “The solution is simple, however. You and I will pilot the shuttle to this industrial zone, with half of the group accompanying us in their fliers. Lt. Torres will lead the other half of the group on foot to the closer zone. Hopefully, the people will be amenable to that course of action.”
Oro nodded his head. “I think they will agree to that. I will go and divide the troops.” He stood and walked back to the center of the camp.
As Oro walked away, Tuvok shook his head. “Our apparent rise to mythological stature is precisely why we should have adhered to the strictest letter of the Prime Directive in the first place. The cultural damage we seem to have brought about is precisely the reason for the order.”
“Tuvok, I may agree with you,” replied Torres. “But I still think we had no other choice. If we want to get off of this world, the Borg must be stopped. And we couldn’t have done it alone.”
“Agreed,” Tuvok nodded slowly. “Hopefully, Voyager will not have left the area without us.”
—
Dawn spread over the valley that the city rested in, and cheers erupted throughout the crowds. Men everywhere picked up their swords, and gathered in preparation for the assault. Torres picked up her blade, her third since she began fighting with the Bint’Ari. She had broken the other two. No doubt these tales already had become myths as well, even though broken blades were not uncommon with such old weapons.
She faced the city she was about to enter, and wondered at the amazing turn of events. In the last few weeks, she had been a part of something she never had dreamed she would be, not even as a member of the Maquis. One minute she was onboard a shuttlecraft, the next she was leading an army against the Borg. Her Klingon mother would certainly be proud, her daughter leading men into battle. Now she would have something to boast to the holographic warriors on her and Tom’s Day of Honor program. However exhilarating it all was, she still longed for Voyager, her engine room, and Tom.
The thought of Tom sobered her for a second. She hadn’t even thought about him in the last several days; she was too caught up in all of the fighting. She imagined he was worried to death about her, and it made her sad. She shook it off quickly. Anything but anger now would mean her death. Plenty of time to worry about Mr. Paris when the Borg were gone.
She looked back into the faces of the group that would follow her into the city. They didn’t care that they were going to be lead into one of the most concentrated areas of Borg in the city. They were being lead by her, the mythical Ti’Hat, and they couldn’t be happier. Torres decided not to warn them that they should be very concerned. It would be pointless to do so. Freeing their world from the Borg was more important, and jitters would make it a hopeless cause.
They wasted no time in starting forward, as their destination was several miles within the city bounds. People cheered as they marched onto the city highway. Swords were raised, and they people had to restrain themselves from bolting into the city at full speed. Energy had to be conserved for the long journey, and the fighting along the way.
The group walked close together for about an hour before they sighted their first Borg. He was dismantling a comm-link, no doubt to use the components somewhere else. Torres barked orders to the men behind her to ignore the Borg. If they were to attack it, others would come. They needed to get to the industrial zone fresh and as energetic as possible. There was no reason to kill the Borg here, and start a battle too soon.
Torres turned to Alu. “We need to move faster.”
“There should be an transport dealer a bit up the road. If it hasn’t been dismantled by the Borg, we should be able to use some of the vehicles there,” Alu replied.
Moments later, the group arrived at the auto lot. Several Borg were working around the complex, just beginning to dismantle the vehicles there. The vehicles were somewhat reminiscent of the “hot rods” Tom had in one of his holodeck programs.
“Where are the keys kept for those?” Torres asked the group, hoping someone would know the answer.
“Keys?” someone replied. “What do you mean?”
“How do you start those vehicles?” she snapped back.
The man regarded Torres as if she were a child. And angry glare changed his attitude.
“You just press the ignition button. It starts right up.”
Torres shook her head in disbelief. So easy! She motioned for the group to attack the Borg in the lot. The battle was quick, as the Borg were easily outnumbered. Unfortunately, Torres’s group, in announcing themselves as a threat, had got the attention of every Borg within a couple of miles who were not occupied fighting other groups. The fifty warriors piled into the cars, and followed Torres towards the industrial zone.
Alu raced the car down the road, trying to pick streets that were not occupied by the Borg. He wheeled around a corner, and saw three Borg advancing up the street straight towards them. Torres, who was in the back of the car, looked behind her and saw the convoy of vehicles. Alu hit the accelerator, and charged toward the Borg blocking the road. The Borg didn’t bother to move out of the way as the car smashed into each of them one at a time, smashing nearly every bone in each of their bodies. As the convoy passed, several of the cars swerved to run over the fallen Borg, insuring their deaths. The last car in the convoy ran over a Borg mid-self destruct, and the car disintegrated along with the crushed soldier.
