Star Trek Helix: Axis Power, Part 2

STAR TREK HELIX: EPISODE 9 “AXIS POWER” part 2

TEASER: OUR FATHER…

Axis had been in his regenerative alcove for more than a day. This was
unusual for a ‘would-be’ god of his caliber. But it was the only thing he
could think to do. He must be damaged in some way.

The Axis EXPERIMENT, his complex mathematical equation to recreate reality
in his own image had been carried out flawlessly. Even down to the assault
from Starfleet and his former Team Helix, he had calculated every
contingency and compensated for the variables accordingly.

But something went wrong.

His new perfect universe was still inhabited the flawed biological
lifeforms. His mind retraced the every occurrence—every nanosecond of this
ascension. Still he could not find the ‘wrinkle in time’ which threw his
perfect calculations into turmoil.

‘ANALYSIS INCONCLUSIVE…’ the Collective answered in unison. And for a
brief second, a glimmer of emotion surfaced—a twitch of anger almost caused
him to lash out at his children.

“IT IS THE REMNANT OF A MAN LONG GONE, MY Axis.” A voice spoke to him.

He open his eyes to find that ‘another’ had entered his domain.

“MY QUEEN.” He answered her, gracefully sliding from the alcove to stand
side by side with her. She had been the only thing he willingly saved from
the original timeline. She had been the one who ordained him as the Axis,
and so it was programmed that she would exist as his ‘other’—his “Eve”.

The Borg Queen continued. “YOU HAVE HAD EONS TO REFORM YOURSELF, YET YOU
STILL CLING TO YOUR FORMER EXISTENCE.”

“I CLING TO NOTHING.” He replied. “IT IS JUST ANOTHER PART OF THE ERRORS IN
MY PROGRAMMING.”

“HAVE YOU FIGURED OUT WHY THE HUMANS STILL EXIST?”

“NOT YET, BUT IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME.” He stared at her to exert his
dominance. “THERE IS NOTHING IN THIS UNIVERSE I CANNOT TOUCH.”

Axis expected her to nod in agreement as she had always done. But this time
it was different.

“I AM WORRIED ABOUT YOU, Axis. YOUR ACTIONS SUGGEST THAT….”

He felt the anger once again swelling in him. “WHAT?”

She smirked. “YOUR ACTIONS SUGGEST THAT MAYBE YOU DON’T WANT TO DESTROY THE
HUMANS. MAYBE YOUR QUEST FOR PERFECTION IS CLOUDED BY SOME REMNANTS OF A
HUMAN SOUL.”

Axis smiled. “NEED I REMIND YOU THAT YOU EXIST ONLY BECAUSE I WILL IT? NEED
I REMIND YOU THAT I ALONE AM THE KEY TO THE BORG’S SALVATION?”

“SALVATION!?” she started to laugh. “THESE ARE THE WORDS OF A HUMANOID.”

‘Why would she speak such blasphemy?’ he thought to himself. ‘How could she
question his loyalty to his children?’ He could not let this go on much
further.

Before she could speak another word, he wrenched his powerful hand around
her neck and pulled her close.

He smiled… “THEY ARE MY WORDS, MY QUEEN.” …and pushed her away. “DO NOT
QUESTION ME AGAIN.”

The Queen lured at him. And for the first time since the Axis EXPERIMENT was
brought to fuition, she thought to herself. ‘What have I done?’

Axis continued to run his calculations…

‘ANALYSIS INCONCLUSIVE…’

————————————————————————

ACT 1: LEGEND OF THE BORG SLAYERS

WAR JOURNAL: COMMANDER CY HANNES RECORDING…
We’ve successfully navigated through Borg-Theta space and are now
circling around Borg-Gamma territory. We picked up an automated
signal an hour ago that the Vulcan Resistance wing has fallen.
That can only mean that Axis has annexed 2 more systems in
resistance space. If we’re lucky, the Helix will hold together
long enough for us to make it back the to Headquarters. As for the
stranger Kyle K’Nar, the Captain believes that he could hold the
key to finally putting the Borg on the defensive. END TRANSMITTION

In the briefing room, Mia watched Kyle pace the room and recount Team
Helix’s battle with Axis.

“…and then I felt this tugging in my stomach. The next thing I knew, you
and the one-eyed giant were waking me. And that’s it.” Kyle finished leaning
on a near by table.

Mia was puzzled. “Do you have any idea why that happened?

Kyle shook his head. “Not a clue. It’s as if the entire universe was pulled
from right under my feet and I didn’t go with it.”

“Well, let me tell you, from what you’ve told me of you’re world, you’ve
pretty much stumbled into hell.” She slowly got up and made her way to the
window.

She had her back to him, but Kyle could see the sorrow on her face from her
reflection.

“Yeah, I guess this alpha quadrant isn’t fairing so well, huh?” he asked.

She tried to force a smile for the stranger. “That’s an understatement. From
what little history text we still have, it seems the Borg have ruled this
end of space for almost four centuries. Our forefathers did their best to
fight them off, but they forced their way in until every non-cyborg lifeform
was surrounded by their assimilated planets.” She found her way back to her
chair. “Sure, we’ve won a few in the past decades. But for every victory we
got, we’ve lost ten more.” Her gaze met his. “We’re only delaying the
inevitable. ”

“Inevitable, huh?” Kyle replied with a smile. “Well, let me tell you about a
woman I know—my best friend, actually. You see, she came from a universe
where the Borg invaded and took over Alpha Quadrant too. And for seven
years, she and her crew fought them. With every loss she suffered, she
fought back twice as hard. In the end, she beat them.” Mia’s gazed now
showed interest as Kyle continued. “Not with raw strength, or power, or
weapons… But with the will and courage to win. One little ship and a crew
of three managed to stopped the Borg.”

Mia smiled. “And who the hell is this incredible female warrior?”

Kyle smiled. “Her name was Mia Gan An’War of the Starship Helix— probably
one of the most incredible women I’ve ever come across in by seven
lifetimes.”

Mia watched him in silence. She could see in his eyes— the way he looked at
her, that he had an immense amount of respect and faith in her. She’d known
this man for less than an hour and yet he seemed to trust her body and soul.

“You see…” he concluded. “…I don’t care where I am. I’ve sworn my
allegiance to this woman because I know, in her heart, she’d give her life
for her crew and the cause. And I will follow her until my dying days… in
any universe.”

Mia wiped her face with her hands. “Wow. That was… one hell of a speech.”

“Thank you.” He said.

She smiled. “When did you write it?”

He smiled. “Last week.” They laughed. “Mia was gonna skip out on a poker
game we had scheduled with the Klingons. But, I think it applies right
now… and I still mean every word of it.”

He slid his hand across the conference table and she took it in hers.

“Very well, Kyle K’Nar, Motivation Speaker extrordinaire. You win. What’s
our next move?”

He thought or a second. “I don’t know, Boss. But the fact that I’m still
here means that restoring my timeline isn’t completely improbable. If we can
find a way to use that, we could stop all this from happening before it even
started.”

“Sounds good to me.” Mia rose from her seat and walked to the window once
more. We should reach headquarters inside of a day. When we arrive, you and
the science team can maybe come up with something…. knock on wood.”

————————————————————————

The U.S.S. Atlantis’ warp nacelles slowly heated themselves to a bright blue
glow. As the Intrepid-Class starship picked up speed, it slowly became
translucent and then transparent.

“Sir,” the chief engineer’s voice called out to Commodore Dimitri
Andreyevich over the com-system. “Minimal warp power has been restored, and
the cloak is functioning within normal parameters.”

“Good job, Zam.” He replied with enthusiasm. “See what you can do with the
weapons systems next.”

“Already on it, Sir. I’ll have a progress report within the hour. Poldegin
out.”

Dimitri next turned his attention to rest of his Senior Staff gathered in
the conference room. Everyone had been working overtime on putting together
the situation and finding the best solution. “Alright people, where do we
stand?”

Lt. Shelly Casey saw the apprehension in the rest of the room. It was
obvious that fear was running rampant in the room, and as the acting 1st
officer, she had to do her best to manage it.

She stood and walked to view screen. “Well, first the bad news. We’re not in
Kansas anymore. Lt. Saar and Ensign Antonia have been studying long-range
scans for the past four hours at my request.” She accessed a file on the
view screen. “What they found was this…” On the screen the image of
several spherical space crafts slowly traveling through space. “From what we
can tell, they can’t be anything else than Borg ships.” The silence in the
room was taken up by alarmed whispers.

Ensign Antonia reluctantly took her place alongside Shelly and continued.
“Our first thought was some type of invasion attack. But we scanned for
buoys and subspace transmissions and… any type of dibris or technology we
could use as a reference point. But there were none.”

“What’s the prognosis?” Lt. David Gerard asked.

Shelly looked at him. “Somehow, someway our universe has been totally
rewritten. Even small subspace anomalies Starfleet had catalogued in this
area are missing.”

Krag. The Nausican Chief Security Officer grew impatient. “Then we go back
in time and put it back the way it was! This ship is a time machine! Let us
use it!”

“It’s not that simple.” Kollos, the Timewarp navigator replied. “The
time-jump system uses a complex mathematical equation to obtain precise
navigation between time periods. Unfortunately for us, the equation has
mysteriously changed.”

“How can that be?” Dimitri asked.

“I don’t have a clue. There’s an infinite number of constants in the
universe— normalities which the mathematical equation’s foundation is built
on. I’ve run two hundred simulations using the available information and
they’ve all failed miserably.”

“Then if the universe has changed, why are we still here?” Dimitri asked his
next question.

Lt. Gerard answered. “It had to be the shields. During our last mission when
we traveled back in time to Vulcan, we took on a lot of damage navigating
through that asteroid field. In order to bring the damaged shields back
online, we had to partly use the Timewarp engines. We didn’t get a chance to
fix it before leaving space dock on this mission. By using the Timewarp
engines to power the shields, a temporal layer of energy must’ve been used
to reinforce the deflector shields— in essence, pulling us outside of time
for that brief moment.”

