Sokoth Qultuq - Character History - Death of a Helmsman

[thevidiot]

STAR TREK: Dark Angel

The So'koth Chronicles 

"Death of a Helmsman"

A short story by Daniel Ratterree

Setting: 

USS Lexicon NCC-61653
    Class: Akyazi II 
    Crew Compliment: 198

Position: Qualor System, Standard Orbit of Qualor IV (Gas Giant)

Current Stardate: 43987.22
        December 27, 2366 Time: 08:00



MORE COMING SOON

[thevidiot]

Part I - Life as usual


    The USS Lexicon glided through space a gray spot against the massive swirl of orange, green and pink that was Qualor IV a gas giant. The ship had been in orbit for going on nearly a month now scanning the planet and passively watching the Romulan Neutral zone. It was a tedious job staying ever vigilant against the enemy we couldn’t see lurking in the vastness of space.

    So’koth stepped off the turbolift and crossed the bridge to the helm, he nodded to the junior officer from Gamma shift who was already bleary eyed and ready to retire for the night. “Another Double shift Gerald?”

    The man nodded and yawned as he started toward the turbolift. “Smith’s come down with something and is in sickbay so I got tapped to work the double.” he reached out and hit the call button on the turbolift.

    “Get some sleep!”

    “Aye, don’t have to tell me twice!” he said as the lift arrived carrying with it the majority of the early morning shift. “See ya later tonight! Careful of those sensor ghosts!” he said with a snicker as the doors closed behind him. The ships executive officer looked back at the turbolift doors and then over to So’koth.

    “Shouldn’t let the Captain hear him joke like that, he might end up with duty down in waste extraction again!” the older man who he came to know over the last few years said as he crossed to take the center seat on the bridge. “What does it look like out there Mr. Qul’tuq!”

    Turning he settled into the seat at the helm and began switching the station over to his personal configuration, “Well boss, were in standard orbit. There’s a gas giant out there and a whole lot of nothing at the moment.” He said as he quickly scanned through the ships navigational sensor data. “Everything looks about normal.”

    “Good to know some things never change, I kinda like the quiet!” a woman’s voice called down from the tactical station. The young lieutenant had only been with the ship about a month now but she was settling in well.

    He nodded and smile to himself as he began running a quick diagnostic on the helm controls and related systems. “Yeah, that’s not what T’losa said.” He muttered just loud enough to draw a reaction out of the woman.

    “What do you mean by that So’koth!” she said now staring across the bridge at him.

    “Oh, nothing. Vulcans have great hearing through from what I understand.” He swiveled in his chair briefly. “Aren’t you neighbors?” he grinned across the bridge at the woman.

    The commander let out a chuckle and looked over the top of a Padd he had in his hand. “Alright you two back to work, let’s get the formalities out of the way, we have an exciting day of sensor readings and gas analysis to get done!” the two of them nodded and turned back to their consoles.
    Going over the diagnostics which showed exactly what he would have expected of spending days in orbit of a planet doing scientific scans, everything was fine. He would have at least enjoyed doing some kind of repair work even if it was just maintenance related but they already had managed to get that done and then some.

    Several hours passed without incident, it did give So’koth some time to deal with some administrative work for his department but that would be the most excitement he would see all the way to lunch.

[thevidiot]

Several Hours later….



    “Really, what is this green shit!” So’koths good friend settled down on the chair next to him his food tray hitting the table with a loud clatter. “Is this stuff alive, edible, or some part So’koth’s mom’s neither regions?” he said looking over at him slapping him on the back.

    He turned and eyed the man. “Really?”

    “Oh yeah! Really!” the young short haired man said flexing. “You are so my Bitch and like it!”

    So’koth let out a very loud and almost obnoxious laugh. “Right.”

    “See, told you!” he said stabbing at the green thing on his plate. “You think this crap would have killed red shirts back in Kirks day?”

    “Yup!” So’koth laughed again. “I bet it did.”

    “What is it anyway?”

    “Pudding I think!” Sokoth said taking a bite of the green stuff, his face going sour. “No…. not pudding.”

    “How’s security training?”

    “It’s security training, wonderfully exciting.” Cj said as he took a bite of what So’koth was sure was some sort of chicken. “What I wouldn’t kill for some excitement, some adventure!” he said shaking his head.

    Sokoth nodded again and tossed a napkin onto the table. “They seriously need to overhaul those damn mess hall replicators, everything tastes like chicken.” He got up grabbing his food tray heading for the replicator to recycle the mess. “I’ve had chicken, and that is not it!”

    Cj poked at his food a few more times before taking another bite of some colored piece of what could have been fruit. “Yeah! You going to hit the gym tonight?”

    “No, I’ve not been sleeping well the last few nights I think I’m going to turn in after my shift tonight. Besides we’ve got the maintenance cycle coming up on half the shuttles on board so I’m going to need to rest up so I’m not down and out when the time comes.” He said coming to stop next to his friend. “You hit it for the both of us, and avoid that stuff that looks like peas. It’s not peas.” He grins and heads toward the doors.

[thevidiot]

    The corridor leading back toward the turbolift which had brought him down to the mess hall from the bridge was clear and quiet which was unusual during this time of the day but he enjoyed the quiet for a change. At least until a familiar face joined him from around the corner. It was the ship’s Captain; the older gentleman had been in Starfleet almost longer than he had been alive in this world. He often found it interesting that the man had not yet retired. “Sok’koth.” He said falling into step with the younger officer.

    So’koth nodded to the older man. “Captain!” he said continuing at his pace. “Just heading back to the bridge from lunch!” he commented as the two men came to a stop at the turbolift, he reached out and touched the call button.

    “Another exciting day of scanning nothing?” the old man said with a wink.

    “Aye, that it is!” he said nodding with a smile of his own. “There are time’s I wished the Romulans would at least come say hello to break the monotony but then again that always leads to more trouble than excitement. But it is surprising to say the least.”

    “Indeed, it is a bit troublesome. So far there has not even been much in the way of signs of any kind by the boarder sensors that show they’ve made their usual probes into our space trying to find any holes.” He said looking briefly over a Padd in his hand.

    Shifting a bit uneasy at what his Captain had just commented on he noted the sound of the lift slowing. “Something might have the spooked, or they have something going on that needed that many ships somewhere. Might be something worth reporting if we have not already.”

    “When are you going to apply for command school Mr. Qul’tuq!” the captain said looking up at him from his Padd as the doors parted to let them in.

    So’koth stood there a moment longer than expected before stepping into the lift after his Captain. “Had not really thought about it!” he said as he stepped off the side to lean against the wall. “I don’t know if that is a path I should take.”

