Shadows of the Night, Part XVII

On Coruscant, the committee room was full of outraged delegates, and with good reason. "It is not enough that we face assimilation by the Borg," Fey'lya remarked, "Now you're telling us we're on the brink of war with another race?!"

"Yes," General Madine said, refusing to shout over the squabbling bureaucrats; if they were interested in what he had to say, they could quiet down and discuss this in a reasonable fashion, especially considering the gravity of his news. "Five worlds have been attacked in the past few days, random and brutal; few survivors, few answers."

"I hope you've more to tell us than that!"

Madine turned to him, his look causing the Bothan to shiver slightly. "Yes," he said through his teeth. He turned back to the committee. "I've checked over the records of the attack and I can tell you that this is a species we haven't encountered before called the Ssi-Ruuk

"How do you know that?" Quedlifu demanded. "If we've never encountered them how do you know who they are?"

Madine swiveled a little as he leaned back in his chair. "My people have been going through the Imperial Database, and apparently there had been limited secret dealings between them and the Empire."

"What kind of dealings?" Ackbar asked.

Madine sighed a little and leaned forward, interlacing his fingers. "You remember the mystery of Bakura?"

A hush descended over the room. Several years before while the war continued with the Empire, horrific news came of the planet Bakura. Apparently the entire population had vanished without a trace, leaving nothing but an empty world behind, a ghost planet. No one ever knew what had happened, or so it had been claimed. "The Ssi-Ruuk?" Ackbar asked.

Madine nodded. "By order of the Emperor himself. The Ssi-Ruuk were given permission to abduct the entire world in exchange for technology."

"It seems that when the Emperor's evil couldn't have been worse," Mon Mothma said, "he manages to outdo himself once again."

Madine nodded. "He knew the outrage this could cause, and we only found reference in his private records. Only a handful of people knew the Ssi-Ruuk even existed."

"Quite strange that they would choose now of all times to launch an attack," Dx'ono commented.

"I thought so as well," Madine replied, "And I believe I have the answer." A hologram appeared in the center of the conference table as he continued. "The Ssi-Ruuk homeworld is located here," he said as a single planet magnified. "Now, the Ssi-Ruuk believe that if they die away from their home planet they will suffer some terrible fate." He leaned forward even more, wanting to let the statement sink in before he revealed the last piece. "Here's a scan of the planet as of this morning." The planet was replaced by an asteroid field.

"You mean..." Fey'lya began, but didn't finish; it seemed clear to everyone what had happened.

"Yes," Madine nodded, "The planet's been completely blown away."

"Impossible!" Dx'ono said. "Impossible! The only thing that could do that would be... would be..."

"Yes," Ackbar replied, "A Death Star. And the only one in existence is in the hands of the Borg."

"Say that were true," Mon Mothma replied, "Why are these Ssi-Ruuk attacking us?"

"We're not sure," General Madine admitted. "Our best guess is that they think we're responsible. There's evidence that suggests that the Emperor threatened to turn the Death Star against their homeworld if they refused to withdraw after Bakura. They might think he destroyed their world, and now are trying to take their revenge on him by attacking the Empire."

"Which is now the Republic," Mon Mothma finished wearily. She thought for a moment. "How did the Borg know about the Ssi-Ruuk?" she asked.

Madine shifted a little in his seat. "We don't know that either. As I said, only a small handful knew of their existence at all, none of whom were ever assimilated. I don't see how they could have learned of its existence."

"This is all very interesting," Fey'lya remarked, "But it doesn't change the fact that they're mad and need to be stopped."

"And how do you propose to do that?" Ackbar replied. "Our fleet is strained to the limits keeping track of the Borg."

"What good is it to monitor the Borg if the Ssi-Ruuk destroy us?" Fey'lya demanded. "We must do something about them now!"

"I'm inclined to agree," Mon Mothma said. "I understand the situation with the Borg," she said before Ackbar could say anything, "But we mustn't allow the Ssi-Ruuk to destroy our people."

"That's probably exactly what the Borg wanted us to do," Ackbar insisted.

"Don't be foolish," Fey'lya said. "Everyone knows the Borg are tactical idiots."

