Star Trek: Athena
Prophecy
by Chris Robato
(crobato@kuentos.guam.net)

The Borg hatches the supreme plan of assimilation, and a mysterious ship from the future returns to stop it.

The greatest joy a young officer of Star Fleet can ever experience is to be given command of their first starship, a joy that the new Captain Randall Garret is about to receive. Expecting a small modest starship as a beginning point for an ambitious career, what Garret got instead was something he in his wildest dreams never hoped for. A mysterious prototype ship, technically known as the Prometheus class Refit "A", and by its name the USS Athena.

But there was more about the Athena than a sleek ship with the latest technology that lay claim to the fastest, most powerful starship of the Federation. The most advanced bioneural network and holoemitters lay basis to the GH1 or General Hologram One, her interface ego a gorgeous hologram by the name of Athena.

What may be the greatest honor for a young officer may turn out to be in reality, his greatest curse. For the Athena is a living ship packing a beautiful hologram with an attitude.

As Garret tries to tame the beauty in the beast, he has to come to grips with Athena's original dark purpose. Her creators---a secretive organization known as the Section had planned Athena to be a stealth intruder that could turn the tide in a secret undeclared war, a plan that turned upside down with Athena's sentience and attitudes.

It is not going to be an easy job being the captain of the USS Athena.

Star Trek Athena The Secret Fleet (Revised Version)

Garret was introduced to the USS Athena, and with it, the Athena GH1 herself, all to his great surprise. A series of combat trials to test the Athena's combat capabilities turned into a real test when the Romulan Tal Shi'ar decided to crash the party. In an unexpected meeting, Garret would discover the real and sinister purpose of why Athena was created.

Star Trek Athena The Gate

A secret reconnaissance mission reveals a Borg colony being built secretly in the Alpha Quadrant. Among the structures discovered in the colony lay a massive Transwarp Gate the key to a massive Borg invasion from the Delta Quadrant. It is urgent that the Gate should be destroyed as soon as possible, but the Section has other plans a stunning daring mission to capture a Borg structure for the first time in the history of the Federation, for the Gate itself can open the door way to all the areas and quadrants of the Galaxy.

Star Trek is registered trademark of Paramount Pictures.

Loosely inspired from the PC game, Star Trek: Armada, published by Activision.

Aboard the Borg Obelisk in the Delta Quadrant,

She was formerly Arianne of Species 125, a great leader of her people. Later she became Amon of Borg after she was assimilated. Now after many triumphs and many assimilation, she was no other than the new Borg Queen.

Now she faced something even greater. She answers to no all Borg but one.

He was from Species One of the Borg. He was Creator, Source and Root of the Collective.

He was Alpha of Borg.

He possessed no body, and was no longer bound to flesh. His essence resided in the Central Vinculum of the Obelisk, where he can hear every thought, but he cannot be lost in the sea of voices. He was part of the Collective, and yet he rose above it. An individual greater than the whole. If the Borg had a god, he was the One. Only the Omega Particle stood closer to perfection than him.

The Central Vinculum rose from the floor, like the spire of a cathedral, the center of a temple, where only few conduits marked the stark walls. The Central Vinculum projected to all Vinculums in Borg ships and bases alike, the node that unites the network.

"Species 5618 has taken one of the Gates in the Fourth Quadrant," the new Queen, Amon of Borg, reported. "We have temporarily cut off all access to Gate 051 to prevent Species 5816 from accessing and attacking more of the Gates."

"Species 5618 continues to resist assimilation, and has done so successfully despite our adaptation. They have proven to be a very adaptable species."

Alpha of Borg spoke. "For years now, your predecessors have been trying to assimilate Species 5618 and its allies like Species 3259. Your predecessors failed in the attempt to assimilate the home planet of Species 5618. Picard of Species 5618, prototype of Locutus of Borg, stopped one such attempt. Then your predecessors attempt to assimilate the vessel Voyager where you not only failed to assimilate the individual called Janeway, but we lost one Speaker of Tertiary Adjunct drone to her capture. That drone compromised many of our technologies to Species 5618. "

"Now, we have lost a Gate to Species 5618, and they have the ability to threaten the entire Gate network. Technologies have been compromised to Species 5618. Our links and protocols all compromised. Why does Species 5618 continue to resist us? They are mentally inferior. Their regenerative abilities are inferior. They are emotional, and emotions cloud their judgement and logic. Their bodies are fragile. Their muscular power is weak. They are vulnerable to disease and microbes. Their skins are soft, and they lack physical armor. Their lifespans are short. They are truly an inferior species. Yet they continue to resist us successfully."

Amon of Borg replied. "They may seem weak, but Species 5618 has been the most adaptable of all species we have encountered. They have compensated for their numerous weaknesses with ingenuity and constant adaptation. Do not let their physical and mental weakness fool you, as they have fooled our previous queens."

"Examination of all assimilation attempts in the last cycle has shown greater percentage of failure. Several species have adapted methods to foil assimilation. They have adapted to attack our collective links and our nodes. Prognosis---direct assault is inefficient and demonstrates lower probability of success against adaptable species. Compute a new solution or consider your replacement, Amon of Borg."

"Alpha of Borg," said the new Queen. "Already solutions have been implemented. While Species 5618 have thrown their attention at the Gate, we have begun operations on another front. Let them keep the Gate. Let the Gate consume their attention while we strike from another direction. If direct means shall fail, we shall adapt. We shall adapt to indirect means. They wait for us in the outside, we shall strike from within."

"Species 5618 is a worthy opponent. They are a resilient and adaptable species. But we are Borg. We shall adapt as well. Their resistance is ultimately futile."

A screen opened, showing the blue orb, the homeworld of Species 5618, in the system they have designated Sector 001.

The Queen turned her gaze to the beautiful blue globe. "It will be assimilated."

* * *

A century later...

The blue orb was grey with the luster of metal, and green light glowed from the miles of conduits that crisscrossed its entire surface. A cruel honeycomb of matrixes and metal now covered the land where green grass, jungles and forests once lie.

Billions of individuals, now all Borg.

Captain Nora Wells looked at what used to be Earth for the last time. What used to be her home...

She turned around to face her crew, all what was left of an independent humanity, or for that matter, of an independent Galaxy. They were all, not just the last hope for Mankind, but for almost every race in the Galaxy Klingon, Vulcan, Romulan, Ferengi, Cardassian, Jem'hadar, Gorn, Bajoran.... All of them former enemies in the past, now united for one last hope, one last mission for empires lost, for kingdoms and nations fallen.

Among the humans, she was of dark skin, her ancestors were all slaves centuries past. If they could see her now, more powerful than all the emperors and kings, power that can destroy entire worlds. Her crew was the representative of the humanity that remained, from every country and every continent.

They all stood at attention, the last crew of the last warship of the once great Federation. Nora could see from their faces that each had lost the thing that had been most important for them their families, their kingdoms, their honor. Everyone was willing, and no one was afraid to die. As they stood, Nora briefed them on their final mission.

It was a funeral. The Federation had died. The Borg has won. After over a century of resistance, it has become futile. Assimilation was inevitable.

But there was still one hope for one desperate mission. It's been done before. Temporal Section secret records have indicated the appearance of a Premonition ship once a hundred years past, and may have indicated a time line shift. But the time line obviously disappeared and no one knew what that time line change was about. But it obviously did not affect this time line.

Ironically, the Borg showed the way when they tried to change Earth history. They went back int time to try to assimilate a pre Federation Earth. The idea almost worked for the Borg then, it may work for them now.

The Premonition A Refit class dreadnaught was the ultimate development from a long glorious line of Federation starship technology. A long term descendant of the Sovereign, it was a mainstay ship that had served the Federation for nearly over a hundred years, with its roots seen in the Sovereign style engineering hull that ends like a short stubby tail. But the ship also combined precious lessons in the classic Miranda and Nebula designs. The Premonition class appeared even more organic, with smoothly rounded and sculptured shape gracefully lined with curves and no sharp angles anywhere. Instead of pointing upwards like a Sovereign, the two sweptback wing pylons stretch downwards like a Miranda or Nebula with two of the biggest nacelles ever seen. And like a Miranda or Nebula, on top of the ship was a massive roll bar that sweeps backward holding a huge pod that contained sensors and weapons. The pod gave an amazing one hundred eighty degree firing arc for its Type XVI phasers, with more phasers on the upper and lower front hull.

Its armament was the most powerful ever made into a Federation ship, and yet for all its power, it could not save its creators. But it still has a chance for it.

She was the last of a great line of captains, and her ship the last and greatest of a great line of starships. She finally ended her briefing and her speech. "Let us make this name proud."

"Captain," her communicator interrupted. "Borg ships in an intercept course, coming our way."

She called her crew. "Go to Red alert. Battle stations. I'm returning to the bridge now. Helmsman, set a course to Gate 001. Prepare for maximum warp."

She returned to the bridge as fast as she can. When she reached there, the screen showed the approach of Borg ships.

"We got two Tactical Cubes and a number of Borg Probes coming our way We are also getting readings of Borg Interceptor and Scouts." the Tactical officer said.

They can take on a Tactical Cube but not two, and not with a wing of escorts.

"Engage maximum warp. I want Warp 9.99 pronto!"

The sea of stars ripped into streaks of rainbow, an endless stream of white and colorful glowing threads, each thread being a star. Wells gazed the screen tensely.

"The Borg ships are still approaching. The Borg have broke off from their main formation and is heading straight at us," the Tactical Officer.

"What's the nearest Borg ship?" Wells asked.

"We got a Scout farthest ahead. Should I arm and lock torpedoes? Captain?"

"No, we must save our torpedoes. Our real battles will lay ahead. Prepare our rear phaser arrays."

"Lock on to Scout. Our sensors and tactical computer have determined the following frequencies with the greatest possibility of success in penetration. We are ready, Captain."

"Set phasers to frequencies and fire at will," Wells ordered.

Three phaser shots obliterated the Scout. But right behind an Interceptor and two Probes gained on them. Green energy beams lashed out as they approached the Premonition class battleship, lighting its rear shields with hits.

"Shields down to eighty percent, regeneration in two seconds," the First Officer said.

"Tactical, continue firing at will," Wells ordered. "Reinforce rear shields to maximum."

A Probe burst into flames as phasers from the rear pod ripped it apart. As it's companion tumbled into pieces, the second Probe rushed ahead, another green enegy beam lashing at the Federation ship's rear shields. The Premonition class ship replied with a volley of phasers. The second Probe erupted with an explosion even more brilliant than the first.

The Interceptor continued to bore in closer to the Premonition ship, its green beams vainly trying to scratch away at the Federation ship's rear shields. Then another volley from the Premonition battleship, and the Interceptor joined its comrades in a million flaming pieces.

