Organization: Penn State University
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 15:27:25 EST
From: <CGM101@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
Subject: The Vigilante part 4a

general disclaimers apply

All poetry is taken from from "The Collected Works of Robert Service"
Without permission but great respect

all poetry in part 4, weather specified or not taken from the poem:
"The Soldier of Fortune"  by R.W. Service

***********************
Lawrence E. Nagy
in care of:
cgm101@psuvm.psu.edu

***************************************************



                   T  H E   V I G I L A N T E

                              IVA

                        "Ring of Spears"




            "Deny your God!" they ringed me with their spears;
            Blood-crazed were they, and reeking from the strife;
            Hell-hot their hate, and venom-fanged their sneers,
            And one man spat on me and nursed a knife.
            ..........
                 "The Soldier of Fortune"
                      Robert Service



    The screen showed the count down, fifteen minutes was almost
up....00:59, 00:58...the bridge crew sat quietly, preparing for
the inevitable...Phasers had been secured by all stations, just
in case....00:37, 00:36...
    Captain Anthony looked at his crew, they seemed almost
relaxed, but they had done this before...0:24, 0:23...
    Behind the numbers, were the rushing stars illusion of warp.
The Vigilante had jumped to high warp when the count down had
reached 01:00.
    Ensign O'Malley watched the displays on her control panel.
Had she set the coordinates properly? or would they die in the
middle of a star.  She was aware of the padding of the head rest
of her seat.  She could remember how it felt in the
past...00:13, 00:12...
    Commander Norton couldn't suppress a grin, this was the
ultimate adventure, from a planet of half breed out-casts to the
greatest mission ever, he'd been preparing for this all his
life...
    The computer voice came on "TEN, NINE,...".  it seemed like
an eternity, "...THREE, TWO, ONE." The stars on the screen
turned blue and started forming rings.
    00:01, 00:02 ...the numbers started counting back up but
blurred from the screen...
    Captain Anthony felt the seat wrap around him, like in the
past.  The blue tunnel on the view screen started rushing at
him, it was pushing him through the chair.  He instinctively
tried to reach for the console in front of him but his arms
refused to move.  A noise started coming to him, it was a chorus
of screams, he joined in....

    In engineering, Commander Dolittel watched anti-matter
mixing chamber 1 pulse at its steady rate.  The worm-hole was
caused by alignments in the warp drives, what most engineers
would consider a fatal design flaw.  The power draw wasn't any
different than it was at warp 9.6 so engineering wasn't as taxed
a one would think.  The blue rings of the worm-hole drove
through him....

    As quickly as the discomfort had started, it was over.  It
left behind splitting headaches and knotted muscles.  It seemed
only a short time, but ten minutes had past.
    Captain Anthony undid the restraints and slid from his chair
gasping.  On either side of him, Tarva and Norton also tried to
catch their breath and fumbled at the restraints.  Anthony knelt
on the deck at the foot of his chair, his right arm lay across
the seat and the other propped him up.  This had been the
longest jump yet and he could feel it.
    The standard rushing stars of warp were back on the screen,
superimposed on them was the worm-hole count, 10:00.  Anthony
looked to his helmsman.
    "Full Stop."
    "Aye, Aye, Sir." the Ensign said "Full stop".  He then
pushed a few buttons on his console.  The rushing stars
disappeared.
    Anthony pulled himself back into his chair, "Mr. Norton,
report."
    "Sir," Norton paused trying to clear his head completely. "I
read no sign of activity in this sector and no sign of the worm
hole."
    "Thank you, Commander." Anthony turned toward his navigator.
"Ensign O'Malley, do you have our location plotted yet?"
    Janice leaned forward with left elbow on her console and
held her head while she worked with her right hand.  "Sir,
destination sector confirmed, we're at the far side of suspected
Ferengi frontier."  They had gone completely through the Romulan
empire and now were beyond any sector the Federation had ever
visited.
    "Very good, begin plotting the next leap....Ah, Ensign, this
time lets keep worm-hole time down to around, say eight minutes.
That last ride just about did everybody in."
    "Aye, Sir." Janice smiled, the Captain was trying to make it
sound like he wasn't responsible for that ten minute jump.
    Janice began plotting the next leap.  After each use of the
worm-hole they had to recalculate a new heading.  The worm-hole
never placed them exactly where they had intended and the error
increased the longer the jump.
    Anthony turned on the ship's public address system
"Attention crew, prepare for next controlled worm-hole in one
hour.  All stations should have status reports filed with in
fifteen minutes.  That is all."
    For the next hour, the bridge crew reviewed the reports from
the rest of the ship and ran tests of their own.  It was
imperative that The Vigilante be in perfect condition before
using the worm-hole.

