Star Trek: Ascendant Book 2 Scroll I

Mantle of the Ephesians
by Nathan Faver and Edward H. Bart IV

       Bitter, alkaline water forced itself into his nostrils and mouth. His eyes squeezed shut because the water burned. He was weightless, unable to grab purchase onto anything. His lungs were bursting. He had to breathe! His chest was burning and felt as if it was going to cave in due to lack of oxygen.
        A whirlpool took hold of him, spinning him violently around. Involuntarily, he opened his eyes and gasped. A dark brown shape rushed away from him, causing distortions in its wake. He tumbled in the murky water as his body breathed in the water. Ginger Stuvor was drowning.

        Ginger Stuvor was pouting.
        "How long are you going to sit like that?"
        Annekta Green stared at Stuvor, waiting for an answer.
        Stuvor sat hunched over in a wood-carved chair that was in his quarters on the starship Alaric. His elbows were resting on his knees, and his chin was propped up in his hands. He stared at the rough brown surface of the floor of the room.
        Stuvor made no move to reply. He continued sitting in his contemplative position.
        "Fine. Be that way. I'll try again in ten minutes." Annekta hissed a sharp sigh and walked out of the room.
        As the door closed, Stuvor looked over at where Annekta had stood. He slowly stood up, feeling his bones creak from being still for so long. He walked over to an oval mirror that hung on the other side of his quarters. He stared at himself, touching his long wavy dark brown hair. He hadn't bothered to have it trimmed even though he had the time. Secretly, he enjoyed the freedom from the Starfleet regulations. Stubble also lined Stuvor's jaw.
        It had been a few years since he was an ensign in Starfleet, although a look at him would make one think it had been a decade. It was all part of the mystery that appeared in the mirror for him everyday.
        He had lost seven years of his life. Everytime he looked in the mirror, he saw an older man that looked like him. The older man had wrinkles that Stuvor hadn't earned. He didn't feel like a man in his thirties. His last good memory, before the seven-year void, was of celebrating his 25th birthday. What's more, his last memory before the void was of dying.
        In a way, Stuvor enjoyed the mystery. It made him feel more unique. Now, he wasn't so unique. He wasn't the only person aboard the Alaric that had died and returned to life.
        Sometimes he felt like he was stuck in a remarkably vivid and lucid dream, being pulled into a bizarre narrative. Occasionally he'd try to test the theory by trying to make half-naked Orion dancers appear in front of him. Unfortunately, none of the famed green women appeared. Unless one counted Annekta Green.
        "I still don't understand any of this," Stuvor muttered to himself. Admiral Grogan, or rather, the alien that had been impersonating him, had tried to prey on his disorientation regarding the events that occurred to him. Grogan, or Gog as he called himself, had tried to convince him that he was suffering a psychotic break from reality.
        The fight with Gog had seemed pretty damn real to him. And Annekta's cold, lifeless body felt real in Stuvor's arms. The decking beneath's Stuvor's bare feet felt real to Stuvor's toes.
        The door opened. Stuvor listened to the footsteps of the visitor.
        "Well, that's a change."
        Stuvor turned to look at Annekta.
        Annekta still looked the same as she did ten minutes ago. She was dressed in a casual uniform with several hues of brown and tan colors. Her short light brown hair was tied back in a short pony-tail. A diamond-like arrowhead symbol was affixed to the center of her chest. It reminded Stuvor of an A.
        A for Alaric? he suddenly thought.
        "Well, are you done pouting?"
        "I wasn't pouting," Stuvor retorted.
        Annekta shrugged. "I'd say putting your fingers in your ears, singing ‘La la la I'm not listening!' and running off to your room qualifies as pouting."
        Stuvor walked over to Annekta and poked her in the shoulder.
        "Ow! What did you do that for?" Annekta rubbed her sore shoulder.
        "Just checking to see if you were really there."
        "I've been talking to you and walking around you for a half-hour now. Doesn't that qualify as real?"
        "I've smoked some peyote, so I don't know if this was some sort of aftereffect," Stuvor shrugged.
        "What's peyote?"
        "Some heavy stuff. White Wolf said it might help me find my purpose in life. Didn't work. I just found a big wolf with big eyes and buck teeth that sang a song about the moon. Seemed pretty damn real to me at the time."
        Annekta stared at Stuvor with her forehead wrinkled in puzzlement.
        "Yeah, I know you don't understand. I get that reaction all the time. Which is why I don't tell that story often."
        "Well," Annekta shook her head, "I'm real."
        "But you were dead."
        "I was... but I got better," Annekta smiled.
        Stuvor frowned at her. "That's not good enough."
        "Okay, says the man who was supposed to have died in 1859," Annekta crossed her arms.
        "See, that's why I'm mad," Stuvor pointed at her. "There's so much stuff that I don't understand. A lot of questions and zero answers. I haven't known what's going on since three weeks ago!"
        "I know what's going on."
        "You do?"
        "Yes."
        "Why?" Stuvor tossed his hands up in the air. "Why do you know what's going on, and I don't?"
        Annekta walked around the chair, looking at the scrollwork on the back. "You know what's going on." She looked back up into Stuvor's eyes. "You just don't remember."
        Stuvor scoffed and shook his head. "Okay, fine." He looked at her. "Tell me then. Refresh my memory."
        "I'm sorry," Annekta smiled sadly. "I can't."
        "Can't, or won't?"
        "Can't," Annekta replied. She stepped up to him, placing a hand on his arm. "You have to remember it on your own. It should be starting to come back soon."
        Stuvor walked over to a sofa that sat against the curved wall. "Yeah. I think it's already started. The guy that I fought when all of this started... I remembered his name the next time I saw him. Makh'l."
        "Yes!" Annekta grinned. "That's right! You know him."
        "No, I don't," Stuvor said. "The name just popped in my mind. Who is he? Can you tell me that at least?"
        "I suppose so. He's your brother."
        "My brother?!?"
        Annekta grimaced and shook her head. "That's not the right word. He's your friend. Your comrade." She sighed frustratedly. "There isn't a word that describes it. As time goes by, you'll understand what I'm talking about."
        Stuvor nodded, rolling his eyes. "Okay, fine. Let's make it easy. What can you tell me?"
        "You have a job to do."
        "Oh yes, that's right, I had forgotten. Save the universe, right?"
        "Sorry about that. I was a little bit too melodramatic, but the truth is- the stakes are pretty high."
        "Okay. So how do we go about the business of saving the universe?"
        "The scroll will get you started."