    The old man regarded him for a long moment. “You should consider it son, you’ve got it in there you just have to find it.” He held a hand up to stop So’koth’s coming response. “You’ll know it when it comes son, it happened to me, my     Captain before me and my father. Sometimes you know what your made of when the situation shows it to you. You won’t see it, but others will. It’s there, and the recommendation is in your Starfleet Jacket.” The Captain paused for a moment then spoke to the turbolift. “Bridge!”

    “I never really thought so, I’ve had some issues and figured that was not remotely in my career path, but your right perhaps it will show itself for me when I’m ready.” He nodded considering the Captains words carefully. “It’s in my Starfleet Jacket?”

    “Aye, it is!” the old man said with a sagely smile. “I put it there!” it was the last thing he said just before the doors open and the old man exited leaving him there again for a long moment. So’koth jumped when the doors started to shut and he nearly got stuck in them trying to get through before they closed. He straightened himself which caught a smile and a snicker from one of the other officers including his Captain.

    He settled back into his station, his mind was racing with possibilities. It was the first time someone had really expressed that he might have a chance at that chair.

[thevidiot]

    “Captain, how much longer are we stuck here scanning this gas giant? Has Starfleet sent new orders yet?” the ship’s doctor asked as he closed out one of the science stations he had been working at.

    The old man slowly spun in his chair the smile on his face subsided having been reminded of their current duty. “No,” his voice was somber. “No they have not, and per our orders we stay until they re-call or move us elsewhere.” He shifted in his chair pulling a Padd from his pocket. “We must do our duty as required doctor. I suppose we could have a little fun.”

    This caused an eyebrow to rise on So’koths brow, he knew what was coming and it was not always as fun as the old man thought. The blinking light on his console told him he was right. He was getting to know this man all too well. “Captain!” he said out loud to pull his attention. He conveyed that it was not normal by the tone of his voice.

    “What is it Mr. Qul’tuq!”

    “Proximity sensors just detected something very close!”

    “How close?”

    “Two thousand Kilometers to port side aft on the ventral side!” he turned to look at his captain. “It was there for a moment and was gone the next!”

    “Put it up on screen Ms. Vasquez!” he nodded toward the operations officer who was also looking now over at him. “Let’s see what Mr. Qul’tuq’s sensor ghost looks like shall we?” he said as he stood and came to stand between the two of them.
The viewscreen shifted to show the curve of the gas giant and one of the ships nacelles and the stars. They all stared at it somewhat intently. “I don’t see anything!” the Captain said looking at his helmsman quizzically.

    “I know, but it was there!” he said looking between his board and the operations officer. “Can you detect anything?”

    “No!” she said, her eyes and fingers were dancing across the console.

    “Vessel Decloaking!” the tactical officers voice shouted from across the bridge, and sure enough on the viewscreen a Romulan Warbird was coming into being behind them. “They are arming weapon and raising shields!”

    “Red Alert!” the captain shouted as he moved back to his chair. “Break Orbit Mr. Qul’tuq!” he dopped into his chair and glanced up just in time to see a ball of green energy cross the distance between the two vessels just passing by the ship as it turned to pull free of the planets gravity well.

    “That was close!” someone said from the back of the bridge.

    “Ms. Vasquez, hail them!” the captain called.

    “Hailing frequencies open!” she called as her hands danced across the console.

    “This is Captain Thomas Kane of the USS Lexicon, we are here on a mission of peaceful exploration. Please hold your fire and let us discuss your grievance!” he said plainly.

    So’koth brought the ship around in a long sweeping turn to port. The Romulan vessel was in pursuit right on their tail the whole way. “Romulans are staying to our…” another green ball of energy screamed across the distance and slammed into the Lexicon’s shields shaking the vessel.

    “Direct hit, port shields holding!” the operations officer called out.

    “Mr. Qul’tuq, evasive maneuvers at your discretion, Ms. O’Neal return fire!”

    The Lexicon’s weapons danced out across the distance playing red angry energy across the Romulan vessels shields and a couple of torpedoes all but harmlessly exploded following. “Minor Damage to the Romulan vessels shields.

    So’koth knew another attach was coming, he held his hand over the thruster controls and as soon as he saw the ports glowing green he slewed the ship hard to port bringing the Lexicon around and back toward the Romulan vessel its weapons fire screaming past causing only a brief shake to run through the ship.

    The Captain saw the opportunity and what he was doing. “Hold fire!” he said aloud calling upon his tactical officers Discipline. “Hold!” he called as he watched the Romulan vessel growing quickly on the screen. “Now!” he said as they began to veer away.

The two vessels came together and the weapons fire from the Lexicon pummeled the Romulan vessel, they passed so close you could hear the thruster blast echoing off of the Romulan’s hull. “Outbound, ten seconds!” So’koth called over the rumble. He could still hear the ships weapons chewing away at the Romulan vessels shield. He cranked the ships impulse drives to full and started rocketing the vessel away. The ship bucked hard from the rear causing the stars to spin slightly as the vessels flight path was altered as they took several shots to the rear. It took a moment for So’koth to bring the ship back under control but it was long enough for the Romulan vessel to come around and unleash the forward arc weapons.

    The viewscreen spun for a moment and the ship felt as if it was spinning and shaking but only for a moment longer before the simulation came to an end. “Well that did not work out as intended did it?” the Tactical officers voice called from across the bridge.

    “No!” So’koth said as he turned in his chair to face the Captain who was grinning looking at the result on his Padd. “All hands lost?” he asked.

    “Yup!” the captain said setting the Padd in his lap. “That maneuver would have worked if we had more of a distraction I think. It was good thinking but we needed another element.” The old man said. We actually did a decent amount of damage to the shields in that pass. Lesson here was to see how long we could last against a superior foe. You did well!”

    “But we died!” the operations officer said as she fixed her hair which had fallen out of its pristine position.

    “Indeed, but we get a chance to learn from death don’t we?” the Captain said.

    “Captain you have an incoming hail from Starfleet Command, its eyes only!” she said looking between her console and the Captain.

    “My ready room!” he said heading for his cramped but available ready room.

    So’koth watched him head for his ready room and then took note of the ships clock, it was about time to head out and as if on cue his relief was walking onto the bridge. “Thank Kahless!” he said with a smile.

    “Another drill?”

    “Yup,” he said turning back to his console taking a moment to start one last diagnostic and close out anything he had still running. “It’s all yours!” he said standing and moving toward the turbolift.

    “Goodnight Sir!” the junior officer said taking his place.

    So’koth heading home for a shower and bed, he was so ready.

[thevidiot]

PART 2
“The nightmare”



    So’koth felt the sudden change of gravity as he left his bunk and the impact with the floor was very sudden and surprising. He was already covered in sweat and his chest was heaving, it was that damn dream again. His eyes popped open in the darkness of his shared quarters, he slowly pulled himself up against the lower bunk his chest was still heaving.