-----------

    Anthony sat in the Command Room at the head of the long
table.  He'd been reviewing some of the command reports but his
attention had wandered to a nearby window.  The blast shields
had been opened to give him a view, now he just sat and stared
at the stars.   The blackness and the stars engulfed him.
    The mission had been so long in the making, it was hard to
believe they had finally taken the first step.  Two more jumps
would put them in the same sector that The Enterprise had first
encounter the Borg.  The Enterprise had been 'flung' there by an
entity known as the 'Q'.  It had apparently wanted to prove that
the Federation was not prepared for what lay outside of its
borders.  That one encounter, had brought the Borg to the heart
of the Federation.  That one encounter had changed his life,
forever.  That one encounter, in fact, had brought this crew
together.
    Anthony still wondered what it was like when the Nielsen was
destroyed.  Did she die doing battle or was she merely swept
aside like so many other victims.  He would never know, and when
it came down to it, he didn't really want to know.
    The stars suddenly disappeared replaced by the dull gray of
the blast shield.  Anthony could hear the door slide open and
someone enter the room.  He turned to look.
    "Sir," it was Commander Tarva.  She stood in her stiff.
at-ease posture, close enough to the door to keep it open.  "We
are prepared to begin count down for the second worm-hole."
    Anthony looked at his First Officer, she had been at
Wolf-359.  He wanted to ask her what she knew of the Nielsen but
couldn't.  He knew that it was as difficult for her to speak of
as it was for him.  Just having her as his first officer, made
him feel closer to the last moments of his real life.
    "Thank you, Commander, make it so."
    "Very good, Sir."  Tarva came to attention, snapped about
face, then exited the room.
    Tarva was a true enigma, sometimes she was, stiff,
absolutely military, other times, she acted like an old friend.
Perhaps she could sense when he needed distance, or perhaps, she
needed the distance.

-----------

    The jumps seemed to get easier, perhaps they were getting
used to them.  The crew came out of the third jump fully
functional, which was good, since it was a suspected Borg
sector.  This was the same sector the Enterprise had first met
the Borg.
    "Long range sensors report." Anthony said immediately.
    Norton checked his screen.  "Sir, scanners indicate no
activity in this sector."
    Anthony had released himself from the restraints and was
stretching.  He turned to Commander Tarva "Commander, what's our
status?"
    "Sir, all sections report no apparent damages.  Full reports
will be ready shortly."  Tarva was still fully strapped into her
seat.
    Anthony stood behind O'Malley who was still trying to
stretch off the effects of the worm-hole.  "Ensign, how many
star systems are in this sector?"
    "Checking now, Sir." O'Malley immediately reached for her
controls.  "Sir, there are three systems in this sector, one
yellow system and two reds."
    "Thank you, Ensign."  Anthony turned and looked at his crew
while he thought.  Their mission was quite open ended, seek out
the Borg in the heart of their territory and collect as much
useful information on them as possible.  They did not know were
the Borg came from, so this was just the first step in tracing
them back to their, hopefully, 'home' planet.  He turned back to
O'Malley.
    "Ensign, plot a course to the nearest system.  What would be
our E.T.A. at Warp seven?"  Anthony stood between the two front
stations with his thumbs hooked in the pockets of his uniform
jacket.
    After a few calculations, she reported "At warp seven, the
closest system is 10 hours 15 minutes away."
    "Very good, lets go take a look."
    "Course laid in, Sir."
    "Engage."
    The helmsman went to work.
    Anthony turned to Norton "Mr Norton, what's our status?"
    "Sir, Shields are currently at 25% power and cloaking is
engaged.  We have full power available any time it is needed."
    Anthony took his seat and turned to Tarva "What do you
think?"
    Tarva had finally taken the time to undue her restraints.
She finished a communication with medical, then turned to the
Captain.  "Sir, we could be exploring out here for a year and
never see a sign of the Borg.  The cube the Enterprise
encountered may have been some sort of long range scout.  There
may never have been any other Borg presence in this quadrant."
    "I quite agree, but this is all we have to go on."
    "Just so we're prepared to do a lot of simple exploring for
the Federation."  Tarva pushed her console aside and stood up to
stretch.
    Anthony stood too, looking at the view screen he smiled "I
hope it doesn't come to that."
    "So do I, Sir"  Tarva returned the ironic grin.

-----------

    Janice had been relieved until they reached the first
system, she had eight hours to get some rest.  In her rooms she
found Whitecloud working on the painting of the eagle again.
    "How can you be working on something like that when we've
finally entered Borg territory?"  she asked.
    Whitecloud seemed to ignore her as she finished a tree line.
Anndrea was wearing a knee length white smock over the standard
tight black under uniform.  She put her brush in a glass of
water and stood up.
    Anndrea smiled at her friend "And why aren't you on the
bridge?"
    Janice was already sitting on the foot of her bed removing
her boots.  She laughed "I guess we all need some time off."
    "Or away," Anndrea added,  then got slightly serious "Your
going to want to get some sleep?"
    "Is that okay?" Janice knew it had to be but couldn't help
being courteous, especially to a ranking officer and friend.
She still hadn't figured out which came first in this forced
relationship.
    "We never should have let ourselves get on differing sleep
schedules."  Anndrea had grabbed her uniform off her bed and
turned to go into the head.
    "Thank you." Janice didn't actually plan to 'go to bed' just
turn down the lights and relax to some music.
    Janice took off her uniform jacket and laid down over the
covers on the bunk.  She looked around the rooms waiting for
Whitecloud to leave so she could turn down the lights.  Janice
looked at the pair of weapons hanging on the wall near
Whitecloud's paintings.  One was the Romulan disrupter she
carried when she'd visited the Delphi.  The other was the,
adjusted phaser that had been beamed to Whitecloud to get her
and Commander Tarva off of Star Base 89.
    Whitecloud came out of the head in full uniform.  "I'll be
in the training room, they may actually need us some time soon."
she smiled.
    "Someday, I suppose." Janice agreed with a laugh.
    Whitecloud turned off the lights as she left.