"Spoken like an expert," Ackbar grumbled.

"Nevertheless," Mon Mothma said, "We must do something about the Ssi-Ruuk." She turned her attention to Ackbar. "Is Rogue Squadron ready? We need to get help from our Milky Way allies if we're to triumph against both enemies."

"Commander Antilles and his group will be launching tomorrow," Ackbar replied. "And I have every confidence in their success."

Wedge watched as the final checks were being completed on his X-Wing. Everyone knew that this ship was going into a serious combat zone, and every instrument, every switch had to be checked and checked again, because a moment's failure could mean life and death on this mission. Fortunately, everything had checked out, if only there had been more good news.

"How many more attacks?" Wedge asked Corran Horn who'd finally come down to join the rest of the squadron.

"Four since this morning," Horn said wearily. "The fleet beat them back at Clack'dor VII but the other three we were unprepared for. Looks like they'll be sending in more ships." He shook his head. "I don't like this boss."

"You're not the only one," Wedge said, fitting his flight helmet into place. "But we've got our job, and we've got to let others do theirs."

The two slid into the cockpits of their X-Wings, the final checklist complete. From that landing platform twelve of Incom's finest lifted into the atmosphere and raced for high orbit. In no time they were free of the planet and traveling through hyperspace, to face what could well be their most difficult mission ever. Running a blockade was dangerous; they'd done it before, and it wasn't pretty. Wedge just hoped one squadron could pull this off.

Taar had never had much experience with Cardassians. During the war he'd spent almost all his time fighting the Borg in the Delta Quadrant, and didn't get to that area of space too often, but he had had enough to determine they were a despicable lot. They were always shady and untrustworthy, and like many species they assumed everyone else was like them, making them quite a difficult group to deal with. The thought of spending time discussing a trade with a Cardassian didn't sound terribly appealing to Delric Taar, but he was forever bound to his duty, and with only mild disgust walked into the establishment, whatever it was. A few quick seconds revealed the only Cardassian in the place, Mr. Garak.

"Ah," said Garak, rising to his feet as Taar approached, "I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever show."

Taar grumbled a little as he stepped self-consciously up to the table and took a seat as Garak did the same. "Do you enjoy attracting attention to yourself?" he asked as the Cardassian sat, his small grin succeeding in annoying Taar even more.

"I'm sorry if that made you uncomfortable," Garak said with a note of sympathy, which obviously meant that he felt none. "I don't believe we've been introduced?"

"No we haven't," Taar replied. "Can we skip the pleasantries and get down to business?"

"Whatever you'd prefer colonel," Garak replied dismissively.

"Good, now what are you offering, Mr. Garak?"

"What I always offer," Garak replied with a voice that grated Taar, "Information. Something I think the Empire will particularly value."

"You wish materials as per our usual arrangement?" Taar asked. During the course of his studies for this meeting he'd learned that the Empire was supplying the Cardassians, at least Garak's group of Cardassians, with supplies and weapons in exchange for information. He hoped Garak would be reasonable with his demands; the construction of the fleet was putting a strain on the Imperial budget.

"Actual no," Garak replied. "I want a piece of information in return."

Taar shook his head. "You are well aware that the Empire will not give technical or military secrets away to anyone. Do not test me Garak."

"I'm afraid you misunderstand, colonel," hitting the word in such a way as to maximize his irritation for Taar. "I have reason to believe the Empire has access to some information which can be very useful to me, without compromising your security in the slightest." He explained briefly what he wanted.

"I suppose that can be arranged," Taar replied. "Don't expect us to be terribly helpful with this."

"Anything would be helpful at this point," Garak replied.

"What are you offering in exchange?" Taar asked.

Garak pulled a datapad of some kind out from under the table. "Information on a Federation weapon."

"What kind of weapon?" Taar asked suspiciously.

"Do we have an agreement?" Garak asked in a coy manner.

"Yes," Taar finally said. The Federation had emerged as one of the major powers of this galaxy, and any weapon they may possess might be of tactical importance to the Empire.

