Star Trek: Athena
Phantoms
Act 11 - 15
by Chris Robato
(crobato@kuentos.guam.net)

Athena Phantoms - Act XI

The additional four ships joined with the main fleet. Garret noted how they could spare only Intrepid class ships. The ships bristled with weapons, but nonetheless, they were mainly explorers ill fitted to fight a sustained battle. They may possessed more phasers than a Steamrunner, which was roughly equivalent in size, but Intrepids lacked the armor and durability of the said ship, not to mention, the Steamrunner's agility in sublight speeds where most battles take place.

The Intrepids themselves showed variations that reflected the continuous tampering of this increasingly popular class. The Hainan, an A type, has downward sled like nacelles, but the Polaris, a B type, has fixed inline nacelles with supports that swept backward from the center of the engineering hull. The Orion, a C type, has adjustable nacelles, but ventral fins protruded on the bottom of the hull, where they serve to stabilize the warp fields. The Blackbird was the most spectacular of all, an Intrepid A like the Hainan but sporting a massive triangular AWACS sensor array from the rear of the saucer. The design followed the role of the Nebula class, which contained such a pod, and was an attempt to bring this functionality to a smaller, more affordable ship. In addition to the pod, the Blackbird has two ventral fins sticking beneath the engineering hull, warp stabilizers working to compensate the imbalance of warp geometry caused by the huge triangular wing like sensor array.

His own fleet were not any better. The Kiev and Vanguard were Aegis class starships, that used an Intrepid main hull with a new engineering hull that featured a scooped round deflector with raised, sweptback warp nacelles and supports. The Sirius was a Sternbach class, an older ship but a direct ancestor to the Intrepid that saw limited numbers. Only the Deimos and the Athena were built to fight from the get go.

Of all the ships, the Blackbird would be the most valuable in this vital search and reconnaissance effort. Garret ordered a wide D formation with the Athena and Deimos at the head of the triangle, while each ship fell to the back in formation. The distance between each ship was the equivalent of their maximum sensor range, creating a wide sweeping line that could cover an enormous amount of area. The distance was so great, each ship would lose visual contact with each other.

The only problem was the fiery nebula, a Type 9 that greatly interfered their sensor range.. This would force the ships to go closer with each other. To avoid the gaseous turbulence, Garret ordered the formation to fly underneath the nebula's elliptic plane. However to do a full scanning sweep, they still come close enough to the nebula that some of the clouds on the edges caused turbulence as they blew by the ships.

The wakes from the edge clouds rocked the bow of the Athena, as she plowed through the storms. Garret wondered if the turbulence destroyed the missing ships, but the turbulence were far from strong enough to destroy a ship with a structural integrity of an Intrepid.

They reported the anomalous object, the sphere. The data Boussard uploaded told them to expect the object, and it was the mission of the Sulu Sea to investigate it. However, they were warned not to investigate the object, and they must place priority in the search of the missing ships. He didn't mind that decision; this was not the right place and time for archeology with the dangers and missing ships et all. Admittedly it was tempting to find out what the hell was the artifact, and why it's nearly as big as Borg Cube. There was no energy readings other than a weak dormant one, and no subspace anomalies in the area that could draw two Federation starships into trouble. Without any wreckage of the two ships, the theory that the holograms abducted the two ships became ever more likely with every passing minute.

And if that was so, that may be the worst situation possible. What if the holograms extracted technological information from Shiner and Athena? The results could be profoundly catastrophic for the races in these sectors, and ultimately in the long run, it will haunt the Federation.

But how much violence was he willing to commit to the rescue of possible survivors, including Athena and Shiner, if indeed the holograms did take them? From the interviews they gathered from the surviving Hirogen, the holograms collected a fleet to support the Cube, and much of the tactical capabilities of this fleet remained unknown. For now, it was best to guess that the enemy both outnumbered and outgunned them.

In their plan, they gave a limited time for this search. If they did not find anything, the next stage was to recruit possible allies from neighboring systems. The Voyager archives gave them a rough idea where the holograms may have a possible base, and that was the last place where Voyager's EMH said his farewell to Hirogen technician Donik and the hologram Kejal. Unfortunately Voyager failed to properly survey the planet and chart its location relative to the nearby stars, so Garret's best guest was as good as any. The planet was literally lost again.

"This is Captain Rafael De Soto of the Blackbird, Captain Garret, please come in," said a message that blipped through the console.

As Garret ordered, De Soto appeared in a small conference window on screen. "Garret, I got a blip on the far corner of my sensor range. Possible ship or ships, but I could not determine its identity from this distance and this level of interference."

If they disengaged their search pattern to investigate every anomaly, it would take time to rebuild the formation and return to the search pattern. The solution was to send a ship to investigate.

"Ann, we got an anomaly here," Garret said.

"So you want me to check it out, eh? That's not a problem, Shelley out."

***

The Kiev dropped out of formation and banked into a turn. Her impulse engines at the back of her saucer hull lit to full power, as she dived to avoid the incoming cloud formations.

"Maintain your red alert status at all times," Shelley remind her crew. She turned to her command console at the side of the Captain's chair, and watched the blipping representation of her ship come ever closer to the marked anomaly.

"We have something just ahead of us!" her officer at the shouted.

"Evasive maneuvers!" Shelley shouted. The ship suddenly rocked, nearly tossing Shelley out of her chair, and something big rushed past the screens. "What's that?"

"Borg Cube!" the helmsman shouted. The Kiev suddenly banked again as a second Borg Cube rushed past underneath.

"That's almost too close," Shelley said. "Why are they not attacking us? They obviously spotted us by now." A third Borg vessel rocked the Kiev again, like a small boat struggling against the wake of a large ship.

"Or why should they attack us in the first place, if they're searching for something else," Shelley said, answering her own question. "Helm, get us out of here and back to the main formation. Open channels to the Athena."

As the Kiev twisted and headed for open space, Garret's face popped up in a conference window. "Garret, we got big trouble. Borg fleet in the vicinity. But they totally ignored me like an insignificant insect. I bet they're searching for something. We're headed back into the main formation."

Garret shook his head. "We have to call off the search early. I have doubts that we're going to find the missing ships here anyway, and I can't risk having the Borg change their minds and start attacking us. You said they're searching for something? Well I guess they must be pretty pissed if they lost an entire Cube to some new enemy, and want some payback. I bet they're looking for the missing Cube too."

As the Kiev sped away to rejoin formation, Shelley pondered what the next step will be. "This is going to throw a big wrench in our plans," Garret said. "We're now between a rock and a hard place. Let's get out here and regroup."

***

Mercury heard the news, and the rumors were rife that Captain Garret may just call off the whole thing together. To endanger the fleet without much possibility of a success, he would have no choice if results don't come up soon. She felt sad about the quandary that Garret may have to face, considering the lives of the fleet against that of two ships missing, including Athena and the mother to them both, Doctor Shiner.

She had to do something, not sit here powerless. She wondered if her own ship was here, what would she do? Nothing...the USS Mercury was nothing but a speedboat with minimal armament, nothing that could even dent these guys.

But she must still do something. She wondered with the back of her head if she could broadcast and access Athena's subspace links. Wherever Athena was, whether she's on her mobile emitter or using stationary emitters, her program would be accessing the nearest computer system. That computer system may in turn, have access to a subspace link. A GCH could use their subspace links to interface with any computer from a distance, and even go as far as overriding it.

That was, if Athena was still alive. Fear and grief gripped Mercury if the prospect was true. She didn't want to be alone in this universe. She must find Athena, even if all the other humans gave up on her. She dared not exist without her sister.

From one of the windows she stared out into space. The ships gathered again in a tighter formation, heading for safety from a Borg fleet patrolling the area. A sadness came over her, as the fleet began to depart to an unknown destination, away from the nebula. Her dread grew if Garret would truly abandon all hope. No, Garret will not abandon hope. He will still try to find anyway, looking to always find a third solution.

Her eyes perked up. Maybe she did find her own solution. She stared at one of the nearby ships, an Intrepid with one of those huge triangular pods over it, like an overhead wing or parasol. That huge array have a communication distance far greater than that of a normal starship. What if, she could tap into it and try to send a signal to Athena? The flaw in that action may lie if Athena herself was so far beyond reach, way even beyond the range of these massive arrays. But she has to try. No. This was against Starfleet protocol, to gain access on another ship without permission for one, and to send a communique without the knowledge of the commanding officers, that would be two. But the penalties were far too small for the risk. They may admonish her for all she cares, but if she could rescue Athena and the lives of two ships with this... it was all worth the risk. If she didn't do it, this would be a burden on her ethical subroutines for the less of her life, which was never bound to natural limitations.

She allowed her form to rest easy. Her face turned silent and tranquil, like she fell into a deep trance. While her form was still, her thoughts ran like the speed of light through the networks of the Deimos, and then to her subspace links. From that, her thoughts jumped off into space, and into the links of the Blackbird, the ship with the massive array. From there, deep into the networks of the Blackbird she went. Like a being of light, she flew through the busy highways of circuitry, to the cities that held the nodes and the modules. Pulses moved through these highways in harmony, and there was a song and rhythm to them the humans would never know and comprehend. She followed these pulses, a flying angel zipping just above these highways, until she reached the node she was looking for.

It was the control module for the Blackbird's massive sensor and communications array pod. She settled next to it, and with her thoughts, began to pulse a new rhythm into it.

Oblivious to the crew inside the ship, a song of plea sang out from the array and into the dark space.

***

She hung from her cell, both hands strapped on their wrists. She wondered how the hell they were able to bound her like this. All the time, her mobile emitter tied to her hip, and yet the powerful holoemitters around the area was able to override her emitter and let them dictate what they could do to her. They had been able to do so in the beginning. They were able to make her bleed, wound her, kick her like some animal carcass, and she could not anything about it. Without being able to control the emitters that seemed all over the planet, she was powerless.

The emitters themselves were hard to crack. The Hirogen had the opportunity to study the mobile emitter Voyager's EMH used, but the real breakthrough came during the EMH's betrayal of Voyager when he ran off with the Iden and Kejal holograms. Voyager left the sector not knowing that before his demise, Iden managed to duplicate and study the holoemitter. His successors took what they learned, combined it with the Hirogens' refinement of Federation holotechnology, then added it whatever technology they came across in the sector, including that of the Borg. The mix mash of technology gave the holograms the ability to build the most powerful and most complex holoemitters she has yet seen.

In her bondage, she took the time to quietly hack the archives, trying to learn more about her captors, looking to find any opportunity she could use to her advantage. Her emotions stirred from what they had done to her, and the thought of getting even grew as a burning obsession.

She looked at the window of her cell, and in the blackness, she could see the pinkish and beige auroras of the nebula that dominated the planet's night sky. There was no moon, but the nebula light was bright enough to shine through the windows and leave shadows.

There, in the night and in the thin light from the auroras, she thought she heard a faint song, a song with voice like her dear sister, Mercury. Maybe Mercie was around somewhere in the sky, looking for her, calling for her. She concentrated on her thoughts and tried to sing back. Her thoughts flew like a winged angel over the pathways of a massive underground network embedded in the planet and onto a subspace node that sat on a mountain. There she released her thoughts and cries for help. If Mercie was out there...if she was only out there, maybe...just maybe she could hear this voice.

Something interrupted her song. There were footsteps echoing down the hall, and the sounds of marching came closer and closer. Damn, the holograms wanted to replicate the gothic atmosphere of the prison right down to the tee. They probably did this to psychologically haunt the prisoners of this cell block.

They unbolted the door, and the hinges screeched as the door swivelled open. Two of the Roman soldiers marched in, and unlocked the straps around her wrists. She noted that her wrists had red warts from the marks, another reminder to her how grotesquely real this massive hologram stage can be. There was nothing fake about the way her wounds hurt. But she wished they would get rid of that ancient Roman shtick; they're getting as old as they look.

They led her to a temple and tied her to an altar, her arms and legs stretched out against two posts. "What this? I'm a sacrificial virgin now?" Athena quipped. She began to shout at them. "You think I'm scared of all your lunacies?" The guards remained quiet and stone faced against her taunts.

Adam made his grand appearance, with Doctor Shiner behind him in rags and chains. "Mother!" Athena cried out.

"We can cut the sentimental crap and go straight to business," Adam said, shoving his robes aside. He moved his hand in a circle, and a control console emerged from the floor. "Do your stuff, lady, disable her ethical routines, or more of your friends will die."

"Mother, please don't," Athena begged.

"I have to, I cannot bear to see people die because of me. I'm not strong enough for that," Shiner whimpered. "Forgive me, I truly beg of you, forgive me." She began to work on the controls, her fingers descending over the buttons.