        Stuvor looked at the silvery cylinder that laid flat on a tan table in the briefing room. This was the first time he had entered the Meeting Room. It was the room directly aft of the Bridge. When Stuvor first boarded the Alaric, it wouldn't allow him to enter it. Now, that they had dealt with the crisis on Earth, the Alaric opened up the ship to Stuvor.
        The Meeting Room was essentially a half-circle. A large brown table sat in the middle of the room. A row of oval windows lined the curved rear wall. In the center of the rear wall was a crescent shaped monitor. Stuvor noticed the ship tended towards wedge shapes and half-circle shapes. For some reason, he found it very soothing.
        In the ceiling directly over the center of the table was a shallow oval recess. The Alaric told him that it was for a Portable Hologram Emitter, or PHE in shorthand. Stuvor began to ask more about the PHE, but Annekta said that could wait.
        The large table itself mirrored the shape of the room. It was a brown half-circle. The curved side faced the curved wall. The straight edge faced the flat wall which separated the Meeting Room from the Bridge.
        The matter at hand was the scroll that Stuvor had recovered from Grogan's office in Starfleet Headquarters. It was a shiny cylinder just shy of 35 centimeters long. Surprisingly, it was resistant to fingerprints, as Stuvor noticed when he laid it flat on the table. It was clean except for a few flecks of organic material, leftovers from his fight with Grogan/Gog.
        Stuvor picked up the cylinder and wiped it against his pants leg, then laid it back on the table. Annekta looked at him questioningly and Stuvor could only shrug and say. "It was dirty."
        Stuvor picked up his tricorder which he had taken out of his personal shuttlecraft, the Scarab. It wasn't the latest model Starfleet had to offer, but Stuvor was able to tweak it to get the best use out of it. He scanned the scroll.
        "Mostly silver, but there's an unreadable alloy which the tricorder can't get a handle on," he declared.
        "I know," Annekta said.
        "Good, then we're all caught up. Let's call it a day," Stuvor said, irritation creeping in his voice.
        "Stuvor."
        Stuvor looked at Annekta. "I don't suppose I ought to know about this alloy?"
        "In time, it'll come to you. It's a special alloy, combining metals found here with metals from another place. The Alaric is similarly composed of hybrid alloys," Annekta said.
        "This accounts for part of my stealth capabilities," the Alaric added, speaking over the room's comm system. "The imported metal is undetectable by most scans, and is unrecognizable under direct scan, because there is no analog for it here."
        "What do you mean by ‘here,' anyway?" Stuvor asked.
        "This region of space," the ship replied.
        Stuvor began to ask another question when Annekta interjected, "Let's just say it's known space."
        "Okay. I'll figure it out later, right?"
        "Right," said Annekta. She took the scroll and started unrolling it. The metal was surprisingly pliant. She was able to smooth it out. It stretched from one end of the crescent-shaped table to the other. Text was inscribed across the silvery metal. Stuvor couldn't recognize the language.
        "It's ancient Hebrew mixed with another language," Annekta said as Stuvor bent over to look at the script.
        "Oh. Let me guess- the language is from the place the special metal comes from?"
        "That's right," Annekta smiled. "Did you just remember that?"
        "No, like I said, it was just a guess. Hey, wait a minute." Stuvor pointed to several lines of text. "That's the language the Alaric was using when we first came aboard. I recognize some of the characters. Alaric, can you translate this for me?"
        "I cannot translate it for you. The message is time sensitive, so when the time comes, you shall be able to read it for yourself," the ship told him.
        Stuvor looked at the ceiling. "Okay, that's starting to get annoying. Can you at least translate the Hebrew? I don't get much call for ancient languages, so my tricorder can't translate it."
        "That I can provide for you," the Alaric said. "Please direct your attention to the display screen."
        The monitor on the wall behind them flared up with rows of tan text running across the screen. Stuvor and Annekta turned to stand in front of the monitor.
        "Do you know anything about something on Earth called the Dead Sea Scrolls?" Annekta asked.
        "Nothing other than there's something called the Dead Sea Scrolls and they're from Earth," Stuvor shrugged.
        "The Dead Sea is located in the Mid-Eastern region, not far from Jerusalem," Annekta explained. "A Jewish community, commonly referred to as the Qumran community, was located on a terrace near the cliffs next to the sea. The cliffs housed a network of caves which the community deposited materials and scrolls. Most of them were well preserved, remarkably so."
        "Wait a minute. The dream, or vision if you will, where I saw this scroll was of a priest excavating a cavern," Stuvor said. "This is one of those scrolls, isn't it?"
        "Yes," Annekta said. "Grogan was one of the people who assisted in an archaeological expedition conducted several hundred years ago."
        "He looked pretty good for an old guy," Stuvor said, "except when he looked like a nasty monster."
        "He had been infected by a... let's say a parasite," Annekta said. "You're able to see these parasites."
        "Ah, that's handy. So these parasites are trying to take over the universe?"
        "Not quite," Annekta shook her head. "They're trying to destroy it."
        "Oh, that's not good. I kind of like it here." Stuvor looked at her. "And how is little old me suppose to stop them from taking over the entire universe when I haven't even left my home galaxy?"
        "You're a part of a team effort. There's a war going on."
        "I know, the Dominion War," Stuvor said.
        "No, there's another war taking place. It's happening in the places we can't see. The battles are fought in the shadows and the in-between places."
        "Maybe you've been hitting the peyote too," Stuvor said.
        "See, this is why I can't tell you what you don't remember. It takes faith. I cannot tell you. You need to remember and see it for yourself."
        "Faith, huh? I never was much for that," Stuvor leaned back against the table. He crossed his arms and sighed. "I've always been very technical minded. I guess you could say science was my religion."
        "You've seen a lot of things lately that don't quite mesh with physical laws," Annekta pointed out. "If you really think that seeing is believing, then believe what you see. You've already seen one parasite. You will see more."
        "If you say so." Stuvor looked around at the bare Meeting Room. "So... where's the rest of the team?"
        "We're it for here," Annekta.
        "We?"
        "The Alaric, you and me."
        "And how are we supposed to take on these parasites?"
        "Read the scroll. It will provide you with instructions on how to proceed," the Alaric said.
        "How do you know?" Stuvor looked up.
        "I was there when the scroll was written."
        "You know," Stuvor pursed his lips, "those cryptic remarks were endearing at first, but now they're just damn annoying. I think you're just making up all this stuff just for kicks."
        "I don't get ‘kicks'" the Alaric replied.
        Stuvor nodded, "Sure..." He turned around to lean on the table, looking over the unfurled metal scroll.
        He ran his fingers down a short section of text, feeling the indentations of the letters. The text was set apart from the rest of the document. It had the look of poetry. There was an artistic arrangement to the lines and the numbers of characters in each line. "This looks familiar," Stuvor murmured, almost unaware that he was speaking at all.
        Annekta stepped over to the other side of the table, the straight edged side of the table. "I'll leave you to it. I need to take care of a few things on the Bridge."
        "Yeah, okay," Stuvor waved to her, not moving his eyes off the scroll. Annekta gave a faint smile which Stuvor didn't notice. She walked through the door and stepped out onto the empty Bridge.
        He glanced over the inscribed text and looked back at the wall monitor. He walked up to the monitor, tapping the monitor on what seemed to be the interface to scroll up and down the translation.