At that moment everyone in the room stopped and stared at David.

“What?” David replied. “Can’t I have an answer in temporal physics for
once?”

Shelly smiled. “You’ve been hangin’ out with Kollos again, haven’t you?”

“Well, he’s the only one that’ll play checkers with me…”

Kollos smiled.

“O.K.. Back the to the problem, please.” Dimitri said. “We’ve covered the
dismal situation. Now, let’s swing it over toward solutions.” He slowly
stood up and walked to the view screen and turned it off. “The floor is open
for theories, hypotheses, and even cocomamy ideas, if you have them.”

Kollos leaned back in his chair. “Well, the most obvious solution lies in
the mathematical equation for the Timewarp system. In order to do anything,
we’re gonna have to rewrite the equation pertaining to this universe.”

“And how long is that gonna take?” Shelly asked.

“I’d say… about twenty, thirty years— maybe fifteen with David’s help.”

David grinned, then turned his attention to Dimitri. “We have all the
elements required to develop the equation. But the computers onboard aren’t
fast enough or powerful enough to create them in a considerable time.”

“None the less, get started on them.” Dimitri ordered. “Anything else?”

“Since the cloak is operational, I’d like to run long range surveillance
scans on the Borg.” Krag offered. “I will need to formulate new
contingencies for possible attacks.”

Dimitri agreed and then turned to the ship’s counselor. “Sept, what is the
crew’s status?”

Sept Midron, an El-Aurian thought for a second. “There are so many rumors
running the ship, that a lot of the crew are frightened of the unknown.
Also, the lack of mourning for the crew that has died has left them a bit
unbalanced. I recommend you deliver a ship-wide address to brief them on the
situation and acknowledge our losses.”

“I’ll do it after the meeting.” Dimitri replied. He then scanned over his
Senior Staff and realized the uneasy silence meant the briefing was over. He
knew he had to send them off with words of encouragement and wisdom, but he
had always been terrible with speeches.

He had to wing it. “Alright people. I know this whole situation seems to be
catastrophic. But this is exactly what this ship and crew, were made for.
And I hand-picked each of you to handle situations like these. Together, we
can find the solution— we can restore the timeline. We just need to get pass
the fear and apprehension within all of us to accomplish the mission. I have
faith in everyone in this room and on this ship.” He stood up and cast one
last, long glance at all of them. “Now, go and do what you best.”

The holy man named Jerobi was the first to see them approaching. As the
elected leader of his human refugee camp on Asteroid-16476, it was his job
to make sure his parishioners were protected from the Borg cleansing quads,
which ran rampant in their section of space.

But as he watched the squad of five Borg drones approaching over the rocky
plains a few hundred kilometers away, he realized that this time, he may be
too late.

He quietly made his way back for the camp, making sure the Borg sensors did
not detect his movement. For a pudgy man of 67 years, he was quite agile,
navigating through small caverns and climbing large dunes with ease.

As he entered the camp, he quickly found his son running behind in his
evacuation duties.

“Corann!” Jerobi called out. “Why are there still people here?”

Corann glanced at the his father only for a moment. “The transport fleet in
orbit had to cloak for a few moments. Three Borg Scout Spheres have taken
orbit on the other side of the asteroid.”

“They just landed over the ridge! I just saw a squad coming this way! We
need to make sure these people are transported aboard safely. We’ll have to
do without the supplies.”

Corann nodded and shuffled the remaining refugees to the transport pads,
when the first disrupter blast destroyed a large container. The refugees
screamed in fear and scattered as the Borg drones entered the camp.

“Get the people to safety!” The Jerobi yelled as he grabbed a tattered
phaser rifle and started the shoot wildly at the approaching drones. The
Borg with the energy weapon was hit in the face and staggered back over a
pile of containers. The others quickly adapted to the phaser’s frequency and
centered their attentions on the holy man. Jerobi flipped the rifle over and
wielded it like a club, swinging violently and hitting anyone who came close
to him. The Borg surrounded him, trying to find the best way to reach the
human.

‘By the Prophets, at least the others will make it to safety’ he thought to
himself just as one of the drones behind him managed to catch him in the
back of the head with a wild swing. Jerobi fell to his knees as the mob of
cyborgs closed in on him.

He closed his eyes and waited for the final blow which would end his life.

“Keep your eyes closed!” Jerobi suddenly heard someone call out from his
left side.

The Borg stopped their assault and look toward a figure which had appeared
on top of the closest ridge. They didn’t notice the small marble-sized ball
which the man had tossed, prior to speaking. The small orb hit the ground
and rolled to the feet of the closest drone. Suddenly the orb opened and
released an energy pulse which washed over the entire camp site. Jerobi felt
nothing, but the Borg, the phaser rifle—every piece of technology on the
site suddenly erupted in flames and sparks. The Borg drones began to
convulse violently and stagger away until their synthetic parts were
completely shorted out. One by one, the fell to the campsite floor.

The mysterious figure made his way down the ridge and into the camp. When
Jerobi opened his eyes, he found the young bald, black man offering his hand
to him. The holy man took it and was pulled to his feet.

“What has happened?” Jerobi asked, still shaken from the incident.

“Chrono Phase Grenade.” the man said going off to investigate the fallen
drones. “It sends out a pulse that disables any type of unprotected
technology in the area.”

“My… people?” the holy man scanned the area..

“They’re fine.” the man responded kneeling beside a drone. “Their safely
aboard the transport and waiting to join the rest of the fleet. I told your
son I’d get you there before their departure. As soon as the residual pulse
energy dies off. you can transport up safely.”

Jerobi wiped his face with his trembling hands. “Then we owe you our lives,
stranger.”

“Beckett…” the man said looking up. “Eric Beckett. And you owe me nothing.
Just concentrate on getting those people to safety.”

It took Jerobi a few seconds to recognize the name and to understand truly
to had saved him. “By the Prophets…” he whispered to himself, with a grin.
“Beckett? You are the Borg Slayer?” he asked with a crackling feebleness in
his voice. He stared at the youthful man as he inspected the drones with a
technique which could have only come from experience. He had killed many
Borg before. Jerobi knew he had to be the chosen warrior prophesied to lead
his biological races in the destruction of the Borg Empire.

Eric Beckett sighed. “The Slayer is a myth. I’m a resistance fighter, like
all the rest.” he replied nonchalantly as he looked for the right body to
plunder. The last body he examined looked like all the rest, but he could
tell there was a slight difference to the one which held the energy weapon.
“Jackpot!”

Eric plunged his hand into the dead Borg’s stomach and rummaged through its
mesh of circuitry and internal organs. Every few seconds he had to pause and
catch his breath due to the sharp pain in his chest. He knew some of his
ribs had been broken in his skirmish with other drones a half hour before.
When a drone swung it’s elongated arm into him, it propelled him at least
ten feet. But he didn’t have time to think about it. Commander Chapel said
he needed specific information if the resistance was going to pull off their
latest assault.

“What are you doing to it?” Jerobi asked.

Eric looked up at him as he continued to fish in the drone’s chest. “Borg
‘Worker Drones’ are easy to come by, but ‘Sentry Drones’ are rare. They’re
used to route specific battle processes the to the lower ranks. I’ve been
tracking this one for about five weeks. It’s the first time he’s been
separated from his ship.”

Slowly, Eric pulled out the Sentry’s neural processor, hoping not to damage
the intricate circuitry. “According to my Commanding Officer, this
processing chip should contain the Collective’s vital information on fleet
deployment and battle strategy.”

Jerobi started to smile. “You’re planning to go on the offensive. You’re
gonna strike at the heart of the Borg?”

Eric grinned. “That’s the plan.” At that moment, a timer on his tricorder
went off. “It looks like the area is clear now. You can transport to your
ship.”

Jerobi nodded. “What about you?”

“I’m taking one of their Scout Spheres. It should get me through Borg space
without any harm.”

Jerobi made his way to the transporter platform. “Then I bid you a safe
journey, Eric Beckett. May the Prophets guide you to victory.” the holy man
said as the transporter signal washed over his body.

Eric waved goodbye until the man’s signal was gone and went back to work. He
took the neural processor, plugged it into his tricorder and started to
download the data.

He then stood and looked up to watch the refugee transport leave orbit and
push in the warp.

“Safe journey, Jerobi…”

————————————————————————

PERSONAL JOURNAL: COMMANDER KYLE K’NAR RECORDING…
It’s been almost a day since I’ve awaken in this… new world. Mia
has activated me as the new Chief Tactical Officer for the Helix.
Unfortunately, according to the damaged reports we’ve tallied in
the past few hours, this position may be short-lived. By far, the
Helix has outlived its usefulness. No doubt, whoever’s in charge
will recommend she be put out of her misery–and I can’t say I’d
disagree.

We’ve just arrived at the Resistance HQ, which rests in the nebula
that in my universe was named The Badlands. It seems that more
than a few people are curious about my arrivaL. END TRANSMITTION

Chief Commander Chapel stood at the airlock entrance awaiting the arrival of
the Helix. The last report he had received from other ships a day before
said the Helix had been incinerated in a blinding explosion. Apparently is
was the unstable ‘fold system’ which must have transported the Helix to
safety.

The airlock opened with a thundering slam and Mia entered onto the base,
followed by Dr. Holluke, Commander Cy and the stranger.

“Captain, welcome back.” Chapel said with a nod.

“I wish I was returning under better circumstances.” Mia replied as Cy and
Dr Holluke left the area. “We’re all that’s left of the crew aboard.”

“Well, they didn’t die in vain. The sensor array you attacked was slightly
damaged. We had a good 3 hours of access to their network.” He turned his
attention to the stranger.