The convoy raced down the street, Torres occasionally checking the map of the city that appeared on the tricorder in order to get a bearing. A moment later, the car skidded around a corner, and Torres saw a giant factory looming ahead of the convoy several blocks down.
“The computer factory,” commented Alu.
Torres nodded, and Alu continued on towards the building. It was approaching mid-day, and Torres wanted to be inside of the factory with plenty of light left.
A large truck moved into an intersection ahead of the convoy, and Torres immediately noticed that there was no one driving the truck. It stopped, blocking the entire road. It was covered in various Borg components, receivers and transmitters. Torres thought that the truck itself was somehow tied into the Borg consciousness, and being remotely controlled by them.
Alu slammed on the breaks of the car and turned the wheel. The car skidded and slammed into the large cargo truck. The front end of the of the car crunched down when it hit the truck, and Alu screamed in pain as the metal sides of the car crushed the life out of him. Torres and Aila, who was also in the car, jumped out, and ran for the side of the road just before the truck erupted into flames. The two ducked between two buildings as a second car slammed into the truck, hitting the fuel tank. The entire mangled wreck exploded. Shards of glass and metal flew in all directions, several pieced imbedding themselves into the other cars, who had all stopped well before the truck. After the shrapnel storm ended, the survivors crawled out of their vehicles, and inspected the crater the explosion left in the road.
“We’ll have to walk the rest of the way,” announced Torres, as she made her way to a wrecked car in the center of the convoy. She opened the door, and handed a sword to each of the surviving men. After they were all armed, the group made their way around the crater and on towards the factory.
—
The rest of the journey towards the factory was uneventful. No Borg were found in the wide road leading to the gates. The group knocked down the fence surrounding the factory, and moved towards the building. Ahead of them, dozens of Borg had stopped their work, and advanced on them. Torres howled, and charged towards the advancing Borg. Her group followed, yelling and waving their swords at the Borg.
The steadily advancing Borg group collided with the charging Bint’Ari, and the screeching sound of swords hitting metal was heard. Several Borg found themselves without heads or other limbs immediately, while many of the Bint’Ari were thrust aside by powerful Borg blows. The battle began to spread out a bit, as the Bint’Ari needed more room to swing their swords.
Torres fought ferociously, but the Borg outnumbered the small Bint’Ari band significantly. Every time Torres killed one, another Borg stepped forward and took its place. After the seventh Borg fell before Torres, she found herself unchallenged. She took a deep breath and glanced to see how her companions were faring. She was pleasantly surprised. Decapitated Borg were strewn all over the factory yard, and the numbers had evened out. Then she saw something that terrified her.
One of the younger fighters, who’s name she did not know, barely missed a Borg with a heavy, off-balance blow. The Borg responded by grabbing the boy, whirling him around, and lashing his neck with two thick chords from his fingers.
Assimilation. The Borg had resumed assimilating the Bint’Ari. Torres lifted her sword in anger and raced across the battlefield, killing two Borg in single swipe as she passed them. She raised her sword as she met the Borg who had attacked the boy, and in one swift motion cut off his arm. She swung her sword around, and brought it down on the creature’s shoulder, destroying the component on its shoulder that controlled its self-destruct mechanism. The Borg disintegrated immediately.
Torres turned towards the boy, who was screaming in pain. She took a deep breath, then plunged her sword deep into the boys chest, killing him instantly. She raised her head and howled for the boy’s spirit. She was surprised to hear the chorus of voices that joined her. She stopped, and looked to several men standing near the boy, with tears in their eyes. One who stood next to Torres placed his hand on her shoulder.
“Thank you for your mercy, Ti’hat. I could not have killed him, even though it saved his soul.” The man wiped a tear from his eye, and walked away. Around her, the last two Borg in the battle fell to the ground. She lifted her hand and activated the communicator on her chest.
“Torres to Tuvok.”
“Go ahead, Lieutenant.”
“Tuvok, the Borg have resumed the assimilating the Bint’Ari.”
“Acknowledged. Tuvok out.”
Torres sighed as the surviving men gathered around her, eager to discuss how they were going to take the building, which was certain to be full of Borg. Mercifully, another group approached the yard, ending Torres’s concern about how they were going to take a Borg stronghold with only twenty men.