But the chase was not over. The two Cubes were right behind, with a menacing flock of smaller ships following them.

"We are approaching Gate 001, Captain," said the Helmsman.

Gate 001 was the first transwarp Gate captured by the Federation from the Borg over a hundred years ago. Ironically it is the only bastion left for the Federation. But even that will soon be gone. But it still has enough to do just one more important task.

"Power up the Singularity," the Chief Engineer aboard the Nexus ordered. Inside the Borg Diamond ship captured long ago, the singularity began to twirl like a pulsar beacon. The revolutions began to grow faster like a spinning top.

"Power levels approaching green. We got enough power for gate travel," said one engineer.

"Now its time to enter the new coordinates," the Chief Engineer said. Not too long ago, they have discovered that the Gate can be manipulated not just to move to a target within the spatial axis of the space-time continuum, but also through the temporal axis of the continuum. In other words, it can be used to travel through time, to another Gate, maybe the same Gate in the past or the future.

"We got a ship coming," said one of the engineers. "It's the Federation battleship."

"Full power to the Gate. Generate the Wormhole," the Chief ordered.

"We got Borg ships right behind it," warned an engineer.

"Prepare for immediate self destruct sequence," said the Chief. He entered his security code, and his next in command also entered his. They looked at each other with sorrowful eyes, but there was no regret.

"It's an honor to work with you, Chief," he said.

The Chief replied to him and to everyone in tearful eyes. "It is my great honor to work and be with you to the end." The self destruct command button appeared on his console. One press and it will be all over.

"We have a wormhole, I repeat, we have a wormhole," warned an engineer. They turned their eyes to the massive Gate where a pink whirling maelstrom raged. Like an angry god, lightning bolts flashed, illuminating the walls of the hungry whirlpool. Aboard her ship, Wells watched the wormhole form inside the massive circular ring of the Gate. The Wormhole terrified like the angry god it was, yet worshipers stared at it in awe. There was still a slight doubt in her mind that the scheme will work, but there was no time for doubts now. It's now or never.

"Helmsman! Get us through the Wormhole! Now!"

"Aye Captain!"

Wells watched the Hole loomed larger as the ship sped towards it. It seemed like an insect flying into a giant mouth at full speed. They did not even pay attention to the pursuing Borg as the entire battleship entered the wormhole.

"Close the Hole! Close the Hole!" The Chief ordered. Suddenly the whirlpool twirled itself out of existence, leaving a quiet and tranquil space inside the ring.

"Begin overload of the Singularity now!" The Chief ordered as he watched the screens. The Borg fleet is rapidly approaching. They have not stopped the only remaining Federation ship from escaping, but they can assimilate whoever was still alive and human in the bases around the Gate 001.

The singularity within the Diamond began to spin feverishly, madly, wildly, like a lighthouse beacon out of control. The Chief watched the sad but proud faces of his crew, all of whom had already accepted their fate. On the screens the Borg Cubes loomed and their escorts coming towards them. No defenses could stand in their way.

His eyes at the Borg fleet, he shouted to them in one last speech of defiance, "I will see you all in Hades!" He pressed the self destruct button on his panel.

The singularity spun out of control, and the resulting collapse forced a massive subspace rift. The rift, like a wave of burning auroras, engulfed and then tore the giant Gate to pieces. Then as it expanded, it consumed the Nexus, and then burned like wildfire towards the Borg fleet. There was no time to adapt and nothing could move faster to escape the rift. Like a stack of cards facing a hurricane, the Borg Tactical Cubes got blown into pieces and swept away with the expanding rift. Blown away as quickly with the Cubes, were all their escorts.

The tear expanded, consuming everything in its path. When it finally dissipated, a dark spatial anomaly was left like a giant black monster in space. No warp travel was possible through it, and nothing can escape whatever was trapped inside. And it remained that way for decades to come.

* * *
Back to the present century...

Recently two Constructor ships had visited the area to build a makeshift orbiting base near the former Borg Nexus. Miranda IV tugs followed them towing a massive modular kit which they can use to assemble the base. The distance of the manned base was close enough for transporter and shuttle range, but it was preferable to use shuttles in case subspace disturbances may interfere with transporter operations. The guest ships that arrived to the area can't stay long enough for the engineers and the scientists who need to work on the Gate for the long term.

Inside the advanced science base, Helen Shiner suddenly woke up from her bed. Wearing only a night gown, she hurriedly ran to the bathroom where she quickly washed her face.

The memories of being partly assimilated have haunted her. Every night since that time, she heard voices, ghostly voices, not of the supernatural, but echoes of the Borg Collective. But there was something else. Some of these voices are so near, like they're within the Alpha Quadrant themselves, and constantly pass thoughts that resemble an ordinary life in the Federation. This she cannot understand. They only know the Borg one way, the zombie like living corpses welded to their machines.

But she saw visions, visions of drones that looked exactly like them, with flesh colored skin and no machines in their bodies. What is this?

She had a horrifying thought, but if this thought happened to be reality, it would be the greatest nightmare of all.

She can no longer sleep, and she decided to put on some clothes. She headed to the shuttle bay where a shuttle makes regular trips every half hour like clockwork. She joined a shuttle, which headed to the captured Nexus.

In that Nexus she had her make shift office. The Borg control panels are slowly being converted to Star Fleet standard panels, as Federation computers and technology slowly replace the same from the Borg. She would miss the old Borg panels. Their iconography had a strange compelling art to them, a kind of spontaneous beauty one didn't think would be possible with a collective mind like the Borg.

There was a flashing light in her terminal. Someone had been trying to contact her and left a message. It was from Captain Jacques Boussard of the USS Hiryu. Like her, he was partly assimilated before de-assimilation procedures restored his humanity. The Hiryu was a Section ship, assigned to clean the dirty jobs that the high and mighty moral Federation would not touch. But such jobs don't really come everyday, and in between the 'interesting' jobs as Boussard would call it, were the day to day missions of tedium. They include training new crews, the greenhorns, newbies and babies. Boussard admittedly hated that, and after complaints of personal verbal abuse, they cut him off from training programs. He wasn't the scientific type, so they excluded him from exploration and planet survey missions. So they finally gave him convoy escort, area or border patrols for in between jobs. Until, of course, an 'interesting' mission would pop up.

The USS Hiryu patrolled the space around the Gate, a vital mission given the importance of the Gate, but one that does not guarantee action. Several ships also patrolled, but they were more like seekers and scanners, such as the Aegis class USS Boise; ships designed to spot other ships, particularly those hiding in stealth or cloaked modes. The Akira class Hiryu was clearly the most powerful ship in the area, but if there was a concerted attack, the Hiryu and the nearby patrol ships may not be enough to stop it. The engineering constructor ships were still in the area, building orbiting defensive stations.

She hailed Boussard on her terminal and waited for his response. The terminal came to life with the Frenchman's face. But his usual cold and confident persona wasn't there. Instead, he appeared shaken, disturbed, like he has seen the devil himself.

"Captain, you won't call me in my private link if something is not up," Shiner said.

"Something is up, I can feel it," Boussard said. "I have visions...visions of Borg."

"Visions?" She asked. She herself was shaken.

"I am not a man who is good with women, but even I can tell from your eyes, that what I have said, disturbs you," Boussard said.

"Are the visions that of normal people?" Shiner asked.

"They are not normal people. They only look normal. I hear voices of Borg among our people. Why do I hear these voices?" Boussard asked. "My EMH says I no longer have the Borg nanoprobes, and my scans detect not a single nanoprobe in the entire ship."

Shiner explained. "It is not the nanoprobes. But during your assimilation, the nanoprobes will modify the DNA of your nerve cells, making them receptive in hearing the voices of the Collective. The first case of this symptom was observed with Jean Luc Picard, and we have seen a recurrence of this symptom among de-assimilated drones."

"So are you saying, that even if I am cured and cleansed, I can still hear their voices?" Boussard said.

"Yes unfortunately. We have not found a way to completely reverse that effect." Shiner said.

"And you Doctor, were you assimilated as well?"

"Yes I was, Captain."

"Then you could have seen the same visions, heard the same voices as I," Boussard said. "But you have not said anything."

"Because I do not know who to say it to. For the first time I am afraid of what this means," Shiner said. "But maybe I can tell you in private. This communication link is encrypted, and what I am about to tell you will not leave your ears, until we have found enough people whom can trust. Not even the Section for the meantime, because we do not know the extent of infiltration."

"Infiltration?" Boussard asked.

"Infiltration, yes," Shiner affirmed. "I am afraid that the Borg may be among us, and has been so for some time. I don't know how they do it. Drones that appear normal in our sight and our sensors. Drones that escape scanning."

"How can that be? Drones must have all those tubes and wires sticking out of their heads and bodies," Boussard said.

"That's a stereotype of what a Borg Drone must be," Shiner explained. "What if, what if, the Borg came out with a new type of nanoprobe. A nanoprobe that will infect and assimilate an individual completely without changing his or her appearance. Maybe even preserve aspects of their personality. But their allegiance will be Borg."

"I see what you mean. Doctor. Such drones can infiltrate anything and everything in the Federation and all the Empires, even in the highest offices and leadership. This sounds like a bad old Earth movie or video series," Boussard said. "This, this alien conspiracy thing..."

"Precisely, Captain. I also see you're a fan of old Earth motion pictures," Shiner said.

"Who isn't, Doctor?" Boussard admitted.

"I see. The dreaded Captain Boussard has revealed his vice," Shiner laughed. Then she turned serious. "But it is precisely because that this is so outrageous, that no one would believe us. But I am not even sure of myself...all this is presumption. I have no facts, no evidence. And yet if this is true, not even the highest offices of the Federation is safe."

"If this is all true, it is a nightmare that we can never awaken, Doctor," Boussard said. "It will be the end of the Federation, or all the Empires, or all individuality. What can we do, Doctor?"

"I...I.. really don't know...Captain..." Shiner said, as she sank in to deep thought.

"What we face is an impossibility, Doctor," Boussard said. "But I cannot live without doing something. Even we have to start with something small."

"Then I suggest the first step must be to prove the entire thing," Shiner said. "That means isolating the new class of nanoprobe. Which begs the question, how to find one? The second thing we must do, and we must do it simultaneously, is to find trusted believers. We will start with us two, but we must expand our circle of believers, starting from our section unit. But has our section been infiltrated? How do we go detecting the Borg sleepers? So many questions, and no answers. I shall work on this."

The annoying red klaxons startled Shiner. "What is this?" Shiner exclaimed. She watched the console readouts. The Gate suddenly turned alive for no reason, and red alert had been sounded.