Kyle offered his hand. “Kyle K’Nar at your service, Sir.”

They quickly shook hands and the three of them left the area.

As they made their way to the Operations Center, Kyle studied the corridors
and architecture. He knew he had recognized the place. He had been their a
couple times before, only under different circumstances.

“I see you’re admiring our station.” Chapel said.

“Yes sir.” Kyle replied. “In my universe, it was a Cardassian mining
facility called Tarok Nor.”

“You’re close.” Mia answered. “This is Empok Nor. The Tarok station was
destroyed before we could take control of it. The Cardassians use to use
these as military fueling stations before they became extinct.”

When they entered the Ops Center, the entire station crew stood and
applauded the arrival of Mia. Obviously, her operation to cripple the Borg
array and save the rest of the fleet had become a moment for the history
books. She nodded in gratification, then she followed Chapel and Kyle into
the Commander’s Office.

As the door swung close behind them, Chapel quickly started to brief Team
Helix on the latest events.

“O. K., what’s the bad news?” Mia asked.

Chapel smiled. “Fortunately, I think we have some good news for a change.”
He started to access his computer files as Kyle and Mia crowded behind him.
“During our access to the crippled Borg array, we download 72 gigaquads of
coded information. We knew it was useful information, but we didn’t know how
to unscramble the encryption codes. That is, until we got the transmission
from Eric.”

Mia was startled. “The Slayer’s still alive?”

“Apparently, the reports of his death were greatly exaggerated.” Chapel
access more data. “Seven hours ago, he was able to apprehend a Sentry
Drone’s neural processor. With it, we were able to decipher the array data.”
On the screen, a bunch of random symbols suddenly became and standard binary
transmission. “The data from the array was actually a fleet deployment
protocol sent from the devil himself.”

“Axis?” Kyle whispered.

“The one and only. It seems there have been a host of unidentified space
crafts which have appeared in the Delta Quadrant. They seem to posses
technology as advanced as the Collective and they’ve been randomly attacking
Borg ships quadrant-wide. The data suggests there are three crafts en route
toward the Alpha Quadrant.”

“Any idea what they are?” Kyle asked.

“No. the image data was corrupted so we don’t have a visual.”

Mia started to pace. “Do you think they could be allies? Maybe some remnant
species like the Hirogens, or the Tak Tak have found a way to go on the
offensive.”

Chapel shook his head. “We don’t know and frankly, I don’t care.” He
accessed the fleet deployment data. “The only thing that interests me is the
fact that Axis has pulled ships out of the Borg-Prime sector. This report
says that he’s delegated 42% of his fortification fleet to intercept the
unknown invaders.”

Mia smiled. “Axis is vulnerable. But how can we use this to our advantage?”

Chapel accessed more data. “Here’s your answer, Captain.” An astral
projection of the galaxy appeared above Chapel’s desk. “Eric also found this
in the Drone’s neural processor. As you know, we’ve always existed on the
defensive because we’ve never been able to locate a prime target to attack.
This is because the Borg erected a giant Subspace Disruption Field to mask
the location of their massive transmission network. Since the network buoys
are ‘self-replicating’, there’s never been a way of taking down the
network–until now.” The galaxy map zoomed into the area of space labeled
Sector 001. “Ladies and gentlemen, you are looking at the heart and soul of
the Borg Collective–The Transmission Hub.”

They all stared at the Borg facility which looked like a small moon
comprised of Borg technology.

Chapel continued. “According to the data, the Borg have become totally
reliant on this Hub to link the entire species. If we can find a way to
destroy it–at least disable it, we could totally crash the Collective,
throwing them all into chaos! ”

“Wow! Is that all we have to do?” Mia said sarcastically throwing her hands
in the air. “We take a nice little trip to Borg-Prime and blow up a space
station. Why didn’t I think of that?”

Chapel grew aggravated. “That’s enough, Captain. I didn’t say it was gonna
be cake-walk, but it’s a hell of a lot better than what we’ve had!” he
turned his attention back to the hologram. “The Hub is protected by a shield
which emanates from a large platform in orbit around it. The plan is to beam
a small team aboard the platform. Utilizing the new data, they implant a
command virus to overload the shielding system. If this telemetry is
correct, the resulting effect with scorch the Hub, bring it
offline–hopefully, long enough for us to do some damage.”

Mia wiped her face. “With all due respect, Sir. What you’re proposing is
impossible.”

Chapel smiled. “You’ve been known to do the impossible on more than one
occasion, Captain. You’ll just have to help me pull another rabbit out of my
hat.” He stood and went to stand next to her. “In the forty years since I
picked up my first phaser for the cause, we’ve always been fighting on the
run. We’ve never had anything resembling an advantage. We got to make this
work, Mia. We’ve got to find a way to get the fleet to Borg-Prime, disable
the Hub and get back safely.”

She grimaced and looked over at Kyle. “Piece of cake.”

————————————————————————

Commodore Andreyevich glanced over the latest progress report from
Lieutenant Gerard on the development of the universal equation.

David paced the floor in front of him. “We’ve tried every bypass we can
think of to speed up the process. But there are too many variables in the
mathematics. For every short cut we theorize, it brings up an infinite
number of improbabilities.”

“What would happen if we disregarded the safety factors in this
equation–hypothesize an equation without simulations and variable
contingencies?”

David sighed. “Without an equation, we wouldn’t have a defined ‘exit-point’
outside the time barrier. There’s 99.9% chance that we’d get lost within the
time stream– probably forever.”

“So I guess that’s not an option.”

“No.”

“This is not what I wanted, David.” Dimitri said frustrated. “I got to get
my people home, and whether you like it or not, you and Kollos are our only
chance.”

David rubbed his tired eyes. “Well, we have come up with a far fetched
solution. But it’s so far out of our reach, that I wasn’t going to bring it
up.”

“Give it to me.”

“Well…” David started, trying to make it sound a rational as possible. “Our
achilles heel in the situation is a lack of technology. The only way to
remedy that would be to procure enough computer power the finish the
equation. And the only people in this universe that we know of with that
power, would be….”

Dimitri found his way back to his seat. “The Borg? You’re telling me our
only option is to use a bunch of Borg computers to finish the equation?”

Before David could answer the question, the hail signal sounded. “Lt. Casey
to the Commodore?” she voice called out.

“Go ahead.” He answered.

“Sir, I think you should come to the bridge. There’s something you need to
see.”

————————————————————————

Inside of a minute, Dimitri and David entered the bridge to find the entire
bridge crew huddled around Krag’s tactical station.

Shelly was the first to notice them. “Whatever we’re planning to do, we
better get to it quick.”

“Show me…” Dimitri said as he looked at what everyone else was staring at.

Krag pulled the transmission to the beginning which started with an image of
spaced. “This is the last transmission from the long range probe I sent out
a couple hours ago.” Suddenly, the screen jumped to the point where three
Borg cubes appeared and tractored in the probe. The screen then when blank.
“The last sensor data specified that the three Borg cubes changed their
course and are now en route to intercept us.”

Dimtri made his way back to the command seat. “Did the probe detect anywhere
we can go? Maybe other species we can ally ourselves with?”

Krag responded. “None, sir. According the probes sensor readings, 100% of
the life we’ve detected has been Borg.”

The Commodore turned to David. “Get back to Kollos and keep working on that
equation. Maybe you’ll stumble onto something.”

The Lieutenant nodded and quickly left.

Dimitri then hailed engineering. “Zam, respond.”

“Zam here.” The Chief Engineer answered back.

“We’re gonna need the cloak working at 100% efficiency.” he looked up and
Shelly who had walked over to stand at his side. “We’re gonna have guests…”

————————————————————————

ACT II: THE PATH OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

Empok Nor sat nestled in the Badlands, wedged between several stable plasma
storms. The resistance science team had found a way to utilize the station’s
subspace field technology to use the storms as a powerful defense barrier.

Inside Mia, Kyle and the head Engineer, Michael Briggs worked on the Helix
which had sustained an immense amount of damage. Michael tried to tell Mia
that the best thing to do would have been to scrap the ship and use the
parts to repair the more capable ships. But the Captain insisted that her
ship still had a few good fights left in her. And everyone on the station
knows whatever Mia wants, Mia gets.

“There…” Michael said giving Mia the Helix’s progress report on a message
pad. “I’ve reinforced the hull’s secondary ablatve armor and replaced as
many vital systems as I could. The Nano-repair system is pretty much fried,
your automated weapons systems are gutted and the three lower desks aren’t
fit for life support.”

Mia sighed. “Then what the hell do I have?”

Michael paused. ‘Well, she’s space-worthy.” He smiled but Mia didn’t return
the sentiment. “O.K. The Protomatter has been put aboard with 17 containment
fields as you ordered. You have a full compliment of quantum torpedoes, your
sensors and warp systems are at full capacity. The gauntlet deflector shield
should work if needed, and the cloak should hold together for a few hours….”

“And the Fold System should be operational.” Kyle called out as he found his
way to them. “At least… I think so.”

“You fixed the Fold-System?” Mia asked surprise.

“I don’t know.” Kyle responded pulling out a mini tricorder from his pocket.
“According to this thing, everything I did should make it work. Mia… well
‘my’ Mia’s been teaching me the mechanics of the Helix over the past year.
She says I don’t do enough, so I’ve been commission a junior engineer in
training. This tricorder has my full training curriculum.”

Mia stared at him. “So you’ve had this thing all along? Any reason why you
didn’t open your mouth before?”

Kyle smirked. “I’m sorry! I guess this ‘thrown into another universe’ thing
kind of side-tracked me!”

Michael took the tricorder and started to analyze the data. “Interesting.”
He said excitedly. “The Fold System schematics on this thing are completely
radical!”

