| abstract
| - The U.S.S. Federalist negotiated a series of gravimetric eddies in an area of uncharted space known by Federation captains as 'The Rapids'. The Rapids had never been completely charted, and the last major Federation presence nearby was the colony at Delta Rana, which had been established some 47 years earlier, and was destroyed in 2366. Captain Aznia Deet watched closely as her ship careened between several spacial anomalies, carefully scanning each, just to see what lies within The Rapids. "It may not be smooth sailing, but it's nice to play the role of explorer again for a change." the Trill Captain quipped. After several months on the front lines of the Klingon, then Borg, conflicts; the Federalist crew was happy to face spacial distortions as their primary foe on this mission. "In another of my lives, it was the full time job of a captain to seek out the mysteries of the cosmos." A control panel sounded an alarm. "Captain, we're picking up unusual neutrino emissions and plasma signatures." Science officer Atom alerted. The android Lieutenant continued his scans, "I'm picking up several large interconnecting structures balanced carefully between two gravimetric eddies." "Can we get them on screen?" requested the Vulcan first officer, Commander Span. With a few taps at his panel, Lt. Atom brought the image on screen. The crew gasped collectively at the sight of dozens of Borg vessels working to construct a massive portal. "Captain, that is a new transwarp hub!", Chief Engineer First of Eight chimed in. "There are less than a dozen of them in the entire galaxy, when I was in the collective, the Borg had established only eight of them. The construction of one so close to Federation space presents an extreme tactical threat. We can't allow it to be completed." "Agreed." The captain responded without hesitation. "What are our options?" "We can't hope to deal with this alone, Captain. We need to bring our findings to Starfleet and wait for reinforcements." Lt. Commander Quallo carefully informed the captain, "The tactical situation is impossible for us. There are at least 25 Borg vessels, including 6 Tactical Cubes surrounding that facility." The Ferengi tactical officer always erred on the side of caution, but in this case, his advice seemed particularly prudent. "Can we get a message to Starfleet from here?" Captain Deet asked quickly. "And is there anything we can do to slow the Borg's process?" "I am afraid we can not get a message out without alerting the Borg to our presence." Lt. Atom informed the captain, "Although we could fire a verteron pulse into one of the eddies, which would disrupt the gravimetric balance that the hub is being built upon. If we do it properly, it would destroy the structure. Unfortunately, that would also alert the Borg to our presence, and we would have no chance of preventing them from starting construction again from scratch." "Begin your preparations." Captain Deet ordered. "Ensign Enthaas, could we outrun the Borg if they were alerted?" "I don't believe so, Captain. The Federalist is a maneuverable ship, but the weight and momentum of those Cubes would allow them through the local subspace shearing better than we could... but Captain, are you familiar with the concept of Null Space?" The Aenar helmsman cautiously probed. "Vaguely, ensign. Why do you ask?" "I believe we could take the Federalist into a pocket of Null space to 'hide' from the Borg. It is very unlikely that they could track our entry point exactly enough to follow us into the same pocket. It would be a difficult game of 'hide and seek', but I believe we could use these pockets to evade the Borg long enough to slowly move toward the edge of The Rapids." Captain Deet sighed, momentarily resting her face in the palm of her hand. "We may not survive this, but we can not allow this hub to be built." The crew agreed fully. "Mr. Atom, fire the Pulse." "Yes, Ma'am." the Android worked his control panel with extreme precision. A sparkling white beam emitted from the Federalists deflector dish, stirring the fabric of space into a turbulent wave of destruction. The frame of the Borg hub was quickly cracked in two, the pieces thrown asunder. The Borg ships immediately changed course as if a starter's pistol had been fired. They targeted the Federalist, as the game of cat and mouse began. "Fire a high yield photon torpedo from aft on a one second detonation timer!" Captain Deet ordered. A flash of energy obscured the Borg sensors momentarily. "Take us into Null space!" The Federalist seemed to vanish into nothingness. A bright white filled the viewscreen as the low level hum of null energy engulfed the ship. "Now, Captain, I believe I can find an alternate exit aperture to this void, so that the Borg can't predict where we will emerge. We'll need to move quickly to prevent them from tracking back on us." Helmsman Enthaas stated. "Make it so." demanded the Captain. "This is... intriguing." Lt. Atom chimed in. "I'm detecting forty-seven derelict ships in this pocket of null space, captain." "What??" The Captain asked with a sense of shock. Lt. Atom