-----------

    When Janice returned to the bridge, they were just preparing
to drop out of warp for approach to the system.  The system was
a red one.  The star was small and dark.  There were five
planets and two asteroid belts.  Two of the planets appeared to
have atmospheres, the others were gas giants.
    "Sir, approaching first target planet." O'Malley reported.
    "Put it on the main screen." Tarva said and joined Anthony
who was already standing.
    The planet appeared to be brown and very hazy, as if it was
surrounded by a cloud.
    "What's that cloud?" Tarva asked before Captain Anthony
could.
    "Undetermined." O'Malley replied.
    "Sir," it was Lieutenant S'Erlet, the science officer who's
station was on the perimeter behind Tarva.
    "Go ahead." Anthony said to his often neglected Science
Officer.
    "Sir, it appears that the planet is surrounded by a large
amount of debris."  The Vulcan continued to watch his
instruments.
    "What kind of debris, and is it safe for us to take up a
standard orbit?"  Anthony asked.
    "I am not sure of the source of the debris but it appears to
be natural.  We should be safe in a high orbit."
    "Very good, helm take us to a high orbit."
    "Aye, Sir" the helmsman said and made some adjustments to
his controls.
    The Vigilante moved to a high pole to pole orbit.  With the
planet's rotation, they'd be able to do a cursory survey of the
whole planet relatively quickly.
    "Sir," S'Erlet spoke up after about ten minutes of study.
    "Go ahead." was Anthony's only reply.
    "It appears that the debris is made of dirt and rock from
the planet's surface.  The planet has no mineral deposits and
appears to have no layer of top soil.  In fact, I believe that
it is missing several kilometers of its surface thickness."
    "You mean that all of this debris is from the planet
itself?" Tarva asked.
    "Yes, Sir, But I can't make positive conclusions without
visiting the surface directly."  S'Erlet knew he was pushing a
bit with that request but he'd been allowing himself to be in
the background long enough.
    "What's the surface and atmosphere like?" Tarva asked.
    "Sir, there is a thin atmosphere and the surface is almost
all rock." S'Erlet was intrigued that they were taking his
suggestion of an away team seriously.
    Tarva hailed Golta in Drop Team Operations.
    "Golta here." came the gruff Kalonian reply.
    "Prepare an away team to escort Science Officer, Lieutenant
S'Erlet to the surface."  Tarva said casually.
    "Yes, Sir, Golta out."
    S'Erlet fed the necessary planet information to Operations,
then headed down there himself.
    "Helm, adjust orbit to a geo-syncronis orbit over Lieutenant
S'Erlet's chosen coordinates."  Anthony sat back in his chair
and waited.  Soon they'd have their first real look at the
planet.  Could this debris around the planet be, in some way,
related to the Borg?  Probably not, but they had to investigate
every clue.

-----------

    Four figures appeared on the barren rock of the planet.
Three wore dark gray, armored pressure suits the forth wore a
non-armored suit but was the same color and design of the
others.  The fourth also carried two cases of instruments and
immediately opened one.
    The three in armor had phasers in hand and spread out to
survey the area.  "Lieutenant Whitecloud to Vigilante".
    "This is Captain Anthony," Came the immediate reply "go
ahead."
    Whitecloud switched her phaser to her left hand then started
pushing some buttons on the control panels on the left arm.
"Initiating visuals."
    "Acknowledged" There was a pause as they adjusted their view
screen.  "Visuals coming in clear, thank you, Lieutenant."  The
bridge crew were now watching through the mission camera built
into her suit.
    The planet was mostly large smooth rock.  There was very
little dust let alone dirt.  With the thin atmosphere, there
would be no weathering to create the dirt.
    After S'Erlet broke out his equipment and the team started a
slow walking survey of the area.  They soon noticed that the
rocks weren't as smooth as they first appeared.  Many places
were deeply gouged some places even looked cut.  It was hard to
tell what could have done the cutting, but it appeared to have
only happened recently.  The rock formations were not
sedimentary rock, most appeared to be magma formed.
    During most of that day, and the next, the team was
transported all over the planet surveying and tacking samples.
Ten hours after the last survey, Lieutenant S'Erlet was ready to
present his findings.
    S'Erlet stood at the head of the Command Room, seated at the
table nearest him was Lieutenant Whitecloud.  Captain Anthony,
and Commanders Tarva, Norton and Dolittel awaited his report.
    Since Lieutenant Whitecloud had help S'Erlet collect and
sort the data she was there to help with the presentation.  She
pushed a few buttons and brought up a split screen of the
planet.  One side showed an approaching view of the planet in
its brown cloud, the other view showed a dramatic view of the
landscape under a dark brown sky.  The landscape was unique
since it was of totally smooth rock formations and balloon type
mountains.
    "The planet under observation appears to be quite unique."
S'Erlet began "It is composed totally of volcanic rock
formations.  The formations were all formed by cooling lava not
more then one thousand years ago.  Because of the thin
atmosphere, there has been negligible erosion of the rock.
Therefore, it still appears almost exactly as it did when it
first cooled.
    "There are, however, areas where the age of the rock tests
500 million years and older.  These areas are easily spotted
because they have either deep cut marks in them or are partly
covered by the newer more bulbous lava.  If it wasn't for the
extremely old lava formations and the atmosphere, I would have
placed the age of the planet at only about 1500 years."
    S'Erlet paused to allow scenes of the different formations
and types to be shown.  He then continued when a graphic
depiction of the total planetary terrain came up next to the
approach shot.
    "The Debris in orbit around the planet appears to be rock
and perhaps what could be called dirt from the planet.  I have
determined that the debris is from the planet due to its extreme
chemical similarities to the current surface.  With a sufficient
atmosphere, the current surface would eventually weather into
soil of the same make up of the debris in orbit.
    "It is my theory that the debris around the planet was
originally part of the planet's surface."  The graphic of the
current planet filled in, adding layers of dirt and other common
surface features.
    "The biggest detraction from this theory is that the
estimated total mass of the debris would not be sufficient to
cover the planet properly.  There is also only trace amounts of
metals and other minerals."
    Anthony spoke up "Lieutenant, if your contention is that the
debris around the planet is not sufficient to cover its surface
where do you propose it came from?"
    "Sir, it is my theory that the debris did come from the
planet.  I believe that it was forcibly removed and all usable
minerals and ore where taken.  In essence, the planet was
totally strip mined and the 'slag' was dumped into orbit.  This
process would probably also destroy the planets atmosphere."
    Dolittel spoke up "That's impossible, who would do such a
thing?"
    "Sir," S'Erlet returned "You forget where we're at."
    "But the Borg don't 'mine', they take what other cultures
have already created." Tarva said.
    "They don't mine now, but what did they do a thousand years
ago when this appears to have happened?" S'Erlet argued.  "Also,
the gouges in the older rock indicate that this was not caused
by a natural phenomenon."
    Captain Anthony stood up as S'Erlet sat down.  "Thank you
Lieutenant, is there anything else you'd like to mention before
we move on?"
    "Yes, Sir" S'Erlet said and pushed a few buttons on his
console.  The view screen changed to show another planet that
appeared to be surrounded by the same cloud of debris.  "This is
our first view of the other planet in this system that appeared
to have some sort of atmosphere.  As you can see, it too suffers
from the same affliction as this one.  In all of the
Federation's explorations, there has never been another planet
showing the same phenomenon.  Now we have two."
    "Perhaps it is unique to this system." Anthony said.
    "Perhaps." S'Erlet agreed.
    The group discussed the possible history of both planets
then decided to visit the other planet and make a similar
survey.  It was hoped that similarities or differences between
the planets would confirm something, anything.