“The original Team Helix procured it from Borg technology and implemented it
into the ship. It’s never been reliable, so we’ve been trying different
modifications with it.”

“I’ve haven’t seen theoretical equations like this since we were working
on….” Michael’s eyes widened as he looked up at Mia. “…the Slip Drive.”

Kyle watched as the two resistance fighters locked eyes. “That’s what Mia
use to call it, I believe.”

“Do you think it’s possible?” Mia asked Michael.

“The methods in the two systems are slightly different, but we may be able
to find a medium between the two–a compatible hybrid.” He turned to Kyle.
“You think you got the time to lend me a hand?”

Kyle nodded with a smile. “Sure thing. But most of the stuff in that
tricorder are alien to me. I just follow the cirrocumuli.”

“Good enough.” Michael replied as they both quickly headed for the
engineering deck.

————————————————————————

The small metallic sphere had been cruising as Warp 8.5 for roughly three
hours. It took Eric Beckett and hour earlier to figure out how to activate
it. The navigation panel used the Borg’s fingertips as conduits to deliver
flight orders directly to the computer. After that hour of pondering, he was
able to amputate one of the drone’s hands, and supply information to the
computer using his tricorder.

He’d just began to sit back and take a breather when, what he believed to be
the sensor detector sprang to life. He quickly consulted his tricorder to
translate the data being patched through.

“Never a dull moment.” he whispered to himself. The tricorder showed two
large ‘Colony’ Spheres approaching from behind. “Where’s the cloak. Where’s
the damn’ cloak!” he cried trying to navigate his way through the millions
of command controls the Borg manage to access in nano-seconds.

Suddenly, there was deafening crash which rocked the ship. Eric fell forward
onto the control panel, realizing the Colony Sphere had just caught him in a
tractor beam. His viewscreen showed the massive Spheres pass overhead and
settle in the position in front of him.

‘RESPOND’ a voice called from the universal translator in Eric’s tricorder.
He froze. It was apparent the Spheres were asking for some type of
identification encryption.

‘RESPOND’ it/they asked again in a monotone, synthesized voice. Eric began
to fiddle with the tricorder, but he knew there wasn’t anything he could do.
The sensors indicated the Spheres had powered up their weapons.

‘POD-143234-A, RESPOND.”

Eric’s hand reached for the weapons controls when a series of disrupter
beams struck one of the spheres from out of his visual range. The craft
erupted into a series of explosions which made the remaining Borg sphere
release its tractor beam. But it was too late to mount a defensive. As the
first sphere toppled out of control, being torn apart by explosions, the
other was struck by the another series of firepower. The result was the
same.

Eric smiled and tried to get his ship’s navigation back online. “One day my
luck’s gonna run out, but I guess it’s not today.”

But quickly, his smiled turned to a look of puzzlement. From overhead and
both side of his viewscreen, he watched three ships of unknown origin slowly
pull into view and situate themselves exactly where the Colony Sphere as
been. Although they were unusually cubed-shape, he recognized the marking to
be unmistakably Borg.

“WE ARE THE BORG.” The monotone voice spoke. “DISARM YOUR WEAPONS AND
PREPARE TO BE BOARDED.”

Eric reached for his phaser and set it to the ‘kill’ “I have to beg the
question: What the hell is going on?”

Suddenly, three energy signatures materialized in the back of Eric’s ship.
In seconds, three Borg drones stood ten meters away from him.

He smiled. “Greetings!” and fired a series of phaser blasts. One of them
caught the front drone in the chest causing it to evaporate on the spot.
Eric fired and the remaining two drones, but quickly realized they had
adapted to the frequency.

As they began to walk toward him, one of them raised its right arm and an
electrical charge sprang forth, striking Eric in the chest. He cried out as
the electrical voltage surged through his body. He fell to his knees just as
the drone reached him.

Eric keeled over on his side. The last thing he was a drone reaching down
toward him.

He had to smile. “So much for luck…”

————————————————————————

Mia entered Chief Commander Chapel’s office to find him staring out the
window at the dancing plasma storms of the nebula. She could see his
reflection in the glass. The sorrow on his face was frightening. It was a
side of him he didn’t want his troops to see. Everyone in his resistance
cell knew the battle they’ve been waging is futile. Chapels motivational
tactics and confident demeanor were the main reason why they all haven’t
given up.

“You wanted to see me, Sir?” Mia asked softly. She saw him put on his
‘confident’ face before he turned around.

“I’m wishing for an uplifting progress report, Captain. This day hasn’t been
the best.”

Mia sighed. “What happened?”

Chapel slowly took his seat. He almost seemed to worn out. “We just got a
message from a distress buoy. The refugee convoy from the Beta Quadrant was
intercepted by Borg patrol. All seven-two ships were destroyed.”

“Sir, those ships were installed with our latest cloaking technology!
There’s no way in hell they could’ve…” she paused to catch her breath. “6200
people… slaughtered.”

“There’s nothing we could’ve done, Captain. That’s the problem.” He tapped a
button and his door slid closed. “That’s not the worst of it. Dr. Maulden
was part of that fleet. There’s no doubt the Borg knew he was the scientist
who developed the technology for us to use the plasma storms as a defense
barrier. We have to assume they assimilated him in the collective and now
they know…”

Mia gasped. “…they know out to penetrate the plasma barrier! We’re sitting
ducks!”

Chapel nodded and leaned forward. “So, if there’s any type of attacked plan
you’re developing, you better make it fast. My projections say we may have
less than a week.”

She took a few seconds to gather herself. “Umm… Kyle had a tricorder on him
with data similar to our failed Slip Drive attempts. Briggs is running
computer simulations on the prototype right now.”

Chapel stood up and headed for the door with Mia behind him. “Then I guess
we need to take trip to Engineering and let Mr. Briggs know his ‘initial
testing’ phase has been upgraded to ‘final development’.

————————————————————————

Eric Beckett awoke with a sharp headache. As he slowly opened his eyes, he
began to realize that he was no longer on the Scout Sphere headed for home.
He was now in the midst of an endless sea of drones. He had been strapped
and bound in a regenerative alcove. That is when he noticed the assortment
of tubes and circuits which were now a part of his body.

“By the Prophets, no…” he whimpered. For as long as he could remember, his
greatest fear was becoming assimilated by the Collective. They would use
everything he knew–every bit of vital information to destroy his friends and
family. And now it was coming to pass. He was going to become one with the
Borg. “I can’t let this happen.”

“UNFORTUNATELY, YOUR FEEBLE HUMAN MIND CANNOT FATHOM WHAT IS ABOUT TO TAKE
PLACE.” A voice called from the shadow.

Suddenly, the braces which bound his wrists and ankles opened and Eric went
falling to the floor. As he tried to pull himself up on wobbly legs, he
watched as a female figure strolled into the dim light. She was beautiful–
in a horrific way, he thought. There was no doubt she was Borg, but she was
different.

She walked behind him and pulled him to his feet by the waist. “THE
QUEASINESS IS FROM MODIFICATIONS WE MADE TO YOUR STRUCTURE. BRACE YOURSELF
AGAINST THE RAILING. IT WILL PASS SOON.”

“Who are you?”

“I AM BORG. THE FIRST BORG.” She replied. “BUT THE LEGENDARY ‘SLAYER’ WOULD
ALREADY KNOW THAT.” she smiled at him. “DON’T YOU ERIC?”

He glared at her. Anger and fear swelled in his eyes. “I won’t become one of
you!”

Her voice was sinister. “MY BOY, YOU ARLEADY ARE! WELL, AS LEAST ON THE
SURFACE.” She slowly circled around as if playing with her prey. “YOUR OUTER
FRAME HAS BEEN DEGENERATED TO A DEAD, RESILIENT SHELL, YOUR NEUTRAL
PROCESSES HAVE BEEN MODIFIED TO REGISTER AT A DRONE’S FREQUENCY. ANYONE WHO
WOULD SCAN YOU, WOULD REGISTERED YOU AS FOUR OF NINE, SUB-JUNCTION-D
MAINTENANCE DRONE.”

“Funny…” Eric tried to walk, but was too weak. “..I don’t feel like… one of
your minions.”

The Borg Queen shook her head. “THAT IS BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT TRULY BORG. IF
WE DID FULLY ASSIMILATE YOU, Axis WOULD HAVE CONTROL OVER YOU.” She turned
to look at the drones scurrying around. “DO YOU SEE THEM? THEY WERE
CONDUCTING EXPERIMENTS IN TEMPORAL MACHANICS WHEN Axis CREATED THE
SHOCKWAVE. THEY WERE PROTECTED FROM THE REALITY CHANGE, WHICH MEANS THEY
TAKE ORDERS FROM ME NOT Axis. THEY ARE THE TOOLS I WILL NEED TO MOVE TO THE
NEXT PHASE AND I NEED YOU BODY AND SOUL IF MY PLAN IS TO WORK.”

“And what plan is that, Witch?”

“YOU ARE GOING TO HELP ME STOP WHAT SHOULD NEVER HAD BEEN STARTED.” Her
smile became an evil stare. “ONCE I THOUGHT THAT ELEVATING HUMANS TO MY
LEVEL WOULD HELP THE BORG GROW CLOSER TO PERFECTION. BUT AFTER LOCUTUS AND
Axis, I REALIZE I WAS WRONG.” She approached Eric until they were face to
face. IN 63.2 HOURS, Axis WILL FIGURE OUT THAT HIS EXPERIMENT COULD NEVER
WORK. HE WILL REALIZE THAT THE ‘HUMAN EQUATION’ IS TOO COMPLEX AND
UNPREDICTABLE TO ANTICIPATE. WHEN HE REALIZES THIS, HE WILL HAVE ONLY ONE
OTHER CHOICE.”

“And what’s that?” he asked, finally standing on his own.