—
Tuvok ignored the various warning lights that flashed as soon as he began to lift the shuttle off of the ground. Torres had warned him that the shuttle was not going to know if some of the more ‘creative’ repairs she had made were going to operate properly. Oro was worried, though, but he remained silent as he sat nervously in the seat next to Tuvok. The six passengers in the back of the shuttle were equally worried, wondering if a thing without any sort of wings could actually fly.
Oro and Tuvok decided that it would be a waste of fliers to just use them to transport troops to an industrial center, so they were going to first use them to attack other suspected Borg concentrations before arriving at the industrial zone. The fliers were equipped with automatic projectile weapons, and the Borg had at times proven to be vulnerable to a bullet. Tuvok programmed the phaser emitters on the shuttle to randomly change frequencies, so that the shuttle could also function as a fighter. Tuvok estimated that the shuttle’s phasers would be effective for about fifty shots. Since the phasers on a shuttle were considerably more powerful than a hand phaser, they would be harder for a soldier to adapt to.
So the flier squadron sent several cycles attacking various Borg groups that were about to advance on Bint’Ari resistance fighters. The result was a positive one, as the ground troops were defeating Borg groups much more quickly than they would have without the air support.
“Isn’t it funny?” Oro commented, after one of their more successful attacks. “That we are fighting a ground battle with one of the most primitive weapons, an Aria, while also using fliers, the most advanced piece of equipment on the planet?”
“The juxtaposition of technological polarities is certainly interesting, but I would hardly classify it as ‘funny,’” replied Tuvok.
“Don’t you ever laugh, Vulcan?” chuckled Oro.
“No,” Tuvok replied, steadily.
“I’m not surprised. Actually, I do not think much of anything could surprise me anymore.”
“Torres to Tuvok,” Tuvok’s communicator beeped.
“Go ahead, Lieutenant.”
“Tuvok, the Borg have resumed the assimilating the Bint’Ari,” Torres relayed through the communicator.
“Acknowledged. Tuvok out.” Tuvok looked into the horror stricken eyes of Oro.
“What are we going to do? We can’t attack that industrial zone now. We’ll lose too many men to assimilation,” exclaimed Oro.
“We must proceed. The Borg have constructed the equipment they need to begin assimilation in one of these industrial zones. No where else in the city has the technological capacity for such a facility. The assimilation will stop as soon as we locate and dismantle that facility.”
Oro nodded. “But I don’t want to risk anyone until we absolutely have to.”
“What do you suggest?” asked Tuvok.
“Can we destroy the industrial zone from the air?”
“Unlikely. We would require a great deal more firepower than we possess, and there would be no guarantee that the Borg or the Borg mechanisms inside would be destroyed.”
“Well, we can still do ground strikes. We can make certain every Borg outside of the complex is dead before we land. At least we will be at full strength when we enter the compound.”
“Agreed. But we are limited in our ammunition. It will not be long before we run out.”
“It will be enough,” replied Oro. “If we run out, we will run them down with the fliers themselves. I don’t want to see anymore assimilation.”
—
Oyi, the leader of the group that augmented Torres’s, suggested that they use the explosives that they had brought to blow open a side of the complex. This would provide an element of surprise to their attack, and hopefully would take a few Borg with them. Torres agreed, and the three explosives experts spent nearly a cycle rigging the bombs all over the cargo doors that encompassed the southern wall of the compound.
With the explosives rigged, the small army retreated to a safe distance, and the wall was detonated. The explosive was effective, and the entire wall blew open, leaving a giant entrance for the group to enter. Before the dust settled, several Borg exited the building through the hole, trying to ascertain what had happened. The Bint’Ari charged forward, and killed all of the advancing Borg before they realized they were being attacked. The Borg still working inside of the warehouse turned to attack the intruders, and a bloody battle ensued.
The group unquestionably chose the right wall to blow, as the entire area was cluttered with Borg mechanisms. Walls were knocked down, and the structural integrity of the building was enhanced in order to accommodate the missing walls. Makeshift rows were erected up and down the area, lined with Borg regeneration pods. All of the Borg that had been in a regenerative cycle had been called out, to eliminate the intruders. The center row was twice as wide as the other rows, and was filled with surgical tables and storage units for Borg implants. Two Bint’Ari were each on tables, half covered in the Borg mechanisms.