    The second planet showed even more signs of deep regular
cuts in the old magma.  It was finally decided to register this
under possible activity by the Borg or other advanced culture.
    The Vigilante then moved on to the other two systems in the
sector.  All three systems' planets showed the same signs of
total strip mining.  In all, they discovered ten planets that
had been destroyed in the same manner.  The other planets in the
systems were gas giants and thus were not approachable in this
manner.
    It was even decided that some of the planets may have had
extremely severe atmospheres.  The first thing the 'pillagers'
of these planets would have done was rip the atmospheres away,
it would have made things much easier.  The power needed to do
this was incomprehensible and had not until this point ever been
attributed to the Borg.

-----------
              ********
              And there was I, sore wounded and alone,
              I, the last living of my slaughtered Band.
              Oh sinister the sky, and cold as stone!
              In one red laugh of horror reeled the land.
              And dazed and desperate I faced their spears,
              And like a flame, out-leaped that naked knife,
              And like a serpent stung their bitter jeers:
              "Deny your god and we will give you life"
              *********

    Captain Anthony sat in the Command Room looking out the
window.  They had visited three systems and ten planets, now
what.  They had taken the opportunity to launch drop ships to do
the surveys more efficiently.  They had run more drills and the
drop teams were in constant training.  Still they had nothing
new to go on, they knew no more about the current state of the
Borg then when they left the Federation.
    The next question was, where to next?  He had several
choices: they could pick a random course and just go hunting.
They could start a spiral exploration of adjoining sectors until
they found more stripped planets.  They could follow a trail of
stripped planets hoping it would lead to the Borg.  The only
problem, was that the trail could lead away from the Borg.
Also, all of the planets in this area could be stripped,
effectively making no trail at all.
    Another suggestion was to follow the course the original
Borg cube was on when the Enterprise met it.  This led to
another problem, should they follow the cube where it was going
to, or coming from.  A wrong decision could waste a lot of time.
    "Robert," the voice came from the back of his mind.  "Follow
your instincts, they've never failed you."
    "But I've never had so little to go on." he thought back.
He opened his eyes, standing just outside the window was a woman
in a standard red uniform.
    "Your closer than you think." she said in the back of his
mind.
    Anthony stood up and approached the window, he whispered
"This isn't the way we were suppose to be."
    "I know." she said.
    The woman faded into his reflection as Anthony reached out
and touched the window.
    Anthony was startled by the piping sound from the bridge.
"Bridge to Captain Anthony."
    "Go ahead." he said to the window.
    "Sir, long range scanners show something moving across our
scan area."
    "Thank you, I'll be right there." Anthony starred back at
his reflection in the window for a second; then turned and
exited to the bridge.
    Captain Anthony walked out to see a graphic depiction of the
scanner display on the main view screen.  It was a semi-circle
grid with the flat side along the bottom of the view screen.
The center of the line indicted the Vigilante's current,
relative position.  Moving across the top of the screen were
three blips.
    "Report." he said as he took his seat.
    "Sir," O'Malley responded "We have three objects moving
across the limits of our scanners at high warp."
    "Can you tell anything about them?"
    "No, Sir, not at this range.  Current velocity, however, is
warp nine."
    "Thank you Ensign." Anthony said then turned to Tarva "Sound
yellow alert.  Have all hands prepare for battle stations and
silent running."
    He then turned back to Ensign O'Malley "Ensign, plot an
intercept course, I want to come in from behind.  First get us
behind them, then we can approach from the back."
    O'Malley worked for a few minutes then put a projected
course on the screen.  "Sir, at warp 9.2 we can get behind them
in about twenty minutes.  We could then approach them at a lower
velocity at our leisure."
    "Very good." Anthony smiled "Make it so."
    "Course laid in, Sir" O'Malley reported.
    "Engage."
    The Helmsman pushed a few buttons then reported "Warp 9.2"
the tactical display was replaced by the rushing stars illusion
of warp.
    Anthony turned back to Tarva "I want boarding teams ready to
explore the ships.  We'll start without the armor if possible,
we don't want to give away all of our secrets right off."
    He then turned to Norton "Have guards posted EVERYWHERE, if
these guys can board us I don't want them to have time to do any
damage."
    He then said to both Commanders "As of right now, nobody is
off duty."
    The bridge was suddenly full of activity as guards were
posted and non-regular stations were manned.  The guards seemed
unnecessary since the whole crew, even on the bridge were armed.
Two guards, however, were posted on either side of the view
screen.
    They all took time to check their weapons for full charges.
Every station through out the Vigilante had a phaser holder.
Some had boxes built into the consoles others had what looked
like holsters built into the sides of consoles and chairs.  The
crew kept the phasers with them at all times but placed them in
the holders for convenience while on duty.
    After ten minutes, Ensign O'Malley reported "Sir, I've
confirmed six repeat six Borg cubes traveling in formation.
Current velocity is exactly warp 9."
    The Vigilante dropped in behind the Borg ships keeping them
at about one quarter maximum sensor range.  The distance was
close enough to allow a rather good view at extreme
magnification.  The six ships flew in three pairs or two stacks
of three.  The precise symmetry made them look like three ships
on the long range scanners.
    "Analysis" Anthony said turning to Lieutenant S'Erlet for
the more precise sensor reports.
    "Sir, the ships have exactly the same measurements of the