She smiled again. “IF THE BORG CANNOT REACH PERFECTION, THAN PERFECTION DOES
NOT EXIST. IF PERFECTION DOES NOT EXIST, THAN THE BORG’S EXISTANCE IS A
LIE.” She brushed his cheek gently. “IF THE BORG EXISTANCE IS A LIE, THAN
EXISTENCE IS FLAWED…. SO EXISTENCE— AND EVERYTHING IT, MUST BE DESTROYED.”

————————————————————————

WAR JOURNAL: CAPTAIN MIA GAN-AN’WAR RECORDING…
Kyle and Michael have been hard at work on the ‘Slip Drive’
modifications for roughly eight hours. Michael says it would be
impossible to have it working in a day. But I’ve known him for
almost ten years, and his technical expertise seems to rival the
Borg. If anyone can get our system up and ready for war in time,
he can.

My gut feeling was that Kyle’s appearance on the Helix a week ago
was a gift from the Prophets in our war. It looks like I was
right. The technical information he brought from his reality is
the missing piece of the puzzle. He says that in his reality,
we’re the best of friends. I believe him. He’s become our
inspiration. A glimpse of what we could’ve been–maybe what we will
become.

There’s no doubt that this will be my last journal entry. I’m
taking the Helix into battle one last time. All I ask of her is to
help me pull out a miracle like she’s done so may times for me
before–like she’s done for Alex. I will make sure that in the
future, no one will forget the name…. HELIX. END TRANSMITTION

Mia and Chapel entered the large main cargo bay which had been converted
into the Science / Engineering wing.

Lieutenant Michael Briggs saw them enter and quickly jogged over to their
side.

“How are we doing?” Chapel said with a raised eyebrow.

Michael took a deep breath. “Well, Kyle’s tricorder held all the missing
pieces we needed. Our simulations of the Slip Drive prototype have had a
89.2% success rate. And believe me, in the short time we’ve had, that’s
bordering on a miracle!”

“How long will it take to upgrade the rest of the fleet?” Mia asked.

“Upgrade the fleet?” Briggs laughed. “Lady, we haven’t even run real space
tests yet. It’ll take at least….”

Chapel butted in. “Lieutenant, listen to me. We don’t have time for more
test. In less than a day, the Borg are gonna be here.”

“By the Prophets…”

“Worst case scenario, how long will it take to equip the other ships?”

Briggs took a few seconds to think and then calculated the time on his
tricorder. “It’s not gonna happen, Sir. Nearly all of the ships have massive
damage across the board. There simply isn’t enough power to generate the
vortex.….:”

“I need the short version, Lieutenant!” Chapel said impatient.

“The only way we’re gonna be able to transport the entire fleet is two
create a giant vortex for all the ships to pass through. The only ship with
enough juice to do it is the Praxis. The bad news is that the Slip Drive
will burn out every available system, except Impulse and life support. And
once the Slip Drive activates, the system will burn itself out. This is
gonna be a one-way trip.”

Chapel turned a way and rubbed his eyes. “It doesn’t matter. There won’t be
anything to come back to. You have ten hours to make the modifications.”

Briggs nodded and quickly returned to his testing.

Chapel then turned to Mia. “We’ll use the Praxis as the vortex-channeling
vessel, which I’ll be commanding. You’re gonna be acting Fleet Commander
until we manage to get the Praxis back into the fight.” He started to walk
back toward the turbo lift. “I’ll write up the battle plan and I want you to
forward it to our people in the field. If we don’t make it back alive, I
want the rest of the resistance to continue the fight.”

————————————————————————

Kyle K’nar gazed out the large hanger window at the endless number of ships
which were rendezvousing outside.

“A bar of Latnium for your thoughts.” Mia said as she approached from behind
to stand at his side. “You look like you’re a million miles away.”

He smiled at her. “Not really. I’m just thinking about how odd this whole
‘alternative universe’ thing is.”

“What do you mean?”

“This whole thing…. It’s different, but it’s still the same. Take your
resistance fleet, for instance.” He pointed at the ships. “That ship’s an
Oberth Class starship. The one to the left is and Akira Class. Their mostly
Starfleet configurations.” He shook his head. “Sabre, Galaxy, Excelsior,
there’s even sprinkles of Klingon and Cardassian ships. I don’t get it.”

Mia grinned. “I don’t know what that’s suppose to mean, big guy. They use to
all look exactly the same. But as time went on, we had to improvise with
modifications and repairs. There’s never been any type of ‘Class’ system
with our fleet.”

“That’s the whole point.” His wiped is sweaty face. “It’s as if elements and
people were transplanted from my universe and place in this one. They were
just given different roles–as if this is some type of giant holo-program or
something.”

“Holo what?”

At that point, Kyle’s attention was drawn to a small ship which seemed to
circle around from the other side of the station and settle in front of the
window. As it turn it’s nose toward the window, he saw the name engraved to
hull… HELIX. But it wasn’t the Helix he know. The configuration was similar,
but the hull was more complex than he remembered. The old ship seemed simple
and inconspicuous. This ship was more menacing, truly worthy of it’s name.
Why would his ship be one of the only which seemed to be not from his
universe?

He started to stroll back into the hanger with Mia still beside him. “It
begs the question: Was this some mistake on the part of Axis, or is this
Alex’s way to giving me a way to stop this madness.” He turned to her with a
sigh. “Deep down, somewhere in Axis, Alex may still be conscious. If we can
find a way to get to him, I may be able to convince him to stop.”

Mia smiled. “Commander, that’s wishful thinking.”

Kyle smiled back. “Captain, from what I’ve seen so far, that’s all any of us
have.”

————————————————————————

Dimitri and the bridge crew of the U.S.S. Atlantis stared at the view screen
and held their breath. The trio of Borg cubes loomed and silence, shadowing
the cloaked starship from the nearby sun. They tried to slowly maneuver away
from the incoming cubes by staying cloaked and venturing away at warp 1. But
each time, the Borg would change their course to match the Atlantis.

Krag suggested that the damage warp nacelles were venting plasma which
couldn’t be masked by the cloak. His recommendation was to drop out of warp
and play possum. All now essential systems were shut down to lower their
power signature and push more energy to the cloak. As Krag stared at the
cube, which even made him tremble, he realized that his recommendation may
have been a mistake.

” Antonia, what are they up to?” Dimitri asked.

The Ensign pilot checked the sensors. “They’re running modified anti-proton
scans on the area.”

“Have they reached us?”

“Yes Sir. They’ve scanned our area twice.”

Dimitri turned to Krag. “Are we set?”

The Nausican nodded. “The contingencies are in place, though untested. I
hope we aren’t forced the implement them.”

“That makes two of…”

Suddenly, the ship was struck with a large jolt.

Dimitri staggered back to his seat. “What the hell happened?”

Lieutenant Casey responded. “We been caught in a tractor beam by one of the
cubes! The other two and approaching!”

It’s now or never.” Dimitri signaled the Krag. “Do your magic.”

Krag initiated his countermeasures with lightning quickness. “Protocol One!”

He began to rotate the shield harmonics to random settings. At the same
time, four quantum torpedo were launched at the cube tractor beam source.
But the cube was quicker. It caught each torpedo with a disrupter shot
before they got near.

Dimtri knew their first attempt would fail. “Contingency number two, Mr.
Krag.”

Krag tapped his combadge. “Zam! I need the power, now!”

“Everything looks fine.” Chief Engineer Poldegin replied. “Go for it.”

“Initiating Phase-cloak!”

A fine red mist washed over the U.S.S. Atlantis. At that moment, the ships
appearance became transparent and the Borg’s tractor beam passed directly
through the ship.

“The cloak is holding! The ship is free!” Krag yelled.

“Antonia, get us out of here.” Commander Shelly order.

The Atlantis turned a full 180 degrees; and started to pull away when the
Borg’s green tractor beam turned a deep blue and homed in the cloaked ship.

“What’s happening?” Shelly asked.

Krag slammed his fists on the console. “They’ve managed to counter-act the
phase! We’re caught again! Firing all weapons!!”

The melee of torpedoes and phaser beams sprang for the Atlantis and washed
over the Borg cube with no effect. The other remaining cubes quickly
surrounded the starship and applied their own tractor beams.

A series of drones suddenly appeared on the bridge. One of them raised it’s
hands for Dimitri.

The Commodore reached for his hand phaser, but Krag was already in motion.
He fired two shots simultaneously which caught the drone in the face and
chest. It fell to the floor just as Krag turned and fired at the other two
behind him. To his dismay, they had adapted to the frequencies quickly. He
lunged for one, but was caught in the face with a swinging forearm.

He fell to the floor unconscious.

Everyone else rose to their feet to engage the enemy, when Dimitri took
charge. “Everyone, hold your positions!”

While the bridge crew responded to his order, he stood and slowly approached
the nearest drone, who he could tell use to be a female Klingon. The
Commodore waved his arms, urging his crew to back away from the enemy.

“My name is Commodore Dimitri Andreyevich. We will not give up our ship.
I’ve set a silent auto-destruct sequence. In five minutes, this ship will be
destroyed.”

The drone slowly approached him and then spoke. “WE ARE THE BORG. YOU WILL
CEASE ALL STRUGGLES AGAINST US AND PREPARE TO BE BOARDED.” It looked down at
the unconscious Nausican and then slowly, back up at the Commodore.
“RESISTENCE IS FUTILE.”

————————————————————————

WAR JOURNAL: CHIEF COMMANDER CHAPEL RECORDING…
With the help of Captain Gan’An-War, we have mobilized the fleet
and are ready to get underway. Although we are greatly behind
schedule, I’m betting we will make the jump to the Slip Stream
before the Borg reach us. May the Prophets guide our mission to
victory. END TRANSMITTION

“Captain on the bridge!” First Officer Cole yelled as Chapel entered the
control room of the battleship Praxis.