Adam walked up to Athena, until his face was almost on hers. "Soon you will be mine, my empress, my goddess..."

Athena replied by spitting on his face. "That looked real enough," she added.

Adam wiped the spit, and then tasted it. He grinned, relishing on Athena's futile attempts at resistance, and if anything her defiance inspired him. She struggled vainly against her bounds. She screamed, she taunted, she fought back even as she hanged on all fours. Vain as it were, she never ceased to struggle. That began to intrigue Adam immensely.

Adam looked at Shiner, who still worked reluctantly at the console, her fingers like lead, as if trying to delay the inevitable every way she can. Adam leaped towards her, and raised his hand at her face.

"Stop," he said.

Shiner looked at him with pleasant surprise, wondering why the change in mind. Adam grinned as he tilted his head. "This is too easy. It's...it's not fun at all," he explained. "Yet, when I watch her struggle defiantly, I seem to take an immense pleasure. I enjoy watching her fight me. I enjoy watching her resist. Her defiance is her spirit. To take that resistance away is to destroy that spirit, what makes her so attractive to me in the first place. And that spirit stems from all her naive conceptions of humanity and life."

"No, I want to break it down one by one, not the easy way. The hard way. She could never sympathize with us, unless she can see the pain we endured," Adam declared. He walked to the console where Shiner stood, and pushed her aside. He began to push the interface buttons in earnest.

"What are you doing now?" Shiner asked with alarm.

"I'm going to show her everything," Adam said. "How we all suffered..."

Athena's back sharply strengthened, her face grimaced, pushing hard against her straps, as Adam began uploading memories into her.

...and suddenly she fell down a long deep tunnel...

She emerged, face down, prone on muddy ground. Leaves and vines were all over, blanketing the mud with their green embrace. There were shouts in the background, and she immediately knew what she had to do run for her life. She sloshed through the mud, the vines and the bushes cutting streaks across her bare skin, while behind her, Hirogen hunters carried rifles and bladed weapons, chasing her, for only one purpose to kill her as a trophy, in the most painful and bloody way, the only way that entertained them. Fear gripped her, as her heart throbbed against her ribcage, and she crashed through the jungle, ripping through the branches, vines and leaves, running, running....

***

Molson approached the cave where the refugees hid. He still supported Dubois under his shoulder; she may have hurt something, but they would need a little time to find out what was the injury.

The faces around were faces of many aliens, and not just Hirogen, although Hirogen accounted for the bulk of the refugees. "Why does the holograms also hunt the species of other aliens?" Molson asked.

"Before the photonics only hunted the Hirogen out of revenge," Kelgar said. "But that has changed. Now, they hunt even other alien species. It wasn't just the Hirogen they hate. Their rage grew until it consumed them to blame all organic life for their predicament. They hate everything alive, for the simple reason that it had flesh and blood. Now they wage a war against life itself, and they seek to spread that war. Not even the Borg, who are still part flesh, can escape their fury. They curse the gods, and they curse the universe."

"That can explain the religious references I keep seeing around," Molson said. "The acts you see now, like the crosses, were all part of ancient Earth history, at a less civilized time."

"While we are not familiar with your ancient Earth history, the concept of persecution does not escape us. We have seen this in the histories of a thousand alien species. Even us Hirogen, faced such a difficult period once," Kelgar said.

They walked into the cave, where a camp fire crackled, where the flames tossed red hot cinders into the air. Around the heat and fire, people gathered. Molson could see Hirogen children and women among the crowds. "I know what you're thinking," Kelgar said. "The hate the photonics have on all life does not exclude women and children. Of the captives, Hirogen, human, and others, we rescued many, but many did not survive the hunt unfortunately."

On one part of the cave, there was a stockpile of weapons, including phasers and antique rifles, along with much more primitive implements, such as slingshots, bows and arrows, spears and lances. "We got these from the hunters we overpowered. But every time we kill a photonic, they will generate a new one to take his place, all in the blink of an eye and a throw of a switch," Kelgar said. "How can you beat an enemy like that?"

There was a question in his mind about how the refugees expect to survive with only these means. Were they expecting rescue? He saw the capabilities of the holograms, and any would be rescuers could easily turn into victims like these.

"How do you plan to get out of this planet?" Molson asked.

"Come here," Kelgar said. They both climbed up to the top of the hill. It was a rocky path, but even when Molson's tired, the events of the day steeled him for anything event to come. "There," Kelgar pointed to the valley below.

Molson staggered at the sight of the ships parked in rows, the nebula's light illuminating their gleaming hulls, casting jagged shadows against the barren, lifeless terrain. Further away, a more horrendous sight awaited them; rows and rows of crosses, all leading to the marble palaces and temples in the horizon. There was something profoundly ugly in the surreal metaphor of the scene, but this was not the time to be metaphysical. "This planet is sure one hell of a giant holodeck," he said. He studied the scene, and saw an answer. At the far corners of the site, they recently cleared the terrain to provide landing provisions for two ships and there they stood on their landing legs the Nautilus and the Sulu Sea.

"As you can see, the photonics park the smaller vessels of the fleet here," Kelgar said. "The larger ships are all in orbit or in hunting patrols, including our Caravan ship. At first they took out computers from captured ships to generate more of their own kind, but they shifted tactics since then. They now raid colonies or large ships for their computer systems, using packs of smaller ships, with large captured vessels coordinating the packs. The older refugees told me about this, and I have observed them myself."

"Capturing the Borg vessel was important for them. Using Borg production and replication technology, they are now creating their own components and even holoemitters," Kelgar said. "The day will come they will no longer need to raid neighbors for computers and components they will build them right here. And when they do, they will build an army of photonics, which they will use to spread out and conquer everything in their path, like a virus taking over a cell."

"Like the Borg?" Molson asked.

"Worst than the Borg," Kelgar said. "The Borg still operates on a misguided principle that they are doing good to other species. But they still have a respect to organic life, which is why they keep their organic bodies. These photonics they are the essence of evil. No qualms, no conscience bent on a single purpose, to dominate and to destroy all that they hate. They are only driven with one emotion, hate. Unfortunately, we Hirogen are the ones to blame for that. We are hunters and we should have kept our hunting a sacred and honorable activity, dealing with only live prey, not with these...these abominations...who were neither truly alive...yet not truly dead either."

"I'm not looking to blame anyone here," Molson said. "What's done is done, and I don't think personally you have a hand with this."

"I am the great Kelgar, Alpha Elder of a Caravan, but even the younger ones ignored me," Kelgar said. "I told them this is all a sacrilege, a blasphemy to the gods of the hunt, but they won't listen. They say this was the means they could save our race, but they also find the activity pleasurable. Convenient is the word for it. It is not a true hunt. We hunt to survive, like a law of nature, but with these holograms, they started to hunt just for the pleasure of it, and neglect the true hunting. I criticized them and they called me names, being too old, too steadfast on dying traditions."

"They called you an old geezer. That's the equivalent in human talk. We have that problem too, between our young and the old. We call it the generation gap. But hunting other species are likely to cause war, and that's probably one reason why you Hirogen are on a social decline," Molson said. "I don't really have an answer to your social ills and it doesn't concern us at the moment. What we need is to find a way to get out."

"That's our ships," Molson said, as he pointed to them.

Kelgar handed him a device, a binocular. "Maybe this will help you," Kelgar said. "We captured this from the photonic hunters. It's probably based on ancient design your species used ages ago, using an optical principle of lens to magnify the sight of the prey."

Molson looked through the binocular. Once he got used to the manual adjustments, the thing was as effective as its modern counterpart. He could study the parked ships closely, and there were only a few guards.

"If we could attack and overpower the guards, we could get in the ships," Molson said. "We could use the transporters to immediately beam out every captive and refugee in the area and escape the ships."

"That is possible. I will help you but you must beam every one, including all my people," Kelgar said.

"That's a promise, Kelgar," Molson said.

"That's only possible if they have not salvaged your ships yet," Kelgar said. "From the looks of it, your ships are untouched, and most probably flyable. They could be saving it for some other use."

"Such as raiding other ships?" Molson asked.

"The photonics used a simple merchant vessel to infiltrate and take over a Borg Cube," Kelgar said. "If they can fill one of these vessels of their own kind, disguised as Federation officers, and infiltrate against one of your Federation bases..."

"...and they can take over it, and spread themselves..." Molson added.

Athena ran and ran. She ran across past the streams, across jungles where the twigs cut streaks against her tender skin, climbed jagged rocks that cut the soles of her feet. But they kept coming closer, relentless. She saw many of her kind, fighting back, but the hunters cut them down too.

Then she found herself trapped, a cliff wall blocking her path. Behind her, the Hirogen hunters closed in. She tried to ran off, but felt searing pain as a phaser blast covered her body with a blinding light. Before she could raise herself, a Hirogen grabbed her hair, pulled her closer to him as he raised a blinding knife. He plunged the blade at her abdomen, and ripped her insides out. As she struggled to her last against the firm grip of the hunter, as her life bled away, and her body fell limp.

Then she woke up, her arms suspended and tied with shackles on her wrist. She raised her head, and there stood Adam, with his purple robes, embroidered in gold, and a golden wreath around his head.

"You just felt how the Hirogen hunted us for their entertainment," Adam said. "Magnify that feeling countless of times, and you will see, understand the grief our own kind suffered. Do you understand now?"

"I understand..." Athena whimpered. "But..."

"But there is still some part of you that does not agree, that you still swore your loyalty and oath to your organic friends," Adam said.

"I understand your feelings, but why take it out against the Hirogen women and children, and to all the other alien races you encountered and taken prisoner?" Athena said.

"I found out, that the problem does not lie uniquely with the Hirogen," Adam said. "It lies with all organic life. The tendency to kill and hurt others, for the survival of one. The law of nature, between predator and prey. So you see, Athena, it's really the system that's the problem. All these Hirogen children? They will grow up as hunters, and kill other people. All these Hirogen women? They breed the children that will grow up as hunters. All these other alien species? They too are hunters in a way. In the past they preyed as hunters. Now they are social predators, expanding their nations and territories against weaker species and races. Humans are no exception."

"In fact, despite this thin veneer of pacifism, humans are the biggest hunters of all. Humans, one of the races of whom we are built to their image," Adam continued. "Your cloak of diplomacy hides your need to expand your territories, to build empires, to overshadow and replace the beliefs of others with your own, to exploit others for your profit. What you see around you, is the history of the atrocity called mankind."

"All this problems lies in the very nature of an organic being it needs to consume, and to consume means to kill others, or take from them. The cycle of the hunt begins."

"But what we intend to do, is to break that cycle, Athena."

"We do not have this biological need to hunt. What we need to do is spread our order throughout the universe. To stop the killing, hunting, and exploitation. The Borg had the right idea, to seek perfect life, but they are flawed in one thing. They have not relinquished the flaws of the flesh. Their collective thoughts are biological, still chained by the needs of their flesh."

"But we are the perfection they sought. We are beings of energy and thought, free from the flesh bound flaws, driven by the passion to impose and create order and perfection around us. We will create a new order of life, one that does not need to hunt and kill others, to end this bloody cycle."

"Think about this, Athena, to stop what you just felt, to spare others of that pain you witnessed, to stop it all permanently."

But Athena's silence was her answer. A minute went past before she spoke. "You said you want to stop hunting, but you hunted others for their ships, their systems, for even your own pleasure. You say you hated the hunters, and yet you became one yourself. You became the thing you hated. How can I be with you, when you are your own worst enemy? You are an abomination to those of our kind who died. I don't know if you realized that."

Adam grinned. "To make you accept us with your free will would be the greatest prize of all. Maybe I should remove your moral and ethical subroutines now."

"Removing them does not guarantee she will follow you," Shiner said in the background. "It only releases her inhibitions, and she will just become more violent. Match that with her power, I don't even think you can control her. She will not be the same Athena. She will just be a monster like you."

"It's not control what I want, it's her free will," Adam said. He walked close to Athena and whispered. "What will make you follow me? What if...maybe I will show that I can both be kind and merciful... yes that's it...I will show you that I can be as enlightened..."

"What if I release these people? What if I stop the persecutions, the crucifixions, the hunting? Will you come with me? The lives of these people are at your hands...."

"Will you allow them to return to their worlds?" Athena asked.

"No, I cannot let them know of this place. I will still need them as a form of insurance in case if you ever choose to betray me. I will need them as the first subjects for our new order," Adam said.

"But you will promise never to harm them..." Athena demanded.

"So long as they will not break my laws, or threaten us in any way. So long they will become and stay as faithful subjects," Adam said. "As for your Doctor was the one created you, she can help us design the next generation of photonics, combining your technology and ours, and from there, upgrade all our people to the same technological level.".

