Sailor Trek: The Next Generation
by Soton
Chapter 2 - A Tale of Two Meetings:
Riker found his voice first. "Again? I don't recall ever seeing
a talking cat before."
"Not this ship," replied the cat. "Another one of the same name."
This rang a bell in Picard's mind, but he couldn't quite bring
it to the forefront. "Who was commanding officer?" he asked.
"The captain's name was James Kirk."
The two officers exchanged glances. "James Kirk," said Picard.
He nodded now, the memory surfacing.
"I remember now," Riker remarked. "From the logs of the original
Enterprise. You're Luna, aren't you?" After Luna nodded in reply,
"But that was over a hundred years ago. How could they be here, now?"
"A good question, Number One."
Their musings were interrupted by the intercom. "Data to
Captain Picard."
"Picard here. Go ahead Mr. Data."
"Sir, have there been any reports of people mysteriously
appearing on the ship? Specifically teenage females?"
Picard looked puzzled. "Yes, Mr. Data. How did you know about
this?"
"I have had a discussion with one of our... guests. I believe
they are of no threat to the ship."
"Prepare to brief the senior staff. Picard out." He turned to
his first officer. "Number one, assemble the senior staff in ten
minutes."
"Yes sir." Riker gave Luna another look, then moved to comply.
Picard gestured to the guards. "Escort Mr. Chiba and Luna to
Ten Forward."
"Darien!" Luna barely had time to escape from Darien's arms
before the blonde tornado struck. "OneminuteIwasatschoolthenextIwas
hereandlookingatthiguywithareallyuglyforeheadand--"
"Whoa, Serena, slow down." He tried to calm her down before she
could draw her next breath. "You don't have to give me the whole
thing in one blast."
"Yeah, you might want to at least give him a chance to breathe,"
Raye remarked.
Amy interrupted before another Serena could retort. "I've been
accessing the ship's computer, as well as talking with Doctor
Crusher. I believe I know where we are."
"Yes, Darien and I got some indication from the captain, also,"
Luna said. She paused and sniffed at Artemis, then scowled at the
white cat. "Is that another cat I smell? A FEMALE cat?!?"
"Um..." Artemis stammered.
"Artemis, you rogue!" Mina scolded him.
"Yeah, shame on you," Serena joined in. "Two timing on Luna
like that!"
Artemis began sputtering denials, but Luna never gave him the
chance to finish. "SERENA!"
"Ah Luna, you know it's just a matter of time."
The Klingon security chief was in a foul mood. Worse than usual,
that is.
On the other hand, Riker seemed to be enjoying himself. "You're
kidding." His smile, indicating he found the situation somewhat
amusing, only served to make Worf's mood all the more sour. "She
really said you had an ugly forehead?"
"From what I could understand." Worf paused, gritting his teeth.
"Her *wailing* was so loud, I'm surprised the entire ship didn't hear
her."
Geordi chuckled. "Don't feel bad, Worf. At least Serena didn't
almost blow up the ship." He held up a hand at looks of alarm around
the table. "Don't worry, I was able to get things under control quick
enough... or we wouldn't be here talking about it. But somehow Mina
caused the antimatter containment field to begin to deteriorate...
and all she did was accidentally hit a couple of controls!"
Riker looked skeptical, as did the others. "Geordi, that's
impossible."
"I know, Commander. And if I hadn't seen it happen, I'd have
just as many doubts as you do. But that's what happened. All I can
say is that we shouldn't let Mina near any vital systems. If she could
do this to the warp engines, I'd hate to see what would happen if she
got near the controls to, say, life support. And I doubt any of them
have had any experience with extraterrestrials either."
"That is not entirely correct, Geordi."
"How so, Data?"
"I have had an extensive conversation with Artemis--"
"Artemis?" inquired Dr. Crusher. "The white cat?"
"Once you've seen one talking cat, Doctor, it's not much of a
stretch to accept that another one can," said Picard. "Continue,
Mr. Data."
"Yes, sir. The young women in question are a group known in
their reality as the Sailor Scouts. They possess extraordinary powers,
and are engaged in defending their Earth from extradimensional threat
from what they call the Negaverse."
"I remember," said Riker. "If I recall, they were battling
someone named Queen... Boral, was it?"
"Queen Beryl, sir," Data corrected. "According to Artemis,
that situation has been resolved."
"You mean they're from the same Federation as Kirk, Spock and
McCoy?" Serena asked.