    The doors to the room sprang open with a hiss admitting not only the blinding light from the corridor outside but his roommate who was just getting off duty clearly. He stopped and regarded him for a moment before bringing the lights up in the room as well. “Nightmare again?”

    “Yeah.” So’koth said through his ragged breathing.

    “Getting sucked out into space sucks doesn’t it?”

    “Going down with the ship is worse!” he said as his breathing slowly started to come under control. “Long shift?”

    His friend started stripping out of his uniform heading for the bathroom and what he was almost certain would be a battle in the sonic shower. “Gym, remember!” he said as he disappeared. The sound of the sonic shower was just coming alive when the red alert klaxon began to blare. “Shit, really!”

    “Murphy’s law!” So’koth said as he scrambled to his feet and began to pull on a uniform as fast as he could. He didn’t even stop to put on his boots; he was out the door with his roommate on his tail. Crewmen were running the halls heading to their action stations, the two of them threaded through them like they had been doing for nearly the last two years. “No sleep for the weary!” So’koth said as they parted ways at the intersection.

    The ride to the bridge was cramped but quick. If it was one thing So’koth could say about his crewmates they were efficient and well-practiced. The doors parted for the bridge and the crew filed out, he ended up out bringing up the rear.     The tension on the bridge was so thick you could cut it with a batleth. He took his position at the helm and ran his usual quick diagnostics and checking their current situation. Something that caught him off guard is that they were at alert status but still in orbit of the gas giant, nothing was around them. He couldn’t help but wonder if they were about to run another drill.

    The doors to the Captains ready room parted and the only sound anyone could hear was the sound of the consoles and torque sensors trilling occasionally. “Helm, break orbit!” the captain said as he approached his chair.

    He stopped for a moment as So’koth nodded and turned back to his console and started the vessel into an escape vector. So’koth turned and looked back at the Captain as the vessel curved away and started to gain distance from the planet assured that there were no obstacles in the way of the vessels flight line.

    The old man reached down and hit a button on his chair to bring the vessels ship wide intercom to life. “Crew of the Lexicon, “he paused for a moment to ensure he had the crews attention. “Starfleet has ordered us to the defense of one of the most precious resources we hold dear, Earth.” He slowly turned looking at the crew gathered on the bridge knowing full well he had our attention. “A deadly force known as the Borg is in route with the intent of destroying this beacon of peace, we are tasked with assisting in one of the largest fleet actions in Starfleet History. You know what I expect of you, this is what all your hard work has culminated into.” He paused again. “Good luck to us all, god speed!” he reached down and hit the button.

    No one on the bridge moved for a long moment, it was not until the ships executive officer spoke that anyone said anything including the Captain. “Mr. Qul’tuq, lay in a course for Sector 001!”

    “Wolf 359!” the Captain said nodding to his first officer before heading back to his ready room. Likely to coordinate with the fleet on what their roll would be once they were on station.

    “Wolf 359, what is that?” the ships tactical officer asked, she was clearly already looking into the computer system at it. “I don’t think I’ve ever been there before!”

    “Not much there!” So’koth said as he too was pulling up the system data. “There is a very small planetary system in that area but it’s not populated. There is one planet that is habitable.” He noted pointing to the gray ball with some water on it. “I wouldn’t call it a vacation spot!”

    “Indeed!” the ships operations officer called next to him. “Awfully cold, but livable.” She said.

    “Mr. Qul’tuq!” the first officer called from the Captains chair.

    So’koth smiled to himself; he got so involved in looking at the system data he forgot to get the ship on the way. His hands passed over the controls and he brought the ship around to the correct heading and set the course. “What speed boss?” he asked half looking over his shoulder.

    “Maximum! Give me everything you’ve got!” the executive officer said reading over something intently on the Padd in front of him.

    So’koth turned back and brought the Warp drive to its fullest and sent a message down the engineering section requesting just that. “Here we go!” he said as he engaged the warp drive. The stars on the screen elongated and the vessel shot into warp. A blink on his screen showed that the engineering department had acknowledged his request and he ramped up the power to the warp drive, he watched as the started drawing power away from other systems and pumped it back into the warp propulsion. The vessel started to shake and shimmy, they did not do this often but the ship could take it. “ETA in about forty minutes at present speed.” He said over his shoulder. He needed to keep his eyes on his console so he dared not look away. It was his job as part of the deal with engineering to make sure the hull stress tolerance stayed within a certain range otherwise it could have consequences.

[thevidiot]

=================================================================

About 35 minutes later….



    The stars snapped back to pinpoint and slowly rotated for a moment as the ship oriented itself to the level plane per the data provided by Starfleet Star Charts showing level in line with the local star system. “Secure from Warp, power distribution returning to normal!” So’koth called out as he ran his hands across his console. “Getting IFF readings from several ships in the system.” So’koth called.

    “All Starfleet, reading 38 other vessels in the system.” The operations officer called out, the lead vessel has acknowledged our presence and is sending position data for us.”

    “Mr. Qul’tuq take is to our position and go to stations keeping!” the captains voice called as he came out of his ready room heading for the chair which the Executive officer gave up and took up his own position standing near the Captain.

    “Aye, moving to position.” He called, and did as he was instructed navigating the vessel to a predetermined position in the chain of vessels hanging in space waiting for what was to come. As the ship glided into its position he began a level four diagnostic on his helm controls and associated flight control systems.

    “Captain, we are being hailed by Admiral Hanson!” the operations officer called over the busy bustle of the bridge as everyone was running diagnostics and preparing to go into battle.

    “On Screen Lieutenant!” the old man called as he turned in his chair and stood. “Admiral, its good to see you. Thanks for inviting us to the party”

    “Your just in time Captain, our guests of honor are about to arrive. Glad you could make it, should be just like old times.” The aging admiral said as he shifted in his own chair. The Admiral seemed to be very sure of himself by his body language. “You’re going to be part of our right flank and a backup in case we need to corral the Enemy or need reinforcements. You will respond to group three’s tactical response commander unless otherwise ordered. They should be sending you the tactical coordination frequencies shortly.” The admiral turned away for a moment and the sound went mute. It was very clear he was talking to someone else before he suddenly came back on. “I don’t have to tell you Captain what is at stake here. We must hold the enemy here at all costs.”

    “I know Admiral. We will do our best.”

    “If you’ve had a chance to review the briefing on the Borg then you know what to do and you know they pack one hell of a punch so do not underestimate them. You have any ideas, share them with your group leader. Hanson out!” the admiral said hurried before the screen went blank showing the pinpoints of other vessels moving about in the distance.

    “Group three?” the executive officers voice cut through the silence.

    The Captain settled back into his chair. “Indeed.” He took a moment as he pulled a Padd out and sent a data packet to all of his officers. “What you need to know is now available at your stations. Helm your job is to keep us moving no matter what. This ship needs to dance like no ones business as we cannot afford to get caught by them.” He nodded to So’koth before turning to the tactical officer. “Keep our shields and weapons on a rotating modulation. It is essential we do not allow them to adapt to our weapons fire.”