ship that invaded the Federation."  He continued to adjust his
controls.  "They, however, have a greater mass.  Each ship, in
fact, has quite a different mass than the other."  he hit a few
buttons and the respective masses were superimposed over their
images on the screen.
    "How odd," Tarva said "that they would build seven ships of
exactly the same dimensions but make them very so in mass."
    "The mass on these ships is distributed quite unevenly, as
if it was added recently."  S'Erlet thought for a second then
added "Perhaps they are carrying cargo."
    Before anybody could respond, Ensign O'Malley spoke up "Sir,
I'm reading more ships behind us.  They've just come into
scanner range."
    "How many?" Tarva said very interested.
    "There's at least twelve and their gaining, but slowly."
O'Malley continued to watch her output.
    "Are they more Borg?" Anthony asked his frown betrayed his
concern.
    "Unknown at this time, Sir." O'Malley said "But at our
current velocity they should be in range to tell in about twenty
two hours."
    Anthony looked at his crew "Options."
    Tarva turned toward the Captain "We could wait for them to
get close enough for a better reading, or..." she hesitated.
    "Or what commander?" Anthony asked knowing what she was
probably going to say.
    "Or, Sir, we could go back and take a look at them or just
stop and wait for them.  Either way, with them doing warp nine
plus, we would know in about 10 minutes."
    Anthony thought for a second, running his hand through what
little hair he still had on the top of his head, then said "Take
us down to warp four, but keep us out of their way.  We want
them to go past us no through us."
    The Vigilante swung wide to port then slowed down to warp
four.  Within minutes, O'Malley reported "Sir, I read fifteen
ships.  None of them appear to be of Borg design.  They are
traveling at Warp 9.01."  She continued to check her displays.
    S'Erlet then added "Sir, the ship designs do not match any
of those that the Federation has ever encountered."
    "They will be by us in about fifteen minutes" O'Malley
added.
    "Who are they?" Anthony asked to no one specifically.
    "They're us, Sir." Tarva said coldly.
    "Excuse me." Anthony looked at his first officer.
    "Sir, I believe that the six Borg ships have just
'assimilated' another civilization.  These fifteen ships have
taken pursuit, like any remnants of the Federation would have
done if the Borg had been successful at Sol-3."
    "That's why those Borg ships have extra mass, it does fit."
Anthony said.
    The fleet of alien ships was an impressive armada.  They
were obviously an assortment of different styles and classes.
The lead was a large triangular ship with a second smaller
triangle on top, an apparent bridge.  It made the Vigilante and
most of the other ships in the armada seem small.
    There were several other triangular style ships all much
smaller then the lead but obviously related classes.  The other
ships all had unique designs; some were long and sleek with
large batteries of weapons on them, others were boxy and clumsy
looking, apparently carriers of some sort.
    After they passed, the Vigilante took up behind them
matching speed.  Anthony figured that he should learn about
these people before going in for a close look at the Borg.
Besides, they were slowly gaining on the Borg and at the current
speeds, would be engaging them soon.
    "Sir," O'Malley said "I've found the transmissions from the
lead ship, and we have visuals."
    "Main screen." Tarva said leaning forward in interest.
    The main screen changed to what was apparently an older male
of a humanoid race.  He had long styled hair with full beard and
mustache.  His eyes were a bright red but otherwise his features
were strikingly human.  The man was wearing bright ornate robes
and jewelry.
    The sound was absent, at first, as the universal translator
learned the language.  The man appeared to be making a speech to
the rest of the armada...."so by the will of Lin'hrlar we will
triumph over these creatures spawned from depths of Zin'hrlar's
own madness.  I, the carrier of the heart of Lin'hrlar, will
lead you to the glorious retribution of our peoples."
    Others could be seen behind the speaker.  Some wore similar
ornate robes but not as splendid.  Most, however, wore more
practical uniforms.  All either carried side arms or swords.
    Anthony turned to Commander Norton "What is your analysis of
their strengths, do they have a chance?"
    Norton had been scanning the ships ahead of them "Sir, the
lead ship is highly armed and shielded.  The other ships have an
assortment of technologies.  Most of the technology is on a par
with current weapons in use by the Federation; including,
phasers, photon torpedoes and shield generation.  The larger
ships are carriers of probably small fighter craft.  These
fighters would account for why all of the ships have phaser
turrets that are good only for very close combat.  In fact, none
of the ships seem particularly suited for a prolonged ship to
ship battle."
    Norton paused as he analyzed more information from the
scanners "The lead ship appears to have very powerful phaser
cannons.  The cannons, however, would not be highly effective on
a small or moving target.  My guess is that they're meant for
long range bombardment."
    Tarva was standing, staring at the ships on the screen.
"What kind of propulsion systems do they use?"
    "They seem to use some sort of cross between fission and
anti-matter, probably based on compounds unique to their
systems.  Their actual drive system is similar to our warp but
slightly more efficient then the Federation's standard drives.
I think this accounts for their ability to maintain high warp.
It appears that they can maintain their current velocity
indefinitely, but can't do much beyond that."
    "So their efficiency curve goes right up to warp 9.01 then
drops pretty quickly after that, eh?"  Anthony had sat back in
his chair studying the ships in front of him.  "Now we have to
decide what we're going to do about them."
    Captain Anthony suddenly stood up "Lets discuss this some
place more suitable, Tarva, Simon in the Command Room.
Lieutenant S'Erlet, you have the bridge, let us know if anything
changes."
    "Aye, Sir."
    The three went into the command room to begin discussing
options on how to deal with their 'new friends'.