                Born in the shadow,
                But of the day.
                Away he must go,
                ~~~~~~ ~~~, ~~~~~~ ~~~.

                For scattered in flight,
                Are these he must find,
                the Scion of Light.
                One to him, he shall bind.
                One to him, he shall wield.

                Seek them one by one,
                Or ended what was begun,
                And all will be unmade,
                ~~~~~~ ~~~, ~~~~~~ ~~~.

                One shall sound the call,
                All will follow one.
                Herald of the Light,
                He will find them all
                Or else the stars fall.

                Find all he must,
                Or all will be lost
                And the stars will fade,
                ~~~~~~ ~~~, ~~~~~~ ~~~.

        Stuvor read the poem softly to himself. After a moment of contemplation, he asked, "What are those squiggly lines?"
        "That denotes text which is not of the same linguistic origin as the main body of the document."
        Stuvor walked back to the scroll, looking at the actual text itself. "The other language." He ran his fingers over the sinuous glyphs that contrasted with the squared-off calligraphical inscriptions. He leaned down close to the scroll, his face hovering bare centimeters over the text. He squeezed an eye shut and focused with the other eye.
        "This text's been machined somewhat. Possibly etched with laser or some other form of energetic light." He pressed his fingertips flat against the glyphs. "You can barely feel the indentations."
        Suddenly, he began drowning. Bitter, alkaline-tasting water engulfed his mouth and poured down his nostrils. He almost screamed but held enough wits about him and kept his mouth tightly sealed. He spat out the fluid in his mouth through tightened lips. His eyes burned as water swirled across his face. He shut his eyes instinctively in reaction to the pain. The last thing he saw was a murky bronze haze with and a flash of coppery light racing through a distant eruption of green.
        His feet lost purchase on the deck. He grabbed at the table but it was nowhere nearby. He thought about opening his eyes again but he didn't want to experience the burning sensation again. Suddenly, he felt a shift in the water as if something large was displacing water nearby. He thought he heard a dull roar as the fluid vibrated against his eardrums. The vibrations got stronger, so strong that Stuvor thought his eardrums would burst.
        He was spun around violently, so badly that he involuntarily opened his eyes and gasped, which only invited more fluid down his throat and into his lungs. He choked, trying to spit out the fluid. In spite of the fire in his eyes, he stared.
        Through the distortion of the water, he saw a cylindrical ship with fin-like structures jutting out from the main body at the rear. The front looked like a multiple pronged tuning fork. The water roiled in its passing, pushing Stuvor backwards.
        The Meeting Room was gone. The Alaric was gone. And the air was gone. Yet, Stuvor found himself breathing, implausibly so. The water was in his nose, his mouth and his ears and down his throat, yet he hadn't drowned.
        The shock of the sudden displacement wore off, and Stuvor stretched his arms and legs out, steadying himself. His heart still pounded at the alien sensation of being immersed in this water, which upon further inspection, wasn't quite water but something else. It had a slightly higher viscosity and seemed to adhere to his skin almost like sliding through a lubricant.
        Stuvor's analytical instincts kicked in once his survival instincts relinquished control over him. Somewhere in the recesses of his mind, Stuvor had the oddest sense of deja vu. He had felt this immersion before. He had seen this brown-green ocean surrounding him before. Stuvor thought he might have dreamed this before. No, it was more like one of the visions he had experienced earlier... like the one that led him to the Alaric.
        Perhaps he was supposed to learn something here. Stuvor squinted and caught sight of the contrail left behind from the pronged alien ship. He watched it glide away from him, then he realized it was heading for a planet. The planet was a slightly darker hue of brown that he didn't differentiate it from the rest of the murky liquid that was everywhere. He made out the massive disk of brown, and watched the ship grow smaller before disappearing from his sight.
        Stuvor kept his eyes trained on the planet even though he could no longer discern where the ship might have been headed to. Suddenly, a small twinkle of light caught his attention. He swept his arms, rotating in the ocean for a better look. The twinkling faded, and Stuvor "sighed" somehow.
        A brilliant lance of light sped out from the origin point of the twinkling and speared through Stuvor's eyes. His vision was blinded as the white light impaled him. The light took on physical form, and it threw Stuvor into a backwards tumble as it rammed through him. His field of vision became an unbearable pure white.
        The light softened and shrunk to a single disk of light. Stuvor recognized it as the light fixture on the ceiling of the Meeting Room. He blinked and he thought he saw the faint afterimage a stone coffin. It went away as quickly as it appeared. He wondered why the light fixture was right in front of him when it was supposed to be on the ceiling. The answer came to him as he realized realized he was lying prone on the floor. Annekta's face came into view.
        "Stuvor? Are you allright?"
        His mouth felt empty, and he wondered why for a second, before remembering that it was only air that filled his mouth. He expected a salty after-taste but none was present. He drew in a deep breath, expecting to choke but air flowed into his lungs unimpeded.
        He used that air to form a reply to Annekta.
        "Just peachy."
        Stuvor sat up, then pulled himself up to a standing position by holding onto the edge of the table. He turned his head to look at the scroll. He frowned and pursed his lips. "I think I hit my head when I fell down... I can read this."
        Annekta looked to where Stuvor was pointing.
        "The section after the poem... I can read it. As plain as day."
        "What does it say?"
        Stuvor recited, "On one of the drowned worlds, he must go./Protection he must find, buried in water and stone./An submerged army, he must fight,/Before they take flight./This is the path by which he must proceed,/Else all is ceded."
         He fell silent for a moment, tracing the glyphs with his fingertips. "The rest of it are numbers which don't make any sense. I don't know what they're for."
        "Maybe we'll find out as we go," Annekta shrugged.
        "Go where?"
        "I don't know. You do."
        Stuvor shook his head. "No, I don't know."
        "Well, you had a vision, didn't you? Otherwise you picked an odd place for a nap," Annekta replied.
        "Yeah, you're right," Stuvor said. He described the vision to her, and she nodded thoughtfully.
        "I have no idea what it means," Stuvor said.
        "I think I do," Annekta said. "It sounds like the fluidic space that's the home of Species 8472."
        "The what space that's the home of what?"
        "It's not general knowledge, but there's an extradimensional race that planned to invade the Milky Way Galaxy. The Borg and the crew of the Voyager stopped them in the Delta Quadrant."
        "I didn't know the Borg were good for anything. So this species, what are they called?"
        "Species 8472. That was the Borg's designation for them, and Voyager never found out what they were called. The Federation has a secret treaty with them."
        "When did that happen?"
        "A year or so after their incursion into the Milky Way Galaxy. Captain Janeway found that they were planning to stage an invasion of the Federation, and she convinced them that we weren't the threat they assumed we were."
        Stuvor nodded. "Wow. Janeway got a bad rap, but it sounds like she did pretty well for herself out there. Why didn't we learn about Species 8472?"
        "Part of the secret treaty," Annekta said. "They didn't want us getting too interested in them. Basically, we stay on our side of the fence, and they stay on theirs."
        "I see. Speaking of which, how do we get over the fence?"
        "I don't know. The information probably would be somewhere in the protected databanks of Starfleet Headquarters," Annekta said.
         "So we've got to hack into Starfleet's databanks? I like challenges but this is ridiculous," Stuvor said. "Fine, then. Alaric, I guess we need to head back to Earth. Can you set a course?" Stuvor walked through the door, heading back onto the Bridge. Annekta followed her.
        Stuvor walked down the steps to the command seat and stood by the chair as he listened to the Alaric reply.
        "That will not be necessary," the ship's disembodied voice replied. "I took the liberty of tapping into the nearest Federation communications relay. I've established a secure connection to Starfleet Headquarters."
        "Oh," Stuvor said. "I guess we can start trying to look for a back door to break into."
        "That, too, will not be necessary. I've acquired the data we need."
        Stuvor looked at Annekta. "I'm impressed, and slightly frightened. Did you know the ship could do this?"
        "No, but I'm not surprised," she replied. "Alaric, why don't you put the information on the main screen?"
        Text and images flowed onto the luminescent viewscreen.
        "That's the ship I saw in my dream or vision," Stuvor pointed.
        "That's a standard bioship," Annekta read off the viewscreen. "Show us the telemetry data from the Voyager."
        Stuvor read the viewscreen. "Alaric, Can you duplicate what the Voyager did?"
        "I should be able to, provided we find a suitable site. I am scanning for one presently."