"My ship's scanners are also detecting activity in the Gate," Boussard said, the tone of his voice betraying his excitement. "We are going into red alert. We are going into battle stations. Something is coming out through the Gate. It may be a threat. We shall hail the other patrol ships to join us in red alert, and if necessary, defend the base. We shall talk next time, Doctor. Boussard out."

Shiner ran out of her room into the main control section. "Inform status. Why is the Gate active?" Shiner demanded.

"Something is transmitting power into this Gate," said one of the engineers.

"Is it Borg?" She asked.

"No. We have blocked off all the Borg controlled Gates, Doctor Shiner. I do not think this is the Borg. But we can determine what is the source Gate." The engineer began pressing a series of buttons. "There we have the answer!"

He looked at the result. "No, it can't be. The source Gate is Gate 001. This is impossible. The source Gate is our Gate itself."

"It isn't impossible now, something is happening to the Gate," Shiner said. "We still know too little about it and what it can do. Alert all stationary defenses. Hail Section main base for reinforcements."

The Operations officer shouted. "We have energy levels sufficient to start a wormhole. We have a wormhole being generated inside the Gate. Wormhole has formed in the Gate. Something is coming through the Wormhole!"

"On screen!" Shiner shouted.

Out from the pinkish whirling maelstrom, the bow of a ship appeared, then later its main hull, then its engineering section, finally its nacelles. Shiner thought the design was familiar. The ship has to be Federation and the sight of being Federation was a temporary relief.

"Our scans are showing Federation technology, but no Federation technology we have seen before," said the base Operations officer. "The ship appears to be Federation, but it is no Federation ship like we have seen before."

"Get the registry numbers!" Shiner ordered.

"We have the numbers, Doctor!" said the Operations officer.

"It is en, see, see, dash, one, seven, zero, one. NCC-1701...'G'!"

He looked up into the screen. "The USS Enterprise."

The Enterprise G emerged through the Gate. A myriad of Borg structures lay ahead of them. A hundred years ago, a secret force of Star Fleet captured these structures. Back in their original time, the Gate, and every base around it, had self destructed. But here, the Gate was as new as it was built.

"We have arrived to the target time," the Helmsman informed her.

"Scan all structures," Captain Nora Wells ordered.

Aboard the Nexus, Doctor Helen Shiner stared at the massive white ship in stunned silence. "It can't belong to our current time period. Scan for chromaton readings, hurry!" She ordered.

"Chromaton readings confirmed, the ship does not belong to our time," one of her engineers said.

"We are being scanned," said another.

"Hail them!" Shiner ordered.

"No response," the base Operations officer answered. "We are still being scanned. My scans show they're powering weapons. They're approaching the Nexus."

"We cannot take a chance. Even if that ship appears Federation and of the future, we cannot be completely certain of its intent. Maintain red alert and issue a may day to all patroling ships." Shiner ordered.

"We got the Hiryu online," said the Operations officer.

"This is Captain Boussard. Doctor Shiner, what is your status? Are you all okay over there?"

"Yes Captain."

"Doctor, I am trying to hail this ship," Boussard said. "It does not appear to answer us. We have to issue an ultimatum if the ship approaches closer to the Nexus."

"Wait..." Shiner tried to warn.

"We don't really know who this is. It can be a trick. The Hiryu will go into battle stations. Boussard out." At the same moment, other patrol ships began to arrive, starting with a Spearhead class scout, a Defiant class escort and a Sabre class escort. The immense "Enterprise" ship, however, quickly dwarfed them.

"This is the Federation ship the USS Hiryu. You are in Federation space. Whoever you are, please stand down and identify yourself. If you are truly the Enterprise, please address us. I wish to speak to your Captain," Boussard hailed.

Aboard the Enterprise G, "They are hailing us, Captain," the Operations officer said. "Should we respond?"

"No," Captain Nora Wells ordered. "Have you identified the ship hailing us?"

"The USS Hiryu, Akira class starship. The ship is an early refit. The Captain is Jacques Boussard." The Operations officer replied.

Wells leaned back in her chair in seeming awe. "Boussard! The man was a hero! He was initially disgraced at first for firing at a Cardassian merchant convoy, but later aboard the USS Hiryu, he would defeat a Borg incursion at the Battle of the Zorth Cluster at the Beta Quadrant near the Delta Quadrant boundary. Then in command of another ship, the Achilles class USS Ardennes, he would defeat a Jem'Haddar invasion in the Battle of the Suranak Nebula, saving an entire sector in the second Dominion War. It was he and Doctor Helen Shiner that was the first to perceive the silent invasion of the Borg, but they were all disregarded and scorned. Despite his heroism, his persistence of warning against the threat fell to deaf ears. His battles against the Federation establishment would eventually cost him his career, and ultimately his sanity. He was among the first martyrs. When the Federation finally heeded his word long after his death, it was too late." "I have to remind you Captain," her first officer said, a Cardassian formerly of the Obsidian Order before the Great Fall named Macek, "that all these events have not happened yet. Our presence here in this time, puts our time line at risk."

"You are right, Macek," Wells replied. "In fact, we are here to change our time line, no matter what it takes. Boussard's presence here is most opportune. Scan his ship for Type B Nanoprobes."

"There is none, Captain," said her Operations officer, a Romulan named Surak, formerly of the Tal Praex, also before the Great Fall. "The USS Hiryu is powering her weapons."

"Put the ship into full stop. Maximum power to shields," Wells ordered. This will give her more time to decide.

"What are you going to do, Captain?" Macek asked. "We do not know how much of the Federation or any of the quadrant had been infiltrated by the Type B Infiltrator Drones. We have to regard everyone as a potential enemy Human, Cardassian, Romulan, Klingon, Vulcan, everyone!"

But Wells objected. "It is not enough for us to just barge in and hunt down every Type B Infiltrator Drone in two Quadrants. We will have every Empire, Union, Alliance, Confederation, and Federation ships on our back. The Enterprise G may be the most powerful starship ever built, but we cannot fight everyone in two Quadrants. Even if we hunt down every Infiltrator Drone, there is more where they came from. We need select allies. We need people who will carry on the fight even when we are lost."

Her Tactical officer, a Klingon named Magh'var, spoke forth. "The Captain is right. We stand better chances of stopping the Infiltration if we have allies, secret allies."

"But we also don't have much time," Nora Wells said.

"There is someone I found in the Borg Nexus base," Surak said. "The Federation Section archive records are accurate. Around this time and place, archives place Doctor Helen Shiner herself at this place. In fact, my scans confirm this as correct."

'Let me see!" Wells stood and ran to Science console. "Yes, it is Shiner herself!"

"What is she doing there?" Macek asked.

"According to Section archives, they had only recently captured Gate 001. Shiner helped coordinate the capture of the Gate. She is obviously here to get the whole thing started." Surak said. "To use it to begin clandestine exploration of the Gamma and Delta Quadrants."

"And it won't be twenty years before she and Boussard would finally come out of the closet about the Borg Infiltration operation, in which she would be dismissed as insane." Wells added. " Three years later, she would disappear, never to be heard again. Probably by the same operation that got Boussard committed, and eventually assassinated. She left plans on how to detect Type B nanoprobes. But it took the Section another five years to implement the scanner. By then it was too late. The infiltration has spread so deeply that the Borg was able to use every institution and organization to discredit every attempt to reveal the infiltration. It was, an unstoppable conspiracy."

"I don't know what you're thinking, Captain, we do not know fully the consequences of tampering the time line," Macek warned.

"I say, let's accelerate the process a bit," Wells said. "Surak! Beam Doctor Shiner to a holding cell."

"Captain?" Surak stared at her.

"Just do it. It's time that we must have some allies," Well said.

Aboard the Nexus, Shiner watched her entire body turned into a mass twinkle of lights. "What the ?" Her disappearance was so quick, her crew was powerless. They all helplessly stared in surprise."

Shiner found herself in a cell. There seemed to be an open door with guards. She was about to rush it by instinct and simply remembered what a foolish action it would be. As she slowly moved her hand where the door was, there was a strong electrical surge and a flash of light that indicated a force field.

Aboard the Hiryu, the Operations officer shouted. "Transporter beam activity. The staff aboard the Nexus are calling a mayday. This so called Enterprise G had just beamed no kidnapped Doctor Shiner."

"No! This is tantamount to war!" Boussard said. "Shiner knows too much about the Section and its technology. We must get her back! Hail the Enterprise!"

Aboard the Enterprise, "Captain, we're being hailed. It's from the Hiryu. I believe we're being given an ultimatum." Surak said.

"The man is crazy," Macek said. "That's only an early version of an Akira class ship, against a Premonition A refit class battleship."

"It's been said Boussard's boldness borders on insanity," Wells said. "I'm glad he's living up to his reputation."

"Maybe there is reason to his boldness," Surak said. "He has reinforcements. Two Steamrunner class destroyers have entered the vicinity. In addition, there appears to be four smaller ships, a Defiant, Sabre, a Nova and Spearhead. No Type B nanoprobes in any of them."

"Even with those ships, he is still no match to a Premonition. Maybe we should provide a sample of what we can do," Macek suggested.

"The Hiryu has fired a torpedo across our bow. My scanners indicate the ship is re-arming," Surak said.

"You have ten seconds to answer us or return Doctor Shiner, or we shall commence firing..." Boussard warned in their screens.

"Three quantum torpedoes heading our way," Surak said. "Maximum yield."

"Maximum reinforcement on all shields. Let the torpedoes hit," Wells said.

The three torpedoes slammed against the shields of the Enterprise G. "We're down to seventy five percent." Macek said.

"Regenerate!" Wells ordered. "By the way, when I begin my communique, Macek, you and Surak must disappear for the moment. Given this age, I don't think they will take it credibly to see a Cardassian and a Romulan onboard the bridge of a Federation flagship."

Aboard the Hiryu, Boussard watched in shock as his officer reported the Enterprise G returning to full shields in two seconds.

"We're finally being hailed. It's from the Enterprise G. Her captain is named Wells, and she wants to see you privately. She requests private channels."

"Bring it to my room," Boussard ordered. "And desist fire...but for the moment."

Inside the Captain's room, Boussard confronts the new intruder on his private terminal. The uniform of the dark skinned woman was nothing he had seen before, yet she wore the emblem of Star Fleet. Already his Operations officer had confirmed the presence of chronotrons and subspace field disturbances that confirmed that this new ship does not belong to their time period.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Captain Boussard. History has spoken much about you," Wells said.

"And what have I done in the future to earn any distinction?" Boussard asked.

"That is not for you to know at the moment, Captain," Wells replied.

"If you are Federation, and I think you are the Federation of the future, what manner of action is this, kidnapping one of our scientists?" Boussard demanded.