“As you were.” He responded heading for his commander chair. “What’s our
status, Mr. Cole?”

“We’ve received battle confirmation from 251 ships. All ships on standby.”

“Good. Patch me through to the Helix.”

In a few seconds, Mia face appeared in the viewscreen. “We’re ready on this
end, Sir.” She called out.

“Good.” Chapel stood and walked to the screen. Once we execute the jump, you
are to take temporary command of the fleet. If Briggs was correct, the
Praxis should be in bad shape by the time the fun begins.”

“Understood. I recommend you drop out of the stream prematurely. Try and get
yourself together and then join the party.”

“You read my mind, Captain.” He said with a smile.

Suddenly , the Science Station started to go crazy. Cole quickly made his
way the console to investigate. “Sir, the nebula parameter sensors have
picked up a massive transwarp signature.” His voice faltered. “It’s the
Borg.”

“Red Alert!”

————————————————————————

Aboard the Helix, Kyle’s sensors registered the same signature.

“Captain, we’ve got company!” he called out.

Mia turned to her first officer. “Cy, get the fleet moving, maximum impulse!
Tell Briggs and Anderson to drop their attack wings to the back for….”

“I got the Borg fleet on visual!” Kyle said.

Onscreen, they looked like a swarm of spherical locusts. The giant wave of
silver orbs descended on the abandoned Resistance headquarters. It’s
auto-defensive systems automatically activated and unleashed a melee of
photon torpedoes and phaser file on the swarm. But the small orbs weaved and
bobbed thought the supressing fire, totally engulfing the station one wave
of a thousand disrupter beams. The station was destroyed in a matter of
seconds.

And that’s when Mia saw the giant swarm change course and close in on the
slow Resistance fleet.

“Kyle, what’s their time to intercept?”

The tactical officer replied. “One minute, fifteen seconds.”

“And our time to the vortex?”

He slammed his on the console. “Two minutes, thirteen seconds. We’re not
gonna make it.”

“Like hell…” Mia replied. She accessed the communications control on her
armchair. “Captain. Gan’AnWar to Briggs.”

Chief Engineer Michael Briggs appeared on the viewscreen. “Briggs here.”

“You see them coming?”

“Yes ma’am. What are your orders.”

“You’re gonna assume command of the fleet. I’m pulling the Helix out to
engage them.”

“One ship against that swarm. You won’t last a minute in there!”

“True, but all the fleet needs is a few seconds.”

Briggs shook his head. “I can’t let you do that, Mia. You’re part of the
battle specs, and this mission is too important. Anderson and I are the
‘Cover-Wings’. We’re pulling out of the fleet and engaging the Borg. It’s
the only way…”

Before Mia could answer, the viewscreen’s aft-view showed twenty starship
blossom out from the fleet and reverse course.

“Briggs to son-of-a…” she wanted to go after him, but she realized that he
was right. There was no time for saving friends from danger–not anymore. All
that mattered the fight ahead. They were all gonna die soon enough. The only
question was what would be left after they were gone? Their sacrifice had to
give the human race another chance at freedom.

“Kyle…” she said in a stern, commanding voice. “Move us alongside the
Praxis. And when she drops out of the stream, move us to front position.”

She watched the aft-view and the twenty ships she had let go totally overran
by the Borg. The small orbs sliced through the Resistance attack wings in a
matter of seconds. But it was enough to stall them.

The huge battle barge known as the Praxis slowed to halt. It’s four warp
nacelles dimmed and the ship began to shake violently. Suddenly a massive
bubble of energy expanded outward until the entire fleet of 200+ ships were
engulf. And just as the small Borg cubes entered weapons range and began to
fire feverishly, the bubble flashed the bright bluish luminance and then
disappeared.

————————————————————————

ACT III: CRY HAVOK…

Borg-Prime was nestled in the Milky Way– in a system, which should have been
called Sector 001. Normally there would be so may Borg crafts stationed
there, it would be almost impossible to maneuver through. But this time, it
was different. A significant amount of Axis’ defenses were diverted to
engaging the unknown marauders from the Delta Quadrant. If there was any
chance in a direct assault, the resistance had to strike now.

Just outside of the array’s defenses, an enormous temporal gate opened. From
within, an onslaught of quantum torpedoes emerged and rained down on
anything in the immediate area. They were programmed to seek out any Borg
signatures in the area and lock on. Nearly all the projectiles found theirs
marks just as over two hundred Resistance ship came through the gate. They
quickly scattered like a swarm and began to attack the smaller, quicker Borg
spheres.

Within the chaos flying back and forth, a badly under-powered Helix slipped
past the defending Borg spheres and headed for the defense platform.

————————————————————————

Deep within the main section of the defense platform, three transporter
signatures materialized along a narrow catwalk. Mia, Kyle and Cy stood
facing opposite directions–their phasers ready. The inside was similar to
all other Borg facilities, Mia thought to herself. And she would know, being
one of the few people to escape their clutches numerous times.

“Tell me again why this was a good idea?” Cy said staring at the hundreds of
Borg drones in their alcoves.

“I never said it was.” Mia replied turning to Kyle.

“Oh. My mistake. Where are we?”

The Trill warrior analyzed his tricorder readings. “We’re on level 231,
sub-junction 11: Defensive Systems.” He grinned. “Jackpot.”

“We haven’t accomplished the mission yet. Which way now?”

Kyle showed her the data. “We take the door there. Twenty kilometers west,
six hundred kilometers north.”

They cautiously followed Kyle, keeping a careful eye on the endless line of
drones in their alcoves. They knew if they didn’t appear to be a threat,
they should make it to their destination without any problems. Kyle’s mind
went back to that day he and Alex infiltrated the Borg artifact–the day Alex
was reborn as Axis. The similarities between that day and the current
situation were too strange to be a coincidence.

Within a few minutes, they reached a large sliding door.

“Defense Operations is behind this door.” Kyle said.

“Cy, do your thing.” Mia ordered.

The cyclops quickly opened his backpack and pulled out a host of tools.
“I’ve never done this with Borg technology so I’d advise everyone to stand
back.” He said igniting a small phaser torch and slowly cutting around the
access panel.

Mia leaned over her first officer’s shoulder and watched his handy-work.
“We’re already running behind. Can’t you do that any faster?”

“Stop backseat hacking, woman! You know I hate it when you….”

Before Cy could finish his ranting, he heard the sound of Kyle’s phaser
rifle powering up. He and Mia stood and turned to see what Kyle had notice.
Far in the distance, one of the drones had detached itself from its alcove
and now silently stood staring at them. And then two more detached
themselves, follow my three more, and then four more….

“So much for making ‘nice-nice’!” Kyle said as he opened fire on the
activated drones. Fortunately, he set his rifle to a wide dispersal pattern
which caught the entire group in two to three shots. But as the drones fell
the floor, a swarm of others became active.

“Cy!” Mia yelled grabbing her own rifle.

“Give me some time, people!” he replied as he went back to work on door.

Mia and Kyle kept the phaser fire furious on the approaching drones. But for
every drone they killed, three more were activated.

“Got it!” Cy said and the large door slip open. The three of them entered
the room, keeping the phaser fire heavy on the approaching Borg. Cy quickly
accessed the inside control panel and closed the door shut.

“Step away.” Mia said as she fired at the control panel. The intense phaser
instantly fused the panel shut. “That ought to hold them long….” She turned
around to see what the others where in awe of. “…enough.”

The Defense Operations room was massive. It was spherical in construction.
The walls were an endless array of control paneling which stretched for
three levels up. In ten key areas, Borg ‘Sentry’ drones were regenerating in
specialized alcoves.

All three resistance fighters raised their phasers.

“You think they know we’re here?” Mia asked Kyle.

“I think they’re probably assigned to regulating the defense platform.
Hopefully if we do this quickly, they may not bother us.”

Cy used his tricorder to scan the control panels until he found what he was
looking for. “I found the access panel. I’ll see if I can plant the virus.”
As his tricorder began to upload the data, he didn’t see the dark creature
materialize from the shadows.

Mia turned to see him, but wasn’t fast enough to alert her first officer.
She watched as the Borg raised some type of weapon and drove it into first
officer’s back. Cy cried to pain as his hands started to shake violently and
the tricorder dropped to the floor. In a matter seconds, the assault was
over. Cy’s lifeless body fell to the floor–his one giant eye totally
blood-shot.

“No!!!” Mia screamed as she and Kyle raised their phaser rifles to fire. But
nothing happened.

“YOUR WEAPONS HAVE BEEN NUTRALIZED–AS HAVE YOUR EQUIPMENT” the being spoke
as he walked into the light.

Kyle gasped. “Axis. I knew this was too easy.”

Mia’s eyes swelled with tears. “I’m gonna kill you, you bastard!” she lunged
for him, but Kyle promptly subdued her.

Axis walked closer. “RESISTENCE IS FUTILE, MY LOST CHILDREN. AND THERE IS NO
HOPE FOR ESCAPE. I AM HERE TO LIBERATE YOU FROM THE SHACKLES OF YOUR
HUMANITY.”

“You know Kyle, his speeches are cheesier than yours.” Mia said trying to
calm down.

Kyle smiled in defiance. “Who do you think taught me?” He pulled Mia to the
side and walked toward Axis. “Is this the part of the story when we die a
horrible death?”

“NORMALLY IT WOULD BE…” Axis replied as he saw Mia trying to wield her
phaser rifle as a club. With a simple thought, he willed the nine sleeping
‘Sentry’ drones to awaken. Mia stopped in mid swing as three of the revived
drones converged on her and snatched away the rifle. “…BUT THIS IS NOT A
NORMAL SITUATION. IT IS A CELEBRATION. I WILL FINALLY HAVE MY TWO FRIENDS TO
STAND AT MY SIDE.”

Kyle caught his breath. “You’re gonna assimilate us?”