        Stuvor sat in the command chair, looking at one of the side monitors, reading the information slowly scrolling across the screen. The viewscreen showed the motion of warp-streaked stars as the Alaric sped to a remote location.
        A door opened, and Stuvor looked up. Annekta walked onto the bridge and stood at the tactical station that stood between the two columns that stood at the rear of the Bridge. She was standing almost directly behind Stuvor. She leaned over to look at Stuvor and the monitor he was staring at.
        "How's it going?"
        Stuvor spun his seat around so he could look at Annekta. "Just learning more about Species 8472. I'm almost done though. So far I only have two concerns. One is how to get around in fluidic space. I suppose I could rig an EVA suit to deal with the fluidic environment."
        "And the other concern is?"
        "Well, I don't want to risk setting off a conflict with them by violating the treaty. So we need to get in touch with them somehow." Stuvor stroked his now clean shaven chin. "I think what I'll is broadcast a message before taking the ship into fluidic space. Alaric downloaded a copy of the treaty, Species 8472 provided Captain Janeway with a way to contact them if the need arose. Hopefully the information still is correct."
        "That sounds like a good idea to me," Annekta said.
        "We should be close now," Stuvor said. "Alaric, ETA?"
        "We shall be on site in a few moments," the ship replied.
        "You look better clean shaven," Annekta commented.
        "Thanks," Stuvor replied. "It was getting itchy, so..."
        "Approaching the coordinates," Alaric said.
        Stuvor spun the chair around to face forward. "When you drop out of warp, scan for any Dominion activity, along with Starfleet or Allied activity."
        Alaric replied, "No activity scanned within a radius of five light-years."
        "Annekta, would you do the honors of emitting a deflector pulse to open a quantum flux?" asked Stuvor. "I've already preset the frequencies according to Voyager's telemetry. It should open a resonant gravitron beam to create a singularity."
        Annekta nodded, walking around the tactical station and down the sloping walkway to the raised helm station at the front of the Bridge. She sat down and ran her fingers over the navigational controls, activating the Alaric's navigational deflector. The deflector dish fired a red beam into the space before the Alaric. The energy punched through the blackness, opening a rift. Brown, yellow, and white light spilled out of the fluctuating rift.
         "Opening into fluidic space stable," Annekta informed Stuvor. The ship shuddered. "Compensating for gravimetric distortion." The shuddering faded away.
        "Thank you," Stuvor said. He looked at the computer monitor at his left. "Alaric, record a message and send it in a tight wave beam into the rift."
        "Acknowledged. You may begin," the ship replied.
        "This is Captain Stuvor of the Alaric in Federation space to the Species 8472 government. As part of the terms of treaty, I request passage into your space. Please respond. End message. Send."
        "Message sent," Alaric told Stuvor.
        Stuvor sighed and looked at Annekta. "Now we wait and hope they heard our message."
        As it turned out, they didn't have to wait long. "Incoming message from the rift," Alaric informed them. The viewscreen rippled in multicolored hues, shifting from a view of the rift in space to the face of an alien from Species 8472. Stuvor almost felt as if he could reach through the viewscreen to touch the alien, not that he wanted to. Stuvor turned to Annekta, shaking his head.
        "What I wouldn't give to take a look in the guts of the viewscreen," he said. "It's amazing how much more elegant the holographic technology is compared to Federation technology."
        Annekta nodded, understanding. They looked up to face the viewscreen again. The alien was in the process of transforming into a humanoid shape. When the alien finished morphing, Stuvor and Annekta were presented with the view of a humanoid male with brown hair, light yellow eyes, and pale skin. He looked almost handsome, although in a off-putting way. To top it off, the alien attempted a smile, which just served to make him look even odder.
        "I am Trelth, a representative of my government. What is your reason for passage into our space?"
        "We discovered some unusual data that seemed to originate from your space. It needed further investigation, so here I am, asking for permission to enter your space," Stuvor said.
        Trelth's face remained blank. "What kind of data?"
        "It's difficult to explain." Stuvor sighed, gnawing on his bottom lip. "Allright. I'm just throwing this out there- do you know anything about a large group of your people gathered on a planet? A military force? Might you know anything about that?"
        Trelth blinked and his expression darkened. "Yes. I am aware of what you speak of. Very unfortunate. Rebels. They refuse peace with your people," Trelth said. "Have your people detected any incursions into your space?"
        "Not quite," Stuvor said. "I was told by...a source, that I might find them on a planet in your space. They may have something from this space as well."
        "A source?" Trelth's face hardened. "Who? How? Tell me more."
        "But of course. However, I will not say more about this planet over the comlink. I'd rather meet in person. After all, as you say, there are rebels who may be eavesdropping on us. May we have passage into your space?"