Amy nodded. "Yes. That's correct."
"I'll have to take your word for it," Darien said. "My memory
of that time is a little vague."
"Well, you were a little bit brainwashed," Lita teased him.
Mina frowned. "But it's only been little more than a year for
us. How can it be more than a hundred years for them?"
"More importantly," added Raye, "how did we get here?"
"I am unable to account for the temporal discontinuity,
Commander."
"Assuming they are the same ones encountered by Kirk's
Enterprise, then the operative question is: how did they get here?"
asked Geordi. "We're nowhere near the quantum flux they encountered."
"I don't know," said Amy.
"But Amy, you're supposed to know everything!" Serena whined.
"Ease off, Serena," said Raye. "Not even a genius can know
everything!"
"Yeah, alright. Sorry Amy."
"Don't worry about it. Somehow I think the people here are
as mystified about it as we are."
"I'm not sure if this means anything," said Lita, "but I was
talking with Guinan before you guys got here, and she seemed to
think someone named 'Q' was responsible."
"Q?" asked Darien. "What's a Q?"
"A letter of the alphabet?"
"Q." Worf spat the name out as if the mere mention of it were
poisonous. It certainly did nothing to improve his mood.
"I had a feeling he was involved. I was hoping I was wrong,"
said Riker. He looked almost as disgusted by the possible involvement
of that mischievous entity as Worf. "Life in the continuum must be
boring for him again."
Troi shook her head. "It doesn't make any sense. When Q
creates situation, he usually wastes no time in taking credit for it."
"That's true, Counselor," answered Picard. "However, Guinan
was quite sure she sensed his presence just before Lita appeared in
Ten Forward."
"Which leads us back to the same question," said Crusher. "Why
are they here? Q doesn't do anything without some sort of reason."
Riker turned to the security chief. "Mr. Worf, have the
sensors detected anything unusual?"
Amy looked up from her computer. "I've interfaced my computer
with the ship's computer system. It's conducting a sensor sweep of
the area now."
"That didn't take long to set up," said Mina.
"The technology may be more advanced, but the protocols are
essentially the same as when Mr. Spock helped me interface with the
computer on the other Enterprise." The computer beeped at her and
she paused to examine the results. "There are indications of
Negaverse energy in the background dechyon field."
"In plain English, Amy?" Serena asked.
"I think she mean that there are indications that something
from the Negaverse entered this universe," Darien answered. Amy
nodded in confirmation.
"Maybe this Q person brought us here to help the Enterprise
face it," suggested Mina.
"I doubt it," said Guinan. She and another hostess began setting
down drinks and other items in front of each of them. "Past experience
has taught me that he doesn't exactly have a helpful nature."
Serena's eyes widened as Guinan set a large chocolate sundae in
front of her and she immediately dug in. As always ever practical, Amy
spoke up, "I'm not sure how we're going to pay for all this."
Guinan smiled slightly. If she had any doubt about them not
being natives of the twenty fourth century, this erased them. "Don't
worry about it. We don't use money."
Darien looked perplexed. "Huh? Not for anything?"
"Some races, such as the Ferengi, still do. But as a whole,
the Federation doesn't."
Serena was ecstatic. "Free food? I love this place!" She dug
into the sundae with renewed vigor.
Raye stiffened. "I sense something." She got up and walked
over to the window. She closed her eyes in deep concentration.
All thought of free cuisine were suddenly lost for Serena.
"Raye?" she asked in a concerned voice. "You OK? What's wrong?"
"I'm sensing some great evil nearby." She paused for a moment,
trying to get a further sense of the threat. Eventually, she opened
her eyes and shook her head. "I can't say what it is for sure, but
something about it seems familiar."
Serena tried to show more confidence than she felt. "Don't
worry, Raye. We've handled everything the Negaverse has thrown our
way so far. We'll handle this too."
"I hope you're right."
Ro's voice came over the comm system, interrupting the meeting.
"Bridge to Captain Picard."
"Picard here."
"Sir, sensors have detected a vessel moving towards us at high
warp, apparently on an intercept course."
At a nod from Picard, the senior officers got up and headed for
the door to the bridge. "We're on our way, Ensign."
"Mr. Worf, see if can you identify the vessel."
"Aye, sir," the Klingon officer replied as he resumed his
station at tactical. He focused the sensors at the approaching ship,
comparing it's configuration to known ship types. "No match found in
Federation records. But it is definitely on an intercept course,
moving at warp nine point three."