“THE Axis EXPERIMENT HAS ELEVATED ME TO A GOD. AND I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO RULE
ALONE.” With a thought, he willed the large blast shield to open, exposing
the gigantic window. “WHEN I CREATED THIS UNIVERSE, I WAS PUZZLED BY THE
FACT THAT BIOLOGICAL SPECIES STILL EXISTED. I SPEND AN ETERNITY TRYING TO
FIGURE OUT WHAT I DID WRONG. I NOW REALIZE THAT IT MUST BE YOU.” His
cybernetic face formed a grin. “THE BEING, ALEX GARRETT DID NOT WANT TO
ASCEND ALONE. THE UNIVERSE WOULD NOT BE PERFECT WITHOUT COMPANIONSHIP. YOU
TWO WILL BE ASSIMILATED RULE BY MY SIDE. JUST LIKE IT WAS IN TEAM HELIX.”

Kyle could hear Mia struggling with the Borg behind him, he had to focus on
Axis. He had to see if there was anything left of Alex Garrett inside that
mesh of cybernetic implants. “What about the other species? What about the
people outside as we speak, fighting for there very lives?”

“OTHER SPECIES ARE IRRELEVENT. THEY WILL NOT EXIST IN THE NEW BORG ORDER.”

“You were wrong before. How do you know now?”

“I HAVE RECALCULATED THE EXPERIMENT PARAMETERS. MY ORIGINAL EQUATION WAS
DESIGNED TO RECREATE THE UNIVERSE. IT WAS A HUMAN ERROR–REMNANCE OF MY
BIOLOGICAL COUNTERPART. BUT NOW I HAVE SUCCESSFULLY DELETED THE GARRETT
PERSONA FROM MY PROGRAMMING.” He approached Mia, who was being restrained.
“I NOW UNDERSTAND THAT AS LONG AS THERE IS A UNIVERSE, LIFE WILL, SOMEHOW
FIND A WAY TO EVOLVE. SO THERE IS ONLY ONE LOGICAL ALTERNATIVE…”

Kyle figured it out. “By the prophets, you’re gonna destroy everything!
You’re gonna completely erase the universe!”

“WE WILL EXIST AS PURE CONSCIOUSNESS. WE WILL ASSIMILATE LIFE ITSELF. WE
WILL BE TRULY…. BORG.”

“Like hell I will!” Mia screamed in defiance and struggling violently. “I’d
rather die than become one of you!”

“She’s right.” Kyle responded. “If you’re gonna destroy the others, then
you’ll have to destroy us with them.” With the grace of the skilled warrior
generations old, Kyle swiped one of the phase rifles from the floor and
swung it across the back of Axis’ head. The puny weapon shattered on
contact.

Quickly, one of the free drones lunged to Kyle from his side. The Trill
warrior quickly side-stepped him and send an elbow to the base of it’s neck.
The drone fell on his face.

Just as Kyle was about to finish the job, Axis went after him with lightning
quickness. His iron grip caught Kyle by the neck like a tritanium vice. And
in that instant, the battle was over. Kyle squirmed as Axis lifted him off
the ground.

“DEFIANCE IS IRRELEVANT. YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO BECOME. ONLY
WHEN YOU ARE ONE WITH THE BORG, WILL YOU TRULY PHATHOM MY INCREDIBLE
VISION.” The creature raised it’s other hand, and two hallow assimilation
tubes sprang from his top wrist. “UNFORTUNATELY, IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT YOU
WANT…” Slowly, he started to bring the tubes toward Kyle’s neck. “…FOR THE
WILL OF Axis IS ABSOLUTE!”

Kyle saw the tubes growing closer, but the grip around his neck was crushing
his windpipe. The lack of oxygen was causing him to blackout.

Mia struggled even more forcefully trying to save her friend, even though
she knew it was useless. “I’m sorry..” she said with a tearful farewell as
she looked at Cy’s dead body and then Kyle’s approaching doom. But just when
her body went limp in the Borg’s grasp, the one which held her right arm let
go. As she looked up at the drone, it turned to her and smiled.

And as it opened it’s hand to reveal a small metallic orb, it spoke in a
familiar voice. “Close your eyes.” On instinct, Mia knew to comply. The
drone tossed the orb at Axis, who’s assimilation tubes had just been
inserted into Kyle’s neck. The orb opened itself in midair and release an
intense energy pulse. It washed over the Borg drones like a fierce tidal
wave, causing them the release Mia and fall backwards from the force. When
it hit Axis, his body began to shake uncontrollably. He dropped Kyle and
tried to walk his self to the nearest alcove, but Mia was on him with
lightning quickness. The butt of her phaser rifle caught him in the back of
his neck, causing him to fall forward.

“RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!!!!!” he screamed out just before his body shattered
as it hit the floor.

Kyle gasped for air as he pulled his self up on the walk and surveyed area.
All the Borg except one had been leveled by the energy pulse.

Mia smiled. “I killed him. I killed the son-of-a-bitch!” she screamed out.

“Not quite.” The remaining drone spoke while accessing a nearby control
panel. “Axis exists within the collective. You just destroyed one of the his
many vessels.” He played with a control panel. “I’m deactivating the
dampening fields. Your tricorders and weapons are now active.” Then he
quickly made his way over the staggering Kyle. He checked the Trill’s neck.
“Don’t worry. What little nano-probes that made it into you were destroyed
by the energy pulse. The nausea will pass in a minute or so.”

Mia walked to him and stared at his face. It took a few seconds, but she
finally figured out who her hero really was. “By the Prophets, is that you
Eric?!”

He smiled making his way back to the control panel. “Fortunately yes…
somewhere under all this Borg junk.” He turned to look at her. “But on a
better note, your looking as gorgeous as ever.”

“What the hell happened to you?” she asked, still shocked at his appearance.

“I’m the latest in interstellar camouflage, thanks to some unexpected
allies. This was the only way I could get close enough to Axis without being
detected.” He looked at her. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything about Cy. I
had to wait until Axis spilled his guts about his experiment.”

She smiled and placed her hand on his shoulder. “War is hell. Cy would’ve
understood.”

Kyle slowly approached them. “I’m sorry to kill this touching moment, but
don’t we have a job to do?”

Eric Beckett continued his work with the controls. “The overload sequence Cy
uploaded has been initiated, but it looks like the overload sequence won’t
knock out the communications array as predicted. Once the defense shield
goes down, you’re gonna have to destroy this thing the old fashion way.”

“No problem.” Kyle said as he patted Eric on the back. “Just give us the
pitch, and we’ll knock it out of the park.”

The Borg Slayer nodded. “O.K. You guys better beam out ASAP.”

“What about you?” Mia asked.

“I’m taken care of! As soon as I copy a few things for myself, I’ll be out
of here. Now go!”

Mia smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “You know your cute when
you’re excited… and Borg.”

“Shut up and go.” He said with a grin. And as she and Kyle transported back
to the Helix, Eric looked out the large window and watched as one of the
strange Borg Sphere slowly approached the defense platform.

“Score one for the good guys.”

————————————————————————

The emergency transport beamed Kyle and Mia onto the empty bridge of the
Helix. Kyle quickly took the navigational position while Mia took the
tactical position.

“Decloak and raise shields! I want weapons at full power!”

Kyle swung the ship around and locked onto several small scout spheres. Mia
unleashed and horde of quantum torpedoes which washed over he Borg scouts
and totally destroyed them

“I’m getting readings from the Defense Platform.” Kyle shouted. “I’m
registering power overloads across the board!”

In a blaze of white flames, the defense platform exploded. A wave of hot
white energy washed over the array’s defense shield causing it to deactivate
and leave the Communication Hub totally vulnerable.

“This is Mia to the fleet!” she sent out a transmission. “The defense
barrier’s down, but the array is still operational. I want all ships to
regroup and attack the array until there’s nothing left floating!”

————————————————————————

By this time, over 67% of the resistance fleet have been destroyed. The
system was littered with floating debris so thick, it resembled an asteroid
field. Little by little, the humanoid-manned starships regrouped and
streaked for the Borg communications array with their weapons blasting. The
Borg armada pursued closely, quickly picking off as many ship as they could.

————————————————————————

Mia fired the Helix’s full battery of weapons at the massive array, while
Kyle tried his best to dodge Borg weapons fire. But the assault was great.
The little ship was knocked crazy with each blast.

“We just lost aft shields!” Kyle called out. “The left nacelle took a direct
hit! The controls are too sluggish for evasive maneuvers.”

“Use the debris for cover and get us in position to attack the exposed areas
of the array! The targeting systems just went offline so I switching to
manual!”

Suddenly, a disrupter beam struck a nearby piece of debris and shattered it
into three pieces. One of the fragments slammed into the Helix’s left
nacelle, tearing it completely off. The small battleship toppled helplessly
out of control.

On the bridge both Mia and Kyle were thrown from their positions and slammed
into the ceiling. Kyle heard a couple of his ribs nap from the impact as he
slammed head-first back onto the floor. Mia fell backwards onto the
guard-rail and screamed in pain. But she knew she had to block out the pain.
She pulled herself back to her feet and stumbled back to the tactical
station.

Holding his ribs, Kyle staggered back to the navigator’s position an
assessed the damage. “We’ve lost the left nacelle! Power has failed
ship-wide! Sensors are online, but badly damaged. Damnit! The warp core
damaged! A breech is imminent!”

Mia stumbled to his position. “Can you get us to ramming speed?”

“I think I can!”

“Good. Then radio the fleet and tell somebody we need an emergency beam-out
for two…”

“I can’t do it! Communications are offline!” he looked up at her. “The ship
is thrashed!”

“Then that’s it. We’ve lost…”

Suddenly, the partial sensors online. Kyle’s heart stopped. “I’m reading
three transwarp signatures materializing just inside of sensor range.” He
looked up at her. “More Borg…”

Their damaged viewscreen switched to a aft view in time to see three Borg
Cubes appear on the battle field.