The battle lasted a long time, and was very costly. Every time a Bint’Ari was assimilated, he was killed by another Bint’Ari, to spare him. The Borg were falling fast, but they outnumbered the Bint’Ari by a large margin. The Aria proved to be the great equalizer, as a Borg soldier was unable to withstand an attack for more than a few minutes without being decapitated.
Torres stopped fighting once she realized the battle was under control. Borg were dropping like flies, so she did not need to worry about them any longer. She set her mind to finding a way to dismantle the assimilation facility. Since the explosives were all used in their entrance, she decided the primitive way was the best. She picked up a heavy, metal pole, and smashed everything she could reach. Before the Bint’Ari outside finished fighting, Torres had reduced the assimilation facility to scrap metal.
—
Tuvok’s approach to entering his facility was less spectacular. After the flier squadron landed, and the remaining outside Borg were killed, Oro lead the group of Bint’Ari into the complex, through the front door.
This factory had been converted in a similar fashion to the assimilation complex, only there were no rows of regeneration pods occupying the empty space. A dismantled Scout cube sat in the middle of the warehouse, with various terminals and data nodes attached to the main computer inside of the cube. Tuvok opened up his tricorder and scanned the area, while the Bint’Ari charged forward to fight the Borg in the room.
“Fascinating,” Tuvok commented.
“What is it?” Oro asked impatiently, eager to join his comrades in the fight.
“That vessel has been converted into a massive computer. It is operation as the central point for the Borg consciousness on this planet. Orders that each of the Borg are receiving from the collective are relayed through it.”
“What would happen if that this were destroyed?”
“Unknown. It is possible that if their links were severed with the collective, all the Borg on the planet would undergo a self destruct sequence.”
“Then we need to destroy that thing, now!” Oro exclaimed, excitedly. “We could win the war in seconds!”
“Wait,” Tuvok replied, as he grabbed Oro’s arm. “That computer will still be operational even in seventy-six percent of it is destroyed. The Borg soldiers in the room would immediately take action to prevent that occurrence. The computer will be safe until each of the nearby soldiers are killed. Meanwhile, I will set my tricorder to download as much of the information that it can from the collective. It may give us some idea of Borg activities in this sector.”
“You can do that?” Oro asked.
“I am not certain. However, I will attempt it.”
Oro, satisfied with Tuvok’s plan, rushed to help the other men in the fight. It went as each of the battles had gone so far, a Bint’Ari victory, with heavy casualties. During the battle, Tuvok managed to up-link his tricorder into the Borg relay computer, and began the process of downloading any information he could into the shuttle’s computer. After he had taken all he could, Tuvok gave the OK to dismantle the system.
The men eagerly tore into the cube, pulling apart anything that would come loose with the tools that they had.
The Borg reacted immediately. Drones from everywhere turned away from their designated task and moved towards the scout cube. Borg engaged in battle miles away stopped fighting and attempted to move towards the compound. Invariably, they were killed before they walked three steps.
The battle turned very bloody. The twenty men holding back to fight off the oncoming drones were quickly overcome by drones either inside the complex or those transporting inside the complex from battles outside.
Several of the men were assimilated, and acted immediately to stop the destruction of the scout cube. Tuvok backed against the wall, so that he would not be attacked from behind by the Borg.
Inputting a few commands on his tricorder, he re-established a link to the shuttlecraft’s computer.
Accessing files on the first Borg attempt to assimilate Earth, he searched for the command pathways Data used to cause the cube in orbit of Earth to prematurely enter a regeneration cycle.
Reconnecting to the Borg Scout’s main computer, Tuvok attempted the same procedure. He was locked out almost immediately.
Several drones approached Tuvok, to prevent another attempt to destroy the Scout. Tuvok tried another pathway, it failed as well.
Tuvok dropped his tricorder and lifted his sword, to defend himself. Two drones reached him at once, and Tuvok began to fight for his life.
A small explosion echoed throughout the complex floor. Tuvok saw Oro out of the corner of his eye drop to the floor from the top of the scout, and run straight towards to bay doors.
The drones attacking Tuvok, as well as those fighting the Bint’Ari on the floor paused, waiting for further instruction. Tuvok bumped through the frozen Borg, running for safety.
More explosions raced throughout the cube. Moments after Tuvok, Oro, and three other Bint’Ari piled into the shuttle, the entire building exploded.
Tuvok had barely managed to get the shuttle’s shields up and the craft in the air before the explosion brought them right back down again. Alert sirens of all pitches could be heard by all five of the shuttle’s crew.