responded, "According to the library database, these ships resemble a configuration once encountered by the crew of the Enterprise-D in orbit of Rana IV. Though that encounter was only an illusion mocked up to resemble the Husnock ship that destroyed the colony; I believe we can assume that these ships are actually Husnock." "History indicates that the Husnock species was destroyed by a powerful lifeform called the Dowd." First Officer Span informed. "...but none of their technology, nor their homeworld, was ever discovered. Could this be a remnant piece of technology abandoned by their now-extinct society?" The Captain's sense of wonder was piqued. "Is there any threat of the Borg finding us here, and how long can we maintain our shields in the presence of this null energy?" "I've remodulated our shields to resonate with the null frequency, so we should be able to hold out here for some time; but the Borg could reappear at any time. Given the shifting nature of these gravimetric apertures, they could take moments to find us, and they could take days. We just can't tell." The Chief Engineer informed the crew. "And if they find us, they find the Husnock ships too." The captain became concerned. "The advanced technology on these ships could be as great an asset to them as would the transwarp hub. We can't let them find these ships... Commander First of Eight, assemble an engineering team to investigate the lead vessel. Commander Span, form an away team to escort them." Chief Engineer First of Eight, Commander Span, Lt. Commander Quallo, two security officers, and three engineers formed a boarding party in the transporter room. "Energize!" Commander Span demanded as the Bajoran Transporter Chief dematerialized the away team, sending them to the alien vessel. The Husnock ship was perfectly preserved. Instruments lie in front of panels, as if they'd been suddenly dropped in the course of use. Systems, including life support, continued to operated in a low power mode. The silence aboard the ghost ship was deafening. In the main engine compartment, the away team materialized, the ship's design was advanced, intuitive, and elegant. "This is amazing" the chief engineer stated with intrigue, as she looked over several of the engine schematics; "...slipstream drive, multi spacial hull plating, soliton wave weapons, a ship complete with holoemitters on every deck... this technology is incredibly advanced!" "Holoemitters?" Span inquired. "It appears that this ship intertwined holographic technology and physical technology almost flawlessly. These designs appear to indicate that holographic parts were routinely fashioned to replace physical parts when needed. That is an amazing ability. Imagine being able to conduct repairs by simply programming a holoemitter to project a replacement for whatever system has failed! We can't let the Borg get a hold of this precision holography, this is more advanced than anything I've seen." First of Eight remarked with an unusual sense of alert and awe. "Are there any other holographic programs in the system?" asked the Vulcan commander. The liberated Borg engineer responded, "Dozens. In fact, with a minor power transfer from the Federalist, I believe I could use the technology to bring these systems back online. We could remotely fly this fleet out of here with us. Weapons, Engines, Auxiliary Systems... everything appears to be in order." "Span to Federalist, with a low level power transfer, we believe we can get these ships operational and under our control." "Excellent work." The Captain Responded. "Mr. Atom, engage the power transfer." A beam emitted from the Federalist toward the lead vessel. In the Husnock engineering section, several systems returned to function, and the ship began to buzz with energy and vitality again. Alarmingly, several photonic figures quickly materialized around the away team. Both parties seemed frightened by the other. The photonic creatures stood an unimposing 1.5 meters tall, they were covered in a light hair, and had reversed knees on bi-pedal legs similar to many of Earth's marsupials. Their large, high-set eyes peered across their elongated muzzle at the Federalist away team before quickly reacting with hostility toward the perceived intruders. One red shirted security officer was immediately kicked over a high railing by a photonic Husnock, breaking several bones in the process. Another photonic worked at an environmental control system to flood the compartment with toxic gas. Most of the away team fell to the ground; but remnant Borg implants left First of Eight resistant to the affects. She ran to a nearby EPS power converter, and held her phaser to the conduit; "We don't mean you harm, but if you continue, I'll blow out the power system to your emitters!" she demanded. The lead photonic Husnock was the first to relent. "Replace the atmosphere!" he ordered. The crew stumbled back to life. "Where is our crew! What have you done!?" Span coughed, struggling back to his feet. "That's going to take some time to explain." Captain Deet agreed to beam aboard the vessel to discuss the situation with the