"Good," Garak replied, tapping on the datapad. "I don't have any specifics, but I can tell you that the Federation is developing a large-scale weapon to be used against the Borg. It's a secret project that involves some of the highest levels of Starfleet."

"What kind of weapon?" Taar asked.

"I'm not sure," Garak admitted. "I do know that Deep Space 13 is somehow involved, and that the most important members include an engineer named Lt. Reginald Barclay, Amb. Leia Organa Solo of the Republic, and Amb. Jean-luc Picard." His grin widened a little. "Ambassador to the Republic, if you may recall."

Taar thought a little about it. An interesting prospect to be sure, especially considering it would be used against the Borg. Whatever it was would definitely benefit the Empire, if only to help them in their war against them. "Are you saying that the Republic is giving technology to the Federation to build this weapon?"

Garak held up his hands to show he was implying nothing. "I provide information; it's your job to reach conclusions. However, I can tell you that Amb. Solo inspected the progress on Deep Space 13 a week ago, and that Amb. Picard, despite being thousands of light-years away, has been in constant communication with the members of this project, and," he added with obvious satisfaction, "he will be coming to personally inspect the project in the coming weeks."

Taar considered the implications of what Garak had to say as he returned to the Chimaera. It was definitely something the Empire should get involved in, he decided, not only to protect themselves against the Borg, but also to ensure that this weapon wasn't used against the Empire. By the time he reached the holoprojector he'd made up his mind.

"A superweapon against the Borg?" Thrawn said with only a slight air of surprise; actually more curiosity than anything else.

"So he claims, admiral," Taar replied. "But I think we've enough evidence to consider this a real possibility, and something we should definitely learn more about."

Thrawn nodded thoughtfully. "Picard is with the Enterprise, correct? Captain Riker will not withdraw the flagship just to return Picard to Federation Space, he'll use a shuttle, runabout, or a small starship for that to maintain his presence on the front lines." Thrawn thought some more. "Yes. Colonel, I want you to intercept Picard and bring him to me. This weapon, whatever it is, could be the key to Imperial victory over the Borg, and we can't afford to put our fate in the hands of Starfleet. I want you to personally oversee this operation." And his image faded away.

Once again Thrawn was throwing a new assignment before him, Taar thought as he returned to his current quarters on the Chimaera. Planning the capture of a single vessel in a situation like this was a logistically complex problem, but again Thrawn had given it to him. What was the reason? Regardless, he resigned himself to his task, and proceeded to lay out his plan with all the diligence necessary. As always, his duty to the Empire was the most important, although the fact that this could lead to the destruction of the Borg didn't hurt matters any.

The Ssi-Ruuk bombardments continued despite the Republic's best efforts. It seemed that with their world gone they'd lost all sense of fear and mercy. Senator Ackbar read the reports with a great weariness, wondering where everything had gone wrong. How could they have reached this point, fought so hard, sacrificed so much, clawed their way tooth and nail to a final victory only to now stand poised between these two enemies, both intent on annihilating them? To have everything they'd been working for fall now, after all that, it was unthinkable.

Yes, he thought, unthinkable that I should stand by and allow it to happen. After much deliberation he reached his decision, although not an easy one. It would mean the end of his career to be sure, but he was different from the others on that council; he wanted to serve the Republic, and right now the best place to do that would not be from a conference chair.

By the end of business that day, Ackbar was senator no more. He was a New Republic Admiral, ready to do his part against this new enemy. Whether or not it would make a difference he wasn't sure, but he knew in his heart of hearts that this was the best chance to save what he believed in.

"So," Picard said as he looked at the streaming characters on the display, "This is it."

"Yes sir," Laforge replied, tapping one of the button on the display. The code shifted off to a box in the lower right corner, allowing a diagram to appear on the screen of what looked like some kind of circuit. "We ran over eight simulations on it. If anything can destroy the Borg, this thing can."

"The program is designed to infect the cortical implants of the drones first," Seven announced as she inserted an isolinear chip into her tricorder and began typing instructions. "This will interfere with the Borg's ability to adapt. From there it will spread to the communications relay, preventing them from communicating, and finally disabling the navigational controls of their ships. It should cause the collapse of the entire collective within hours of insertion." She pulled out the isolinear chip and held it up for a few seconds, then passing it to Picard. He took it delicately in his hand and looked at it with mixed emotions.