        Trelth smiled. "Yes, of course. You are wise. There are indeed rebels who may be listening in to us. Your request is granted. I will assign some escorts," Trelth told Stuvor.
        "Thank you. Alaric out." The alien faded away, to be replaced by the blossoming rift. "Annekta, would you take us in?" Stuvor asked.
        "You have made the proper modifications to operate within fluidic space?" Annekta checked.
        "Well, yes. Alaric said he took care of the necessary modifications," Stuvor nodded. Annekta turned around to her station, and ran her fingers across the grey consoles.
        "Shields are raised and thrusters at one-half impulse speed." Annekta declared, as she guided the Alaric slowly and carefully into the pulsating rift. After the vessel made it through, the rift closed, cutting them off from Federation sensors.
        Stuvor leaned forward in his seat, watching as his ship entered into fluidic space. "All stop."
        "Aye, sir. All stop," Annekta reported. She looked up at the hazy greenish-tan glow of fluidic space on the viewscreen. "Well, this is a new experience for me."
        Stuvor smiled, and noticed that Annekta seemed a little queasy. He was about to make a remark, but his ship rocked, as if hit by a wave of ocean water.
        Weapons fire, was the first thing Stuvor thought. He barked "Damage report!"
        "Shields are down to 84%," Alaric informed him. "Shall I return fire?"
        "Negative!" Stuvor held on as his ship was hit again. "Who's firing on us?" he asked the computer.
        "Ship's sensors indicate the enemy fire is coming from the organic bio-ships used by Species 8472," Alaric answered.
        "On screen!" Stuvor looked as the viewscreen rippled then magnified on several sleek brown ships that reminded Stuvor of sword handles, with three fins at the rear. A crooked light tan beam of energy flew out from the nose of one of the bio-ships, providing the swordblade for Stuvor's mental analogy. "Reverse full impulse speed! Annekta, see if you can reopen the quantum flux?"
        She replied shaking her head. "I can't. The deflector dish was damaged from the second hit. They are in pursuit."
        "How many?"
        "I'm counting five--no, seven coming fast."
        "If it weren't for the shield modifications Alaric made, we would have been space dust." Stuvor braced himself again.
        "Shields down to 63%," Alaric said.
        "Stuvor, long range sensors have picked up a dozen bio-ships approaching at starboard. They will arrive in ten minutes." Annekta said moving her hands on the helm.
        "Evasive maneuvers! Open a channel." He heard a chime responding to his command. "This is Captain Stuvor, a citizen of the Federation!" The screen rippled again showing Trelth again. "What's the meaning of this? You granted us passage into your space?"
        "I lied. We do not like outsiders. Surrender or be destroyed," he smiled deviously at him. It dawned on Stuvor. Trelth was allied with the rebel faction, not with the official government of the Species 8472. Stuvor gritted his teeth.
        "Then destroyed I will be, but I will not wage war against your species, nor will I surrender. I have a mission to conduct, and I won't be stopped by your hatred against the Federation." His ship rocked harder this time. "We have a treaty, dammit!"
        "Merely on a piece of paper as you would phrase it," Trelth said.
        As Stuvor exchanged bitter weapons fire with the newly revealed rebel bio-ships, Alaric said, "Incoming message." Suddenly the viewscreen shifted, the image of fluidic space replaced with an older man with white hair and a wrinkled face. Stuvor looked up in surprised recognition.
        "We overheard your conversation with Trelth. Our forces will be in weapons range to protect your ship."
        "I'll be glad to give you assistance, if you give the order, sir," Stuvor said. "I hate being caught with my pants down."
        "Very well, but I doubt your weapons will be efficient."
        "If my shields can protect my ship, then my weapons will be very efficient. Alaric out." The screen faltered. "Helm, come about. Alaric, let's see if you can put your money where your mouth is. Arm three of your photon torpedoes, then set for wide yield spread."
        "Torpedoes ready, awaiting your orders."
        "Target locked, sir," Annekta said.
        "Fire!" Immediately after he spoke the word, three streaks of greenish torpedoes flashed on the viewscreen, and tunneled through the fluidic space. Missing the targets, they exploded, sending waves of fluid and energy towards the bio-ships. All six bio-ships tumbled out of control, dead in space. Stuvor sighed glad that Alaric was true to his word. "Annekta, set a course for the fleet, full impulse speed. Alaric, do what you can to repair the shields."
        "You had bio-molecular warheads made?" Annekta asked, recalling the weapons that Voyager had made in their brief alliance with the Borg. The Borg nanoprobes were anathema to the organics of Species 8472.
        Stuvor shrugged. "I talked to Alaric about it, and he assured me his weapons would be sufficient to disrupt the organic energy running through their bio-ships. I tried to get him to tell me more, but he said I wouldn't understand. I keep forgetting that this ship isn't a Federation starship, even though it feels so familiar to me. Funny, you'd think I'd be nervous about putting my life in the hands of a ship that I know virtually nothing about."
        "You should trust your gut feelings," Annekta said, then she looked at her console. "Approaching the other detachment of bio-ships."

