I see you... ;)

Here we go!

Chapter two: The Sides

Captain's Log, Stardate 54218.98. The Enterprise is holding station near the border with the Klingon Empire, taking readings of unusual subspace phenomena that appeared to have resulted from the Gateway's opening. While the various science teams work, the rest of the crew are on a relaxed schedule.

On another note, this is also the perfect opportunity for the newly-promoted Commander Data to get some command experience independent of myself. He has already proved an exemplary first officer in the short time since promotion, and I wonder if the center seat would suit him more.

Jean-Luc Picard stood in his quarters, Resikkan flute in hand. He studied a page of sheet music on a stand in front of him. "Computer," he announced, "begin playing of Chopin's Ballade number one, Opus 23." he waited for the piano music to start laying over speakers embedded in the bulkhead before bringing the tin flute to his lips.

The captain quickly lost himself in the playing of his treasured flute, but the reverie was all too soon interrupted by the chime of the comm system. "Captain, message from Admiral DeSoto. Priority One."

Picard paused before taking the flute from his lips. "Patch it through to my quarters," he said, setting the treasured keepsake into its box before walking over to his workstation. He sat down and the monitor mounted into the desk lit up. "Computer, patch line in from Admiral DeSoto, authorization Picard Alpha-Tango-Seven-Seven-Ten."

The screen changed from the Starfleet insignia and several boxes of text to a human in a Starfleet flag officer's uniform, with gray, thinning hair and a mouth set in an almost perpetual smile. "Hello, Jean-Luc," Admiral Robert DeSoto said. "Sorry, but there's a bit of a row back here at Starbase Babylon and everyone at Command agrees with me that you're the best man for the job."

Picard's brow furrowed. "Starbase Babylon? Isn't that the new station you're running at the Gateway?" His eyes narrowed. "Problems with the New Republic? The Imperial Remnant? The Hutts?" he rubbed his chin. "Curiouser and curiouser."

DeSoto barked a laugh and held up his hand. "Don't get too ahead of yourself." He looked down and his hand moved offscreen. "I'm sending you the information now. Suffice to say, though, it seems there's some refugees who want Federation asylum there. Problem is, we're not sure if we can give them shelter."

"So, Hutt Space, then?"

There was a pause before DeSoto's smile melted away. "No. It's a pair of droids from the New Republic, named Bollux and Blue Max. The ship they fled from is claiming they're simply malfunctioning tools with an overclocked AI. And I don't know what to believe." He sighed. "Get here soon, Captain. This is a major incident waiting to happen. Desoto out" And with that, the image changed back to the Starfleet emblem.

Picard pressed some buttons and text began scrolling across the monitor's screens. He clicked on some information links and images of the labor droid Bollux appeared. "Merde," he muttered. He tapped his combadge. "Commander Data, please report to my quarters. Helm, set course for Starbase Babylon, maximum warp."

A few minutes later, the door to Picard's quarters slid open and Commander Data stepped in. The pale-skinned android glanced over with golden optics and strode over. "Captain?" he asked, head cocking to the side.

Picard glanced up and motioned to a seat across from him. "Sit down, Commander." He turned the monitor around on its swivel. "It seems the New Republic has been keeping secrets from us."

The android sat down. He quickly scanned through the information sent to the Enterprise, brow furrowing. "I... I do not understand," he finally said. "Is the New Republic not a representative democracy, with strict anti-slavery laws?"

There was a pause while Picard shifted in his seat. "Data, I feel I must remind you of your own struggle for rights. Yes, now you are guaranteed the right to choose, as all Soong-type androids and other artificial lifeforms that can prove their sapience. However, in the New Republic, it might not be the case."

The android shook his head. "Their civilization is approximately twenty-five thousand, twenty-five years, five months, three days, eight hours old. And that is not taking into account the Rakata Empire before, or other civilizations. From firsthand observations of droids during our initial encounter last year on Yavin IV, seven of the twelve droids we encountered would easily be classified as sapient under Federation law." He shifted in his seat, his emotion chip allowing his body language to reflect his inner turmoil.

"What of the other five, though," Picard countered. "We ourselves don't give rights to all of our machines, or even all organic beings. Cows, sehlats..." He sighed and massaged his forehead. "I have a feeling Pandora's Box is about to be opened here, Number One. And I don't like it."