"You will know later, Boussard," Wells said. But now is not the right time. Let me say we know a lot about you, more than you think. We know the fact that you work for the Section, a secret organization in Star Fleet created to undertake missions of utmost important and requiring the highest secrecy. We know that your branch of the Section is under the command of Admiral Hurst. We request that we meet Hurst and a member of each of the following organizations: Klingon Black Fleet, Romulan Tal Shi'ar and the Cardassian Obsidian Order, under the circumstances of the greatest secrecy. The arranged meeting place will be sent later to you. What we are about to tell you will decide the fate of the Federation, all the Empires and Unions involved, and all the Galaxy. You must know you are not in the position to dictate terms. We are. The mission of cleansing will proceed regardless of anything and at all cost. Enterprise out."

Aboard the Hiryu, Boussard watch the face of Wells disappear from his screen. Then the immense white ship that was the Enterprise G began to turn away, and with a flash, its sleek smooth form stretched into infinity.

"The Enterprise G has engaged warp!" his Tactical officer said.

"Nobody kidnaps a scientist and a citizen of the Federation! Nobody dictates Jacques Boussard what to do!" Boussard cursed. "Hail all ships and prepare to pursue. Engage maximum warp!"

The warp engines on the Akira class starship began to whir, and then with a flash, the points that were stars became streaks of rainbows. Right behind the Hiryu, six other smaller ships have engaged maximum warp.

Stars turned into streams, and as the ships go faster, the streams turned into torrents.

"We have sight of the Enterprise G," his Operations officer said. "We are rapidly gaining on it."

No, Boussard thought. The Enterprise G isn't even running on maximum capabilities. What was it planning to do?

"It's heading to an asteroid field," the Operations officer said. The screen showed the Premonition class Enterprise G heading to a massive rock ring.

"Pursue it," Boussard ordered. "But exercise caution. I have a sense that the ship may pull some surprises."

He spoke too soon. As he gazed on his screen, the giant white bird that was the Enterprise G faded into the rock ring like a ghost. "What the...?"

"The Enterprise G may have cloaking capability," his First officer said.

"All sensors into deep scan, we may still spot that ship. There is a Spearhead class ship among the group, right?" Boussard asked.

"Yes, the USS Yuri Gagarin," the First officer replied.

"Request for tachyon scan in case the Enterprise G is using phased cloaking," Boussard ordered.

After a minute, his Operations officer replied. "There is absolutely nothing in our sensors. The Gagarin is reporting nothing. Absolutely nothing."

"How can it disappear like that?" Boussard asked. After a minute of staring at the screen, he understood the futility of staying longer. It was time to go home. It was time to send the message.

Captain Nora Wells stared at the screen, watching the Federation vessels depart. For a moment, there was a joy in her to see Federation ships once again in a fleet in a combined exercise. It reminded her of olden days, happier days, days gone by. It pained her to have Federation vessels pursue her like that, like she was an enemy of the service she swore her life with. She didn't like taking someone against her will, like Doctor Shiner. But she must do what she must.

"Power down all holographic emitters. Disengage mimic mode." She ordered. A giant asteroid turned back into the immense white graceful vessel that was the Enterprise G.

* * *
On the Planet Siranau,

The Congress of Siranau held a most important celebration. There in the palace of its most important law making body, were guests diplomats from the Federation, and officials from Star Fleet. There was much merry making, for the day may be the most important for the humanoid Sinarauans since the day they took to the stars. This was the day the Sinarauans were indicted as honored members of the Federation.

Admiral Hurst held a glass of champagne. The Sinarauans have their own indigenous liquors of vice, so Star Fleet had to import a large cache for the humans who were celebrating in this ceremony. The best connoisseurs of wine considered it a crime to drink wine made from a replicator, so the finest wines had to be grown from the moist soil of Earth and France, bathed from the light of old Sol, from techniques of hand honed for generations. Among the cache were champagnes and chablis from the Picard vineyards, which actually had a relation to the famed Star Fleet captain, the vineyards being his ancestral home. It only seemed most fitting. Hurst himself is such a connoisseur of true Earth wines, and keeps a collection back in his office at the Tacticus shipyard.

Hurst allowed himself to wallow in nostalgia. A man his age has memories to find comfort and happiness with. The ceremony was a hark to the happier and more innocent days when the Federation was more busier expanding and exploring, instead of fighting neighbors and grave threats like the Borg and the Dominion. Those were the days following the peace with the Klingon Empire, when the Romulans went back to their shell, when the Cardassians kept to their side in space, and when the Borg has not arrived yet. From the late 23rd Century to the middle of the 24th Century, it was the period of the Federation's greatest expansion. A month or a year would hardly come when a world isn't joining the Federation. It was when the dream of Pax Galaxia was held at the highest, a dream when the entire Galaxy would eventually become one peaceful community of races seeking only peace, prosperity, enlightenment and fulfillment. It was a Golden age. It was an innocent age. The joining of Siranaua harks back to these days.

He clicked his communicator. "Captain Wu, why don't you join us here? It's fun!"

"I'm honored, Admiral," Captain Wu replied. "But we have some work here on the Normandy. If we have time, we can meet down there." Wu was just giving a white lie. He wasn't comfortable being with the diplomats, the celebrities, and the shiny brass. He would rather be in the nuts and bolts of his ship, among the ranks and the trenches.

Hurst knew Wu was only giving an excuse, but he won't force it. He himself pulled the same stunt on his younger days. Younger officers tend to be to shy to mix with the older generation. It was true then and it is true now. Was he getting that old?

He joined in with polite conversations with the diplomats, ambassadors and other admirals. Some conversations were very deep, such as discussing the future of the Federation a hundred years from now, to discussions of grooming their pet animals.

He stared at the crowd in one frozen moment. There was a day and age he would look up to these people, or shy away from them. They were the elite of the Federation. Now he is standing with them, among them, talking with them, drinking with them. Heaven forbid, he has become another silver haired Federation bureaucrat!

The clicking sound of his communicator saved him from the angst of being an old office bureaucrat. "Admiral, this is Captain Wu here." There was a sound of concern in his voice, and suddenly his adrenalin went up with his tension.

"What is it, Captain?"

"This message is being sent on an encrypted channel. We have an emergency situation here. Less than an hour ago, a strange ship entered through the Gate and kidnaped Doctor Shiner by beaming her off the Nexus."

"Kidnaped? And no one was able to stop this?"

"There were seven ships in the area, including Boussard in the Hiryu. The othe ships were Class 2 destroyers and Class 1 escort or patrol ships, Admiral."

"What race and what ship is this? Borg? Romulan? Dominion?" Hurst asked.

"That's it, sir, that's the nature of the emergency. The ship is Federation, but is it not one of ours at the same time. It's a time ship. It's registry numbers say NCC 1701G."

"Enterprise! Enterprise-G." Hurst said. "Are you sure it's not a fraud?"

"According to the reports from the Nexus and the Hiryu, chronotron particles and subspace displacement readings are consistent to a time traveller. If or not this is a real Enterprise, we definitely know it does not come from our time." Wu replied.

"That's not all, Admiral. It seems to be hold Shiner as a captive for ransom. It is demanding to meet you, a Section representative, a representative each from the Black Fleet, the Tal Shi'ar and the Obsidian Order all under circumstances of the utmost secrecy. Says it's all urgent. Says the future of the Galaxy depends on it. It seems quite insistent. "

"Understood. Who are we to argue when trouble brews? I will have to say my good byes first, and then you can beam me up, Captain."

* * *

Like a proud young bird about to leave its nest, the new USS Kiev had disengaged from her tractor beam moorings.

Garret stood from the observation deck above the restaurant lobby, where a good view of the ship can be seen. He wondered if Captain Ann Shelley could see him as he gave the thumbs up. He wished Wu was here. It seemed only right for a former captain of a ship named the Kiev to be on hand on the occasion of this 'momentous' launch. Admiral Hurst should have been here too. He after all, was the one who gave Shelley this new command and the right to pass the name of Kiev to the new ship. But they had to go elsewhere, because there was something more momentous than the launching of the new ship like celebrating the newest civilization to enter membership of the Federation. Wu's involvement with Hurst had deepened. He was transferred out of the old Kiev and given command of Hurst's personal flagship, the largest and most luxurious ship in his secret task force, the USS Normandy. The ship has recently become the test bed for Borg containment techniques. Hurst picked a good man, given Wu's record.

Athena was playing assistant to him once again. She had a camera for the occasion, and as she eagerly took pictures, the images were downloaded in the USS Athena's memory banks, where one day, she could send them to Captain Wu to see.

The new Aegis class USS Kiev slowly descended down past the ribs of the shipyard, and then into open space. There had been plenty of new ship inaugurations lately, as Star Fleet tries to build back its fleet after the horrendous losses in the Dominion War. Just the day before, the USS Genghiz, a Steamrunner with Isis Jackson as the captain, had officially launched and is undergoing trials. Another Steamrunner, the USS Indra, is set to launch this same week.

The Kiev was now set to undergo her shakedown trials. A few ships must be around to monitor her. Another Aegis ship, the USS Vanguard was in orbit outside waiting to escort the Kiev, and Garret had volunteered his ship as a second monitor.

"Athena, beam me back to the ship," Garret ordered.

"Oakie do!" She replied. Garret vanished in a column of fairy like lights.

Garret materialized on the bridge of the USS Athena, just parked outside of the shipyard. He quickly went to his chair, in a manner reflecting an increasing sense of confidence and trust in his ship and crew.

The face of Captain Shelley came on screen. "So far so good," she said. "We got much of the old crew back here, so crew coordination is not a problem. But we need to get used to the new ship itself, which is quite different from the Norway class. I have to say that this ship is not as well armed as the old Kiev, but her sensors are far more advanced, and she seemed to have a better power to weight ratio, so she's going to be faster and more agile. She's also got more stores for extended missions or patrols."

"That's because Hurst now has different mission priorities for you," Garret replied. "As we are not in a state of constant war, patrolling, scans, and exploring, are once again the main Star Fleet priorities."

"Not surprised. We will do anything that's thrown at our lap." Shelley replied.

A small conference window popped up. "This is Captain Maeda of the Vanguard. Are you guys ready?"

"As sure as I will ever be, Masako." Shelley replied. "Okay, we'll move, starting with a standard impulse driven maneuvering run..."

After an hour of trials, Athena yawned. "Is this over yet? I'm getting bored here."

"Trials are serious business," T'pak said. "These are usually the most important stages for a new ship. If we don't find and solve any problems now, it will haunt the ship later. I am sure you remember when you were first launched, Athena."