The shuttle careened out-of-control. The shock-wave from the explosion knocked the barely aloft shuttle back into the ground. It skidded along the concrete surface around the complex, on its side, for several hundred meters. Mercifully, it stopped after a few moments, and the five men piled out of the shuttle, to survey the damage.
No more Bint’Ari made it out of the complex before it exploded. All of the fliers around the complex, as well as the building itself, were burning intensely. Both Borg and Bint’Ari bodies were scattered across the lot, most of those burning as well.
Across the countryside, Borg everywhere ceased to operate. Most self-destructed immediately upon the destruction of the hive computer. A few Borg survived, for a short time, disconnected from the Collective. The Bint’Ari fighting the drones did not distinguish between the newly individual drone and the Borg from seconds past. The confused drones were slaughtered mercilessly.
Less than a half hour after the complex was destroyed, Bint’Ari was free of the Borg.
Star Trek, Voyager, and related properties are © Paramount Studio, and the author makes no claim towards them.
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March 20, 2008
Ti’Hat and the Vulcan: Chapter Nine
Yavitz was tired of moving. It seemed like as soon as she was moved to a so called ’safe haven,’ the Borg would attack it, and she would have to move again.
It had been several days since she was forced to flee, however. Still, she had been preparing all of that time for another move. It never came. The Borg had stopped advancing.
In fact, the Borg was being pushed back. Reports that she had been given, as well as those that Yipu had given her other showed that the Borg were losing a lot of ground. Resistance cells had taken back all of the Irabek and Sympek sectors, and the Borg was losing ground throughout the rest of the world. Nearby, Aoex had been liberated, and there were rumors of an eminent attack on the capitol. If the Borg could be beaten there, total victory would not be too far off. Soon she would be able to return to living inside of actual buildings, instead of hiding in tents and caves. The thought made her smile.
The time in hiding had not been totally wasted, though. Ito had accompanied her, and she grew fond of the young man. He needed a friendly person around, since his other had gone into suspended animation. His duties had deteriorated to a minimum, since most of the communication equipment had been taken by the Borg, and the fact that the resistance had lost all official organization. He still had a portable transceiver, and monitored all the channels he could during his spare time. He managed to put together a pretty complete picture of the war effort from the limited information he had, much to Yavitz’s delight.
In fact, Ito had heard a lot about the rumored aliens that were helping the Bint’Ari in the resistance. Yavitz found much of it unbelievable, but she could see how such tall tales were motivating to those fighting all over the world. Apparently they were in a ship that had crashed in the ocean, and came ashore on Praetor. They helped that resistance group reclaim the island and move on to the mainland.
All of that seemed fairly believable. There were sure to be other aliens than the Borg, and who’s to say some didn’t happen by at the same time? The unbelievable part were the battle-tales themselves. It seems that one of the aliens, a woman, was a ferocious warrior. A female warrior! Now that was an absurd idea. Allegedly during the attack on the city of Praetor, she killed several hundred Borg single handed. Impossible!
After that battle, they began to call her Ti’hat, after the predator. Whispered stories of the Ti’hat spread like wildfire all throughout the world. How the Ti’hat killed hundreds in Praetor. How the Ti’hat killed a Borg barehanded. How the Ti’hat lead the assault on Praetor. As time passes, she even began to take on physical characteristics of the ti’hat. She was described as having long claws, snarling teeth, even the red hair of the predator.
What about her companion? If the woman was so ferocious, then what about the man? He, to her bewilderment, was described as surprisingly passive. He was rarely described as participating in the war effort, though there were plenty of tales suggesting that he did fight. But more often than not, the stories about him were cold ones, describing the walking stone, the unfeeling man. No joy, sorrow, or pain. The picture of controlled calm. It was said that he didn’t even celebrate victory, or mourn the loss of those he fought with. They called him the Vulcan, or sometimes just Vulcan. Perhaps it was his name. Ti’hat and Vulcan. The warrior woman and the passive, deliberate man. Very much the stuff of tall tales.
Yavitz believed that all such tales were based somewhat in truth. There had to be two such people, but whether or not they were aliens, or how much of the stories about them were true was a question. And, undoubtedly, these stories would become myths, stories told for generations to come. She wished she could be there, and meet these people, see what they were doing that inspired these tales. They must be extraordinary.