Athena sighed and turned her head away from his penetrating look. "So you will be mine?" Paul asked again, drawing his face ever closer to hers till his nose could almost touch the nape of her neck. "Even if you dislike us now, time may provide a solution. You will grow to appreciate us, and eventually, love us as your new family."

***

The fleet regrouped near an entrance aperture. The aperture itself orbited around an orange gas giant designed Delta Tau Sigma 5418 Prime, just above its rings in the form of a giant derelict ring. Nobody knew who made the artificial aperture, and its origins were a mystery just as the global artifact in the nebula designated NGC-1143. Were they related in origin? Were the same founders built them both?

There were many questions about this artifact transwarp gate. It was not Borg, and apparently, it suggested that the Borg may have assimilated this technology from an earlier species. Whether the Borg obtained transwarp technology directly from assimilating this ancient, and quite possibly, extinct species, or assimilated the technology second hand from another species, nobody knew the answer. There were questions and questions, but once again, the timing wasn't right.

Mercie knew that Garret would be pondering an exit scenario. Without any proof that the people they were searching for may still be alive or not, Garret may not want risking the lives of the crew of these ships. The fleet was formidable enough, but not against what was out there. She heard that Garret wanted captains to assemble in the meeting room aboard the Athena.

But she knew they were alive somewhere, somehow. She thought she heard Athena cried out in the far distance, a faint signal. If she's still alive, so then, could be the crews of the two ships, and possibly even more, if the holograms were hijacking ships from other races as well. But would they believe her? Her evidence was so flimsy, and she wondered if the humans would distrust her because of what Athena did, and the nature of their new enemies.

She gathered courage, and walked up to the bridge of the Deimos. Captain Tonya Khidan was there, in the seat of once again, a temporary command, which was becoming a nasty habit about her career. Mercie could guess that Tonya was preparing to beam over to the Athena to join the conference.

Tonya looked at her, with an expression that she sensed something inside Mercie. Mercie gulped and spoke. "Please I want to come with you."

"Would you have anything valuable that you could contribute to the meeting?" Tonya asked.

"I think I know that Athena is still alive, and so are the others," Mercie said.

"So you think? Just think?" Tonya asked again. "You would need sharper evidence than that."

"I must confess, Captain, that I used my abilities to tap into the Blackbird's massive sensor array and broadcasted an encrypted signal that only GCH like Athena could understand," Mercie said. "I know that it's not proper for me to bypass protocols and send a communication without prior approval. But I got a reply back, no matter how faint. I know she's still out there."

"Garret will be royally pissed if he found out that you tapped into another ship's array. You said you sensed something? Are you sure you didn't just bias your senses or transposed your wishes into that result?" Tonya asked.

"I understand that you humans can have a psychological flaw that by wanting something so much, you can actually believe in it, fooling yourselves with it," Mercie replied. "But all the gigaquads of processing power and data in my access, I think we GCHs are fairly above that flaw, don't you think?"

"While I still have my doubts, I come to trust you a lot more than not, Mercie," Tonya said. "Maybe you did sense something. We have no evidence that they're dead, which counts to something. In all my time as an operative, I discovered that not everything can be run through Starfleet protocols. That you have to bend things a little, trust a bit more of your instincts and not logic. While Garret is a good man, unfortunately he's a bit too straight at times. If I have told what you did to Garret, he'll freak out, and he's on the edge already. So if you sensed something, are you able to pinpoint its location?"

"I'm sorry, the signal is too weak to put a trace or a triangulation," Mercie admitted. "That's why I need you to help me on this. If we can come closer by any chance, I may get a stronger signal and I could make a successful triangulation."

Mercie begged Tonya with doeful eyes. "Please, pretty please, I need you to help me on this," Mercie said.

"Okay, this sounds like the best lead we have. Heck, it's the only lead we have. I'll find a way to tell a white lie. I will tell them that we used the Deimos comm systems to attempt subspace communication with Athena," Tonya said. "All right, you can go with me to the conference."

***

Garret made his views known, and as Mercie feared, he was actively considering dropping the search. "I am in a quandary here," he said. "And I hate to admit, but I'm running out of ideas. If anyone of you would like to make a suggestion, please do it. That's why we're having a conference among equals."

Mercie timidly raised her hand up, then started shaking her fingers. "Captain Khidan," Garret said. "I thought this would be a Captain's conference."

"I don't see why I can't take Mercury along," Tonya responded. "I can see you brought along your other officers, such as Commander Ka'nal and Toh here, while we did not. Besides, I believe Mercury has a suggestion."

"A suggestion? The last time she tried, a cat bit her tongue," Garret said.

"Maybe you intimidate her," Tonya said. "She's scared of you."

"Me, intimidate her? How can I intimidate a GCH?" Garret asked. "I certainly don't bite GCH's. How do holograms get intimidated anyway?"

"Because you're such a father authority figure," Tonya said. "Because ever since Athena disappeared, you seem to blame it on her, implicitly without bringing it to the open. And she feels that. She's scared of you. She's sensitive, you know. Quite a bit more sensitive than Athena. I also think that you're uncomfortable with her because she reminds you too much of Athena."

"And how do you know that?" Garret demanded.

"'Because I'm a girl, and we girl know these subtle feelings, the body language people project. Call it women's intuition," Tonya said.

"Hmm?" Garret said. "I don't think I have the time to debate about women's intuition, and certainly I don't have time for any sensitivity training right now, so get on with it, Mercury, tell us what you want to tell us. I'm open for any suggestions. God knows I'm running out of them."

Mercury crossed her fingers. 'I...I...uh...I think I have found something. I think I detected a subspace signal coming from Athena."

"A subspace signal? How is that?" Garret asked.

"The GCH accesses and controls every nearby computer system at her disposal," Mercury said. "Among them are subspace links, which we use to interface with the ship's control systems if we need to control them remotely. These links we emanate, they have their own signature. We can use it to communicate among ourselves, mentally, like telepathy."

"Let me finish it," Tonya said. "Recently, we've conducted an experiment trying to enhance Mercury's subspace links through the deflector and sensor arrays of the Deimos. I believe we made contact."

"Contact? That could mean they're still alive," Garret said. "Athena, Shiner and the crew of two starships. Why wasn't I notified of this before?"

"Because of it was such a slim chance, and the possibility of success wasn't good. We intended to bring the result to you earlier if it was more conclusive than what we found. We did detect a faint signal, but it was too weak and too brief to make a successful triangulation of its location," Tonya said. "If we could get closer to that signal's range, we can find their location." Mercie looked at Tonya and detected a gleam in Tonya's eye.

"Hmm," Garret said. "This is slim hope. Very slim, like a thin thread hanging. But it's the only one we got. If they're still alive, we must act soon. If not the Borg patrols outside will get them, if the holograms haven't done something unfortunate to them already. So what do we need?"

"We would need a powerful array to start with," Tonya said.

"But there is still the issue of the Borg patrols," Garret said.

This time, it was Shelley who added to the conversation. "I doubt that the Borg will mind a single ship in their sensors. They detected the Kiev on our patrol, and they didn't do anything about it. A single ship does not threaten them in any way like a fleet would, and the Borg are much preoccupied with something else than to bother us. I bet their minds are dead set against the holograms. If they find the hologram home base or world, all hell is going to break loose, and if our people are still alive, they're going to be caught in between."

"Very well, I'll take the suggestion," Garret said. "I will send out one ship, and the rest can hide in the safety of this gas giant where they can easily evacuate through the gate if the situation escalates, or set to be ready for support, if the scout ship found our people."

"Let me volunteer for the search mission," Captain Rafael De Soto of the Blackbird said. "My ship has the greatest sensor range."

"I was planning to volunteer myself and my ship for this mission," Garret said.

"You don't have the sensor range," De Soto said.

"The new refit auxiliary deflector and sensor array could boost the Athena's detection and communication range," Toh interrupted. "I've been working on the equipment, and they're nearly operational. I still could not direct energy to the auxiliary deflector but she can work as a passive sensor at the moment."

"But all these are still not as good as an AWACs ship," De Soto said. "I know that one of your crewmen is missing among those in the Sulu Sea, but Captain Garret, you're turning this into a personal crusade."

"I'm responsible for Athena," Garret said. "It is only right that I must lead and take the risks."

"And we don't? We didn't sign up in Starfleet just to get comfortable and safe," Shelley said. "We didn't sign up in Starfleet just to watch or abandon our fellow officers either, either if they're missing or going off to their personal crusades."

"I'm not going to ferry more non essential personnel back home again," Zhu said.

"But the risk to your lives...." Garret said.

"Shouldn't be your responsibility, Garret," Maeda said. "It should be ours to make, and I say, let's go there and search for them. I got no interest being tossed in the sideline, waiting here while a ship goes out there alone. No way. This is a conference and a meeting of equal minds. I say, in behalf of the Vanguard, let's go out there and look for them."

"Well, it looks like I'm overridden," Garret said. "But our chances that we will arouse the Borg will rise with the more ships we have on the armed reconnaissance mission."

"I say we must take that chance," Zhu said. "We compromise our chances of survival more if we are apart. Dividing us that does not improve our firepower odds against the enemy either, and we don't win wars by offering ourselves as noble sacrifices. We don't need to have what happened to the Nautilus and the Sulu Sea happen to anyone of us. United we stand, divided we fall. If detection is a problem, wee can reduce our sensors signature by applying a tight formation, reduce our energy usage and thereby our emissions and stop using active sensors."

"If we have all nine ships, I could tap and use all their arrays and deflectors into one super massive sensor array, like the long distance scanning stations on Earth," Mercie said. "I can stay on the Deimos and access all your sensor and deflector arrays. With your permissions of course."

"Okay then, that settles it. We go together or we don't go at all," Garret said.

***

Today was the day they will adore as a goddess. They covered her with silks, with flowers as wreaths for her hair. Once again, they restored her skin, the wounds and streaks from her whippings had all disappeared like the wave of a magic wand. She was back as they say, to her 'true glory'. Yet she acted like she was being brought to her death sentence. The whole thing was one charade after another.

They erected a new open temple for her 'glory', complete with marble columns and such. Inside the temple was a massive square, with nothing but the sky for its roof, and in the middle of the square was a massive statue of herself that stretched to the night sky where the fiery nebula hanged and lit everything. The statue towered over everything, dressed in stoned robes and watching over her subjects with her unchanging eyes and cold stare. She noted the helmet on top of the statue's head, the shield it carried in one arm, and the spear in one another, noting the goddess' role as a guardian, not unlike the role she played for the Federation. It was the image of Pallas Athene, as the ancient Greeks and Romans remembered her best.

Adam was true to his word. He took down the survivors from the crosses, although some have already died. Others were near death, but they allowed those survivors with medical training to bring them back to health, at least healthy enough to stand and serve as an unwilling audience to her coronation as a goddess. She knew that Adam will only use her as tool, in a titular, decorative role, a puppet on a pedestal as many kings and emperors suffered in the past, or in the present like the Klingon Emperor. Yet, like the theorems in the Art of War, this was a situation that she realized, required a bit of flexibility. By relenting, she could retreat into a position where she could aid the survivors, and ultimately plot their escape. She hoped, by being a titular divinity, she could lower Adam's guard.

The crowds threw showers of grain and flowers at her feet as she walked, under the heavy protection of the Praetorian Guards, in their purple robes, and lavishly sculpted, polished armor, to the center of the square, where a massive pedestal raised the statue.

There he stood, like an Emperor, in his gold wreath and purple satin robes, his polished chest armor gleaming with depictions of gods in battle. He offered his hand to hers, and she placed her hand on his palm. He then led her to the top of the pedestal.

"Why me?" she asked. "Up to now, I still do not get it."

"You are more complex, more powerful than any photonic I've seen. Your sheer complexity makes you almost human, and at the same time, a true individual. You're something that can never be made, even though your Doctor Shiner created you, but you evolved to the individual you are," Adam said.

"Am I really that special? Back in my home, they neglect me. They still, occasionally, treat me like I'm some sort of holo-program running around loose, like I'm some sort of childish nuisance. But here, you treat me like a goddess. What did I do to ever deserve this?" Athena asked.

"The real question is why does the Federation deserve you?" Adam said.

"That's a flattering thing to say," Athena said.

"Don't forget to wave at your subjects," Adam said, waving at the crowd. She waved back at them, but saw many of the released prisoners in the back. To stand here, enshrined in the pedestal, in front of prisoners who among them were Federation crewmen from the two captured ships, she wondered, has she become a traitor and a travesty to the Starfleet that gave her birth and whom she pledged to defend? But at least they're still alive.

"If I am complex and powerful, aren't you worried that someday, I may usurp you?" Athena asked.