    “Adapt?” the woman at the Tactical station called back confused.

    “Yes, the Borg can adapt their shields and weapon systems to our weapons frequency at a rapid rate, keeping them changing will keep us hitting.” The executive officer said.

    “Ops, get the primary channel and our tactical coordination channel open and keep it up, we have to be able to hear and talk back to our people!” the captains said as he turned back to the front. “We’ve got a job to do, and you know what the cost is. All your best, that is what I need right here in this moment.”

    The sounds of fleet chatter began to filter in over the Comm system before the Operations officer went a little white. “Captain!” she called out. “A vessel just dropped out of Warp! Its, its massive.” She stammered out.

    “At ease lieutenant.” The executive officer said calmly walking over to stand by her.

    There was an odd sound that ran through the intercom system, it sent a chill through So’koth’s body. “We are the Borg, Lower your shields and surrender yourselves to us. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own, resistance is futile!” the sound repeated and fleet chatter took back over.

    The Admirals voice suddenly came over the intercom. “Alphas prepare to engage, all other units hold position and prepare to engage as called upon.” There was a brief pause and the Comm chatter from just there battle group came back over the intercom. Out in the distance it was very clear that the Alpha group had engaged flashes and weapons fire flashed in the distance, even at this range they could see the vast hull of the Borg Cube.

    “Are the shields and weapon systems set to a rotating modulation?” the captains voice was stoic as he sat there and watched the explosion in the distance.

    “Aye, sir!” the tactical officer’s voice came over the silence of the bridge.

    Several very clear and devastating antimatter explosions lit up the space in the distances silhouetting the vessels and the cube in the distance, sending brilliant flashes of light and balls of expanding gasses and debris into space.

    “Captain,” the Operations officer started but her voice faltered.

    “Captain, the Admirals ship was just destroyed!” the Executive officer said laying a hand on her shoulder. “Sorry lieutenant!” he said solemnly knowing that her brother was aboard.

    The intercom came alive suddenly with the sounds of screaming, and in the distance another vessel exploded brilliantly across space, then the command came. “All units engage! All units engage the Borg are on the move!”

    “Mr. Qultuq, swing us into their flight path lets be smart about this!” the captains voice came from behind.

    “Aye, aye!” he said as his hands came alive and he began turning the vessel toward the flight path of the Borg Vessel. “Intercept in two minutes!” he took note that out of the thirty eight other vessels present only twenty two remained now active in the fight.

    “Borg vessel just changed course!” the operations officer called out.

    “I see it!” So’koth called and began to adjust their course.

    “Heading?” the Captain asked.

    “Shit! Right for us!” the Executive officer said suddenly.

    “Helm, attack pattern omega when in range!”

    “Aye sir!” So’koth called out and his fingers danced across the console. He sent the looping pattern over to the tactical officer showing his intended flight path and jumped the vessel to full impulse power.

    The Borg vessel very quickly grew in the viewscreen, explosions and weapons fire littered the hull of the vessel as did the weapons fire lancing out from it, its green angry beams and spheres of energy reaching out for the vessels around them. As they neared the Borg vessel another Starfleet ship erupted into a blinding ball of fire. So’koth ducked the vessel down under it using it to block an incoming tractor beam reaching for them. “Fire!” the Captain’s voice called as they neared the vessel.

    “With pleasure!” her voice called from the back of the bridge. The Lexicons weapons lanced out and chewed away at the Borg vessel sending gouts of molten metal into space as they passed by the vessel very closely. As they pulled away they took a shot to the rear shields which set his teeth on edge as the bucked the ship hard from astern.

    “Shields down to ninety two percent!”

    “So’koth, do that again!”

    “Sir!” he called back to the captain.

    “Take us back around and bring us in close again, just like that last pass!” the old man called out.

    The executive officer looked back at his captain with a bit of concern, “Sir?”

    “They couldn’t grab us and missed us several times as we passed, it might be a blind spot to their weapons.” The Captain said pointing to the Padd in his hand.

    “Aye!” the executive officer said as he turned back to the operations officers’ console. “Transfer auxiliary power to the shields!”

    So’koth brought the ship around again and flew straight back at the vessel cutting the ships engines down to half impulse power as they got in close. The Lexicon’s weapons chewed at the hull as they passed. Gouts of metal and bodies flew into space as they passed by quickly, as the neared the edge of the vessel So’koth used the ships thrusters to send the vessel around the edge giving a little distance to the ship.

    The bridge shook violently as a couple of the Borgs energy weapons slammed into them as they put a little too much distance between them making the turn. The Lexicon’s weapons continued to play out cross the vessels hull as they got back in close. A huge series of explosions lit up the hull in front of them sending metal and other fragments crashing into the ships shields and another Starfleet Vessels weapons hammered into the vessel. “That was close!” So’koth muttered.

    “Pull us out of here So’koth take us out to fifty thousand kilometers!” the Captains voice called hurriedly from behind him.

    “Aye, “ he called and pulled the ship away and started to execute a quick warp one jump away from the cube to the position requested.     “Engaging!” he said just as the stars elongated on the screen and then snapped back into being. He took the vessel into a long arch bringing them back around.

    “Status report!” the captain called.

    “Thanks to that last pass shields are down to forty seven percent, we took some minor hull scoring but we good!” the Tactical Officer called from the back of the bridge.

    “So’koth plot us another jump back, put us right on the hull, let’s make single passes, going around the bend is too dangerous!” the captain said.

    “Eighteen!” the operations officers’ voice called somberly.

    “Lieutenant?” the Executive officer asked her turning back to her.

    “That’s all that is left!” she said quietly.

    “Mr. Qul’tuq, take us back in.” the Captain said, turning back to the tactical officer. “Fire at will!” he said before turning back just to catch the stars streaking and then snapping back to pin points and the edge of a Borg vessel. The Lexicon’s weapons streaked out again wreaking havoc to the Borg vessels hull as they passed closely again, as they neared the other end the pulled away again and as they began to jump to warp the vessel heaved hard to starboard before jumping away causing everyone to nearly fly from their seats. The Executive officer took a moment to pick himself up off the floor and move back to his previous location.

    “That was close!” someone called out.

    “Again Mr. Qul’tuq.” The Captain called.

    He spun the ship and jumped right back, as the stars came to pin points it was as if someone hit the ship with an upper cut the console came up to meet him as the ship was hit hard and suddenly as they dropped from the micro jump. Sparks and fire shot from console and systems all over the bridge. Stars exploded before So’koth’s eyes.

    “Evasive Manuvers!” the captain’s voice called from his chair. The old man managed to hold on.

    “They have us in a tractor beam!” the Tactical officer called from the rear of the bridge, pain was in her voice. “They are firing again!”