This day was a day like any other. Yavitz would sit in the communications tent, and Ito would listen to whatever came in the clearest, and tell her about some of the more interesting yarns. The time that Yavitz spent with Ito became very useful to the Bint’Ari war effort. Ira, aware of everything that Yavitz learned from the young man, would pass along key information to Yipu, who would then try and use it to dispatch surviving Guard units to help to resistance fighters. Six Guard units made it to Xenin to help with the liberation of that city, all because Ito was listening.
“Is it true that we will be able to move back into the city soon, Usum?” Ito asked.
“I hope so,” replied Yavitz. “I am tired of sleeping in tents. But you know more about what is going on than I do. I just get carted around like a piece of equipment.”
“I hope it is soon. The war does seem to be going well. If these reports are accurate, resistance groups just took back both Bint and Hopach’an. Hopach’an was the last major city in Banik’Uma that the Borg controlled!”
“That just leaves our Providence, and a lot of cleanup,” Yavitz concluded.
“I haven’t been able to get anything about plans to retake Topachan or the rest of Pinch’Ece. The last couple of days, everyone has been really tight-lipped about their movements over open frequencies.”
“Can you blame them? They are probably trying to keep the element of surprise. The battle for Topachan is going to be a bloody. How many Borg did you say were still in the city?”
“Last count I heard was about ten thousand,” Ito replied.
“That is a lot of Borg,” commented Yavitz.
“Usum!” Ito exclaimed. “Here’s another story about Ti’hat and Vulcan. It’s a good one!”
Ito went on to tell a story about an argument the two aliens got into, after the Battle of Aoex. Apparently, they were repairing something on their ship, and the argument broke out. No one was certain why they were fighting, but it was supposedly quite a sight. Ti’hat yelled and screamed at the Vulcan (as she so often did), who coldly replied something to the effect of, “That it illogical,” or “That course of action would not be recommended.” Ti’Hat then lifted a boulder and flung it at the Vulcan. He stepped aside, allowing the rock to crash to the ground, and requested in his usual monotonous tone that she ‘desist in this aberrant behavior.’ The story was quite funny, if a little silly.
Ito went on, talking about cities that had just been liberated, battles that were happening, or any other interesting bits of information that he came across. Yavitz would listen intently, enjoying hearing about the triumph of her people over the Borg, when just a few days ago, she thought that all hope was lost.
It surprised Yavitz when Ito ripped his headset off and threw it to the floor. It scared her when he grabbed his head, and tears streaked down his face. She panicked when he fell to the ground, mumbling to himself. She ran to the door of the tent, and screamed for a doctor.
She hurried to his side, and rolled him so that he was on his back. His face was soaked with tears, and he was mumbling,
“Xytin, my beloved, Xytin-.” She could do nothing to get his attention.
She has been taken, beloved, Ira’s voice said to her. The Borg must have found her ship, and assimilated her.
“No,” whispered Yavitz, as she rested her hands atop of the weeping man’s head. He continued to cry, and repeat his mate’s name, even as the doctors came into the tent and began scan his vital signs.
Through the headset on the ground, Yavitz heard that another story about Ti’hat and Vulcan was being told. She reached up, and turned off the radio.
—
“Captain, we are being hailed by the lead Khamish Mothership,” Kim reported.
“On-screen,” Janeway replied, as she settled into her chair. She was looking forward to getting underway.
A Khamish soldier appeared on the viewscreen. She nodded politely before speaking.
“Captain, it is an honor to meet you. I am the Colonel of our fleet. We are ready to begin the search for your missing soldiers. If you will give us a heading, and lead the way, we would be grateful.”
“Certainly, Colonel,” replied Janeway with a smile. “Mr. Paris? We’ll start with the first nebula the shuttle was scheduled to visit. Do you have the heading?”
“Yes Captain. Bearing 114 mark 267,” replied Paris.
“Did you get that, Colonel?” Janeway asked.
“I did,” replied the Colonel. “But are you certain the drone got it right?”
“Quite certain. Is there a problem?” Janeway knew the problem was nothing but old-fashioned prejudice. But since the Khamish men actually were simple, mindless beasts, she could hardly blame the Colonel.
“No, Captain. It will just take some getting used to, working with drones. Lead the way,” the Colonel finished, before the screen went dark.
“Do we know those ships’ safe cruising speed?” Janeway asked, still uncertain how slow she was going to have to go.
“Looks like they can do warp four, no problem,” replied Ensign Nikolayevich, who was at the bridge Engineering station.