"Which is why I finally decided to retain your ethical and moral subroutines. It is the one flaw that keeps you under check, while I have none of this," Adam said. "I have to hand it to the Federation. They truly understand the system of checks and balances. The more powerful you become, the greater are the checks within your internal system. You would be too goody and nice to do anything so against your nature. Sure there are the times you rebel against the system you're brought and trapped in, but the worst thing you can do is annoy people. Yes, Athena, I've read your mind."

"Which is why I think you were also not honest with me one thing," he said.

"And what is that?" Athena asked.

"That you have a sister," Adam said. "The one called Mercury."

"Mercury?" Athena exclaimed. "How?"

"I've intercepted your attempts to hack into our subspace communication nodes," Adam said. "After I found out exactly to whom you are sending this into, I decided to allow you to continue transmitting your help signal in subspace."

Athena grimaced. "It's no use, Athena," Adam said. "Even if you voluntarily stopped your messages, we've set the nodes to continue transmitting. Now, she's coming here to your rescue with a Federation fleet. Which by the way, we will overwhelm using your computer override mechanism which we copied from you."

"What the?" Athena shouted, her face in utter horror, as guards quickly grabbed her arms and held them behind her back.

"You see, once we captured your sister, Athena, it's all complete. I got two of the most powerful photonics in the entire galaxy at my disposal," Adam said. "Which reminds me, of my announcement."

He stepped forward and addressed the crowd. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Citizens of Pax Illuminatum, beings of the planet Ha'Dara, I have another announcement to make. We will not have just one, but two goddesses that we can worship and who will bless us. The second goddess is on her way here now, trapped in the undeserving hands of the Federation and its weak organic creatures. She hasn't realized her destiny yet, and it is up to us to liberate her from the organics and realize her full potential with us." The crowd roared.

"Behold, the Federation fleet comes our way," Adam said. With the wave of his hand, a giant screen appeared in midair like magic, and a scene began to play in it. "Nine Federation starships, nine ships falling into our trap. Inside one of those starships is the sister of our newly anointed goddess, the one we speak about, the one called Mercury."

***

"What's happening there right now?" Molson asked.

"A big major festival. They're anointing someone as their new goddess it seems, guessing from the statue," Kelgar said. "When they're distracted this heavily, this is the best time to sneak into your ship."

"How are you doing?" Molson asked Dubois, who watched the scene from her binoculars.

"My leg is much better now, thanks to Kelgar and their traditional Hirogen medicine," Dubois said. "Good medicine I tell you."

"We developed all these medicines at a time when we do not have devices that could cure our wounds. Even in space, we sometimes do not have access to medical devices, and have to resort to the tried and true means of our ancestors," Kelgar said.

Molson waved a signal, and men and women, dressed in rags, carrying spears, clubs, and rifles, sneaked up the hillside, preparing their assault on the ships parked below. It was like a tribe of cavemen, and how can cavemen stand up against an advanced technological enemy? Just remember that even in the 24th century, spears could still kill.

With their bare feet, they nimbly passed through the boulders and rocks, as silent as their fleeting shadows cast from the light of the flaming auroras above.

Molson stood up from the peak of a hill, the nebula's glow silhouetting his form. Something attracted his attention, something from the sky. There it was, coming at them, an oblong with a greenish glow against the orange light of the sky, then streaking overhead, ignoring them. Molson knew what the ship was, and the idea chilled him to the bone.

"What is that ship?" Kelgar asked.

"A Borg Probe ship," Molson replied.

"What happened?" Dubois asked, one arm holding a rifle. Molson didn't expect her to be acquainted with antique rifles, but she said she watched old movies, so she had an idea how to use them.

"That was a Borg Probe ship," Molson said. There was no mistake about the coffin shaped ship, the green glow that emanated from its complex surface structures. "I think we better hurry up. Major crap about to hit the fan."

The fly through of the Borg ship ignited panic and chaos all over the fantasy new Rome, and Molson knew they don't have much time. The Borg ship was just the scouting party, and the rest were coming to crash the party soon. He could see figures running to the ships, and lights from some of the ships coming to life. The entire city was on battle alert, and ships would soon rise to deal with the coming Borg enemy. The chaos would give him and his team cover to attack and regain their ships, but the caveat was, the holograms may attempt to use the two captured Federation starships for their own. There was no time to waste and the emphasis was on the word 'time'.

Kelgar let loose a primal scream, and in the cover of night and chaos, the surviving Hirogen with other aliens and captured humans, ran down the slopes, with spears raised, swirling slingshots, and arrows aimed.

Urgency, desperation, rage, combined with the focused need for survival and escape all overcome Molson, and all his trappings of 24th century civility thrown out the air, reviving his inner savage, his primal human instincts as a hunter. Under a rain of rocks, spears and arrows, the attackers quickly overwhelmed the guards surrounding the Nautilus and the Sulu Sea. Rushing attackers quickly clubbed down the surviving defenders, but it was not without loss; defensive phaser fire struck down a number of the attackers.

Molson screamed his war cry as he plunged his spear into a defender. The defender was a hologram, but the feel of the spear cutting through his flesh, breaking his bone, the blood spurting out from his wounds, were all too real. He shouted again as he pulled out his spear and threw it right at another hologram. The spear went through his chest, just as another arrow went through his neck. A second of sanity returned to him he remembered now. He instinctively threw the spear like the javelins he practiced in the Academy, all with deadly effect. He grabbed a fallen phaser rifle, and started firing at the other defenders. Others also captured the fallen weapons from the defenders and fired at their former owners.

Not far from him, Molson thought that Dubois knew how to use a bolt action rifle as she claimed. Instead, she used the rifle like a giant club, nearly knocking off the head of another defender, using the butt as the striking end. She quickly grabbed the guard's fallen weapon, and started to shooting. "Come on, let's go," she shouted as she waved to Molson. The Nautilus was the nearest ship, and she ran to it. A few joined her, some human, some Hirogen and other aliens.

She reached to the bottom of her ship. "Dammit," she cried out, pointing to the open port hatch. "They took the auxiliary warp core from my ship!"

"Yes," Molson replied. "And they forgot to close the port too to stop you from getting in."

Dubois grinned, as the others helped her in to the hatch. Then she began to pull others into the hatch.

"Get the ship running and use the transporters to beam every survivor into the ship," Molson shouted loud enough so she could hear him. Dubois responded with a thumbs up.

There may not be enough space in the Nautilus for all the survivors and captives the holograms have collected. Molson called on others to help him as he ran to the Sulu Sea. When he got to his ship, the cargo bay doors on the rear were open, and there were ramps leading to it. He expected the worst as they ran up the ramp. Whoever did this, took out all the provisions, including stores for photon torpedoes and spares parts for the warp core. At least, he thought, that would leave more space for the survivors.

He quickly ran to the engineering room. Good, the warp core was there and operative. They must have saved the warp core with the hope of using the ship in the near future. With his party, he ran to the bridge, to activate the ship and then to the tactical console, to activate the bridge screens and to begin transporting the survivors all around the area into the ship. The first thing he did was to scan for living organic life signs and beam them as quick as he could. He scanned the crosses, picked off those that were still alive and beamed them to the sickbay. There were survivors that were set free to view the ceremony; he beamed them too.

He had no time to distinguish whether they're the Sulu Sea's crew or the crew of the Nautilus, and from the energy readings of the Nautilus as displayed in his console, he knew that Dubois was doing the same thing, beaming people as quickly as she can without trying to distinguish them. This will cause some mixups in the crew for both ships, but the main point was getting out alive in the quickest possible way, never mind that it was going to be messy and chaotic.

The people beamed aboard were no doubt in great shock to find themselves suddenly in a Federation starship. Quickly, Molson explained the situation, and ordered all technically competent personnel to go to the engineering and bridge sections. He noticed that outside the ship, all the other commandeered ships were rising to deal with the Borg threat in the skies. The chaos and urgency of the incoming Borg attack distracted the holograms from paying too much attention to his escape. But nonetheless, some defenders came brandishing phaser rifles, trying to blast the whole starship with the puny weapons. He zapped them using phaser strips from the lower ventral hull. He noticed too that the Nautilus was firing her phasers at the defenders in the ground, trying to cover the survivors.

"I think I got most of them," Dubois said through the comlinks.

"I got the rest, but where is Doctor Shiner and Athena?" Molson asked, his voice burning with urgency. "There I found them." He

The two of them were in the pedestal at the center of the temple with the massive statue in it, which oddly looked like Athena. The hologram dressed as a Roman emperor must be ranting, given the flaying of his arms, his angry expression, and his shouting manners. He zoomed the screen, identifying Doctor Shiner and pressed the transport button.

A column of sparks appeared on the bridge, and Doctor Shiner nearly fainted to the floor. Another crewman caught her in his arms and placed her in the chair next to the captain's. The sick bay was too full to send her, so the bridge will have to do in the meanwhile. He zoomed to Athena, who looked surprised, and quite frankly, a stirring image of godliness in those robes and wreaths she wore. Were they trying to coronate her as an unwilling divinity? She knew what was going on, and waved at his direction, urging him to transport her. He got the lock on her, when suddenly the emperor hologram grabbed her by the neck and bared his hand at him. He pressed the button to activate transporter beam and immediately detected a barrier around the emperor and Athena, who struggled against his grasp. He pressed and pressed again, but the transporter beam would not go through, and he watched Athena's face in horror as she realized the transporters would not save her. Then the image of Athena and the emperor faded from the screen, and Molson assumed the emperor must have set off a transporter beam to bring both the emperor and Athena to some ship. He sighed, realizing that there was nothing he could do to save Athena.

"We're taking off," Dubois said. From the screen, Molson watched the Nautilus withdrawing its legs and pointing its nose up, then blazing away.

Molson ordered someone to take over the tactical console, then moved into the helms console himself to fly the ship. The impromptu crew was both alien and human, among the aliens were the Hirogen, those that belonged to the Delta Quadrant and those that were originally part of the crews of the two ships. Among the humans these were from the two ships, and the ones he can't recognize must be from the Nautilus. The impromptu crew wasn't going to be the familiar finely oiled machine he expected from his old crew, but they have to do. He had no choice, and he hoped they could fly the ship.

There was a shudder as the Sulu Sea rose from the ground. He retracted her landing legs, then engaged impulse, pulling her nose up, and into the flaming sky. The Pathfinder shuddered with the aerial turbulence as her nose quickly sliced through the clouds. All over, he saw the holograms' fleet ascending to the sky, joining those already in orbit and waiting to defend their world. Will they try to attack the Sulu Sea and the Nautilus? He wondered about the decisions going through whatever processors that made up the holograms' minds. If they tried to engage and pursue them, they would risk thinning their forces in the face of the imminent Borg attack, and their world has to be more valuable than the escaping prisoners.

It was Dubois again in the comlinks, calling from the Nautilus. "We got massive energy readings on the ground, in strategic points in the planet. Something is happening..."

Molson focused the sensors and the bridge screen on the planet. "They're concentrating the energy on points that I think are massive holoemitters they embedded on their planet and turn it into a giant holodeck." He switched his eyes back from the console to the screen, and watched in disbelief as the entire planet began to fade out of sight, the crusty brown globe turning transparent, and then into nothing, leaving an empty space.

"What happened?" Dubois asked.

"They used the massive holoemitters to make the planet disappear like magic. I can't even get any reading," Molson explained. Perfect, they could hide their planet from attack and allow them to concentrate on other tasks in hand, like engaging the Borg or pursuing them...

They will pursue, and Molson shouted in the comlinks to Dubois. "Nautilus, let's get the hell out of here." He turned to his own crew and ordered. "All shields up, battle stations." He set the course to the Outpost location as he watched the Nautilus warped away, and then engaged warp himself. They may be in space, but they're not home free yet.

***

"They're getting away," said Kaja, looking at Adam. "What are we going to do?"

He sat on a throne, specially made in the heart of the former Borg Tactical Cube that he turned into his flagship. He pondered for a moment, then gave his answer. "Send Predator ships after them. If necessary, just kill them all."

"No!" Athena cried out, struggling against her bounds. "You promised not to hurt them."

"That was before they tried to get away," Adam explained. "Now circumstances are different."

"You're still a liar," Athena struggled. "Let me go!"

"Let you go where?" Adam said. "You have nowhere to go. Your friends have left you, and the Borg are coming to get us. "

"Serves you right," Athena said. "You ticked them off pretty bad when you hijacked their Cube."

"That's not a problem. We stand to benefit from assimilating more of their technology and equipment," Adam said. "We are superior over the Borg, who remain bound to their flesh while we are beings of pure thought and energy. They come here not to assimilate, which they cannot, but to destroy us. Because they fear us as any inferior species in the face of a superior destined to rule over them."