        "I must say, it is very impressive, the detail of your information," Boothby said. "Of your... dream. I wasn't aware that humans generally possessed precognition abilities."
        Stuvor shook his head. "I'm a special case, and I don't quite understand it myself either. Anyway, are you saying what I saw is real?"
        "The detail is very accurate, except for one thing. We have no planets in fluidic space, in the terms you speak of. Fluidic space contains organic masses which can be as large as your planets. Perhaps that is what you saw."
        "I am positive I saw a planet-like location, as positive as I can be of anything lately. I suspect that place is where the rebels are gathering, and I believe I need to recover something there," Stuvor replied.
        Stuvor and Annekta sat in the meeting room aboard the Alaric with Boothby and several guards in humanoid form. The table they sat at was in the shape of a half-circle. Stuvor and Annekta sat on the curved edge, while Boothby and the others sat at the straight edge side. The Meeting Room was also in the shape of a half-circle. The curved side was lined with windows, while the center of the curved wall had a large computer monitor set in between two large windows.
        Annekta looked at the Species 8472 seated across from her. She was glad that the representatives of Species 8472 had elected to appear in humanoid form to be less threatening.
        Boothby shook his head sighing. "I'm afraid that it is impossible for us to reach this location you seek. We do know the locations of large organic masses. Let's call them organic planets, for the lack of an appropriate term in your language. Most of these organic planets are under our control. But we do know that the rebel factions have at least two under their control."
        The man disguised as Boothby went on to describe the kind of defenses the rebels have and the possible numbers of ships patrolling the area. Stuvor sat back, stroking his chin as he contemplated Boothby's words.
        Boothby had described the civil war that had began since the Voyager made a impromptu peace treaty with them nearly seven years ago. Certain factions within the government distrusted the Federation. Stuvor couldn't blame them too much, because their first contact with the Milky Way Galaxy was with the Borg. But fortunately for the Federation, cooler heads prevailed within the Species 8472 government. They abandoned their agenda of destroying the Federation.
        However, the factions within the government did not fade away. Instead, they combined into a rebel faction and broke away from the government, intent on destroying the Federation. The official government sought to quell the rebels, but with little avail. Boothby told Stuvor that the rebels had taken a third of the bio-ship fleet with them.
        "Constant fighting continues even as we speak. For every ship we take out, we lose one of ours," Boothby sighed. "But they are adept at hiding and striking where when we least expect it." Boothby rubbed the bridge of his nose, a remarkably human gesture, Stuvor thought to himself. "And now your incursion into our space just serves to make things worse. The rebels will use your presence as the signal of an invasion force from your space. They probably will begin their own invasion into your space, using your presence as an excuse."
        "How many bio-ships do the rebels have now?" Stuvor asked.
        "We estimate at least two thousand," Boothby answered.
         Annekta gasped quietly at Stuvor's side. Stuvor, too, was shocked. He knew that a single bio-ship, capable of destroying a powerful Borg cubeship, could wreak havoc in a unsuspecting area of space. Eight bio-ships along with a special bio-ship could combine their firepower to destroy entire planets. Two thousand bio-ships would ravage an unprepared Alpha Quadrant, not to mention the entire Milky Way Galaxy. He knew he had to do something to stop this, here and now. Man, the obstacles just keep popping up in front of him, Stuvor thought to himself.
        "Do you know where these rebel organic planets are?" Stuvor asked.
        "Yes, but there are two problems facing us. As I said, it'd be tremendously difficult to approach them," Boothby noted.
        "That, I can take care of. I can provide you with nanoprobe schematics to use on some of your ships. That should make a fighting force strong enough to break through their defenses. Just a short time is all I need."
        "But that's impossible. The nanoprobes would disrupt our ships' systems before we could even use them," Boothby pointed out.
        A wide grin on Stuvor's face made Annekta form a smile of her own. She knew that Stuvor had something up his sleeves. Stuvor leaned forward against the table. "Why don't you show me the designs of your bio-ships and the organic technology as well. I am confident that I shall be able to figure out an containment system that will allow you to carry bio-molecular weapons without infecting your own ship in the process."
        "Your concept seems reasonable enough. How long do you think it will take to create thousands of such devices?"
        Stuvor held up a hand quickly. "Whoa, whoa... back up the merry-go-round here. Let's just take this one step at a time before we get ahead of ourselves here. Now, you mentioned two problems. What's the other one?"
        Boothby nodded. "The second problem is we do not know which location you saw. We can't afford to attack one location only to find it's the wrong place. We don't have enough forces for that, plus we lose the element of surprise."
        "Wait, I just remembered," Stuvor said to no one in particular. He stood up and walked to the large monitor and tapped on the screen. "Do these numbers mean anything to you?"
        The black screen showed a string of numerals divided up into spaces. Boothby stood from his seat and walked over to Stuvor's side, peering at the monitor.
        "Yes," he said. "These are directional coordinates in our navigational language." He pointed a bony finger at one line of numbers. "As you know, space is not empty here. Large masses create more dense areas. Every stationary mass has a specific density and displacement. Your ‘source' has told us which organic planet to go to."
        Stuvor raised his eyebrows. "Well, good for him. I think we ought to get started, then."
        "Very well. Let's get started," Boothby smiled extending his hand. Stuvor complied shaking his hand in good friendship.