"Yeah, and it was boring too, T'pak. That was sometime before you guys, with a different crew and captain, all of whom quit from one reason or another. I just want this to be over so I can chat a bit with Hershey."

"Hershey? Who is Hershey?" Garret asked.

"He's the dreamy looking EMH 3 on the USS Kiev. He's a totally neat to talk to." Athena replied.

"Didn't I tell you before to stop bugging other ship EMH's?" Garret said. "I've had a lot of complaints about your conduct."

"Relax, Captain," Athena smiled smugly. "We only do it in our free time. I got to have a social life you know, and so does he. Like the Doctor says, we need this so we can all discover our humanity and grow and develop as proper sentient beings." She snickered, and the snickering grew into laughter, aimed at the self sarcasm of her remarks.

"Let Athena have her social life," Ka'nal suggested. "At least that will keep her occupied, and prevent her from bugging this crew and others."

"Should I be thankful about that remark, Ka'nal?" Athena shot back.

Suddenly, T'pak interrupted. "There is something going on, Captain. The shipyard has just upgraded alert status into yellow. No, it's going into red alert. We are all being requested to return to the shipyard immediately."

"Is it being attacked?" Garret asked.

"No Captain. But there seems to be an emergency...something happened at the captured Nexus base. No, it's not the Borg. Apparently Doctor Shiner had been kidnaped."

"Mother!" Athena exclaimed.

Windows from the Vanguard and the Kiev came on simultaneously. "Did you hear that, Garret?" Shelley asked.

"Yes, Ann," he replied.

"What's going on?" Maeda said. "I got another report that the Normandy is returning in a huff with Captain Wu and Admiral Hurst. Boussard is on his way back with several ships. All Section task forces are being ordered to return for an emergency meeting. The USS Boise, which is on patrol, is heading home too."

"Boussard? That guy with the Akira?" Garret asked. "Apparently, Masako, an incident happened and Doctor Helen Shiner had been abducted. I don't know the details until we meet."

"Mom! Mom! Mom!" Athena cried out, upset at the news.

"Take it easy, Athena," Garret said in a cool voice. "Whatever it is, we will resolve it together."

"Randall, I got a bad feeling about this," Shelley said. "I'm putting in overtime to get this crew and ship ready for whatever load that is going to hit the fan."

Nora Wells examined the captive in her cell. She kept thinking how much she didn't want to do this, but there it was, she did it. Shiner had disappeared mysteriously long before Wells was born, and she was a hero for being one of the first voices to reveal about the Borg infiltration. Had more listened to her, maybe the future would be different. Here she is, the one person who could have stopped the future, alive and right in the flesh. Wells was at awe at the sight and presence of a historical figure in the cell, kind of like having Amelia Earheart locked up. By capturing Shiner now, the time line has begun to be invalidated.

She nodded to the guard, and the guard released the force fields. Helen Shiner stood up. The uniforms of the people here, they all carried the badge of Starfleet but their uniforms were different. One thing that stayed the same though was the use of color to signify function and rank. That handsome black woman who stood in front of her, she can only be the Captain.

"I have to apologize for bringing you here not by your will," Nora Wells said. "Let me introduce myself. I am not from your time. I am from one hundred years from the future. My name is Nora Wells. Captain Nora Wells of the USS Enterprise. And we know who you are. You are Doctor Helen Shiner. You are a distinguished scientist. We of the future know your work well."

The Captain had a disarming smile, and she extended her hand to shake. Shiner stared at her, and felt inside that she could trust this stranger. If this was all true, nobody would dare attempt going back to the past and break a time line unless something extremely dire had happened to the future. Shiner was determined to know what's going on.

Shiner gave her hand to Wells and shook. "Enterprise G I presume from the registry mark I saw," Shiner said. "If you know about the future, what exactly did I do to merit fame?"

"Come with me to the briefing room," Wells said. As they walked to the turbolifts, Shiner was amazed by the alien races inside the ship, who in her correct time age would have been inconceivable serving in a Federation starship. Shiner curiously asked about when so and so races joined the Federation, but Wells declined to answer. She only smiled. Shiner could understand the need to maintain the Temporal Directive, but the curious questions came out from spontaneity.

Shiner also asked a lot about the ship, questions which Wells shrugged off. Wells was determined that Shiner will only know what specifically she needs to know, and not any other thing. It was already careless of Wells to let every alien in her crew to go about their normal business. Through her communicator, she issued an order that every alien whose race was incorporated, participated or became allies with the Federation after the year 2380, should make themselves sparse in front of the new guest.

Wells invited Shiner into the private briefing room. She let Shiner relaxed on the chair, while she herself relaxed on the table with a leg up on a chair. Maybe the sense and posture of informality would make it easier to break the news to Shiner.

"Do you have certain dreams, where you have visions of people? You hear voices? Subtle voices? Like a hidden Collective?" Wells asked.

Shiner appeared startled. "How did you know? I just began talking about this with another person..."

"Jacques Boussard, yes we know." Wells said. "We know from the future."

"Amazing." Shiner said.

"We know you and Boussard tried to warn the Federation." Wells said. "That will be in the future."

"And what is the idea of telling this to us now?" Shiner asked. "Are you trying to deliberately change the future? What happened in the future?"

"Then it is time for you to know." Wells said.

In the screen on the wall of the briefing room, Wells showed the future. It was the future of an assimilated Earth, an assimilated Quo'nos, and an assimilated Romulus. Wells showed more worlds Bajor, Cardassia, Betazoid, Orion, ...world after world, turned into a tangled mass of metal and conduit, lighted in eerie green. Shiner stared at the future in horror.

"A nightmare which we may never wake up," Wells said. "Almost everything of the Alpha and Beta quadrants, all assimilated. The Borg is on their way for total domination of the Galaxy. The last remaining area of resistance lies with our allies in the Dominion in the Gamma Quadrant, but even they I fear would not last."

"The Federation, allies with the Dominion?" Shiner asked.

"Maybe you should know. Everyone is allied against the Borg, including Cardassia and the Romulan Empire. But even they succumbed to the Borg assault." Wells explained.

"What is the cause of all this? How did the Borg...?" Shiner asked.

"You know the answer." Wells said.

"They...they infiltrated the Federation with a new kind of Borg," Shiner said. "I was just thinking about that. A new Borg Infiltrator drone, using a new type of nanoprobe."

"I am not disappointed," Wells said. "You indeed were the first to discover the Borg Infiltrator drones. But the threat was so subtle, you did not reveal this in public after twenty years, and by then it was too late. The infiltration had deepened."

"My hesitation, my lateness in revealing the threat, helped caused the assimilation of the Federation?" Shiner said.

"It cannot be helped. No one would have ever believed you. No one not even you could have invented a scanner that would detect the new nanoprobes in time. Even when you finally had concrete evidence and the scanner, it was rebuffed by the top brass of the Federation, many of whom had been infiltrated. It was like an unstoppable conspiracy. You disappeared, and it was presumed you were murdered. The scanner fell into the hands of the secret organizations. When they finally realized the extent of the danger and infiltration, they began a campaign of insurrection against their own Borg infiltrated governments. There were still many wars and battles of resistance. Humankind in alliance with many alien races would not fall easily, but in the end, resistance was futile."

"And now we intend to change future history," Shiner said.

"Call it tweaking history." Wells said. "You eventually discovered them anyway. I'm just advancing the schedule."

"But the time line pollution in theory..." Shiner said.

"Anything is better than the hell we left," Wells said.

Next, Wells showed on screen what appears to be bug like robot design. "This is an extreme magnification of a Type B nanoprobe. This is something you yourself will discover twenty years later in my time line. The Type B nanoprobe is what makes the Borg Infiltrator drone possible. Assimilation is extremely subtle. It works entirely on the brain alone, leaving all the physical and biological aspects completely untouched. That is one reason why it's so difficult to detect with scanners. The assimilation process itself is so gradual and slow, that the subject victim simply does not know what is happening. Then all it does is open the human subconsciousness to the Collective, where the subconscious mind would subvert the conscious mind and do the bidding of the Collective. The individual becomes a puppet, a drone, trapped in a zombie like dream state of subliminal mind control. It is so frighteningly simple. By doing what I just did now, I guess my entire time line has just been invalidated, and it does not bug me one bit."

"You mean I discovered that, Captain?"

"In short, yes." Wells said. "Here is another thing you should see." She flashed diagrams into the screen. "That's the Type B nanoprobe detector. This was something you invented to detect the first Type B nanoprobes, something you only invented twenty years in the future. Now your future invention is here with you."

Shiner looked at the diagrams and sensed a strange familiarity with them. Yes, this was something she could have designed in the future. It had a sense of her own style and personality in doing things.

She dropped what she was doing. This was a bit too much for her. She has heard tales of time anomalies spoken by other Starfleet captains like Picard, but for it to happen to herself? What struck was that at that moment, she had realized that whatever was her future time line, it had changed completely.

She looked up to Wells and said. "I will do everything I can. But you must return me to my Federation."

"We will do that. That has already been arranged." Wells said.

* * *

In the conference room, the Starfleet captains under the special Section command had gathered. Hurst looked at the faces. There are many young faces here, and the younger they are, the less the pleasant feeling in sending these faces into battles that would cost their lives. The mean age for a Starfleet captain had fallen after the Dominion War. During the War, the attrition rate for captains was unbearably high. For almost every Federation ship lost, there was a captain lost. Maybe the unspoken tradition for a captain going down with their ship held firmer than the Starfleet orders for captains that they must abandon their ships. There was also the sense of dishonor and disgrace to lose a ship. Captains, honor bound for their crew as well, would prefer to be the last to leave their ships after making sure their own crew were on the lifeboats or transported out first. For that reason, valuable veterans were lost.

Many of the older captains, used to a decade of general peace and diplomacy, were unable to cope with the stresses and chaos of wars, or provide the ability to make quick aggressive decisions. This older breed of diplomatic captains was among the easy victims of the war. The casualty rate was so terrible that many of the surviving older generation, including Jean Luc Picard and his ship, were pulled back from the front lines.

Filling their place were younger, more eager and aggressive captains, often less experienced and drawn from the ranks of the front lines and trenches. These were the kind of captains he has now.

He looked at the faces once more, checking the roster. There was David Wu of the Normandy, Jacques Boussard of the Hiryu, Randall Garret of the Athena, and Jonathan Hoesch of the Boise. Jonathan De Witt, former captain of the lost USS Manila had returned, and was given command of a second Borg Containment ship called the USS Lionheart. Like the USS Havana it replaced, the Lionheart was a Niagara B refit, which only has two warp nacelles. Among the women were Masako Maeda of USS Vanguard, Ann Shelley of the new USS Kiev and Isis Johnston of the newly commissioned USS Genghiz. Commanders and Captains of the smaller ships, namely those for Defiants, Sabres, Novas and Spearheads, made towards the rear of the room.