    The bridge heaved hard again, lights flickered and sparks flew from places all over the bridge including his own console. So’koths shielded his eyes. It felt in that one moment that time had slowed. His movements felt exaggerated. Pushing himself away from his console as it came up to meet him again. The sound of something echoing through the ship’s hull. He had heard that sound before. Explosive decompression!

    “Shields have failed! Hull breach on decks two through four. Force fields holding!” a voice from the back of the bridge called over the chaos.

    The sound of several transporters echoed in So’koths ears as his head began to clear. Spinning in his chair to see what had just appeared on the bridge, his hand groping the underside of his console for the Phaser strapped there he saw the three Borg appear.

    The ship shook hard again causing him to nearly tumble from his chair, he watched the ships executive officer go down hitting the floor hard in front of one of the Borg and scramble to his feet quickly. The Borg standing behind his Captain raised an arm and in a moment a green flash passed between the Borg and his captain. Blood sprayed across the bridge as the green projectile passed through the old man. His eyes went empty and the old man began to fall forward.

    So’koth’s hand found purchase on the Phaser and he pulled it around, bringing it to bear on his Captain’s killer. The Borg also raising his weapon toward SO’koth, but he won that contest his red Phaser beam catching the Borg center mass. The Borg drone fell to the floor dead in an instant.

    He began to swing it toward the one standing over his executive officer but it was too late the drone fired into the man sending him back to the floor, and then a second time just as So’koth caught him in the hip spinning the drone to the floor. A second shot in the back finished it off.

    “So’koth!” a voice from the turbolift called sending him diving to the floor just as a green ball of energy hammered into his console sending sparks flying. His eyes found the Borg Drone who was now turning on the voice. The Borg let fly just as both he and his friend Cj nailed the drone spinning it to the floor.

    The Borg had found its mark, a blackened hold adorned his friend’s torso. He stood there stunned. The vessel was hammered again by fire from the Cube. Explosions ripped through the bridge. In an instant the turbolift behind his friend dropped away and his friend with it. He sat there stunned for a long moment, he could hear the dull roar of the bridge around him. It was as if he was numb to the world. Then he went tumbling across the bridge as everything went spinning. On the viewscreen the vessel was spinning out of control, flying away from the Borg Vessel. The forces pushing him against one of the bridge rail supports was intense.

    “So’koth!” a voice called out from somewhere in the darkness of the bridge. “Get, to the helm!”

    He crawled and clawed his way toward the helm. His hand grabbing for the thruster controls. It felt like an eternity. His fingers found the     thruster controls and slowly the vessel stopped spinning and the pressure subsided. He pulled himself toward the chair and looked up at the viewscreen. A gray planet was growing steadily in the viewscreen.

    “So’koth!” the voice that was yelling at him sounded weak. He couldn’t see her but he knew it was the ships tactical officer.

    “Yeah?”

    “I don’t want to die!” her breath was ragged.

    “I know!” he reached up and tapped his Comm badge. “Medical Emergency, we need help on the bridge!” he called. His body hurt, he knew he probably had a few broken ribs based on the pain he was experiencing as he breathed in and out. “Shit!” he said as he surveyed the sensor readings that he was still able to pull. The ship was caught in the gravity well of a planet.

    “Sickbay to the bridge, we’ll get someone up there as quickly as we can. Turbolifts are out, Sickbay out!” the garbled voice of one of the ships doctors called over the open Comm channel.

    Most of his console was burned out, so he began to change the configuration so he could use what remained. First pulling up a diagnostic to see what they had for engines. Nothing but minimal thruster power. Not enough to pull the ship out of the gravity well and put it into any kind of orbit. He reached up and hit his badge again. “Bridge to engineering!”

    The intercom came alive, the sounds of sparks, fire and screaming both in pain and desperate voices came through. “So’koth is that you!” the voice of the ships chief engineer came over the Comm.

    “Yes ma’am. I need impulse power, were caught in a planetary gravity well!” he said as calmly as one could.

    “There’s no way!” she said, a little fear having crept into her voice. “I can transfer power to the thursters but there isn’t that much to go around!” there was the sound of something exploding in the background. “Secure that damn thing already!” she yelled at someone. “So’koth, all we really have is life support!”

    “Put it into the shields, can we get those back online if we pump that power into the shields?”

    “Not for very long!”

    “We don’t need it for that long!” he called out as he began changing the ships angle bringing the ship level with the planet, and applying the thruster power to the ships rear to push her forward. “Transfer everything you’ve got to the thrusters, and then get ready to throw it all into the shields!”

    “So’koth!”

    “Trust me!” he said

    He watched as the thrusters power level jumped significantly. “It won’t be enough to put us in orbit and you cannot land this ship on that planet it will kill us all and leave the planet uninhabitable!” her voice called. It was suddenly very quiet over the channel.

    “Were dead if we don’t stop this fall. We just need to buy some time! Standby!” he watched as the sensor showed the vessel getting closer and closer and the vessels forward momentum continued to climb. “Come on!”

    “Power systems are starting to overload!” her voice called. A high pitched whistle started to grow in the background.

    A tremor began to run through the ship, growing in intensity. “NOW!” he yelled as they hit the point at which the vessel would come into contact with the planet’s atmosphere. As suddenly as there was power in the thrusters it was gone a loud groan ran through the ship and everything including him was thrown from its place. Bodies and debris went flying across the bridge.

    The shaking was violent and just as quickly as it had begun it was gone, a creaking and groaning persisted but the shaking subsided. So’koth laid there on the floor of the bridge for a long moment. A groan from the intercom caught his attention. “So’koth?” the chief engineer called.

    “Yeah!” he said, he could hear the pain in his own voice. It radiated through his body reminding him that he was of course alive.

    “You broke my ship!” she said, he could hear her clearing debris probably off herself. The moans and cry’s from a few of her injured staff came over the intercom. “But we are alive for the moment!’

    He slowly pulled himself upright and crawled across the bridge which was no lit only by a few remaining consoles and the light of fires still burning on the bridge. Pulling himself up into the seat at the operations console he was able to coax out of it that they were indeed still alive, and in an orbit. Decaying as it was but in orbit. He bought them time. “The Captain and Exec are dead chief.”

    The Comm went silent for a long moment. “You’re the senior officer on the bridge, you’re going to have to take Command So’koth!” he could hear her pulling panels off of the walls in engineering and tossing them to the floor.

    “But your next in line!” he stammered out.

    “Turblift’s are down and so is all access above deck three right now. You’re going to have to take it So’koth.” He heard her make the sound of disgust. “Where not out of this fight yet.”