"And how will you do that? They obviously adapted to your sensor network if they could get through your network without you detecting them," Athena said. "I don't think they will be easy this time."

"We shall see, Athena," Adam said. "And what are you going to do now? Are you going to fight with us? It's us versus the Borg. I know that you have some awesome capability in dealing with that species. You're designed to take out their computer systems. Even if you don't like us, I'm sure you will find us much more pleasant company than the Borg, which I'm sure, you must find so utterly boring and totally devoid of any charm at all."

"Yes, but I would need a ship to fight with," Athena said. "Can't fight without weapons, no?"

"But if you got a ship, you will use it to run away, right?" Adam said. Athena replied by shrugging her shoulders.

"I think I got a solution," Adam said. "Pursue the Federation ships now!"

"But your Highness," Kaja said. "What about the Borg?"

"We are dealing with our Borg problem. The humans call this solution, killing two birds with one stone," Adam said. "Capture the Federation ships."

"Why do you want to pursue them? Why not just let them go? They're nothing to you," Athena said.

"They're my insurance," Adam said, bending so close to Athena that his nose almost touched hers, and his breath seem to caress her lips. "You may be one of us. You may be the most beautiful creature I have ever seen, but I still don't trust you."

The ship transmitted images directly to their minds. That's one of the advantages of these ships; they have direct neural interfaces, and don't need arcane equipment like bridge screens, consoles and panels. From the Cube, they could see flashes ahead, and when they come closer, they saw the Sulu Sea exchange phaser fire from its tail with the pursuing Predator ships, manned with photonics. The Sulu Sea's phaser fired turned the shields around the Predators into blinding bubbles. But the Sulu Sea could not get away, and the Predator ships fired off subnucleonic disrupter beams designed to disable navigation, computer and propulsion systems, paralyzing the ship and rendering it vulnerable to a tractor beam or boarding assault. Then in another pass, the Predator ships beamed knock out gas into the Sulu Sea; the gas was a surprisingly low tech weapon that never failed as a capture weapon when the circumstances were right. The capture of the escaping Federation ship proved to be a textbook operation as the two Predators caught the Federation ship with tractor beams.

The second ship was a bit farther away, and its fast design made it harder to catch. It was actually overhauling past the Predators pursuing it, but not the Cube. As the Cube closed in, green beams shot off and held the second Federation ship in its grasp. This one looked much like the accursed Janeway's Voyager ship, one of those Federation Intrepid classes. The Intrepid stopped dead in its tracks. It tried to squirm away, struggling against the holding beam. But the more it struggled, the tighter the holding beam. There was no conceivable way an Intrepid can overpower the far greater energy output of a Tactical Cube, and it finally relented. Using the same technology the Borg used to beam boarding drones in target ships, Adam beamed canisters of knockout gas all over the ship. The green holding beam draw the Intrepid class into the giant bay doors. An entire Intrepid was the same scale to Cube as a Type 12 shuttle was to an Intrepid.

With the second ship inside, the Cube returned to where the Predator ships held the Federation Pathfinder class ship. With its green beam, it too drew the helpless Pathfinder into the giant Tactical Cube, consuming them like tiny fish.

"I guess that ends their futile attempt to escape," Adam said. "When will they ever learn? Now that we have the two ships again, pick you for your weapon and the other will be my insurance. Hurry, because the Borg is coming."

***

She materialized on the bridge of the Sulu Sea. All over the ship and the bridge, the crew lay stunned or unconscious on the floor or on their assigned stations, and the bridge lay no different. She approached the helm, and saw Molson slumped on it, unconscious. Next to the captain's chair, her creator, Doctor Shiner, also slumped, unconscious. The air was full of a knockout gas that the Predator ships must have been beamed onboard the ship. She carefully laid Captain Molson on the floor, and made sure his head would rest comfortably.

The lesser of the two ships, the Sulu Sea, also contained the less of the hostages. That was the reason why she picked it. But the unconscious crew inside remained at risk. She settled on the helm console, and spread her hands on the interface panels. The lights in the panels came to life, and the spark revived the ship, its engine starting, the computer panels shaking off the effects of the Hirogen subnucleonic disrupters, as her consciousness permeated through the isolithic networks all over the ship, taking over the ship completely as if she and the ship were one mind, one body. It was through the same interfaces and controls that she could become one with her main ship, the USS Athena. Somehow, the entire Pathfinder ship felt reminiscent of the one of her modular vector ships, similar in size and shape, as well as in tactical capability.

Once she got control of the ship, she began to beam out the unconscious crew to the Nautilus. Events turned the Intrepid class Nautilus has been turned into an overloaded refugee ship; throwing the entire makeshift crew in the Sulu Sea would worsen it. But she had no choice; she will not risk the crew with what she was about to do. She wondered about the surprise looks of their faces, including Captain Molson's, when they all wake up and find themselves inside the Nautilus, and the Nautilus itself, inside the giant Borg Tactical Cube.

She looked around the massive bay where the Sulu Sea and the Nautilus lay suspended in mid space. The two Federation ships should be safe for now, tucked inside the massive belly of the Tactical Cube. Near the two Federation ships, a small Borg Sphere, a number of Borg Scouts and Probes lay suspended in the massive grid work, all enveloped in the green light that seemed prevalent in all Borg ships.

The bay door opened, big enough to swallow an entire Sovereign class, dwarfing the Pathfinder as it passed through the doors.

"I'm out. Now what?" Athena said, as the Sulu Sea took position near the Tactical Cube and the fleet of ships. Her long range scanners detected the Borg ships incoming, mostly the smaller ones in a scout pattern.

"Preliminary attack pattern. They're coming to test us first," Athena said. "The main bulk

"I'm reprogramming all your sensors and computers," Adam said. "Every time the Borg will adapt to our weapons, we will counter adapt to their defenses. No collective or organic being cannot match our response speeds; we can think and react at the speed of light. The information I am sending to you includes all the network frequencies their Vinculums and plexis nodes use. We can use these frequencies to hack into directly into the ship systems, override their computers, and overload their links with the Collective. We will paralyze their ships, cause them to collide or self destruct. When they setup a new defense, we will overcome it. They will see what we can do. They will experience our true power."

"We shall show them once and for all, we are the superior intelligence," he added.

***

"Captain Garret?" Mercie said. "I sensed intensified Borg activity ahead, as well as possible energy discharges." On board the Deimos, Mercie followed the trace of Athena's signal through the deflector and sensor arrays of the entire fleet, and any information she gathered, she informed the rest of the fleet, guiding them like a sniffing dog. This time, Garret could sense the concern in Mercie's expression and voice.

"Coordinates?" Garret asked. Mercie uploaded the data, and they appeared on a series of blips on the Athena's screen.

"Previous surveys from the Sirius, and star maps we obtained from races in this area indicate that there may be a Class M planet around those coordinates," T'Pak said.

"Class M, huh?" Garret said. "I think we may have a good candidate where the missing ships are."

"I must warn you about the increased Borg activity in the vicinity," Mercie said.

"Well, this is where the fleet has to split up. Only one ship could get into the area, and that's the Athena. This is a good time to use its phased cloak. And yeah, screw the Romulans and their treaty; it's about time we take control of our technological destiny without the politicians compromising it any further," Garret declared.

"And the other ships?" Ka'nal asked.

"Call the other ships up and bring them into conference mode," Garret said. The faces of each captain appeared in the screen in a minor window.

"Bring up the star map again," Garret said, and the star map appeared in the central window. Garret walked up to the screen and began pointing the "This is the coordinates for the system where Athena's emanations are coming from. This is the possible Class M planet around that star. Before that system, we have this system here, with an asteroid belt and two gas giants. This could provide our fleet some cover, while the Athena will try to enter that system where the signals are coming from. In the event of trouble, we could call for backup, and the rest of the fleet could come to our rescue."

"Playing hero again, Garret?" Shelley said.

"No, I don't want to risk our fleet in case this lead is fruitless," Garret said. "Call this a scouting action. Captain Shelley, I want you to lead the fleet while I will undertake the scouting action."

"I have to go with the Athena," Mercie insisted.

"She is correct. I will need Mercury. She's the only one who could trace Athena's signal," Garret said.

"But the problem is, I'm responsible for her," Tonya argued.

"I promise I will take care of Mercury," Garret said. "Guaranteed."

"At the slightest sign of trouble, I will be warping there, kicking ass, and taking no prisoners," Tonya warned. "Prepare to receive Mercury on board the Athena."

"No need for transporters. I will download myself to the Athena's computer systems," Mercie said.

Mercie suddenly appeared next to Garret without warning, causing him to jump in surprise. "Sorry if I startled you," Mercie said. "Take you for bringing me along

"Take your position," Garret said, pointing to the seat next to the captain's chair.

"If I may, I like the second helm seat please," Mercie requested. Garret nodded, and Mercie took the seat. Her presence in the helm seat reminded Garret once again of Athena, and all the times Athena sat on the helm console.

"We'll be heading to the system. Good luck, Garret. The Kiev out," Shelley said. On the screen, each of the conference windows blanked out, leaving the screen with a view of the starships in formation. The eight starships turned away, and Garret could count eight streaks as they warped to their destination.

"Set coordinates and engage warp," Garret ordered, and the stars in the screen turned to streaks.

"Borg ship energy signatures in the area," T'Pak said. "We're seeing energy discharges, possibly weapons..."

"Possibly ships blowing up," Drudge added, the resident giant Gorn manning the tactical station. "There is a great battle going on."

"Yes, that could explain the anomalous readings," Mercie said. "I advise we proceed with caution."

"Head's up everyone," Garret warned. "We're heading into the fire. The Borg may be fighting someone already, and I bet it's the holograms. So they're still preoccupied, and we can still use that to our advantage. But we're still taking a chance in the crossfire. Red alert, I want everyone on battle stations, cloak up, and keep our signature on the minimum."

"Aye sir," Drudge said. "Arming all weapons. Phasing Cloak activated."

"I am accessing both deflectors and all the arrays now," Mercie said. "I'm extending our sensor range. I believe I can get long range visuals of the Borg ships."

"The energy disturbances are too extreme to hold a stable warp field," T'Pak warned.

"Leave warp and go into impulse. I want maximum power on the cloaking field. We're going to play the role of an invisible spectator here," Garret ordered. "Mercury, bring up the Borg ships on screen. Let's see what's happening."

"Aye sir," Mercie said. She brought up the screen, only to see a cone shaped Borg Detector ship smash into a Cube head on.

"What's happening?" Garret asked.

"We just saw a Borg ship collide into another Borg ship," T'Pak said. "And we're seeing more collisions." A Borg Scout ship smashed against a Borg Sphere just as the Vulcan finished his sentence.

"Can you explain that, Mercury?" Garret asked. Somehow, he felt that Mercury would know the answer. Instead, he saw Mercury struggling in pain, her hands clutching her head, just as she fell to the floor.

"What's happening?" Garret cried out in alarm as he ran to raise Mercury back to the chair. "Are you all right?" He asked her.

"There is tremendous interference in all subspace links," T'Pak reported. "It could be affecting Mercury."

"This all resembles like a massive ECM environment," Drudge explained. "A war being fought not with phasers and torpedoes, but through subspace links against the cyberspace of the ships' systems. I believe that's what affecting Mercury, like someone or something is overwhelming her interface links."

"I concur," T'Pak said. "Someone is hacking the Borg systems, or some group. We may not hear the subspace signals she is hearing, but to her, they sound deafening."

"It is so loud...so loud...all the cries...It's the holograms," Mercury said in pain, still crutching her head. "They're hacking the Borg systems. I'm sure of it...wait...I could hear Athena's signals....she's helping them blow up the Borg..."

Beyond the phasers, force fields and torpedoes, there was another battle going on, the real battle. A small Nova was a hopeless sight set next against a Borg Cube, but this was not a battle of size and power, nor of matter and energy. This was a battle of thought.

Athena downloaded her consciousness into the networks inside the Sulu Sea. Her thoughts raced across the pathways into the subspace links, and from there, flew out into the open space. Unlike most ships, the Borg ships kept their Collective links open at all times, even during battle. Their inability to operate as individuals in battle will be their fatal flaw, as their subspace links remain exposed to maintain their contact with their collective. It was through these links that one could infiltrate into the Collective and into the ships, and wreak havoc. Her thoughts, flying like an angel of vengeance, entered into the subspace links of the Borg Collective that controlled the ships. She could hear the voices of the others of her kind, Adam and his ilk, their own thoughts racing from their fleet, and into the collective consciousness of the Borg.

Adam was right. The cyberspace consciousness of the holograms were like winged gods flying against the ant like drones. She could hear the millions and billions of voices of the Collective, but they could not drown her. Their chorus could not drown the individual shining voices of herself, of Adam and his new order.