    "We don't have any choice." Tarva said.
    "How's that?"  Captain Anthony knew exactly what she meant
but he figured he let her voice it first.
    "We can not acknowledge ourselves to these people.  It is
directly against mission directives.  Their intentions are
clear, to attack the Borg.  If we reveal ourselves to them, we
reveal ourselves to the Borg.  Since there is no chance that
they will defeat the Borg, even with our help, then there is no
reason for us to interfere."
    The Captain sat back in his chair "I'm afraid I'd come to
the same conclusion.  It, however, haunts me to just sit back
and watch the remnants of an obviously rich and diverse
civilization be destroyed."
    Commander Norton agreed "It is obvious that we would be
unable to dissuade them from the attack.  They appear to be
driven by a strong religion.  I agree that we have no choice but
to remain observers to this conflict.  Perhaps we can use the
information we gain from the battle in future conflicts."
    Tarva suddenly looked up as if having a revelation "What
about survivors?"
    Anthony looked at her "What?"
    "There's going to be survivors, there's always survivors."
Tarva was living proof of that "Do we just ignore survivors?  If
we're just going to sit this battle out, we've got to do
something."
    "She's right, Sir.  We may be able to justify sitting this
out, but we must help any survivors."  Simon Norton seldom
seemed so passionate about anything.
    Anthony had to play devil's advocate to make sure they
thought of all proper precautions before bringing any of the
survivors aboard his ship.  "What will we do with a group of
aliens on this ship?  How will they react to us, will they
resent us for just sitting back and watching.  I know I would.
Will they cooperate with us when we try to achieve our goals.
If they never trust us, we'll have to keep them confined.
Remember how much trouble we had convincing Assali's men, even
after we convinced him, and we were all Star Fleet."
    Tarva and Norton looked at Anthony wondering what his
decision would be.  He finally said "We'll need security on hand
for everyone we bring aboard.  Treat them as unfriendlies,
that's the way they'll see us, and we must be prepared.  Have
force fields up when they're beamed aboard, we don't know what
their responses will be.  Keep them segregated and guarded, I
don't want them to be able to do any random damage.  At all
times, the safety and mission integrity of the Vigilante must be
maintained.  Is that clear?"
    They were going save some of these people, but probably
scare them to death doing so.
    "Sir, who do we rescue?  Do we take the masses off the ships
before they're destroyed?"  Tarva had to have some 'official'
guide lines set for the transporter operators.
    "We'll only take those people whom we can get without the
Borg noticing.  Escape pods only, and after the Borg have
departed.  We do not have room for the rescue of the whole
ships' crews.  Just those who would survive the battle itself
without us being here."  Anthony thought for a second then added
"If we can pull some of their small craft pilots just as their
ships are destroyed we'll do it.  None others, this battle would
be waged weather we were here or not.  These people have made
their own choice to die revenging their people, we can't deny
them that."
    The intercom opened from the bridge.  "Sir, this is
Lieutenant S'Erlet"
    "Go ahead." Anthony said immediately.
    "Sir, one of the ships has increased speed, it appears that
something is about to happen."  S'Erlet was extremely cautious
presenting his simple conclusion.
    "We'll be right out."  Tarva said and the three stood in
unison.

    When they got onto the bridge, it was apparent that the
largest of the 'carriers' had broken formation and pulled ahead
of the lead ship.  The ship had a large boxy body that looked
like it could almost hold the whole Vigilante.  Along the top
where the body slopped down toward the bridge area were thirteen
round hatches currently closed by spiraling doors.  There was
movement at the bottom of the ship.
    A large door had opened along the bottom with the opening
toward the back of the ship.  The door was centered in the ship
fore to aft and port to starboard.  It was three quarters the
width of the ship and a good quarter of the length.  The opening
created, was obviously protected by a force field since people
and equipment could be seen on the lower portion.  The center of
attention seemed to be an egg shaped craft about the size of a
large shuttle.
    The egg-shuttle soon lifted from its place and slipped free
of the carrier.  It immediately began breaking, and maneuvering
toward the triangular ship.  As soon as the shuttle was clear
the large door began closing and the carrier started maneuvering
to get back into formation.
    The course the shuttle was taking was extremely tricky.  It
apparently didn't have the ability to keep up at warp nine.  It
braked and maneuvered until it was directly in front of the
approaching lead ship.  The lead ship opened a door on its bow
just above the ports for its phaser cannons.  The shuttle
continued to break and adjust its course until the lead ship
swallowed it.