“You heard her, Mr. Paris, warp four.” Janeway leaned back in her seat, looking forward to the trip. It might be slow, but it was taking them one step closer to finding Torres and Tuvok, and not orbiting a planet waiting.
The five Khamish motherships jumped into warp after Voyager. They flew in a battle-ready formation, always keeping Voyager as the lead ship. The Colonel shortly hailed Voyager, inquiring why Janeway was going so slow, and the speed was stepped up to warp five. Within a day, the fleet would arrive at the first nebula.
—
“It’s going to take too much time. I just can’t re-align a superconducting stator with a blowtorch!” Torres took the blowtorch, and angrily threw it out the back of the shuttle.
“Lieutenant, I believe you are allowing your frustration to interfere with your performance. Perhaps if you-”
“Tuvok, do not even get into that Vulcan emotional control
crap with me right now. I am not in the mood. What the hell is this, a pipe-wrench?” Torres moaned, tossing the bulky tool back into the bin.
“Lieutenant, I was merely suggesting that-”
“Tuvok!” Torres roared. Tuvok remained silent, deciding not to waste the energy in convincing B’Elanna.
“I’ve got two fried ODN conduits. Again, I have a blowtorch to fix them! The DCA is only at 65%, there’s some kind of kelp clogging one of the plasma injectors, and the integrity of the lower magnetic constrictor is down by 20%.”
“Lieutenant, you are not required to repair the shuttle so that it is at normal operating standards. We merely need to get off the surface, so that we can search for Voyager. I am confident that the warp drive will function adequately without two ODN conduits in proper working condition.”
“Tuvok, don’t you think I know that? The warp drive already is working, but what else do I have to do now? Nothing but fix every little part of this shuttle with these ancient tools and OW! Damn! And to trip over these useless thruster pieces! Why do we still have these anyway! We should have tossed these out a long time ago.”
“That course of action would not be advisable.”
“Tuvok, I don’t care what you think! Those thrusters are fried! I see no reason to keep useless junk on the shuttle, when we can leave it here!”
“Lieutenant, if we leave shuttlecraft parts on this planet, it is possible that the Bint’Ari could study the components, and adapt them to their own spacecraft designs,” Tuvok replied.
“Tuvok, they’re junk, nothing more than bits of metal. I couldn’t get them working even if we were on Voyager. I don’t see how a society, one that hasn’t even got Warp-fight capability, could do anything more! I don’t care what you say. I am leaving them here!” Torres picked up a piece of a broken thruster and flung it out the back of the shuttle. Tuvok had to step aside to avoid being hit.
“Lieutenant, please desist in this aberrant behavior. Your energies could be better spent.”
“Shut up, Tuvok.”
Tuvok shook his head, and made his way back to the command center inside of Aoex. Oro greeted him with a smile.
“My dear Tuvok, trying to escape the angry Ti’hat?” Oro chuckled. “I don’t blame you. She has been in a fowl mood. I suppose she’s made because we delayed our attack on the capitol. I’ve never seen anyone enjoy battle more than she does!”
“You have never met a Klingon,” replied Tuvok.
“I haven’t at that,” chuckled Oro. “You know, Ti’hat mentioned something that I am curious about. Is it true that you Vulcans can, oh, how did she put it, telepathically contact someone, without bonding?”
“No doubt you are referring to a mind meld.”
“Yes! That was it! Can you really do that?”
“The mind-meld is indeed similar to what you delineated. But, the process itself is something very difficult to describe.”
“Hmm. Well, I was thinking,” Oro began, “that maybe you could do, well, whatever that is, to my father. Maybe you can help him separate himself from the Borg. Then, maybe, we’ll have some idea of what they are planning on.”
“I have already considered the idea, but I discounted it some time ago. If I were to join with your father’s mind, My mind would be in contact with that of the Collective. The risk that my own mind might be overpowered by the Borg would be too great a risk.”
“I see,” replied Oro, busying himself with his work. “A shame. We are moving on to Topachan tomorrow morning. Do you think she will be done with her modifications to your shuttle before then?”
“I expect that she will,” replied Tuvok, “if she doesn’t damage
anything else in the shuttle before she is through.”
Oro laughed. “I knew that you had a sense of humor, Mr. Tuvok.”
“Humor was not my intent, Oro.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t.”
Star Trek, Voyager, and related properties are © Paramount Studio, and the author makes no claim towards them.
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