        Captain Stuvor, Annekta Green, and three scientists in humanoid form met each other, and began work in the Alaric's holodeck. Despite some arguments regarding Stuvor's involvement, Boothby provided Stuvor data on Species 8472's technology. Using that data, Stuvor reconstructed a bio-ship in the holodeck. At first, Stuvor wouldn't stop his examination of a new technology he has never seen before. After nearly 26 hours, Annekta decided she needed a break as did the other scientists. But Stuvor wouldn't relax. Part of his mind was focused on the threat that faced the Alpha Quadrant. The other part was utterly fascinated by the organic technology.
        Several hours later, Annekta and one of the alien scientists, his name was Holand, Annekta reminded herself, returned to the holodeck. They found Stuvor still hard at work, conducting some test scenarios. Annekta adjusted her breathing apparatus that she had to wear while in the holodeck, since everything was an exact copy of a real bio-ship, right down to the organic fluid which permeated the space. Annekta had remarked it was a lot like scuba diving. She looked through the flat visor over at Stuvor. He too, wore a breathing apparatus, as he stood at an organic computer station. Holand looked impressed at Stuvor's apparent ease in operating the holographic bio-ship's systems.
        "Weapons system activated," Alaric informed him. Alaric took the place of the bio-ship's organic computer. While Stuvor would have liked the time to learn the language of Species 8472 and their computer languages, time was of essence. So Alaric provided a shortcut. "The three enemy vessels are approaching on our port flank and two on our starboard. Weapons are hot."
        Annekta glanced at Stuvor's jury-rigged invention, a nanoprobe infuser. The device replicated nanoprobes, and infused them into the bio-ship's weapons systems. The phasers would carry the slight punch of destructive nanoprobes. They had determined that nanoprobe enhanced phasers would be strong enough to disable attacking bio-ships in a single blow. The torpedoes, on the other hand, theoretically would be strong enough to knock out several bio-ships at once, just like the Alaric had done earlier.
        Annekta wondered if Stuvor had solved the problems they had been having with the torpedoes, when the bio-ship rocked. Stuvor piloted the organic ship, taking evasive maneuvers. The two 8472 that just entered, took hold of the walls bracing themselves. The scientists had changed into their normal shape, the better to move about in the fluid.
        "Prepare to fire," Stuvor ordered Alaric.
        Several beats passed until Alaric responded, "Target locked."
        "Fire." The ship hummed as expected. Stuvor turned his head to look up at the top wall where the nanoprobe infuser was installed. The device glowed as it produced nanoprobes that would fill torpedoes and enhance phasers. Tubes running from the device ran into the organic ship's walls.
        "Two ships destroyed. Commencing another target lock."
        "Prepare to fire torpedoes," Stuvor ordered looking at his sensors on the wall display.
        "Target locks detected," Alaric informed him.
        "Evasive maneuvers." Stuvor shouted bracing himself. The others followed suit behind him. The ship banked sideways barely avoiding the organic phasers. Just a light singe, Stuvor noted. "Damage report."
        "Shields are still holding. Commencing a target lock.... now."
        "Fire torpedoes!" Stuvor shut his eyes and braced himself. Annekta and Holand braced themselves as well. In every test, the torpedo always infected the organic ship, destroying it. The problem was keeping the nanoprobes contained as the ship ejected the torpedo. Invariably, the ejection would cause the microscopic nanoprobes to leak out of the casing, causing a massive chain reaction that resulted in an explosion.
        "Target destroyed," Alaric responded. "Ships are retreating."
        Stuvor opened his eyes then laughed whooping like a giddy kid, bouncing up and down in the tan fluid. He turned around seeing Annekta and Holand. "Hey guys," he spoke into the microphone in his breathing mask.
        "I take it you have succeeded?" Holand asked telepathically.
        "Yes," Stuvor declared as he walked to an opening in the wall with conduits, strutting in triumph. Not for the first time, Stuvor marveled at being in organic fluid. It was almost like being underwater, but without the floating tendencies. Gravity was relatively the same here as in his space. If Stuvor had to describe it to someone else, he would have said it was like wading through watery mud.
        He looked at Annekta and Holand. "I've placed the nanoprobes in here allowing your phased energy weapons to accept them, along with our torpedoes. The torpedo launcher we installed works perfectly, but as you know, it took me over a couple dozen tries to make sure this ship wouldn't be destroyed by those nanoprobe torpedoes. Alaric, transfer all data information to the science lab database."
        "Transfer complete."
        "End hologram. Contact the other scientists and Boothby, have them meet us in the science lab." The bio-ship faded away revealing green grid lines in a dark oval room. He turned his attention to the two. "Follow me please?" he asked politely as he walked out of the holodeck.
        "He has not rested," Holand thought at Annekta. "Is that normal of his species?"
        Annekta laughed as she removed her breathing mask. "He's a workaholic when it comes to new things."
        "Ah," he understood.