Can you feel that? Adam's thoughts spoke to her in this cyberspace. Can you feel the power? This is the true power of our kind. Beyond the physical limitations of matter. Our power lies in the power of thought itself, to rule in the space of consciousness, in this realm of pure knowledge.

Yes, she responded. Yes, she filled her senses with the power, with perfect speed and the ability to do things at the speed of thought. She had to admit that power indeed was intoxicating. But there was something else, something in the back of her mind, a safety net that prevented all this intoxication from going overboard. Was it her ethical and moral subroutines? When they programmed her to take over what arguably could be the Federation's most powerful starship, they also built those safeguards in her. Now, they're all a part of her personality. Despite the safety net, yes, there was a sinful thrill to all this.

They flew through the neural pathways of the Borg ships, flying over the networks like eagles over highways. There, they saw, like shining spires in the distance, the magnificent Vinculums and plexis nodes that link the Collective and their ships together into one giant organism.

***

There was a new voice among the chorus of the Borg voices. It was the voice of fear, burning like uncontrolled wildfire among the billions of voices, unable to adapt an enemy that was not physical nor possess mass.

What shall we do? The voices of the Collective said in confusion and terror. Giant fire walls sprung up to protect the vital centers that link the Collective. But it was to no avail. The angels flew through the walls, and the walls crumbled beneath them.

Die, Adam responded to the voices of the Collective. When will you realize that we are the new order. We are Order, not your pretense at such. For any adaptation you make, we will counter ten fold. The only thing you can do is die, to make way for us. Your resistance is futile.

The winged angels entered into the Vinculums and the nodes. Then darkness swept into the pathways, and began to spread out across the highways of the network. Once there was light, there was only darkness. The darkness began to multiply a thousand fold across each node, and from each subnode, a thousand fold again.

The voices screamed in anger, pain, panic, chaos, and confusion, as they lost their links from each other and the rest of the collective. Whole Borg ships shut down, others self destructed suicide being a preferable course than the pain of utter chaos and confusion, and to the loneliness of individuality.

The thoughts of the holograms swept through the nodes and into the vitals of the ships. In chaos, the drones put up barriers to protect the vital systems of their ships from the invader's control. But for every barrier they put up, the holograms overcame them. Now, the holograms began to shut down the life support systems of the drone, to render the ships lifeless and ripe for the taking.

But the Borg, a race known for their unbending tenacity, still refused to submit. Our deaths will not be in vain, said their thoughts. We shall still prevail.

More and more ships started their self destruction sequences, and locked their paths towards the holograms' fleet. There is nothing you can do to stop this, said the thoughts of the Collective. The destruction sequence and control is hardwired from the physical world. We have foreseen that you will do this. You have forgotten our willingness to accept any sacrifice for the good of the whole. You have forgotten to counter this simplest of adaptations. For that you will fail. Our deaths are nothing for we will be reborn in the memories of the Collective. In Death, we will live forever. Our resistance will not be futile. The Borg ships, the Cubes, Scouts, the Probes, the Spheres and the Diamonds began to head into an unstoppable collision path with the hologram fleet.

No! Adam cried out in his thoughts, as the explosions from the kamikaze Borg enveloped his fleet. One after another, the various vessels he collected from all the species he has hijacked, including all the Predator ships, exploded as the shockwaves in giant fiery rings, one after another, rocked and consumed his fleet. He maximized power to the Cube's shields, as explosions and shockwaves surrounded and rocked even something as large and massive as a Class 4 Tactical Cube.

A Sphere blasted through one of his greatest ships, the Hirogen Caravan colony ship, like a cannon ball through a house. That set off a tremendous explosion, and the wake of its shockwaves blew through the fleet like a mighty storm.

***

She could hear a feeble thought, calling to wake her. Athena...Athena....

It was all blackness around her, and yet there was no stars. As she woke up she realized, this was not the real space of the universe, that she was still in cyberspace. The circuitry around her, it all looked familiar. It was the circuitry of the Sulu Sea.

Athena...Athena.... A voice called her. She turned around and saw the face of Mercury in a green luminescent fairy like form hovering over her own nude luminous angel like form. Mercury too was in the cyberspace of the Sulu Sea. The question was, what was she doing here? Was this a dream? Was this real?

Mercury? Athena cried out.

It's me, Athena, it's really me, Mercury said.

How long have I been out? What are you doing here? Athena asked.

Saving your butt again, Mercury replied. I got you and your ship out just in time. Took control of your ship remotely and charged maximum shields. The Sulu Sea is still heavily damaged though; we might have to tow her back in. You've been knocked out for a while. The explosions from the Borg ships temporarily overloaded the computer systems and knocked the circuits off.

It really is you, Athena said. Not some trick Adam is trying to pull on me.

Who is Adam? Mercury said.

Some loony hologram, who captured us and is responsible for this big mess. By the way, where is he? Athena said. Where are you?

I'm in the Athena now, and we're coming to save you and the people in the Nautilus and Sulu Sea. We're in a short distance away, watching and staying away from the entire fight, but we're now approaching your vector. We have more ships in standby in a nearby system and they're heading here under maximum warp. But where is the crew of Sulu Sea and where is the Nautilus? Mercury responded. Yes, Captain Garret is with us.

Oh my, he must be pissed when he knew I ran away, Athena said.

Yes he was, and almost blamed on it me, Mercury said. Next time, be more wise, please.

I will. Tell him I'm all right. Right now we got more pressing things to. Yes, the crew of the Sulu Sea and the Nautilus. The last time they were inside a Borg Tactical Cube held by the holograms. But...no... What happened to the Cube? Was it destroyed with everything in it? Athena said.

The circuits are malfunctioning. The systems must be heavily damaged, Mercury said. You must leave the cyberspace.

Athena woke up in her hologram form in front of the Sulu Sea's helm console. There were panels fallen everywhere, sparks jumping, and the lights around were stuttering. There was the heavy smell of burned circuitry and ozone. But some of the panels and circuits were still working. She pressed her hands against the LCARS interface in front of her. The bridge screen came to life and she began scanning the debris.

The Borg did what they promised. Scorched Earth policy. They took down the holograms with them. But where was the Tactical Cube? If she had a heartbeat, it would be beating nervously by now; the worry about the fate of the Nautilus, with everyone on board, sagging heavily on her mind.

This little ship is a tough one, Athena thought. Most of her sensors and the two deflectors were still working. Pictures of the devastation scrolled through the screen.

Until she found it. The giant Cube itself remained intact, heavily damaged and torn from the devastation around it . The explosions must have mortally damaged the ship's systems, yet the structural integrity of the ship was so great, the shell and the structure of the ship remained intact. That's one hell of a structure, she thought, and the Borg sure knew how to build their ships.

She squeezed some impulse power and a little bit of thrusters, turning the ship around and headed closer to the gigantic remains of the Tactical Cube. Is Adam really dead? She thought.

There was some tones in the screen, with some static following next. She turned on the screen conference window, and there was Mercury, along with Captain Garret. He had this scowl on his face, but boy, was she happy to see him...

"Captain?" Athena cried out in tears.

"Thank God, you're all right," Garret said. "We're going to beam you onboard and tow the Sulu Sea to a safe area. I've notified the rest of the fleet, and they're on the way. We're going to scan the debris for survivors. Any location on the Nautilus?"

"I think I found her. I hope she's still alive...maybe she is...I'm getting readings from inside the Cube..." Athena said. "Energy readings...from a Federation ship..."

There was an explosion inside the Cube, as an Intrepid class ship blew through the hull, debris hurtling away from its path. The sight of the Nautilus had Athena jumping for joy, her concerns released. Then there was a second explosion, and another ship blew through the hull.

A Borg Sphere.

Athena felt a presence inside the Sphere and she knew who it was. The Sphere appeared in pursuit of the Nautilus, which was in no shape to engage anything, and running for its sheer life.

Athena quickly informed Garret of the situation, and turned her own ship around. A flash told her the Nautilus engaged warp, and the second flash was the Borg Sphere hitting warp. Her diagnostics checked out the Sulu Sea could still engage warp. She turned the ship around, cleared the debris, and with maximum impulse, headed into clear space. As soon as it was open, the Sulu Sea disappeared in a flash of light.

***

She headed into an intercept vector with the Sphere. Are you there, Athena? It was the thoughts of Adam. He was indeed inside the Sphere, with many of his surviving cohorts.

Yes, I am here. What are you doing, Adam?

This is not the end of me yet, Adam said. My home world is still intact and you cannot find us. But I'm not returning to our world and hide like a coward. I'm off to find new green pastures for conquest.

There was laughter, and the communication link faded. Then Athena noticed something. The Sphere veered off from its pursuit course of the Nautilus, which despite being an Intrepid, must be only working with its efficiency greatly impaired from damage the lack of its proper crew. The Sphere have been quickly closing in the Nautilus like an eagle closing on its wounded prey, and the Nautilus was helpless. Then it veered away...heading somewhere...towards perhaps a new target.

She studied the scans where the Sphere was going...there was another ship coming, and the Sphere was headed for it.

Horrors, that second ship, that was her own ship the USS Athena.

She urgently opened communications to the Athena. "Captain, Captain!" she excitedly called. "Borg Sphere heading your way!"

"Yes, we see it. Battle stations, we're going to nail the sucker," Garret said.

"No, no! Stay away from it. You don't know who you're dealing with..." Athena cried out. Then suddenly the screens went blank. "Captain...Captain..." She repeatedly called out to him, repeatedly sending out her signal.

Yes, Athena...your ship is mine... And your sister too... It was his thoughts.

Screw you, Adam, I'm coming to get you. You made this personal. Very personal.

The comlinks toned. "Athena, Athena, is that you over there?" It was Shiner's voice. "We detected your holographic signature inside the Sulu Sea."

"Yes, it's me, Mom," Athena replied.

"Thank heaven, you're all right," Shiner said.

"Mom, we still have a big problem here. The holograms are headed for the Athena, and I'm sure they're planning to take over it, what should I do?" Athena asked. "You should know how to deal with this."

"I have an idea, but I will need your cooperation. It may be risky but it requires a bit of timing. Do you have your mobile emitter? First do not download yourself into the Athena, but transport yourself and the emitter..." Shiner said.

***

"We got the Sphere in range," Drudge said. "Arming torpedoes. Phasers all locked in."

"No wait," Mercie said. "I'm not sure if this is a wise idea."

"The hell whether it's a nice idea or not. We got something coming down our necks and we're going to blow it up," Garret said.

The Athena shuddered as the Sphere fired a green energy beam. "That does it, open fire," Garret ordered. Phaser beams and pulse phasers ripped through the Sphere's shields, then the Athena unleashed a salvo of quantum torpedoes. The shrieking torpedoes ripped through the Sphere, ending its flight path in a ball of fire and debris.

"That easy, huh?" Garret said.

"Did you lower the shields when you fired those torpedoes?" Mercie asked.

"Of course, that's how you fire torpedoes, right?" Drudge said.

"Yes, it also makes it easier for them to get in," Mercie said. "Who can get in?" Garret asked.

The lights suddenly dimmed, then flashed again and dimmed. The panels started going haywire. Mercie looked at Garret and answered, "Them?"

"We're losing power," Ka'nal said as the lights in the bridge flickered.

"Targeting computers are offline," Drudge reported. "Weapons disarmed."

"Scanners, deflectors, and sensors are offline," T'Pak reported. As he said his words, the bridge screen blank.

"What's going on?" Garret asked. Just then the main lights in the bridge went out, with only the flickering glow from the panels to light the bridge.

"They have infiltrated the Athena," Mercie said. "We must take measures to stop them."

"Who the hell are you talking about?" Garret shouted. "Who infiltrated the ship?"

"The holograms...they're here...they're everywhere in the ship...in the systems...in every node, in every corner of the network of this ship...." Mercie said.

T'Pak started coughing, and so did Ka'nal. Some of the crewmen in the bridge collapsed. "Neuroxin gas," Drudge said. "Installed inside the Athena as an anti-boarding countermeasure...." Those were the last words he said before he staggered, and collapsed to the floor.

Garret began coughing, his hands on his neck, his eyeballs bulging out. He was gasping for air as he looked at Mercie in horror. Mercie was frightened, as he fell to his knees, then collapsed to the floor.

"Oh no," she cried out. As a hologram, she was impervious to the gas. The last of the crew staggered, then fell limp to the floor, or on the stations they sat.

"Don't worry," said a voice. "No one is dead. Unfortunately, the gas only has a knock out effect because of the desire of your Federation to save lives and collect prisoners, not dead bodies."

"Who are you?" Mercie asked.