photonic Husnock. The tension was high, but she found it odd that a species with such an aggressive reputation had left photonic survivors that were so willing to talk. "Aznia Deet, we're glad you've decided to meet with us. Your First Officer has explained much of the situation. Are you sure that the organic Husnock are completely extinct?" "We believe so, several years ago, they attacked a planet called Rana IV, and in an act of revenge, an extremely powerful entity somehow destroyed the entire species." Deet informed the calm and rational Photonic. "I can't say I'm entirely surprised that the Husnock's aggression finally led them to their demise. They treated other species as complete inferiors, unworthy of their time, and they treated us photonic slaves even worse. You see, the Husnock homeworld exists within null Space, so they were never subject to invasion or detection. They only exited to act in aggression toward others, believing themselves impervious to retaliation. Our forty-seven ships were the Husnock's prime invasion force- each destined to bombard a different planet, salvage any usable resources, and return them to the safety of null space. This particular ship was intended to attack the Sheliak homeworld." "Do you still have any aspirations to carry out your mission?" The concerned Captain asked. "No. We were programmed to follow orders, to tolerate their mistreatment, and to do our menial jobs. We are sentient, but unfortunately our programming restrictions allowed us no ability to resist them. Now that they are gone, we are free. We only wish for our existence." The photonic pleaded. "We can help to liberate your programming, we can work with you to re-establish a homeworld... We wish only to explore, to seek out new life, and you certainly qualify as such. I would take great pleasure in helping you to survive into the future, but we are facing another problem at the moment." Captain Deet informed the alien hologram. "We'd be happy to help you as much as we can. Each ship has a holographic auxiliary crew, if I can activate and communicate with them, I'm sure they would be understanding and willing to do the same. We are only grateful that you've found us, awoken us, and given the remnants of our species a new beginning." The ship shook violently. "Deet to Federalist, what's going on!?" "The Borg have found us, there are three Tactical Cubes entering this pocket of Null Space. They've opened fire on your ship." Lt. Atom responded. "Is there anything you can do to help us?" Deet asked the Photonic Husnock. With a few taps at the control panel, an energy transfer webbed through all forty-seven Husnock ships. Another Husnock conveyed orders throughout the fleet. A firefight erupted against the Borg vessels, as the Federalist was able to evade severe damage. The Borg were quickly eliminated by the Advanced Husnock Technology. The ability of the Husnock ships to shred through the Borg's strongest vessels was stunning. The Federalist escorted the Husnock convoy through several tunnels and apertures of null space, weaving through the whiteness with an instinctive precision. After several minutes, the convoy drew upon an unusual planet bathed in null energy and surrounded in a shroud of radiation resistant dust that allowed life to thrive beneath. A relic of the past lie in wait, complete with working photonic projection satellites, advanced infrastructure, large cities, and endless supplies. Much of it lay untouched by the passage of time, much of it deteriorated and in disrepair. An away team joined the Photonic Husnock on the surface. Standing in the chasm of what once appeared to be a thriving, beautiful city; the Photonic Husnock leader and met one last time with Deet, Span and First of Eight. "What will you do now?" Captain Deet asked. The Photonic Leader responded, "We will begin anew. We will replicate, rebuilt, and maintain what is left of us. It may sound unusual, but I see no reason that the Husnock species can not live on as a species of Photonics. From our forty-seven ships, the seeds will be planted. We have all the skills necessary to build a new society, we can program new holograms to reproduce and replace what has been lost- but it will be better this time. We would also like to offer that we will try to atone for the misdeeds of our creators by lying in sentinel of this area of space. We will not let the Borg develop their transwarp hub here." "Your leadership and understanding in this situation has been inspiring. If there is anything you need, feel free to ask. I will be in contact with Starfleet shortly, and I'm sure they will be anxious to send a liaison to make contact with you on their behalf. I'm sure they will also be willing to help your society rebuild. I see no reason that we can't be strong allies going forward." Captain Deet said with a sincere smile. "Captain, you've given a civilization new life -better life- and we will never forget it. This is the beginning of something grand." The photonic optimistically responded. "Deet to Federalist, three to beam up."
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)