    “Ok, do what you can. We’ll get back in this fight!” he reached over and hit the intercom. “Crew of the Lexicon, this is Acting Captain So’koth the Captain and Executive officer are no longer with us. I need any able body able to operate a station up here on the double. We need to get back into this fight. It is what the Captain would want us to do and while we still draw breath and our enemy is able to fight we must fight on! Let’s get this ship back in the fight! That is all!”

[thevidiot]

Part 3

Last Breath


    The smoke had finally been cleared from the bridge, So’koth stood next to the Captain’s chair which was still covered in blood. There was no time for housekeeping, no time to grieve. Most of the debris had been cleared or shoved to one corner of the bridge, structural integrity was still intact but a lot of the bridges structure was compromised. “Sok’koth!” a voice called from behind bringing his head around.

    “Yes?” he said swallowing hard.

    “Helm controls have been restored at the engineering level and our orbit has stopped decaying.” The tactical officer refused to leave the bridge, they were cut off from sickbay anyhow, where else was she going to go. It took nearly twenty minutes to free her from the rubble that was the tactical station but they got her free and one of the medic’s that did make it to the bridge had patched her up and medicated her the best he could. She was a tough woman! “Weapons and shields are back online, but at minimal power.”

    “Good!” he said somberly. His eyes found the open turbolift doors, one of them was still in place but the dark hole which was his best friend’s fate tugged at his heart. “Good!” he said this time more forcefully. “Where are those bastards?”

    “Still slugging it out with the remaining vessels. Though they are not fighting back too much, and are stationary about five hundred thousand kilometers from our position!” the young man at the operations console said, his voice was filled with fear, he too was covered in a number of substances. He was one of the few crew who had bridge experience that could get to the bridge. More were coming soon.

    The lights on the overhead came alive causing them all to blink, and the sound of consoles and systems powering back up brought a few cheers around the bridge and from behind bulkheads. “Engineering to the bridge!” a voice came crackling across the intercom.

    “Bridge here, go ahead!” he said allowing himself a moment for a smile and the hope of good news.

    “Partial main power is back online, we have full impulse but no Warp drive, and it’s pretty much powering the ship right now. We had to run bypasses like no one’s business because of the structural damage to deck four. We are not in good shape, but we should be able to fight soon. Forward torpedo launcher is gone but we still have the rear tube and most of the Phaser arrays are still online. We have shields available but only at about forty percent.” Her voice betrayed her exhaustion level but he could still sense the pride the woman had in her crew. “If you can give us a bit longer we might be able to get you more.”

    “Good job Chief, keep working. I will buy you as much time as I can, but if that ship starts to move we have to do our best to stop them!” he said glancing at the viewscreen which was still dark. He moved across the bridge and dropped into what was left of the helm chair and pulled open the console using a piece of debris to prop it open. He heard the intercom pop a few times before it closed. He continued to fish around in the console replacing a few things by pirating items from lost causes in the console and got a few more of the displays on the console back up and running.

    “Captain!” a voice called from the back of the bridge. “Captain?”

    He waited a long moment stopping as his mind went back to that moment when his Captain’s life was ended. He realized that the person was calling him, and he closed the console and turned to the voice. “Yes Ensign?” he called the engineer who looked worse for wear than the bridge.

    “Without more supplied this is as good as it’s going to get!” he wiped some grime off his face revealing what looked like burned flesh underneath. The young man didn’t even flinch. Young man? What was he thinking this young man was not much younger than he was?

So’koth took a long look around the bridge. “Good job Ensign, I think we can make do for now why don’t you go check in with your boss and see what she needs help with next.” He said offering the Ensign a nod and a smile.

    He nodded back and headed for the escape trunk at the front of the bridge disappearing down into the Jefferies tube. Just as the doors to the second turbolift at the front right side of the bridge doors opened with a bit of a grind. “So’koth!” one of the junior engineers said bolting from the lift. “Turbolifts are back online for the most part. We’ve got one last bypass about to come online and then we’ll be good to go!” she said crossing the bridge to bring the engineering station, or what was left of it back to life at the read of the bridge. “Chief sent me up to keep an eye on you!”

    “Great, a babysitter!” he muttered in a playful but mocking tone. “This is good!” he said turning back to the console, he brought it back to life as the turbolift doors grinded open again, another junior officer stepping off.

    “Lieutenant, how can I help?” he said crossing the bridge toward him. One of his pant legs were cut off and clear signs of triage adorned his leg.

    “You fit for duty?” So’koth admired the man for a long moment.

    “Yes, sir!” he nodded.

    “Take the helm!” he said as he vacated the station, and took back up his position standing next to the Captains chair again. “There’s not much there but it should get us around!”

    “I can see that, what a mess!” the young man said as he settled into the chair.

    “It will have to do,” his tactical officer called. “Borg’s coming this way!”

    “Only three vessel,” her face frowned and her shoulders slumped. “Only two vessels remain!”

    “Red Alert!” So’koth said and for the first time he settled into the chair. “Let’s do our part!” he nodded to himself. “Today is a good day to die!” he muttered to himself taking a moment. “Break orbit and set a course, best possible speed!” he said his eyes finding the viewscreen.

The viewscreen came alive, a bit of static still graced the image but it was on. And there it was, a massive cube trailing debris, on fire and still taking fire from the last two vessels. “Weapons range in two minutes!” his operations officer called.

    “Do your best to hit anything vital!” he called over his shoulder. “You may fire at will as we come to bare!” he shifted uneasy in his chair.

    “In range!” the young woman at Operations called out.

    “Attack pattern delta!” So’koth called out.

    The Borg vessel grew very quickly in the screen, then screamed past and the Lexicons weapons chewed angry dark gouges in the hull as they passed. He could hear the report of the aft torpedo launcher loosing torpedoes as they pulled away. He felt the tremor run through the ship as they took a hit to the aft shields.

    “Shields holding at seventy percent.”

    “Bring us about! Do it again!” he said his voice a little louder than even he expected.

    As the Borg vessel came around several green orbs lashed out and slammed the ships forward shields sending teeth jarring tremors through the ship, he could see the vessel sheer off its flight path and then the telltale sound of hull damage, the Borg ship came back into view and the Lexicon’s weapons lashed out to return the favor raking damage across its hull, debris streamed into space.

    “Shields?” he asked looking across the bridge toward the Tactical Station.

    “Fluctuating at thirty percent!” he heard his tactical officer call out, the pain was evident in her voice. But he knew she was still with him as he could hear the Lexicon’s weapons still chugging away. His eyes found the viewscreen as another barriage from the cube came at them, the shields clearly absorbed two of them, the third passed through and slammed into the forward hull chewing a huge chunk out of the vessel sending debris and bodies into space, the ship trembled and sparks flew from consoles all around the bridge, a fire erupted in one of the already dead stations.

    “Transfer whatever power we don’t need from elsewhere to the shields!” he yelled holding onto his chair.

    “We don’t have anything else!” his operations officer called.