........
              **********
              Deny my God, yes, I could do it well;
              Yet if I did, what of my race, my name?
              How they would spit on me these dogs of hell!
              Spurn me and put me on the brand of shame.
              **********


    "Lord,"  The man had walked through the expansive, crowded
bridge of the Star Watcher then ridden up the lift to the Lord's
Dais.
    The man was Sir Utlin Robe'than second in command of the
carrier Star Controller.  Sir Utlin wore the black uniform of a
fighter pilot but the flowing red cape with high collar of High
Command.  Instead of a straight saber that was traditionally
worn by members of High Command, Sir Utlin carried a battle
blaster.  The large blaster hung comfortably in a similar size
black holster strapped securely to his left thigh.
    Sir Utlin stood out in all company, he had the slim, not
tall frame of High Command but was clean shaven with spiked
short hair of a warrior.  His light brown skin and bright blue
eyes betrayed his origins on Tregamalis, but, in this age of
enlightenment, that fact was ignored, usually.
    Sir Utlin stood with his head bowed and the scroll he was
carrying held tightly to his chest.  He stood next to, Lord
Lang'OA Dowe Fin Dragma, Lord Commander of the Lin'hrlar
Protectorate Fleet.  Lord Dowe finished the work he had before
him then turned to Sir Utlin.
    Sir Utlin could hear the Lord's robes rustle as he turned.
"Sir Utlin, Welcome back to the Star Watcher."
    Utlin snapped his hand down and looked up at Lord Dowe
"Thank you, my Lord." he said then held out the scroll and bowed
slightly from the hips "I bring you the 'Pledge of Following"
from Commander Travois of the Star Controller."
    The 'Pledge of Following' was an ancient custom among
Commanders when they were about to follow a Lord into what was
considered a hopeless, but Holy, battle.  Commander Travois was
always the last to issue his pledge, because he never considered
a battle hopeless.  The more 'hopeless' battles Commander
Travois survived, the later his pledges became.  The pledges
had, for some Lords, however, become more of a vote of
confidence then an oath of 'willingness to die'.
    This final remittance of the 'Oath' from Commander Travois,
was, in fact, a very ominous event.  It was an admission from
the most seasoned Commander of the Fleet that he truly expected
to die in the coming battle.
    Lord Dowe took hold of the pledge but didn't take it.  His
red eyes looked through his beard at Sir Utlin.  "It will not be
long now, Sir Utlin."  he said then took the scroll.
    Utlin stood up straight "Yes my Lord," he said formally "I
know."
    An aid working at a console next to Lord Dowe spoke up "My
Lord, we will be within range in ten par."
    "Very good, alert the fleet, start charging the guns." Lord
Dowe then turned to Sir Utlin "You'll want to get back to the
Star Controller before the battle begins." he said.
    "Yes, my Lord."
    Lord Dowe formally opened the scroll and read it, then
rolled it back up and placed it in a rack behind his throne.  It
joined 13 other scrolls.  "Dismissed."
    "Thank you, my Lord" Sir Utlin said then made a sharp
about-face causing his cape to fan about him then headed to the
lift.

..........

    Half an hour after the shuttle had entered the leader's
ship, S'Erlet reported "Sir, the carrier is opening its door
again."
    The Vigilante had taken up a position even with the plane
formed by the formation of the alien ships.  From this vantage
point they could monitor the entire fleet.  The giant door on
the carrier had begun to open again, only this time the opening
was toward the front of the ship rather than the rear.
    "Sir," S'Erlet said "I'm reading movement on the lead ship."
    The shuttle doors on the lead ship had also opened.  The egg
shaped shuttle suddenly exited at a high rate of speed.  It
immediately turned back toward the carrier.  The ship was
breaking severely causing it to approach the carrier extremely
quickly.  It landed in the opened bay almost recklessly.
Because of the size of the bay, it was obvious that the
precision flying was not needed this time around.
    "There's something else," Commander Norton said after
checking his scanners "All ships are starting to show large
power build ups.  The lead ship is apparently charging its
phaser cannons."
    "Can those things be effective at warp 9?" Lieutenant
S'Erlet asked.
    "They must know what they're doing." Tarva said then hit the
red alert button.
    Commanders Norton and Tarva began issuing instructions for
the transporter rooms to retrieve survivors.  Tarva then
reported to the Captain "There are drop teams ready for
deployment in the 'cavern'.  There are also guards standing by
in Transporter Room II. "
    Anthony turned to Commander Norton "Mr Norton, what's our
status?"
    "Sir," Norton replied immediately "Shields are at full
strength, cloaking is on line, all phasers are at full power and
all torpedo delivery systems are loaded."
    Tarva then hailed engineering "Commander Norton, report
status."
    There was a slight delay then Dolittel's voice came over the
intercom.  "Sir, engineering is sealed for battle.  All
personnel are on station.  Repair contingency and rescue teams
are stationed through out the ship."

    Commander Dolittel sat in the rough duty chair in his
command center between the two engine rooms.  Through windows to
his right and left he could see both anti-matter mixing
chambers.  The chambers pulsed casually, in unison, as if
nothing out of the ordinary was happing.
    Right now, the only access between the two rooms were the
doors into his office.  Dolittel could see his technicians at
station.  Most were strapped into rough duty chairs, others were
tying things up before getting into theirs.  There were also
armed guards standing in strategic locations in both rooms.
These guards had the most hazardous stations since evacuation
was designed to drop the rough duty chairs to safety.  The
guards would have to make a run for it if an evacuation was
called.