Riker frowned. "Whoever they are, they're in one hell of a
hurry to get here."
Data's hands moved quickly over the ops station controls.
"Captain, based on an analysis of the vessel's power curve, I believe
that there is a high degree of probability that it is a Borg ship."
The captain and first officer exchanged an uncertain look.
"Data, how can that be? Borg ships have a very distinctive shape.
Worf's scan should have ID it right away."
"I am aware of that, Commander. Nevertheless, that is what my
analysis indicates."
"This may be a new type of Borg ship, Number One."
Riker looked somewhat apprehensive at this prospect. "I hope
not. Their other type is hard enough to deal with." Picard didn't
reply, but nodded in grim agreement.
"Now entering visual range," Worf announced.
"On screen," ordered the captain. The viewer flickered and the
distant form of another ship appeared. "Magnify." Again the screen
flickered and the image of the approaching ship filled the screen.
Riker vocalized the puzzlement they all felt. "What the hell?"
All along the ship there were projections of some crystalline
substance. But the core of the ship, in the form of a cube, was very
distinctive. All present recognized it immediately.
"The Borg." Picard stared at the screen, a sense of dread
filling him. It had been over a year since they had faced one of these
ships, but he still had the occasional nightmare about it. Sensing his
apprehension, Troi glanced over at him, concern evident on her face.
"Highly modified, but it's definitely a Borg ship," he continued, his
voice barely above a whisper. He shook himself, trying to shed his
doubts and fears over the coming confrontation. No matter what his
personal feelings, he was the captain and his crew was counting on him
to see them safely through this situation. When next he spoke, his
voice had a more assertive tone to it. "Number One, take us to battle
stations."
"Red alert!" Riker cried out. "All hands to battle stations!"
The Scouts started as the alert klaxons started blaring in Ten
Forward. Around them, the crewmembers present got up and headed for
the exit, racing for their respective duty stations. "I remember that
sound," Mina said. "They've sounded a red alert."
"I wonder why?" Lita wondered.
Amy tapped the tiny keyboard of her computer. "I've accessed the
main viewscreen," she said. "We should be able to see what's on it."
They all crowded around her, including Guinan. She showed no outward
reaction to the display, but stared intently at the image. Inwardly
she felt a surge of fear... and hate.
Raye felt Guinan's reaction more than she noticed it. "What's
wrong?" she asked.
"It's a Borg vessel. But it's been modified in some way. It's
not like any Borg ship I've ever seen." She fell silent, preferring
not to share her previous experience with the Borg with them. They
didn't need to know how the Borg had invaded and destroyed her
homeworld.
"You know," said Artemis, "those projections seem familiar."
Luna nodded. "You're right. They almost look like part of
Rubeus' spaceship."
"Impossible," Lita said sharply, "that blew up!"
"Captain, we are being hailed," said Worf.
"On screen." Picard stared patiently at the screen as Worf
transferred the signal there.
The Scout's collective jaws dropped when they saw the image.
"Rubeus!"
Picard frowned at the image on the viewscreen. He had been
expecting the typical wide angle view of the interior of a Borg ship or
perhaps another individual that the collective had assimilated to use
as their spokesman.
But such was not the case. The individual displayed seemed a
fairly typical red haired humanoid male, but with a couple of minor
exceptions. The first was that he had a Borg cybernetic device
implanted on the left side of his head. This wasn't unusual, since he
was on a Borg ship. What made it unusual was that it was the only
implant visible and his skin wasn't the pasty white color so typical
of the Borg.
But this wasn't what sent a cold shiver down Picard's spine.
That was caused by the second distinguishing mark he had: a crescent
moon symbol imprinted on his forehead. It was similar to those that
Luna and Artemis had; but whereas their's was gold colored with the
points upwards, his was black as night and was pointing down.
Combined with the look of individuality in his eyes, it gave
Picard a very bad feeling indeed.
He cleared his throat. "I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard of -"
"-the Federation starship Enterprise. Yes, I'm aware of that,"
he said. His smile only increased Picard's sense of apprehension.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Rubeus... of Borg."
Next time: Well, Rubeus has taken over a Borg ship... which is no
simple feat, for they are the deadliest, most powerful enemy the
Federation has ever faced. So it's doubtful that he means well for
the Enterprise crew, and it may well be up to the Scouts to save
another starship Enterprise from disaster in -- "Enter... the Borg".
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