    He caught the glimmer of another of the Borgs weapons at the edge of the viewscreen just as it slammed into the hull, the ship bucked hard again sending him sprawling across the floor of the bridge. The helmsman bounced his face off the console and sent sparks flying from underneath. The operations console exploded pitching the woman sitting there away, her uniform ablaze, a large piece of metal sticking out of her forehead. She was clearly dead. “Evasive!” he muttered as he clawed his way back to his chair.

    “Shields are gone! Aft torpedoes gone!” he heard his tactical officer call out from the back of the bridge.

    Another shot nailed the ship, this one was close, he could hear his ears pop and the bridge shook and the sound of the impact and the hull being ripped away left a ringing in his hears. He could hear the metal screaming an stressing. The port section of the bridge suddenly exploded inward pitching him through the hair, the world spun and his ears popped again. He felt the sudden and intense cold of space but only for a moment.

    “Hull breach, main bridge. Containment field failing!” the computer called.

    So’koth felt his legs and arms moving as he crawled toward the turbolift, he could see the helmsman laying there still moving. It was getting colder by the second and there was no air. His lungs were screaming. His eyes felt as if they were growing heavier by the second as the cold and low oxygen environment threatened to take him. He pulled the helmsman into the turbolift and just as the doors closed he saw everything rush from the bridge, the bodies, debris everything. It was gone. He sat there gasping, he layed against the back of the turbolift.

He realized the helmsman was shaking still, it took a few moments for So’koth to realize the man was having a seizure. It only lasted a few moments longer, it was not a painless death but the man finally let go, he exhaled one last time. The ship shook violently snapping him back to reality. He had to get to engineering. “Engineering!” he stammered out.

    The turbolift fell for a moment then seemed to gain its control. The thing made an awful noise as it came to a stop and the doors parted. He was met by something he did not expect. The corridor was full of bodies and injured crewpersons. He got up and started making his way through the corridor moving around bodies and the injured not to mention the structural damage. The ship shook violently again, and the lights threatened to go out.

    “So’koth!” someone called as he came around the corner into engineer.

    “Chief?” he said as she came to stand next to him, his eyes were having trouble focusing. “What’s our status?”

    “Not good, we’ve lost all but one Phaser array, which we keep stabbing at them with!” she nodded to a bandaged up individual who was working small wall console which he could see had a targeting sensor node displaying the Borg vessels hull. “Were not doing good, life support is starting to fail, we’ve got too many hull breaches and that damn Borg ship keeps taking chunks of us!” she said moving back to one of the consoles.

    The ship suddenly shook sending just about everyone sprawling to the floor, lighting flickered and a loud creak ran through the ship and the tremors didn’t stop. An alarm began to sound, and the sound of high pressure gasses being released caught his eyes as he scrambled to get back to his feet. “That hurt.” He stammered spitting blood onto the floor.

    A new alarm joined the other, this one was far more serious. “Warning, Warp Core Breach in progress.” He flushed white his eyes meeting the chief engineers, she was bleeding pretty badly from a gash on her head.

    “Time to go!” she said, her speech a little slurred. “This fight is over!”

    He snaked a hand up and hit his Comm badge. “All hands, this is the Acting Captain speaking!” he paused a moment grabbing at a console corner as the vessel shook once more. “We’ve done our best, no one could ask more of us. You’ve done your Captain Proud, now it’s time to go. All hands to escape pods, abandon ship! I repeat, all hands abandon ship!” he hit the badge turning to a console and set the vessels navigational system to try and keep pace and a relatively close distance to the Borg Cube.

    “Come on So’koth!” his chief, his boss for the first part of his tour aboard the Lexicon grabbed him and started to pull him away from the console. He let go and started out into the corridor with the woman. “We’ve done what we came here to do!”

    “Aye,” he said as he made his way through the corridor. The vessel shook violently, the deck suddenly pitched hard sending him into the wall. He felt stars explode in front of his eyes and just as he let go of consciousness he could see the walls and ceiling coming down around him.



A short time later….



    He felt as if he was floating for a moment, then the sudden impact with something brought him out of it, his eyes popping open. He looked around and found himself sitting at the back of a shuttle. A very crowded shuttle. The rear door was closing and the shuttle was already lifting off. He pushed himself to his feet and made his way toward the front. There were so many injured, the shuttle was filled well beyond its capacity. “What happened?” his body ached all over, his head felt as if someone dropped a mallet on it. He settled into the chair next to the chief engineer. She looked worse than she did last time he saw her.

    “You almost died!” she nodded toward the back of the craft. “Had to dig you out. Almost didn’t make it!” she punched the shuttles engines on full rocketing out of the shuttle bay. The debris field was pretty intense as they left. Bodies and debris flew past as they maneuvered very quickly away.

    He shook his head, the ringing was pretty intense. “How long?” he asked as they pulled away, he looked out the right side of the craft both the Borg ship and the Lexicon coming into view.

    “Not much longer now!” she said, the fatigue in her voice was obvious.

    “How the hell did we survive?” he asked now seeing the extent of the damage to the ship. It was nearly stripped clean of hull plating. One of the warp nacelles was missing completely. “Kahless beard!” he muttered.

    A green blast screamed out from the Borg vessel and hit another moving craft not too far away from them sending out a shockwave through the space between them. “No!” she yelled slamming a fist down on one of the consoles.

    “Evasive!” he yelled.

    “I know!” she said hurried as she began the vessel into a turn and began to change the ships trajectory. “Were a sitting duck out here!” she said.

    “I know!” he called. “Incoming!” he yelled seeing another one coming this one hitting another craft. The console spat sparks at them and the sound of the engines slowly fading drew the look of concern from his companion.

    “No!” she said looking out toward the Borg vessels and then back at him. “No!” she said it again now looking back at him, dread in her eyes.

    He could see it coming, the green orb approaching in the distance. Turning to the console his fingers flew across the console, but there was nothing. The ships power system had overloaded and was dead. Everything was dead. He slowly looked back at her and then past her. The Lexicon’s hull swelled suddenly and then the sudden and violent release of the ships antimatter supply ripped her apart and the space around her. The shockwave came and just as the Borg weapon threatened to take them the shockwave hit pitching the craft out of the way. He and the chief engineer meet between the chairs and for one brief moment they spun in the space as gravity cut out, then they went tumbling from each other into the mess of bodies at the back of the craft.

    There was a long moment of silence as everything settled, slowly the creaking of the hull and the moaning of those around him and tangled with him became apparent. His eyes fluttered back open and slowly he began to pull himself from the tangle of bodies.

    Crawling over them he found himself back at the front of the craft. He pulled himself up into the pilot’s seat, he settled back into the chair. The familiar sight of a planet that they had almost died at not but a few hours ago loomed in the window again. His eyes were heavy, all he wanted to do was curl up on the floor with the rest of the crew in the back. He heard a cough and then felt something moving up his legs, a mess of bloody red hear slowly came from under the console in front of him, and all but fell into his lap.