Among them was Captain Persis Amritraj of the USS Anteater, a ship jokingly called around the shipyard as the "Nose". The Anteater was an experimental Defiant variant being tested around the shipyard with an extended nose to hold a larger sensor suite, a more powerful deflector, and a dual Type X phaser strip on top of the nose. It also had more powerful engines with larger Bussard collectors to haul around the additional weight. There was also Captain Ahmed Hussein of the USS Magellan, a Spearhead, which is basically a Nova class refitted with a new hull design that gave the class its name, along with uprated engines, better armament and sensors. Both were actually flotilla commanders, with a formation of the smaller ships set around their commands. The Defiants and Sabres were behind the Anteater while the Novas were to follow the Magellan.

Hurst could never underestimate the value of "eyes" and "ears" ships in his Section task force. Reconnaissance and information were his main weapons in a clandestine game of stealth and intrusion.

"I'm not going to waste any more of our time. You heard what happened, you know what happened. We're just going to clarify the details whom we might be dealing with." Hurst said.

He pressed a button on his terminal, and the briefing room screen came to life with a picture of a large starship. Her lines were all smooth and organic, without a sharp angle or a straight line. There were traces in her lines of her ancestry to the majestic Sovereign class. The downward swept back sweep of her pylons, and the overhead roll bar with weapons pod reflected invaluable lessons learned from the Miranda and Nebula class format of ship design. It clearly did not belong to any current Federation class, but it remained clear that it was of Federation origin.

"A Premonition class starship. It was built in the future, a hundred years from now. The ship is the future Enterprise."

"This is not exactly the first time a Premonition class starship came back in time. The first was the USS Premonition herself. Her expedition had something to do with the Borg. The details of this event remains highly classified with Section records as with all temporal violations. According to the scans performed before she disappeared with Doctor Shiner, the Enterprise G is an enhanced refit of the Premonition class, featuring additional capabilities. Folks, I'm not going to tell you what to expect in dealing against a future era battleship. It is safe to assume you're going to be badly outgunned. When you meet the ship, you do not be rash."

"Let us make it clear. Temporal violations and incursions have been delegated to Section control. We are not the only Section task force in Starfleet, but it occurred in our area and with one of our personnel, which you all know as Doctor Helen Shiner. The sheer nature of a temporal violation means that its containment can only be performed within the infrastructure of a secret Section task fleet. Everything and anything about this operation can be leaked to the outside world beyond the Section. This is obviously to prevent any temporal pollution or contamination of the time line. Did I make myself clear?"

"Yes Sir!" They answered.

Hurst continued. "Why a future flagship of the Federation would knowingly violate the Temporal Directive is troubling. We suspect it is here to attempt to change a time line that we do not know about. The standard procedures for a temporal violator would be to engage, contain and if necessary, destroy. What if it was meant to bend our future for the worst? But the other side of it would be what if it were here to warn us, or stop an impending disaster of terrible proportions? We cannot answer these two questions. We have to know before we act."

"The Enterprise G had given us demands that I must meet her captain, along with representatives of the Black Fleet, Obsidian Order and the Tal Shi'ar. I know you all might be uncomfortable bringing our rivals or enemies to the table, but that were the demands. What ever the Enteprise G came here for, it was important enough to call the quadrants' three foremost intelligence groups into a single table. I had to personally call some contacts with the three groups. The details of how I do it are not in your privilege to know. I encountered some resistance in belief, but with a little convincing, they have agreed."

"I will be onboard the USS Normandy, with the USS Hiryu and USS Lionheart for escort. Each of these ships will be loaded with squadrons of armed Venture class shuttles if we encounter the necessity of combat. We will not bring our highest technology ships and risk our rivals scanning them, especially the Athena, the Spearheads and Aegis class ships. The Normandy will rendezvous with ships holding representatives of the Tal Sh'iar, Obsidian Order and the Black Fleet, then we will proceed to rendezvous with the Enterprise G. The rest of you will stay within the 41 Kappa system to protect the shipyard and all the bases within the system. High readiness will be maintained at all times. Be ready to be summoned into action at any moment. As officially we are now on yellow alert. Dismissed."

* * *

Captain Wu stood on the podium of the shipyard. On the bottom, the Venture shuttles were being launched, some of them carrying supplies to the Normandy. In front of him, lay the new USS Kiev, a new ship carrying the name of his old command. Watching it, truly he felt that his old steed was gone forever.

He turned and saw three people walking towards him, Randall, Ann and Athena. He went and greeted them. "Ann I was sorry not being here for your ship's inauguration."

"Don't bother about it, David. We all know you have important official business," Shelley said.

"I still have to apologize for myself. I really wanted to be in that occasion. The old Kiev was much of a part of my life and I still am sad to see her go." Wu said. "How is the new ship?"

"She's not the old girl," Shelley said. "But I think she will have a good life on her own. She's not as heavily armed but she's definitely faster and more agile, with better sensor range and sensitivity. She's got a very advanced threat analysis system too. Oh dear, we got this for you. Athena, give him the package."

"Right-O," Athena responded. "We found this in the wreckage of the old Kiev near the former Borg base. I think you will recognize it."

Wu unwrapped the package. It was the dedication plaque for the old Norway class USS Kiev. Wu ran his fingers on the brass embossed metal of the plague as he silently read the inscriptions. There was his name on it. It was different to be the first captain of a new ship, than being a captain of a ship someone had already commanded. There, the name of the first captain will always be enthroned in the plaque as long as the ship continues to fly among the stars. It is like a girl's first love, never to be forgotten.

"I still remember my first captain," Athena said. "But I wish I didn't. He was kind of forgettable, a true Section stooge."

"You don't have to be mean, Athena. Whether you like them or not, people are people, and even section stooges have feelings." Garret said.

"Sorry," said Athena.

Wu allowed himself to reminisce. It was before the Dominion War, but shortly after the Borg hit Sector 001. The threat of the Borg was real. The Kiev was part of a massive Starfleet upgrade program designed to face the Borg threat. He was proud of the ship then despite its unusual looks. It was not the biggest, but there was a feeling of it being the state of the art, the cutting edge of things. What was the right expression for it? Cool? Kick ass? A few years later, the war with the Dominion started, and the Kiev moved from cool to a dependable life saver. Finally, in all irony, it would end fighting the very thing it was made for, the Borg. So many memories, so many friends.

Wu tried to fight back the tears, but he let his forearm wipe them anyway. "You don't know how much this means to me," he said.

"I think we all know, Captain," Garret said.

"Thank you, Ann, thank you Randy," Wu shook each other their hands. "You owe me a tour of that ship," he said, pointing to the new USS Kiev.

"And you owe us both a tour of the Normandy, including a free night on the Diplomat's room." Garret laughed.

"Well, Randall, Ann, wish me good luck in this mission," Wu said. "I hope to see you again." He turned to Athena, who seems to have a pall all over her when she learned of the news of her programmer and creator . "Don't worry Athena, we will get her back. Your mom is a proven survivor and I don't think she's in deep trouble." He gave her a pat on her shoulder.

* * *

"Our sensors have detected the Klingon fleet, Captain." The Operations officer said. Wu nodded. Hurst stood beside him.

"Tell everyone to stay on green status. No powering up of weapons or shields. Relay that to the Lionheart and to the Hiryu. Especially to the Hiryu." Hurst ordered. "Bring the Klingon fleet on screen."

The screen showed a Negh'Var battleship, escorted along side by a state of the art Ka'Vort Cha and a Vor'Cha assault cruiser.

"We are being hailed sir," the Operations officer said.

"Bring them on screen," Hurst said.

The fierce forehead armored face of a proud Klingon warrior appeared on screen. "Qa'plah! Admiral Hurst my dear old friend." The warrior said.

"General Ka'Vagh! It is so good to see you." Hurst replied.

"I see that you are now a Federation Bureaucrat! Ughh! That sounds worst than being a treacherous Romulan dog. Look at your stomach. It has gained in size since the last time I saw you. You were a lean warrior then." Ka'Vagh said.

"It pains me to see pounds grow on my waist," Hurst replied. "I see that the hairs in your face have grown."

"Bah! Do not threaten me with age, Admiral. I fear it worst than the enemy. I hope not to die in my desk filling reports but in battle. Since the glorious days of the war against the Dominon, it has been, as you might put it, 'boring'. Nonetheless, we the Black Fleet, must keep our guard up for the safety and security of the Empire, from both enemies inside and outside. But we are not here for idle talk, eh Admiral?"

"No we're not." Hurst replied.

"When I received your message, it challenged my curiosity." Ka'Vagh said. "It truly does. If what you are saying is true, then this Enterprise G must have dire news of the Future not just for the Federation but the Klingon Empire as well. To have the Obsidian Order and the Tal Shi'ar involved, to bring all our rivals and enemies into a single table, then it must be about a threat greater than all of us. I dare not think it is the Dominion again. They are tired and beaten. They will not risk war again so recently. I can only think of one name Borg. But it is all speculation until I meet these people from the future."

"We have another fleet approaching, Admiral," the Operations officer said. "We have identified a large ship, a Hutet class carrier, with two Tongas and a Norin cruiser.

"Bah, it's the treacherous Cardassians..." Ka'Vagh said.

"Do not taunt them, General. We are in a peaceful mission. No raising shields or powering up weapons unless we are threatened as an entire group," Hurst warned.

The screen flashed and a reptilian Cardassian face appeared. "Admiral Hurst, I'm Merak. And what do we have here, primitive primate Klingons..."

"Ship to ship combat is too good for you, reptile," Ka'Vagh replied. "It is a waste of energy for my Negh'Var to blow your ship up. Why don't I beam down into your carrier with my bat'leth and I will cut you up?

"Gentlemen, gentlemen, we are here for a peaceful meeting and to face a possible common enemy, not to go at each other's throats." Hurst said.

"So hold as you can hold your Klingon pet in check, I will maintain my civility, Admiral," Merak said.

"Grrrgh!" Ka'Vagh exclaimed.

"We got ships decloaking on starboard." The Operations officer said. "I bet it's the Romulans, sir! Bringing them on screen."

The D'Deridex Warbird materialized its huge winged green form out of the darkness. Two bird like ships were next to it, a Raptor and a Griffin class cruisers.

"Welcome Admiral Hurst," said the Romulan Commander on screen. "I am Colonel Raek of the Tal Shi'ar. No introduction is needed for the thoroughness of the Tal Shi'ar precedes you. I believe I recognize General Ka'Vagh of the Klingon Black Fleet and Merak of the Obsidian Order. But of course I have been listening to all your petty conversations and trivial tantrums. For the record, the Romulan Empire does not stoop to such barbaric behavior."