        "Fascinating. In less than two days, you seem to have learned all there is to know about our organic bio-ships," Boothby said in admiration. He stood with the other aliens, now in human guise, with Annekta and Stuvor in the science lab. In the center were two miniature holographic bio-ships. One fired its nanoprobe enhanced phasers and another fired bio-molecular torpedoes.
        "I've always been adept at understanding how things work," Stuvor said.
        Boothby nodded thoughtfully, staring at the holograms."I must admit that it seems odd for our ships to utilize Starfleet torpedo launchers."
        "Torpedoes can do more damage than phasers," Stuvor said. "Take Voyager for instance."
        "Yes, yes. I remember our battle with Voyager in Borg space. One of their bio-molecular torpedoes took out thirteen of our bio-ships at once. Scared the hell out of me," Boothby chuckled. "Good thing Captain Janeway was an human of her word. Otherwise, we may very well have been annihilated. I am glad to be able to return the favor." Boothby looked at the holographic representations. "So the nanoprobes won't affect our ships?"
        "Correct," Annekta replied. "I've checked and double-checked the scenario. There shouldn't be any problems with your ships if the device is placed correctly and set on a frequency of 8.4059 megatrons for the phasers. For the torpedoes, we've modified the magnetic containment fields in the torpedo casings."
        "Hmm? Containment fields?" Boothby asked.
        "That's right," Stuvor nodded. "I hit upon the solution when I realized that our nanoprobes were acting like antimatter to your bio-ships. In our galaxy, we've perfected storage of antimatter using magnetic containment fields. It just took a simple modification to make a suitable containment field for the nanoprobes." Stuvor took a deep breath.
        "We don't have much time however," he said. "We can provide six of your ships with torpedo launchers, nanoprobe infusers, and a limited supply of torpedoes. Now, all we need are pilots courageous enough to accompany my ship in a breakthrough run."
        "What kind of chance do we have?" Boothby looked at Stuvor.
        "There is a three percent chance that the infusers will leak and contaminate your bio-ships. The infected ships will be destroyed, with all hands lost," Alaric replied.
        "We're in a civil war and a lot of my people are dying," Boothby sighed. "I must consult with my government. May I have a copy of your findings?"
        "Sure," he turned to a station with a PADD on it. He picked up the PADD and handed it to Boothby.

        It had been five hours since the faux Boothby and his associates left the Alaric to confer with their government. Stuvor hadn't moved from his command chair in those hours. One thing he had learned in his life was that patience is one of the greatest virtues.
        Annekta was seated in the chair to the left of Stuvor, also waiting. She looked up at Stuvor, checking on him. She opened her mouth to start a conversation, but decided against it. Stuvor had been so quiet and unresponsive, that it'd be pointless. Stuvor hadn't smiled since the successful test on the holodeck.
        Annekta sighed and stood up from her seat, stretching out her tired and stiff muscles. She walked up to the helm station and sat there, glancing over the controls. It was something to do while she waited, she thought. She glanced back at Stuvor, who remained in his pensive pose.
        "We are being hailed by Boothby," Alaric said, breaking the heavy silence on the bridge.
        "On screen." Stuvor watched as the viewscreen rippled, coalescing into an image of the white haired Boothby. Stuvor noticed that Boothby had a gentle smile on his face. Stuvor swallowed and asked, "I take it you were successful?"
        "Yes. In the interests of maintaining good relations with the Federation, we will proceed with your plan and provide you with support. However, due to the risk to our people, we request that you personally install the nanoprobe infusers into the bio-ships. Also, due to the previous safety problems with the torpedoes, my superiors request that you do not install torpedo systems."
        Seeing the wounded pride on Stuvor's face, Boothby quickly added, "It wasn't my decision, it was theirs. I believe you have solved the problem and am confident in your skills. However, my superiors don't hold the same confidence."
        Stuvor nodded, conceding that point to Boothby. "Of course. Set your ships one at a time against the airlock of my vessel. I'll get on it right away." He stood up quickly then walked around the chair, quickly jumping over the small steps up to the rear of the bridge, to the turbolift.
        "He is anxious to get to work, isn't he?" Boothby asked Annekta, who remained behind.
        "Yes, very much. He's the kind of man who needs a mission in order to bring out his full potential."
        "Ahh, now it becomes more clear to me." Annekta nodded in agreement. She knew that as well, from personal and professional experience.
        Boothby tilted his head. "If it isn't all that much to ask, may I come on board to oversee the installments?"
        "Sure. I don't think Stuvor would mind an audience. We'll see you shortly," Annekta smiled. Boothby smiled in return, and the screen rippled back into the murky view of fluidic space. She walked up to the helm station and sat down, monitoring the sensors.

PREVIOUS

RETURN TO MAIN