    “So’koth!” the voice was raspy, and there was a rattle to it. She coughed and blood spurted from her lips onto her uniform which was already an entirely different shade than it had started.

    “Chief?”

    “Save them!” she said, her head lulling onto his chest, her chest was heaving quietly. “save the rest!” she said very quietly.

    “Chief?”

    Her body went limp in his arms, he sat there for a long while just holding the woman. She had gave him his opportunity to get onto bridge duty and then pushed him toward the chief flight operators spot when it had come open. She had helped him grow, and now she too was gone. A light started blinking on the console in front of him, he knew it meant that the craft was starting to give into the gravity of the planet and it would be all over soon. He knew he could not just give up, there were still others depending upon him.

    Slowly he settled the woman down behind the co-pilot sat, then turned back to the console. He was able to coax one of the displays back to life after fixing a couple of connectors inside the console. All they had left was life support. But it didn’t matter, it was this or death. He took all the remaining power from life support and shifted it to the vessels thrusters.

    He angled the shuttle into a steeper drive toward the planet to help build speed. They would need it to get through the atmosphere at the right angle of decent and keep it. He knew it would probably burn up the hull pretty bad but the shuttle would survive. He could see the heat building up outside as the craft was already dipping into the upper reaches of the atmosphere. It hit suddenly as gravity from the planet took its hold on the craft and yanked them down.

    The shuttle left a trail of hot plasma behind it as the hull became superheated. The temperature in the craft rose rapidly. The smell of blood and other bodily fluids filled the air. The craft began to tremble, and shake.

    He looked over at the chief engineer who was still sitting peacefully against the wall, her hair had fallen over her face but she looked so peaceful, he watched for only a moment longer when the craft bucked hard as they hit the atmosphere. He was certain they must look like a meteor streaking across the sky on fire. “Hold together!” he stammered out through his chattering teeth. He had no altimeter as the sensors had been burned completely away. He had to judge it by eye, which he had never done outside of a simulator.

    He could see the terrain starting to take shape, and what trees he could see were starting to take shape, he stabbed the button that would active what little thrusters he had and then he stuffed himself under the console and prayed.



Hours later….



    The sound of cooling metal brought So’koth back to the land of the living. The chill of the planets lower temperatures caught him by surprise. His eyes fluttered open. It was dark outside he realized as they adjusted. He blinked staring up at the stars. He could see streaks of fire in the sky as debris made re-entry. “We survived.” He muttered. His body hurt, he really couldn’t feel much of anything but pain right now. Slowly craning his head down, he could see that he was trapped under a large piece of the shuttles hull. The craft had split into pieces when it hit was very clear. It was hard to say if anyone survived. “Damn!”

    There was a fire burning somewhere nearby, he could smell the smoke. He heard something move, and then he caught movement.

    “So’koth!” he recognized the voice as one of the ships engineers.

    “Ensign Iomata?” he said, his voice was unsteady.

    She came around the chunk of shuttle sitting on him. “I’m here!” she said coming to settle next to him. “You saved us!” she said quietly brushing the hair away from his face.

    He grimaces as a tremor of pain ran through his body. “How many?”

    “Two more, they are pretty badly injured but alive.” She opened a medical kit and started pulling out the tricorder, opening it. “You’re in pretty bad shape!” she said running the scanner over him.

    He nodded quietly, “We just have to hold out until help gets here!”

    “Yeah!” she said somberly. “Do you want something to dull the pain?”

    “No, save it for the others!” he said starting to shake from the cold.

    She nodded and just sat there looking up at the stars. He watched as piece after piece of debris fell through the sky leaving behind a trail of fire. It was actually quite beautiful. His eyes got heavy and slowly he drifted back off into unconsciousness.



Sometime later….



    A scream and the sudden sound of Phaser fire brought So’koth back to life, his eyes popping open and his body jerking in defense of itself. He could see the sudden red almost blinding report of a Phaser blast light up the darkness.

    “NO!” he recognized Iomata’s voice as she yelled at some unforeseen force. He could hear whatever it was moving in the woods. The sound it made was foreign to him but he knew something was out there.

    “Iomata!” he called to her, his voice was weak but he knew she heard him as she came around the bend two Phasers in hand.

    “There here!” she spat as she looked around wildly. “Take it!” she said shoving a Phaser into his hand. “I have to keep the others safe!” she said hurriedly and was gone.

    “Iomata!” he called again as he fumbled to get the Phaser into his hand.

    He heard her scream again and the report of the Phaser several more times, and then silence. The only sound was a mechanical one getting ever closer. He looked around, the sound was getting closer. He could feel his heart beat quickening. “Iomata!” he said again

    A face, covered in implants appeared above him staring down at him. It regarded him for a long moment before stepping into view.     So’koth felt his hand tighten around the handle of the Phaser.

    “We are the borg, Resis…” the Borg took the shot to the chest and face in a matter of seconds, it had no chance to finish its words. And another appeared this time to his left. “Resistance is futile.” This one too fell taking a shot to the hip and then the back as it went down.

    “No!” he stammered. He pulled at his body trying to get it free, but the pain was immense.

    “We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own!” another approached coming from behind him. His first shot missed wide, the second found its mark and dropped the drone.

    “Resistance is futile!” the last voice was distant.

    A hand slowly slipped around the edge of the hull resting on his body. Ensign Iomata fell next to him on the ground, her face was writhing in pain. Slowly her blood vessels and capillaries on her face changed color, her skin graying. “So’koth!” she said quietly as she moved closer, her body was against his.

    “Iomata!” he said, his eyes meeting hers. He felt her hand on his chest gripping his uniform tightly. She released it, her hand moving up his chest to his shoulder. “No!” he stammered out.

    The pain he felt radiating from his neck was both intense and almost exquisite at the same time. The Phaser fell from his hand and clattered to the ground.

    “Resistance if futile!” she whispered in his ear. He felt the anger well up in him but only for a moment. Something was running through him, calming him. An explosion suddenly ripped through the Camp as a Phaser which was left on overload went off. He felt the intense heat of the explosion, and everything went black once again.



Several days later…



    “We’ve got a live one over here!” a voice called out. It seemed very distance.

    “Really?”

    “Yeah, alive and…” there was a loud beeping noise, the scuffling of feet. “It’s Borg!”

    “Borg?”

    “Yeah, kill it now before it gets free and assimilates us you moron!”

    “NO, No, wait!”

    “What, are you nuts?”

    “No, this one isn’t fully assimilated yet.”

    “Damn!”

    “Get this off of him, get him in a stasis pod!”

    “Oh yes, this one!” this voice was familiar, he had heard this one before. But where. “This one goes to Project Evolution.”