"The power to bring down a civilization," he said quietly. "And it's sitting in the palm of my hand." He closed his eyes and he gently squeezed it in his palm. "Thousands of centuries of development, ground to a halt by this. Wiped out in the blink of an eye." He surprised himself. "Do I have that right?"

The group was quiet, but Luke finally spoke. "Ambassador, I commend you on your compassion. But you and I know first hand that the Borg are incapable of such emotion themselves. You know they won't stop until they've destroyed or assimilated everything. It's a sad burden placed on your shoulders, but nevertheless we must continue. We can't allow the evil that is the Borg to continue to threaten the galaxy; and if we can't stop them with diplomacy and reason, then they have forced this choice upon us."

Laforge put his hand on Picard's shoulder. "It's the right thing to do, Jean-luc," he said sympathetically.

Picard nodded quietly. "Of course. Thank you, both of you. That momentary loss in judgment could have spelt the end of the Federation."

"Completely understandable," Luke replied. "You'd be less than human if you didn't feel some regret over this. Believe me, no one wants a peaceful solution more than I do, but the Borg have forced our hands; we must wipe them out."

Picard nodded his head in agreement, then turned to Laforge. "How's the array coming?"

"They met a bit of a snag," Geordi said, leaning against the table. "Probably another three weeks until they're ready." He looked at the others uncertainly, and then continued speaking to Picard. "There is one other thing we need to discuss. Borg security is tighter than we thought. Now we can get through it, but there's a catch: we can't use a computer to do it."

"What do you mean?"

"Despite their dependence on machinery," Seven said, "The Borg still communicate using their living minds. A computer cannot interface with the collective."

Picard was somewhat surprised. "But, Data..."

"Data's not a computer," Laforge pointed out. "His positronic brain was close enough to be able to penetrate, although just barely. And since he's not available, we have only one choice; we need a flesh and blood person to connect to the collective."

Picard nodded, but he didn't like it. His own experience with the voices of the Borg had been unsettling, he didn't like the thought of someone having to force their way in. "I see..."

"I have volunteered for the procedure," Seven remarked. "I'm the only member of Starfleet who has experience with the Borg Collective Consciousness.

"No," Picard said shaking his head. "No, your place is here. If there's a problem, if something goes wrong, we'll need your expertise on the Borg to fight this war." He sighed. "I'll go."

"Ambassador?" Geordi replied, clearly surprised by his former captain's decision. "Are you certain this is what you want to do?"

"I don't want to do it Geordi," Picard remarked, "But I have to. I'll finish this."

Seven looked uncertain. "Ambassador," she said. "May I have a moment?" The others left to see to other matters. "I cannot allow you to do this."

"My mind's made up, Seven."

"Your experience with the Collective was brief," Seven insisted. "And was over ten years ago-"

"And you've been experiencing psychological instability related to the Borg," Picard shot back. He paused, then held up his hands in a placating gesture. "Seven, your recent problems can all be traced directly back to the engrams I sent you."

"It was not your fault."

"Seven," he said kindly, "I may not be your captain, but I'm still your friend, and I can't put you in harm's way again."

"I do not need you to protect me from the Borg," Seven said with resentment.

"No, you don't," Picard said. "But I want to, don't you understand? Friends protect each other."

"Then why can't I protect you?"

"Because I outrank you in this project," he said with a smile. "So I win." He read her expression. "Seven," he said softly, "you don't owe me anything."

"I assimilated you," Seven said with shame in her voice. "That you can even do this is my fault-"

"Look at me," he said firmly, and she looked into his face. "It wasn't your fault," he said in a clear voice. "You had no control. It was the Collective that harmed me, the same Collective that harmed you. Don't let what happened get in the way of our friendship."

Seven's jaw trembled and surprisingly she pulled him close and embraced him. "Be careful, Jean-luc," she said with tears in her voice.

"I will," he said. "And if all goes well, we'll both be sleeping a lot better at night."

Go To Part XVIII
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