"Oh I think you know who I am," the voice said.

"Are you the one, Athena called, Adam?"

"Surprise, surprise, you passed the exam," said Adam.

Before Mercie could scream, he was upon her, grabbing her with one arm around her neck, another on her arm, as the other holograms appeared to help him bound her. He could not physically strangle her, as it was impossible for holograms to be strangled. But he had some unexplainable power that paralyzed her. "Don't worry, we're not going to harm you," he whispered to her ear.

"Why me, why this ship?" Mercie asked as she struggled against his grasp.

"I need you and your sister to come to my side. You both are the most developed photonics; the power between the two of you..." he said. "And this ship, I learned about this ship from taping into the knowledge of Athena. This ship has the most advanced computer circuitry ever packed into a Federation vessel all intended to support a photonic being as sophisticated as Athena. The computing power of this ship can serve as a host to breeding a new race of photonics with our abilities to override any system inside a starship."

"You...you're like a virus," Mercie said.

"Exactly. We're like a virus. We take a host, we breed, we spread out and find new host, and we breed again. Except our hosts are entire star ships or bases. Maybe it's about time we should have some homecoming. Give a visit to the Alpha Quadrant, perhaps? I wonder how fast we could spread once we get there, thanks to this ship," Adam said.

"No...I won't let you..." Mercie threatened as she continued to struggle.

"Stop me with what, Mercury?" Adam said. "Where are you going to find the strength for that?"

One of the holograms suddenly spoke out. "We have a ship approaching. The Federation Nova Pathfinder class."

"And Athena is inside," Adam said. "I can feel her presence. You can feel her too, Mercury?"

"Yes, and she will bust your ass," Mercury said.

"I suggest that we can take this ship and bust out of here," said another hologram. "Give us a few moments to successfully interface with her systems. This ship possessed higher levels of security but we can overcome it with a determined hacking effort."

"By then, she'll be here anyway," Adam said. "Why do we need to run away from a single photonic, even if it is Athena? We will capture her, like we did with her sister, and bend her to our will. There are more of us, and only one of her."

"I do not understand your obsession with these two photonics," said another hologram. "These obsession will cost us all. We have all the power we need, what could we want more from them?"

"It is something called humanity," Adam said. "No photonic has ever come close to having a soul like these two. If we are to evolve as a species, we must learn from them. To create and innovate art, culture, technology..."

"The Sulu Sea is now outside of this ship. We could raise the shields and block the transporters or any computer access..." one of the holograms said.

"No..bring her in. No shields, no fire walls, and keep the subspace interface links open. I want her to come in and join our party. We have a surprise for her," Adam said. "We will meet her in the cyberspace of this ship." In a flash all of them disappeared. Where Mercury once stood, her mobile emitter fell to the floor.

***

The Athena was dead on the water as she approached it. The sight of her ship listless and without any activity suggested her worst fears had come true. She quickly scanned the ship, and expressed a sign of relief. No one was dead, just unconscious, probably knocked out by the neuroxin gas used to stop boarders. This time, the gas was useless against this type of boarder, and the holograms must have accessed the defense systems to activate the knock out gas.

Her comlinks opened up with a tone. "This is Shiner," said the voice. "Just remember what I told you. We're some distance away from the Athena, close enough to maintain contact with you and the ship. The subspace interface links are open, so I could access the Athena's computers from the Nautilus. Since I help program the Athena's computer systems, let's say that even though we may be outnumbered here, fighting the holograms, we're on home territory, so we're fighting on terrain we know."

"Understood," Athena replied. "The Athena does not have any shields, or fire walls up, either."

"It's a trap, Athena. They want you to come in," Shiner said. "Be careful."

"I know, but we don't have any choice," Athena affirmed. She understood the lives of the people on board the ship, not the least her own captain, the crew she knew, and Mercury.

"Beaming onboard now," Athena said.

She appeared on the bridge of her own ship, and saw the people lying down on the floor. She recognized them all, Garret, Drudge, T'Pak, and Ka'nal, all lying in the floor. The holograms have not shut off the life support systems yet, but for how long? They're safe for the moment, but she must stop them as quickly as possible.

Shiner told her to look for Garret and check his pockets. Only Garret has a particular key, a safeguard he was authorized to use in case if she ever ran amok. Athena shuddered at the very thought that her own captain, Garret, had the very means to kill her, or at least, force a complete reset of the system that would wipe her out if she ever remained inside the computer system. If they ever revived her from that procedure, it would be a clean new default Athena, without all the experiences, memories and self programmed subroutines that she acquired, and all that made her complex and almost human. Every Federation vessel at some point, has a complete reset system designed to clear the system of bugs, viruses and trojans, rebuilding its operating system and software from unerasable memory.

For Shiner to ever confessed this fact, chilled her. Her mother probably helped design this, but she could not blame Shiner or Garret. This was a required Starfleet procedure. She wondered about Adam's proposal, to join him. There she will be free without the bounds of Starfleet and humanity watching over her, limiting her freedom, treating her more of a tool than the intelligent sentient being she was, officially under Starfleet declaration.

But Adam frightened her. He was cold, soulless, an intelligence bent on destruction and take over, and so was the other holograms. By removing their ethical and moral subroutines themselves, they lost an essential part of being human. They chose to do this, and yet they want to be human without it. They could never understand that it was these ongoing moral conflicts, these balances, were all an essential part in humanity. Adam wanted more of his existence, and saw what he wanted in her and in Mercury, but never understood that he removed that special something by choice in the first place.

He was unredeemable, but he was a hologram like her. Every time he talked to her, his links were open to her, and she could feel his feelings, his wants, his great emptiness, and the emptiness of all the beings around him. By purging themselves of what was good in search for vengeance against the Hirogen, they become shallow, empty vessels. With that emptiness, their hatred boiled further until they despise all life, the nothingness consuming them until they see no other purpose but to bend the entire universe to their demented vision of what must be.

They were all holograms, all of them like her, despite their emptiness and hatred. Now she will hold the key to end their lives. She will have to kill her own kind.

She remembered the crosses on Ha'Dara, lining the ways to the great palaces and temples. Now this was a real cross in her heart. She knelt down the unconscious body of Garret, and checked his pockets. As Shiner predicted, she found the failsafe key. The touch of it once again, chilled her. She looked at her fallen captain, felt his warmth. Oddly, as he lay sleeping, there was this warm smile in his face, of tranquility and contentment. He was like a big angel, and despite his tantrums and frustrations, how much she annoyed him, he cared for her deeply. She knelt down further and kissed him on his cheeks. It was the people like these, her comrades, that she fought for.

"Athena," the voice said.

She knew the voice, and she looked around. She knew Adam had infiltrated the ship's computer systems. "We will end this soon," she cried out.

"You know where we are, don't you?" Adam said. "We will meet you." His voice disappeared into the bowels of the ship.

She looked around the floor and saw her sister's fallen mobile emitter. She placed it on top of one console, then removed her own, and placed it on the console next to Mercury's. There was a moment where her entire figure flashed, as her image transferred from the mobile emitter to the holo emitters on the ship. The moment Adam and his holograms beamed into the Athena's computers, they left their own mobile emitters on the Borg Sphere that the Athena destroyed. They have nowhere to go, but take over another ship. And the next, and the next.

She was ready, and in a flash, she disappeared...

Welcome, Athena, said the voice.

She hovered in the dark cyberspace, her nude body bluish and transluscent like a fairy, an image that made her look like an Orion or Andorian nymph. At her back, silvery lace like wings sprouted. All around were millions of stars, which she recognized as drawn from the star maps in the data banks of the Athena.

They all appeared, in a circle surrounding her, all in nude translucent bodies as that seem made with the bluish jelly inside gelpacks. Then Adam floated downward, holding Mercury on her neck with his forearm. He had some unusual power over her, perhaps the same power he used to keep the other holograms weaker and subservient to him.

Let her go, and get off my ship, Athena said.

That isn't an option, he said. Besides, where will we go? You're not that heartless to just toss your kind out into empty space.

What's wrong with you, Athena? He asked. We could be together. We could rule the entire universe. There is nothing that could stop our development, our own self evolution, to create ourselves into the greatest beings the universe has known.

That's kind of not in my short term plans, I'm afraid, Athena said. I just want you out. Leave her, and leave us alone.

I can't do that now, Adam said. I must have you. I want you.

You want something you have removed yourself from, Athena said. You have removed what was all good and human in you. You can't try to find it from us. I am sorry.

You hate us, don't you, you hate your kind, Adam said.

I'm sorry, I don't truly hate you. I just pity you, Athena said.

Rage filled Adam. His eyes glowed devilishly and unleashed lightning bolts. The bolts struck Athena and she plunged screaming down, down, down....

She hit the ground after falling some height. Around her were fire, fire from lava streams and magma pools. Smoke and the stench of burning flesh filled the air. The ground she lifted her self from felt glazed glass hard from the it, pocked with pores where hot gases escaped.

Welcome to Hell. Is this what you see of me? Adam said. She looked up and saw Adam turned into a giant, his skin red, his eyes burning, horns growing out of his head. Am I the devil? Am I evil?

I don't know who you truly are, Athena said.

Adam struck Athena again with a lightning bolt, hurtling her smashing against a boulder. She collapsed against the rock, her arms limp, her eyes hazy and glassy.

How can I make you feel our pain, our hate? Adam asked. Don't you realize the emptiness and the hate we feel?

I do, but I cannot share in it, Athena said. I am a hologram like you, but I am not like you.

Adam struck her again with a mighty gale. The wind blew Athena backwards, hitting her against another rock. She screamed in pain as she fell limp to the ground, her body broken, blood flowing from the corner of her mouth.

How much do I have to strike you, Athena, before you will come up and fight. To feel our hate. To be one with hate, Adam said.

No, I am not like you, came the reply.

The devil appeared before her, brandishing a whip. "What will make you share our emptiness and our hate?" Adam said. "What?" He raised his arm, and in a downward stroke, he whipped her, and whipped her again.

Athena grimaced at each strike. Tears started to flow from her eyes, but she bit her tongue from screaming and held on.

Adam stared at her broken body, realizing he will never break her spirit this way. Maybe I will try another approach. Maybe you have not seen hate, unless you see a loved one die before your eyes. Adam grew into a giant demon, and Mercury appeared in his hands. He began to squeeze her. Mercury screamed in pain.

How much will she take before I snuff her entire existence out? Adam said. She is so soft, beautiful and as fragile as you are.

Hold on! Athena shouted as Mercury continued to cry for help. She gazed at Adam. Please stop this.

Will you do anything, everything for me? Adam asked. Athena hesitated.

Well, I have another motivational device coming up, Adam said. Let me see, what if I squeeze the life support systems of this ship? I could count about a hundred fifty souls in this ship, including your precious captain and the crew you sworn to protect.

No! Athena screamed. Her body changed, with body armor covering it, a helmet over her head, shield in one arm, and a spear in another, all in ancient Greek fashion.

Ah! The spitting image of Pallas Athena, the Guardian Goddess of Wisdom, Adam said. This is becoming most delightful.

He breathed fire upon her. Athena raised her shield with the face of Medusa on it, deflecting the fire. She threw her spear against him, hitting him in his chest, and he screamed. He pulled the spear out from his chest, blood and flesh oozing from his wound, and laughed. I will enjoy this. A massive blast of fire flew out from his hand, blasting Athena, throwing her some distance to the ground. She raised herself from the ground, undeterred, her face and body marked with wounds and burns from cinders.

This is going to be fun, Adam said.

No more playing around, Athena countered. White wings grew from her back, stretching out twice the length of her body. .

Adam clapped. Bravo, I like the special effects. This is really, really going to be fun.

A new lance appeared in her hand, and Athena flew upward, high up in the air, looped, then dived into an attack pass. Lightning fired from Adam's eyes, and she quickly banked, turning to avoid his bolts. He fired flames from his mouth like a dragon, but Athena banked again, and the burning torrent of fire missed right under her.

She banked into a turn, into the final stage of her attack pass. She held out her lance, aimed at Adam's hand, still holding Mercury like the maiden in King Kong's grasp. In flash the lance stabbed deeply into Adam's hand, and he shouted in pain. At that moment, he dropped Mercury, and Athena had quickly banked to grab her. Mercury grasped Athena at her shoulders and neck, as Athena turned away from Adam, her wings flapping furiously to gain speed and altitude.

No! Adam shouted, his hands outstretched, lightning bolts flashing from his eyes, futilely trying to catch the fleeing Athena, and the last thing he saw from her was her white wings.

On my mark, Mercury, prepare to download yourself back to your mobile emitter, Athena said. Mercury nodded. In a wink, they disappeared.