"Ah, another dog I sure like to cut the smile off from his face," Ka'Va gh hissed, flashing a D'k tahg knife.

Raek snubbed the Klingon. "I am aware of the situation as described by your message, Admiral Hurst. If this is true, the Tal Shi'ar does not take matters of temporal incursion lightly. We do have a common threat and a common issue that we must resolve all, Admiral? General?" Raek said.

"Arrgh! I can smell the stench of the Romulans even from my ship," Ka'Vagh said. "But even they are right. We must proceed with business."

"If I may lead the way," Hurst offered.

"After you," Merak said.

The Normandy maneuvered to take the lead. The Lionheart took port position while the Hiryu took starboard position.

"Are you ready?" Hurst addressed both de Witt and Boussard on conference windows. Boussard was a bit silent.

"In other days, I would sure like to blow these people up," Boussard uttered. "But not today. We have another business. Admiral, we are ready on your mark."

Hurst gave a head sign. "Set course to the rendezvous point, Helm," Wu ordered. "Engage."

The Normandy streaked ahead, with the Lionheart and the Hiryu quickly following, then the Negh'var, and her two escorts, the Hutet and her escorts, and finally the D'Deridex and her escorts.

As usual in any missions of "diplomacy", the tendency and practice for a race is to bring their biggest ship for the visual impression, followed by two or three escorts. It was predictable that the Klingons would bring a Negh'Var, the Romulans, a D'Deridex, and the Cardassians, the new Hutet class battleship-carriers, a new generation Cardassian battleship designed to deal with Federation Galaxies and Klingon Negh'Vars and was introduced late in the war. While the Ambassador class he has for his flagship wasn't the latest and best, it's size and majesty would suffice for a mission.

"We have approached the rendezvous point," said the ensign.

"Just wait here." Hurst said.

"We got a reading," said the ensign on the helm. "I believe it's the Enterprise G, sir."

"Magnify on screen," Wu ordered. "Damn!" He said as he was overcome with awe at the sight of the sleek majestic ship, that appeared like final masterpiece of star ship design.

"Our readings show a Federation power signature, a subspace imbalance, and chromatron particle emissions." The Operations officer said. "It's definitely Federation, but not any class we know, and it's really not from our time. I bet the Romulans, Klingons and Cardassians are getting the same readings."

Three conference windows quickly appeared on the screen with the faces of General Ka'Vagh, Merak, Colonel Raek.

"Do not raise shields or power up weapons," Hurst advised them. "We mustn't appear hostile, whoever or whateverthis ship is."

"You are putting us at risk," Raek said. "But I am willing to try diplomacy before we start shooting."

"We are ready to go to red alert, if this ship shows any hostile intentions," Ka'Vagh said.

"We are being hailed on encrypted channels," the Operations officer said.

"On the secret channel? How can that be?" Wu said.

A face appeared on all the ships bridge screens. It was the face of a dark earth woman. "I am Captain Nora Wells of the USS Enterprise, the future USS Enterprise in your time. I bet you are all surprised that I am contacting you all through four different encrypted channels. In fact that is proof we are from the future. Your present Federation does not have any knowledge or key in breaking the encrypted channels for the Black Fleet, Tal Shi'ar and Obsidian Order. Don't bother to change them either. We have every knowledge of every encryption code used all the way to a whole Earth century from now. The reason why we have to use an encrypted channel is because the matters I will be telling you are of the greatest secrecy about the fates of your Empires and Unions."

"Before we begin, I must scan for infiltrators. It will only take an Earth minute."

"Infiltrators?" Merak said. "The crew in our ships have been specially selected by the Obsidian Order to serve in their capacity. You can be assured that no one aboard our ships is an infiltrator of any sort. We would object to any scanning of our ships by a foreign power."

"That is also true of the Tal Shi'ar," said Raek. "Our security procedures are the most thorough. It is a disrespect of our sovereignty if we are subjected to scans."

"I have to agree with the Cardassian and Romulan dogs. Without good cause and permission, the scanning of a Klingon ship even by a Federation ship is an affront to Klingon honor." Ka'Vagh said.

"Very well, Gentlemen, since you will know it anyway, I am scanning for Borg Infiltrator drones."

"Borg Infiltrator drones?" Hurst wondered.

"They look exactly, think exactly, act exactly as any people you know," Wells explained. "They will preserve their personalities and characters, but the Collective has taken over their minds. Through a new nanoprobe device, they are virtually undetectable with all your current sensor technology. I am not going to mince words to say that your worlds are in peril in a way that you all could not conceivably know. Now, Gentlemen, will you please let me perform my scans?"

"Let us know more about this Borg infiltrators you speak of," Raek demanded.

"You will only know more after you passed my scans," Wells said. "I cannot risk revealing more if any of you have Infiltrator drones. If you are worried about us scanning and learning your technologies, be real, Gentlemen. My ship is far advanced than any of yours and I certainly am already aware of your ship designs and technologies in the future as I am aware of your encryption codes."

They stared at each other at the conference windows. Hurst was the first to break the news. "Our ship will submit to your scans." The others quickly agreed by grudgingly nodding their heads.

The Enterprise G began scans of all the ships. When the scanning ended, Wells' face appeared again in all their screens. "It appears that you are all clean. We can proceed with the discussion. When you are ready, we will beam all delegates into the conference room of our ship."

"No wait, Captain Wells." Hurst said. "You have already taken one of my people, a civilian scientist. We have already subjected our ships to your scans. You obviously need us for what ever you are planning. As a sign of good faith, I suggest we meed in neutral ground. I suggest the conference room in my ship, the USS Normandy."

"Let me think for a minute," Wells said.

On board the Enterprise G, Wells looked at Surak, Macek and Magh'Var for advice. "So what do you think, Gentlemen? I am specifically ask you since you may have a better understanding the character of your counterparts and countrymen a century ago."

"While it is a risk to leave the ship, Hurst is a good negotiator and a catalyst to get things accomplished," Macek said.

"In my observation, we should not let them know about the formation of the Great Alliance in the future," Surak said. "Even if this is in regards to our peoples my Romulans, your Cardassians, Macek, and your Klingons, Magh'Var. The respective empires must fight their petty wars that lay ahead of them and discover the folly of such in the most difficult way, even if millions were to die. Only then will they evolve to a higher political state of understanding and cooperation. We must keep our temporal contamination to a minimum to simply stop the Borg, but maintain the course of proper evolution of our empires and nations."

"I have to agree as well," Magh'Var said.

"That is my conclusion, too, Captain." Macek said. "Let them know what they only need to know."

"We could change history here in more ways than one," Wells said. "We could avoid a hundred wars, save millions of lives in all our peoples, accelerate the process of brotherhood and understanding."

"But you are all correct. We are not gods to tinker more than what we need to. I only confess that the temptation is there because the opportunity is there." Wells said. She straightened up. "We will only do what our mission guidelines say, and only that."

"Now make yourselves hidden from the screen. Bring Hurst on screen once more."

"Yes, Captain Wells." Hurst said.

"I have agreed to your conditions. We will meet in the conference room of the USS Normandy. To show more of our good faith, we will return your scientist back to you." Wells said.

"Very well, Captain," Hurst said.

"I will prepare the conference room for our guests," Wu said as he barked some orders to an ensign.

* * *

Ka'Vagh paced nervously, keeping his distance from Merak and Raek, who for some apparent reason seems to be able to get along and were having a polite conversation.

"Well, my old friend," Hurst slapped Ka'Vagh on the shoulder.

"Ha, ha, ha," Ka'Vagh laughed, slapping Hurst on the shoulder a few times that Hurst seemed hurt from it. "You've become fat, ever since you become an Admiral. We should go hunting one of these days. I know a planet where there is plenty of live prey who knows how to fight back! It becomes more fun if you only have a Dk'tahg to hunt them with."

Suddenly two columns of sparkling lights appeared. They materialized into the bodily form of Nora Wells and Helen Shiner.

"Doctor," Hurst exclaimed as Shiner ran to him. "Are you all right?'

"I have never been better in all my life. They treated me very well," Shiner said.

Hurst stared at Wells. Is this how Starfleet uniforms would look a hundred years from now? He thought. It was not like any Federation uniform he has seen, but it would be consistent with Federation styles and design standards. And it was good to see that the Starfleet emblem will always remain the same.

As for Wells, Hurst felt an immediate command presence from her. You can never fool, imitate, or fraudulently create a Starfleet captain, for a clone or simulator. A Starfleet captain always has this aura, this command presence with him and with her that beckons both respect and attention. Wells had this in spades.

The stern suspicious eyes from the Cardassian and the Romulan told Wells she just entered a crocodile's nest. She's not going to expect shaking hand pleasantries with the Cardassians and Romulans, but Hurst and Ka'Vagh were friendly enough to stick their hands out for a shake.

It was time to get to business and quick. On with the presentation!

"Gentlemen, I shall introduce to you, the Federation, the Klingon Empire, the Romulan Empire, and the Cardassian Union a hundred years from now."

Linking the briefing room's screen to the computer banks on the Enterprise G, Wells showed them an Earth, a Quo'Nos, a Romulus, and a Cardassia, one hundred Earth calendar years into the future all covered with metallic matrices, with rivers of conduit glowing green light.

"Is this a joke?" Raek asked.

"I'm afraid it's not. As much as that ship you saw is real with your own sensors and eyes, and as much I am real," Wells said.

"If this would become true, this would be a most horrifying vision of the future," Merak said. "Far more horrifying than the holocaust of Cardassia by the Jem'Hadar."

"The wars in the late 24th century were nothing compared to the final invasion of the Borg," Wells said. And we lost. All of us lost. There was complete assimilation of all major races in both Alpha and Beta quadrants.

"And that's why you're here," Hurst said. "To change the entire time line."

"But the temporal contamination this would cause..." Raek said.

"A flagrant violation of the Temporal Directive," Hurst said.

"We all have laws here for each one of our races, regarding the tampering of the time line." Ka'Vagh pointed out.

"And what future would you have? Do you want the future you just saw?" Wells said. "I had my principles and morals too, once. But now I see I no longer have a home. The Enterprise G is the sole ship remaining of your future Federation. Our survival, all of our species here, is hanging on the balance, and we still talk about laws and directives? What is it that you don't understand about the word 'Survival?'"

"Pick a choice? Your principles or that nightmare vision of what your capital worlds will be like a century from now." Wells said.

"I would say the choice is very easy," Ka'Vagh said.