“They’ve got reinforcements!” Mia screamed. “We’re dead!”

————————————————————————

The three cubes suddenly split away from each other–the left and right ships
engaging the battle, and middle one heading right for the array. The
remaining resistance ships saw the cube enter the scene. It was apparent
they were outgunned. But they had to try. They had to give the Helix enough
time to finish off the array.

The small ships directed their weapons fire on one of the approaching cube.
Dozens of phaser beams and torpedoes struck the oncoming cube with great
impact. But it was too little, too late. The plowed its way through the
resistance defense line…

…and directly into one of the large Borg spheres.

The collision caused a massive explosion which through all the smaller ships
ship out of the control. The firestorm ceased, there was nothing left of any
ship in the immediate area.

————————————————————————

Kyle was shocked. “That ship! That’s a Borg cube. ”

Mia looked at him puzzled. “But the Borg have always built spherical
devices.”

“This doesn’t make any sense.” The Trill warrior checked the sensors
thoroughly. “The Cube ships are from my universe. What the hell is going
on!?”

That’s when he saw the cube coming directly for the Helix.

“Their on a collision course with us!?” Mia shouted.

“No! Their on a collision course with the array!”

————————————————————————

The Borg Cube zipped past the Helix causing the small ship to be caught in a
mass swirl-spin. Instantly, small Borg spheres converged on the approaching
cube. They collided with it in an attempt to disable it’s course. Each
sphere cause a massive firestorm on the cube’s hull, but it did not waiver
in it’s course. It came in contact with the array’s most exposed wound and
shattered across it like fine wine glass. Tiny explosion began to appear
along the it’s surface, which created a burning inferno.

————————————————————————

“What the hell just happened?” Mia yelled. “What the hell is going on?”

Kyle checked the sensors. “That collision almost did the trick! The array’s
power cells have been destroyed. It’s currently running on backup power!”

“Then let’s finish the….”

Before she could finish her sentence. Four transporter signatures suddenly
appeared on the bridge in the form of a Borg attack squad. They quickly
split into two teams and went after Kyle and Mia.

“Keep them away from the controls!” Mia said as she pulled her hand phaser
and fired at the approaching enemy. The first drone was hit, but the other
quickly adapted. She quickly tossed the phaser at its face. As it swatted
the gun out of its way, Mia quickly went to work. A martial arts kick the
chest cause it to stagger back, and she quickly followed up with a leg
sweep. The drone fell on it’s back. Mia then made her way to the tactical
console. She quickly ran her fingers along the controls, but didn’t see the
drone quickly get to it’s feet. It sent a back-handed slap to the side of
her face, knocking her out of the way. But not before she accomplished her
task.

‘WARNING, PROTOMATTER CONTAINMENT FIELDS 1 THROUGH 17 HAVE BEEN
DEACTIVATED.’ The computer sounded. ‘PROTOMATTER INSTABILITY RATIO AT 72%’

At first Kyle was startled by what he heard, but after the met eyes across
the room, he knew exactly what she was thinking. The Helix was pretty much
history. There was no way they, as well as the fleet were gonna escape
alive. The only option was to finish to mission– even if it meant suicide.

Kyle saw the remaining two drones converging on him. Quickly, he manned the
controls and pitched the ship hard to the left. The drones stumbled
backwards long enough for Kyle to roughly point the Helix in the right
direction.

‘ WARNING. COLLISION WITH BORG OBSTICLE IN 30 SECONDS’

————————————————————————

A swarm of small Borg sphere descended on the Helix like a swarm of locusts.
The constant weapons fire began to tear the ship apart. Within a matter of
seconds, the ship was turned into a spiraling fireball.

————————————————————————

One of the Borg drones made to the tactical station and dove it’s right arm
into the console.

“No!” Mia screamed trying to get to her feet. It was apparent the drone was
trying to re-enable the Protomatter containment fields. Without them, the
ship would collide with the array and totally obliterate it. Protomatter was
one of the most unstable and volatile substances ever discovered. It was her
final solution. The array would be eliminated by any means necessary.

Kyle saw what was happening and tried to assist his Captain, but one of the
fallen drones grabbed him by his ankle. He fell face forward in time to see
Mia lunge for her console.

‘ WARNING. COLLISION WITH BORG OBSTICLE IN 20 SECONDS’

Kyle kicked away his captor and crawled to the wall to pull himself up. Mia
had reached the drone at the console an jumped on his back like a feral
animal. He tried to help, but another turbulent jolt sent him to the floor
again.

‘ WARNING. COLLISION WITH BORG OBSTICLE IN 15 SECONDS’

With her legs firmly wrapped around the drone from behind, Mia grabbed its
head and gave it a wrenching twist, breaking it’s neck. They both fell to
the floor just as Kyle made it to his feet.

‘ WARNING. COLLISION WITH BORG OBSTICLE IN 10 SECONDS’

As she pulled herself up on the console, she looked at the statically
viewscreen which showed their collision approach with the array.

She then looked at Kyle and smiled. “It’s been a pleasure, Commander”

‘7 SECONDS’

“Likewise…”

‘6 SECONDS’

Mia stood up, but didn’t see the final living drone coming toward her from
behind.

‘5 SECONDS’

“Look out!” Kyle cried and started to lunge toward her. But just as he
started to move, he felt a transporter signature wash over his body.

‘4 SECONDS’

“No!!! Not yet!!!!”

‘3’

Mia turned around in time to see the drone plunge some type of metallic
spear into her chest.

‘2’

She bent over backwards, being held up by the large talon.

‘1’

She looked at Kyle’s dematerializing body and smile at him one last time.

‘IMPACT…..”

————————————————————————

What was left of the Helix toppled into ‘what was left of’ the array.

The detonation what immense.

The Protomatter explosion chain reaction created a white hot plasma
explosion which expanded outward and engulf everything in the immediate
area. What was left of the Borg and resistance fleets scattered for their
lives as the explosion overtook them. The intense shockwave tossed them like
strong sea currents, causing massive collisions and ships simply being torn
apart. And in a matter of seconds, anything within the immediate area was
completely incinerated–all except a phase-cloaked Intrepid Class Starship,
which had merely been silhouetted by the intense heat.

————————————————————————

EPILOGUE: STILL NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE

The last thing Kyle remembered was feeling the white heat as the Helix was
destroyed. Even though his body was in transport-limbo, he still felt the
pain. He watched as Mia and her murderer were incinerated by the intense
heat. It was only a fraction of a second and he knew she probably didn’t
feel any pain, but that image would live on in his memory for years to come.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself lying on a bed of some kind. The
blurry bright lights overhead came into focus, along with a face staring
down at him.

“Hello there.” The person said. “Welcome back to the land of the living.”

“Where am I?” Kyle asked with a scratchy voice.

“Safe.” He replied. “I’m Dr. Zhivago, Chief Medical Officer of the U.S.S.
Atlantis.”

“Starship?” Kyle focused on the Doctor’s blue uniform. “You’re Starfleet?”

“Yes.” Zhivago used the medical tricorder the scan Kyle’s body. “You’re
gonna be fine. You suffered four cracked ribs and a mild concussion. But
I’ve stitched you up pretty fine.”

Kyle let out a long sigh. “My ship?”

“…destroyed by the explosion. I’m afraid you’re the only survivor.”

Kyle gathered his thoughts to try and retrace what had happened. How could
he be aboard a Starship when the Federation no longer existed? Was the
doctor speaking of the explosion, caused by the Borg artifact from Nuvellis?
Could all the occurances in the new reality have been a delusional dream?”

He closed his eyes to rest. “Doc, I had this crazy nightmare.”

“Well it can’t be far from the reality.” another spoke to him.

Kyle slowly opened his eyes, and even though his vision was still a bit
blurry, he could make out the shape of a figure standing over him–A figure
dressed in black with tubes and technology implanted within his body.

In a flash of panic, Kyle jumped off of the table. He crashed shoulder-first
onto the floor and crawled away until he was stopped by the medical bay’s
rear wall.

“Kyle, calm down.” He heard the Borg figure speak as he approached him.
“It’s me. It’s Eric Beckett, remember?”

Kyle’s vision slowly began to clear and the Borg Slayer’s familiar face came
into view. “Eric? By the Prophets, it wasn’t a dream.”

“Unfortunately no.” he heard a female voice say as the entrance door slid
close behind her and her entourage. As Kyle looked over at the approaching
group of people, he again jumped and tried to give himself some room between
them and himself. Standing a few yards away were two Starfleet Officers, a
Borg-a-fide Eric Beckett and the person he knew from stories Alex and Mia
use to tell him. The woman could be none other than the Borg Queen.

“Somebody please tell me what the hell is going on?!”

“Come down, Mr. K’Nar. I know this is a hell of a lot to take in right now,
but frankly we don’t have the time.” The female officer said. “My name is
Shelly Casey. I’m the first officer of the Atlantis. This is Lieutenant
David Gerard, and I’m sure you recognize the Borg Queen. Believe it or not,
we all on the same team now. We all want the same thing.”

“Why am I here? Why me and not Mia?”

David stepped forward. “The Atlantis isn’t in the best of shape right now.
We only had enough power to beam one of you through the cloak.”

Kyle found the strength to stand. “O.K. Then I’ll ask again. What the hell
is going on?!”

Eric walked toward him. “We’re gonna destroy the Universe, and it turns out
we’re gonna need your help to pull it off.”

Kyle looked past Eric to see the Borg Queen

Her cold jet-black eyes were glistening in the room’s luminance and she was
smiling from ear to ear. “UNFORTUNATELY FOR Axis, RESISTENCE–THIS TIME WILL
BE FAR FROM FUTILE.”

TO BE CONTINUED

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