    "Prepare to drop out of warp on notice" Tarva said to the
helmsman.
    They then waited for the action to start.  The first out
ward sign was from the carrier.  The round doors on the top of
the ship spun open.  Similar doors on the other smaller carriers
also began to open.
    "I have numerous small power sources in all carriers."
S'Erlet said.
    As if to punctuate what S'Erlet just said, thirteen small
craft launched from the newly open doors.  There were apparently
two different types, one was a single seater, the other seemed
to be a two seater.  The single seater had a long tubular body
with warp style engines held out to the side like out riggers.
The two seater was rounded but wider with the pilots apparently
sitting side by side.

............

              **********
              Then, through the ringing terror and sheer hate
              Leaped there a vision to me- Oh, How far!
              A face, Her face...through all my stormy fate
              A joy, a strength, a glory and a star.
              **********

    Upon returning to the Star Controller, Sir Utlin was
confronted by the confusion caused from the impending
deployment.  The shuttle was immediately snatched up by giant
lifts and moved to its storage bay.
    Normally all activity would cease for the passage of a High
Commander, but in times of war these courtesies were suspended.
Sir Utlin always considered most courtesies to High Command a
hindrance anyway.
    Sir Utlin strode confidently across the bay barely aware
that the platform was moving beneath him.  Utlin's cape flared
behind him as he rounded the corner to the lift.
    An operator at the lift immediately came to attention and
saluted, right hand to the chest and a slight bow of the head.
"Sir," he said "Commander Travois wishes a conference with you
before your launch?"
    Utlin returned the salute, but without the bow, and said
"Thank you, please take me to the Command Center."
    The open air lift had room for a dozen warriors but non rode
with Sir Utlin.  They sped up past the hangers of hundreds of
fighters.  The fighters hung by great hooks to be more easily
lifted into launch preparation areas.  The system allowed for
hundreds of fighters to be launched on minutes.

    Sir Utlin walked into the small office without being
announced.  If any other crew member, even Command, had done
this, Commander Travois would have their head.  Sir Utlin,
however, being second in command, always had direct access to
the Commander.
    Commander Travois Beu'lrmt Van'derla wore an ornate version
of the black warriors uniform that his first officer wore.  Over
the uniform he also wore a red cape but once again more ornate
and much longer.  Sir Utlin always considered capes that hung
lower than the knees to be impractical and too bulky.
    Commander Travois had long brown gray hair and full beard of
a proper High Commander.  He had light brown skin like Sir Utlin
but had bright red eyes like Lord Dowe.  Though none would admit
it, this one small difference would always relegate Sir Utlin to
Second in Command, and HE knew it.
    Commander Travois looked up as Sir Utlin entered the office.
"Welcome my friend." he said and stood to welcome him.
    Sir Utlin came to attention and saluted with a slight bow
and said "Commander, you wished to see me before I launched?"
    Commander Travois returned the salute with the bow, which
surprised Utlin "Yes, with the Pledge of Following I have
acknowledged to all that I believe this is a hopeless battle.
Many, however, believe that we can win because this is a Just
War."  the worry in Commander Travois' eyes was evident.  He sat
down heavily and leaned back.
    "My friend," Travois continued "These creatures have already
destroyed everything we ever held dear.  They've destroyed
hundreds of ships and killed millions of people.  Our kingdom is
dead.  Lord Dowe believes we can defeat them, I do not."
    Sir Utlin shifted from side to side not knowing why
Commander Travois was stating the obvious "Commander, is there
something more?"
    "I want you to promise me something, between friends and
warriors." Travois said and leaned forward a bit over his desk.
    Sir Utlin stiffened and said "Anything my Commander."
    Commander Travois withdrew the long straight sword from its
sheath on the side of his desk. "Promise me that you will fight
this coming fight as you never have."
    "That goes with out saying." Sir Utlin said almost insulted.
    "I'm not done." Travois said unannoyed by the interruption.
He then handed the sword to Utlin, hilt first "I also want you
to promise me that when the battle is lost, that you will not
allow yourself to die uselessly.  Someone must live to tell
others of our great peoples and of the these evil creatures."
    This was not an easy thing to ask, their people never walked
away from a battle.  They had a strong tradition of winning or
dyeing, that is what they were doing here.  They had lost, but
they still lived.  Tradition and honor dictated that they had no
other course of action.
    "Take this sword" Commander Travois said "It was given to me
by my father and he his.  Its been in my family since the time
when it was our only weapon, when we truly lived and died by the
sword.  It was a time of true warriors and honorable foes.  Take
it now, in honor of my son who stands now, controlled forever by
those creatures."
    Sir Utlin stood for a moment, looking at the sword being
offered.  If he accepted it, he accepted the charge.  He was not
sure if he could accept it, it went against all that he had
lived by, every code, every oath.  Was it right for him to put
them aside when all around him would not?  Never before had one
day seemed so far away and unreachable.
    Utlin saluted again and said "What you ask of me, my
Commander, is the most difficult mission I could ever face."
With that he reached out and grasped that sword firmly.
    "I could have chosen none better for my second, you have my
leave."  Commander Travois said.  He then saluted Sir Utlin and
watched him leave, red robe flowing out behind him.

              **********
              Beneath the pines, where lonely campfires gleam,
              In seas forlorn, amid the deserts drear,
              How I gladdened to that face of dream!
              And never, never had it seemed so dear.
              **********
                        "The Soldier of Fortune"
                             Robert Service


            to be continued..............