"How is that possible?" Macek asked. "I am aware that all of our nations have greatly improved both our offensive and defensive capabilities after the War. The Federation in particular, leads in anti-Borg defense programs. The Romulans and the Klingons too have developed anti-Borg programs separately on their own. And we in Cardassia, despite the rebuilding of our nation, we still have allocated resources to initiate an anti-Borg defense program."

"This has something to do with that scan you just made on ships, isn't it?" Raek said.

"Yes, Commander. The key is this," Wells showed them the screen shot of a new nanoprobe. "It's called a Type B nanoprobe. With this new nanoprobe, the Borg has been able to create a new, virtually undetectable drone which we call Infiltrators. They will look like you and I, and none of your scanners could detect them. In the future, the infiltration will reach to the very highest levels of government and military, severely compromising any defensive posture against the Borg. It was like a conspiracy, a disease from within assimilation from within. Broken from inside, regular assimilation would follow."

"This is why we cannot use normal diplomatic channels. We do not know how much each of your respective nations have already been infiltrated, or will be infiltrated in the future. When it does, if it had not happened already, even your highest offices of government will not be spared."

"We come here a hundred years because we made an estimate when the infiltration first begun to take place. The Dominion War provided a perfect distraction for the Borg to set up an infiltration base or colony somewhere. This is about the time they started. And this is the time, that this can be stopped. Not twenty years into the future, not fifty years into the future. By the it would have spread and cannot be stopped. The time to stop this infiltration is now."

"That's why I come to you, each one of you from a secret organization. You all have the infrastructure to deal with threats from within. You understand the nature of conspiracy. You all understand the need for secrecy. Each of your governments gave cases of temporal violation to the jurisdiction of your respective organizations because of the prime need for secrecy as a way to contain the contamination."

"In the future, Doctor Helen Shiner here would invent the means to detect the Type B infiltrator nanoprobes. With it, the ability to detect the Borg infiltrators. But the invention was twenty years late, and even then widespread implementation was even more delayed, until it was fatal to all."

"I will correct this error." Wells said. "For each one of you, here are the plans for such a device." She handed each of them the plans both in a digital pad, and in a hard coded backup form, which cannot be erased or changed.

"You, the Federation, are giving us technology?" Raek said. He studied the diagrams. "This is incredible. This is workable.."

Wells said. "I handed each one of you, a version of the scanner that will work with the existing scanner technology used in your ships. You can use it, adapt it, modify it, for use in each of your secret fleets If I were you I would implement them as soon as you can. "

"And what if these things work and we truly detect the Borg infiltrators among our kind?" Ka'Vagh asked.

"I am sure, General, that you all know what to do," Wells said.

* * *

Each of the ships, Klingon, Romulan and Cardassian, have departed back to the homeworlds, each to deliver the one tool at the hands of the right organization that can stop the infiltration. But the task of Nora Wells remained uncompleted.

"Where are you going, Captain Wells?" Hurst asked.

"I cannot return to my own time. By handing out these instruments, I would have changed the time line greatly. Returning would create a severe paradox. The consequences in theory can be from nothing to extremely severe, like the end of the Universe. But of course, we don't know, because we dare not try." Wells said.

"But my presence will continue to contaminate this time line. So is the presence of this ship." Wells said.

"The Section can prepare something that can completely isolate your existence from the rest of the Universe." Hurst said. "You and your crew can continue to live in complete secrecy."

"Thank you Admiral, but our work is not done yet. If I came here just to deliver technology, one person and a scout would have sufficed. No Admiral, the enemy still lies ahead of us. We have made studies about the infiltration's early phase, and we now believe that the extent of the infiltration could not have happened without a major base or colony to launch it from."

"But we only detected one Borg colony in the quadrant, and that's the one with the Gate, which we have captured from the Borg," Hurst said. "That's the Gate you entered."

"And we have scanned it. There was absolutely no presence of the Type B nanoprobes," Nora said. "The Borg colony centered around the Gate is not the colony we are looking for. There must be another. There has to be another!"

"Then we will find it. Section ships have the best reconnaissance and scanning capability of any task force within the Starfleet." Hurst said. "In the meantime we will find a suitable hiding place for you where we can minimize temporal contamination. I suggest that the Enterprise G must follow the Normandy. And Captain. Even if you are from Starfleet in the future, this is Starfleet now. I want to make it clear that I am your Superior officer."

"Admiral. I respect you. Before the assimilation of the Federation, history spoke well of you. But the Starfleet and the Federation I pledged to no longer exists." Wells said. "It is either assimilated by the Borg, or I have rendered it invalid by shifting the time line. Even if I did this to save the future, I am in violation of the Temporal Directive. I am an outcast, a foreigner to this time. So is my ship. So is my crew. We don't belong to your Starfleet as much as we don't belong to this time."

"Wait a moment Captain," Hurst tried to say.

"Good luck, Good hunting and Godspeed, Admiral. Our fates here are already decided, Admiral." She clicked on her communicator. "Enterprise. Beam me home." She disappeared in a column of sparkles.

"No, wait." Hurst shouted.

Shiner stood by Hurst. "I know what she said is true. After assimilation, I can hear the Borg voices once in a while, and I know there are new different voices, voices that I can hear came from our quadrant. We don't have much time to waste. I need to study the scanner design and see how we can adapt it to the sensor suites of our ships. What's really funny is that I was the one who supposedly designed these scanners twenty years from now."

Hurst's communicator went alive. "Admiral, the Enterprise G just engaged warp." Wu said.

"Dammit. Where is she going?" Hurst asked. "Follow her. I got a bad feeling about this. Doctor, I need to the bridge."

"I will follow you," Shiner said.

The Normandy engaged warp in pursuit of the Enterprise G. Following closely behind the Ambassador class ship was the Hiryu and the Lionheart.

"Admiral, I don't believe we can catch her," Wu said. "She's entered Warp 9.997 and still going faster. None of our vessels can match her rate."

Hurst let out a sigh. "Captain, disengage pursuit. Let's go home. I don't think we'll be hearing the last of her."

* * *

The schematics were laid out in front of her. Not everyone can understand their own work, especially something from one's future, Shiner thought. Maybe the Klingons, Romulans and Cardassians will have better luck. She finally had better headway when she assumed a mindset of trying to design the device herself. The lack of standardized sensor suites among Federation vessels will make her job harder. You have to cope with sensor equipment of different vintages, different designs with different mission profiles.

Her flat screen terminal came to life. There was Boussard on screen.

"It is a relief to see again, after that episode with the time ship," Boussard said. "Hurst had briefed me and de Witt on the situation. Our hunch about the Borg among us, is correct. It is good to know we are not crazy, or going crazy."

"Yes, vindication has its joys, although we just merely discussed it in private conversation. My talk with Captain Wells of the Enteprise G gave me the impression we had this conspiracy theory bottled up for twenty years before we spoke openly about it. I guess that will never happen anymore, after Wells spilled the beans."

"But Doctor, do you still hear the voices?" Boussard asked.

'Yes, Captain. At times, like a vision, an apparition, or a dream."

"I hear that you're working on adapting the new scanners to the ships." Boussard said.

'Yes. I'm working this in cooperation of the Normandy's engineering teams. Our purpose is to get the ones for the Normandy up first." Shiner said. "I've already sent diagrams for the Lionheart's engineering department so they can begin working on the adaptation. I'm supposed to send you one too, but you just happen to beat me to the screen."

"Oh in that case, we're ready to receive your download." Boussard said.

"Transmission begin," Shiner said as she pressed a command on her console.

"Okay, we got the diagrams, thank you. I have notified my engineering department to begin work." Boussard said.

"If there is any problems and questions, tell your engineers to call me directly and right away." Shiner said.

"Understood, Doctor. Is there still anything wrong? I feel something is troubling you. Let us say, I got a hunch." Boussard said.

"There has to be another Borg colony out there," Shiner said. "A central Nexus that links all these Borg Infiltrators. The Infiltrators alone would lack the subspace range to link to the Collective, without a new Nexus with a powerful Vinculum. If you have a Nexus, it has auxilliary bases nearby, even an Assembly Matrix that can build the Borg ships. These colony can be the source of the Infiltrators themselves. Hypothetically speaking if the Infiltrator Nexus has a shipyard of its own, hypothetically speaking it's not impossible for them to copy Alpha Quadrant vessels and use them as dispersion vehicles. Infiltration will require that the drones must have entry points where they can penetrate Federation political structure and Starfleet hierarchy."

"I don't like this one bit, Doctor." Boussard said. "This will mean we cannot trust our own Federation, our own people and maybe even our own chains of command, unless we can scan for the new nanoprobes first."

"I can see why this requires a secret organization to execute the scanning procedures," Shiner said. "In space, ships must secretly scan on other ships to determine the presence of the nanoprobes. On the ground, agents must use portable devices to secretly scan for the infiltrators, starting with levels of government and Starfleet hierarchy. The whole operation cannot be exposed to anyone."

"And if you find the infiltrators?" Boussard asked.

"Well said, we would know what to do," Shiner said.

Boussard made the gesture of a gun in the screen, cocking it and then pressing the trigger. "They may not just look like Starfleet top brass. They may not just look like your Starfleet comrades. They can look like your close friends. They may even look your relatives and love ones. Anyone becomes fair game," Boussard said. "But do you have the will to do what is necessary?"

Shiner was silent for a while.

"If the Infiltrator drone takes the form of a child, will you shoot it?" Boussard said. "If the Infiltrator is a Starfleet vessel with over a thousand crew mates, will you dare destroy it? The situation becomes more complex if the Starfleet vessel is not completely assimilated. What do you if the Vessel has a few drones, but most of the ship remains non assimilated?"

"It is not like I have not killed a drone before," Shiner said.

"Ah, Doctor, but what if it looks perfectly human? Will you kill it? Will you kill an infiltrator that looks like a Starfleet officer? Will you kill an infiltrator that looks like a loved one? Will you kill an infiltrator that looks like a child?" Boussard repeated.

"I know I should, but I honestly don't know if I were in that final situation," Shiner said.

"It is not going to be easy for you or anyone. This is not as easy as aiming your phaser on something that looks ugly. In my part, we may have to shoot against a fellow Federation vessel. The order to open fire has that same effect on you as when you press the trigger of a phaser set on kill." Boussard said.

"I admire this Captain Wells," Boussard said. "She took to do what is right, even at the expense of her vows and principles. I have been in that situation before. It would eat a little of your soul piece by piece, starting an hour of staying awake at night. You will keep thinking to yourself if you had done right. Wells had a clear goal, a clear mind and a clear set of priorities. I feel that she has her doubts once in a while, but in the end, her goal is everything to her. To do what is right above everything, regardless of what our impressions and principles are. The road ahead will be most difficult for the soul, mind you."

Continue to Star Trek: Athena - Prophecy Part 5