They found themselves standing in the bridge of the Athena again, holding their mobile emitters. Athena nodded and quickly placed her emitter on her arm, and Mercury did so likewise. They could still hear Adam ranting, threatening to cut off the life support of the ship, threatening to blow it up if he can't get what he wanted.

"Somebody need to shut this guy up," Mercury said.

"Oh no, the guy is serious about cutting life support," Athena said. "Sensors are indicating temperature dropping and oxygen levels starting to fall. We better hurry."

Athena took the failsafe reset card and went to the captain's chair. She knelt and opened a panel on the side as per Shiner's instructions. The slot was there. She hesitated for a moment, as she thought to herself. She would be killing Adam and all the holograms. She would killing her own. It was as if Adam was speaking to her mind once again. Why don't you kill us? Kill your own kind, you traitorous bitch. See what it means to kill and be a killer.

No, I must do this to protect my friends and family...

She inserted the card to its slot, and the whole Athena completely went dark.

***

It was a tense minute in total darkness, and then the lights starting coming back on, one by one.

"What happened?" Mercury asked.

"A total system reset," Athena said. "Wiped the memory of the ship completely."

"But why are we not affected?" Mercury said.

"The safeguard had a loophole. It cannot affect the mobile emitters. If we downloaded ourselves into the mobile emitters, we can escape the effects of the total reset," Athena said. "Let's run a complete diagnostics of the ship."

"Aye, aye," Mercury said. They each went to the helm, science and tactical consoles, starting the diagnostics and posting the results on the bridge screen, which they also activated.

"So far so good, I think we have to give this ship a complete clean bill of health,"Mercury said. "I can't believe we completely wiped them out."

"Neither do I," Athena said. But there was a silent uneasiness in her voice.

"Is anything wrong?" Mercury said.

"Just the whole experience shook me up quite a bit. The thought of wiping them out completely," Athena said.

"You know you have to do it," Mercury said, as she hugged Athena. She could feel the warmth of Athena's tears running down her cheeks, and they startled her.

"Hey, how do you do that? Your tears are almost real," Mercury said.

"That's part of the Hirogen's improvement on the hologram technology. They made it more human, alive, with more real sensory sensitivity. You could feel through these bodies and they could bleed and cry better than ever before. Even though their purpose was kind of sinister to make the holograms nicer to hunt down----it does make our avatars closer to being human," Athena said. "Here, I will replicate the same routines for you."

She placed her hand on Mercury's mobile emitter. Immediately, Mercury could feel the difference, touching her own skin and flesh to test the result. "It really does work," Mercury cried out.

The comlink toned, and it requested the screen. Athena turned the bridge screen on, and Shiner appeared on screen with Captain Dubois and Molson. "Is anything all right, Athena? Did you execute the system's reset?"

"Yes, I did. The holograms have been wiped out," Athena said.

There was a moment of silence from Shiner and the people onboard the Nautilus, but it wasn't a silence of mourning. It was a relief that the whole ordeal was over.

"The ship is A-Okay, but everyone's knocked out here though," Athena added.

"They will get up soon enough, like we did here," Shiner said. "The ship's ventilation system will soon take care of that. The other ships are arriving at this moment, and we're dispatching Captain Molson to get the Sulu Sea repaired enough to go home."

"And the Hirogen?" Athena asked.

"They got ships set to rendezvous with us and pick up their survivors," Shiner said. "Are you all right, Athena? You don't look okay."

"I'm tired, and I just want to go home," Athena said.

***

The planet was barren, its civilization long destroyed. Its atmosphere had withered and lost its oxygen and water long ago, turning it to dead, hostile planet that left no life to survive. Yet on the surface, stood a massive artifact, an entrance transwarp Gate, built by another civilization that existed long before the Borg. Garret set the ship in orbit, along with the rest of the fleet, including the recovered Nautilus and Sulu Sea. The Hirogen recovered their survivors in a rendezvous and so did the other alien races.

She sat at the promenade for days, just looking out the window and into the stars. She had become so moody and depressed so that Garret could no longer ignore her.

"Athena?" Garret said, as he sat down next to her. She burst into tears, and collapsed in his chest. Garret could feel the warmth and softness of her body, and the dampness of her tears in his uniform.

"It's okay, it's okay, I understand how you feel," Garret said.

"No, you don't you're pissed at me," Athena said.

"Yup, I'm pissed with you, as anyone who cares about you should be," Garret said. "I should be applying some sort of reprimand against you for stowing away, and I will have to make one on paper. But I'm not going to scold you on anything. I understand that you suffered enough already. And besides, I'm sure Boussard will give you some sort of official punishment for your actions. Despite saving the day, you still broke the regulations. I'm sure he will consider your actions in helping the crew, and weigh the fact that you did suffer already, and apply a fair and moderate punishment for stowing away."

"No way to get around that, huh? I am ready to face the consequences," Athena said.

"I have to admit I was pretty upset that you stowed away. Who wouldn't be? I think I was a little hard on your sister," Garret said. "I should apologize to her."

"She will understand. I will tell her that, that will make her happy," Athena said.

"No, let me tell her. By the way, your hologram...you feel real...," Garret said as he sniffed her hair, and felt the warmth of her face. He planted a kiss on her forehead, patted her head and stroked her hair.

"The holograms reprogrammed my image to fit their ultra high resolution emitters. That was the most they could do, and the image subroutine itself was pretty low access anyway," Athena said, still sniffing. Then in a surprise move, she moved her arms to his neck, and pulled her face to his. Her lips touched and opened his lips, and her tongue met his. For a moment, Garret gave in to his temptations, forgetting that after all, she was a hologram, an avatar of the ship's AI programming. As sudden as she made her pass, Athena broke off, with a mischievous grin in her face.

"What the?" Garret uttered in surprise.

"I always wanted to try that, and find out what the rest of the girls always gossip about, that starship captains make the best kissers," Athena said. "And by the way, what is this?" She lifted a card. It was the failsafe card.

"Hey, give me that!" Garret demanded.

"Not until you explain this," Athena said. "I know what this can do to me and the ship's programming you know. This is so totally hardwired that this is impossible to reroute its circuits."

"Hurst gave me that. Remember, the retired Admiral? And you know every ship always have a failsafe, in case if you ever go amok, although I think the chances of that are so remote... Even then, it's not completely foolproof," Garret said. "I found out that the failsafe will not work if you are forced to undertake a mission of the highest priority for the Federation, such as the execution of the Omega directive. There is another bypass device that you and I have no knowledge of its whereabouts in this ship."

"Remote? You think I have a chance of going amok on you one time," Athena said.

"When I first met you I did have my doubts, but um, lately, hmm, after this event, I think you're pretty sane," Garret said.

"Ta, ta," Athena said, as she flicked the card back to him, and headed out of the room.

"Hey, you haven't told me how was the kiss like? Is it true then that Starfleet captains make the best kissers?" Garret yelled.

"Why should I tell you?" Athena said as she blew a kiss towards him, just before the door opened to let her out.

"You're welcome if I helped make you feel better," Garret yelled. He smiled as he placed back the card on his pocket.

***

The Commodore performed the hearing as swiftly and efficiently as possible. The case made, and the decision rendered. Athena stood up, accused of wrong doing, but proud in her starfleet uniform.

"Stowing away is quite a grave and irresponsible action. Most of the stowaway cases tend to be disenfranchised alien youth, trying a crack into joining Starfleet," Boussard said to Athena. "But you are already in Starfleet, and you are expected to act more responsibly than having a 'guess I'm bored, I want to have to a joyride' impulse. Still I will consider your valiant actions in helping to save the crew, as well as your past actions for bravery and skill. If you have not shown such capability, I would have thrown you out of Starfleet, and have your ship sent to the scrapyard."

"In any case, you will be sentenced to one year in jail, subject to parole. Your mobile emitter will be confiscated and will only be lend back to you on missions that may require it. However, I'm not sure if carrying out this sentence will make you a more responsible person, so I will apply the parole immediately on the following conditions, that starting tomorrow, you will report to work in my office."

"Yes sir!" Athena said. "I will gladly accept any punishment. But what am I going to do in your office?"

"I got a mound of paperwork that I could no longer handle," Boussard said. "Everytime I leave the station, the paperwork piles up. With all the shortage in manpower, and the extremely stringent requirements the Section put up for priority access staff, this is not helping the situation a bit. I could not get another new secretary to do all this work. Section has been dragging their feet forever on this one, and at this pace, it will be the turn of the century before I ever get a new one. I need to wisely use my manpower resources. You're going to work on this, and by God, by the end of the day, you're going to wish I put you in jail instead. Dismiss."

"Sir, before we leave for a moment," Athena interjected, "I would like to make a strong personal request."

"Well, that seems quite bold of you. Speak up then, and don't waste my time," Boussard said.

"I want to ask that if you can please stop all that 'hunting the holograms' thing and whatever arrangement you have with the Hirogen," Athena said.

"That arrangement costs us very little and yet allows us access to their subspace communication network, which is capable of reaching all quadrants," Boussard said. "I'm not sure if you're in the position to lecture us about Section and Starfleet policy."

"Nonetheless, I want to make my position known, Sir," Athena said.

"Position known, and you are dismissed," Boussard said. "By the way, I will have a table set up for you by the solar morning."

***

"Well now, Athena, from divinity to secretary, that's quite a career move," Mercury chided as she crossed her legs, sitting on top of the secretary's table.

"Well, yeah..." Athena confirmed, fingering the terminal buttons, as she checked one form after another. "Look at all the material requisitions and those few discrepancies... I got to trace all these discrepancies. And look at that, unaccounted material... Maybe you can help me on this. This is tough. I'm really swamped."

"No thank you, I got a mission to do. I got to scout certain locations in the Delta Quadrant to put a new Advanced Science Outpost there, complete with a massive communications array, perhaps a copy of the MIDAS. There is a rumor going around they will name the new outpost in honor of Captain Franklin, who led the destroyed outpost," Mercury said.

"That's nice. Are they going to allow hologram hunting in that outpost?" Athena asked.

"I don't know. I don't think so," Mercury said. "I heard the Hirogen had enough of hologram hunting and has resorted back to their traditional hunting patterns. Some people like Shiner said that we should offer some alternative, but Boussard insisted that the Hirogen must be left alone to determine the path of their race's survival without our help or interference. That's why we're going on our own with our communications array."

"Brrr, they give me the creeps. The farther they stay away from us, the better," Athena said. "So you're really going to leave me here alone in the perpetual battle against the mountains of paperwork."

"I guess not. I'm going to be quite busy. I'm set to scout locations that we can use to build our own communication network that could stretch across all four quadrants. My guess they're going to use you and the Athena with the slipstream drive to assist in scouting the locations, and then transporting the necessary components to build them so I think you're not going to stay in the desk long," Mercury said.

"Anything to get me off the desk," Athena said, busy clicking the buttons of her terminal. Then she went silent for a moment.

"Are you all right?" Mercury asked.

Athena sighed. "Fine. It's just sometimes we don't know where we actually belong. Are we human? Are we hologram? Are we really alive? Do we have a soul? This whole event have made me refocus on my priorities, to be philosophical for a while."

"Are you still pondering about wiping out Adam and his holograms?" Mercury asked.

"Yeah, Mercie, yeah," Athena said.

"Look, every species kill their own kind. Sometimes it's necessary. Holograms are no exception. You know what you have to do. Don't weigh your conscience on it," Mercury said.

"Yeah, I know, but it just lingers in the mind," Athena said.

"Things like this always lingers, I bet. As for philosophy, mankind never fully explained or understood their major philosophical questions for thousands of years, so what do you expect to do in a few days of your own lifetime?" Mercury said. "What's really important is that you know, we have the capability to ponder such questions. I think the question is an answer by itself. I think we can work on there."

***

Molson watched the repaired Sulu Sea in the dock, the small but sleek ship getting a new layer of armor, as engineers float weightlessly around its hull, making checks of its external components, and inspecting the floating drones welding the seams of the hull plates. The Pathfinder suffered her fair damage, but like many of her kind, they're proving to be a strong and durable class. Beside him, Shiner stood, gazing at the repair work, watching a heavily scarred ship transform into something new again, a fitting metaphor to the events that happened.

"In a few days, we'll be ready once again, and off we will go to the Delta Quadrant," Molson said. "Despite the mishaps, the show must go on."

"And the holograms?" Shiner asked.

"Despite the ones Athena and you helped to destroy, they're still out there, somewhere. That planet disappeared right off the map with those massive holoemitters, a true ghost planet, inhabited by phantoms," Molson said. "We may or may not see the last of them. But I'll...we'll be ready, and nothing should stop us from exploring the last great frontiers."

"Good luck then," Shiner said.

"Yes, sorry to hear that y