The Enterprise exited warp, the ship 'snapping forward' with a flash of light as the subspace bubble surrounding it dissipated. The impulse engines fired, sending the ship forward on a course to Starbase Babylon-and a small group of New Republic Defense Force ships near the Gateway.

Captain Picard leaned forward as the ships came into visual range on the main viewscreen. "Quite a little hunting party," he observed. He glanced back at the tactical station situated located aft of the command section and to port. "Tirsek, hail the lead ship."

At the tactical station, a lithe Andorian female nodded and inputted several commands, her blue fingers moving across her control console. "Channel open," she said, antennae flattening slightly.

The main viewscreen changed from an image of Babylon and the Defense Force ships to the bridge of the RSS Defender. A human male with short, black hair and a flag officer's uniform appeared. He clasped his gloved hands behind his back and strode forward along the command walkway. "This is Commodore Varth of the RSS Defender,"he said in a clipped accent. "My apologies for the wait in hailing you, Enterprise. We almost missed you."

Picard's mouth turned down in a scowl. "I'd love to indulge you in petty jabs and insults, Commodore, but I have actual work to do. Please meet me in Admiral DeSoto's office in ten minutes." He turned and made a slashing gesture with his finger. "Screen off." He glanced down at the bridge's command section. "Commander Data, please accompany me to Starbase Babylon. Lieutenant Commander Tirsek, you have the bridge," he half-barked as he strode for the door.

Data rose and followed Picard while Tirsek walked over and sat in the center seat, her relief officer taking her place at the tactical station. She crossed her legs and leaned back, wiggling a bit in the seat. "I prefer standing," she said, frowning.

The tactical officer leaned forward. "Sir, the Defender is contacting us again. Shall we respond?"

Tirsek shook her head. "Negative, Lieutenant. Instead, prepare the computer and inform the crew we'll be doing battle-readiness drills. Make sure the transmission's not encoded and easily so the Defender can pick it up."

The tactical officer swallowed and inputted several commands. The lights dimmed and red alert klaxons flashed. Within minutes, the tactical officer spoke up. "Sir... it's the Defender again."

Tirsek nodded and motioned to the screen. "Put them on."

The viewscreen changed from a tactical map of local space to a tentacle-faced Quarren. The non-human raised his hand and waggled his long, suction cup-tipped fingers. "This is Captain Hafghr of the Defender!" he said, his face tentacles writhing. "I demand to know what purpose your drills are!"

Tirsek smiled and shrugged. "Sorry for alarming you, Captain. We're just making sure we're ready for anything. After we do combat drills, we'll do drills for dikironium cloud creatures, the Psi 2000 virus, Chaotic Space springing up around local space, the Sphere Builders returning and probably even Q."

Hafghr paused, his eyes widening. "The Q?" he said, fangs clicking. "You have defenses against even that being?"

Tirsek smirked. "Screen off."

Picard and Data materialized inside one of Starbase Babylon's many transporter stations. Admiral DeSoto stepped forward even as they stepped down. "Thanks for coming so quickly," he said, shaking Picard's hand. "It's a real mess out there."

Picard's eyes narrowed. "I have seen the Defense Force ships, Robert. I'm surprised Starfleet hasn't gathered more of a force."

Desoto shrugged as they departed the transporter room. They marched down the corridor, technicians and other members of Starfleet clearing out of their way. "I've still got the Hood, and Babylon's tactical systems are fully operational. But I don't want this to end in a firefight." They approached a turbolift alcove and the door slid into the wall, letting them board the cab. "Brig," Desoto said.

Data's eyebrows furrowed slightly as the car began moving. "We're keeping him in a safe spot for the moment. Captain Ladecs has been most... insistent her stolen 'property' be returned." He groaned and rolled his eyes. "I thought we were dealing with people with morals, here."

Picard glanced at Data, then back to his old friend. "Robert, it wasn't too long ago that my own first officer was fighting for his own rights in a court of law. Perhaps this is simply the New Republic's wake-up call."

The turbolift car stopped and the door slid open, revealing a security station manned by a dozen officers and an equal number of MACO soldiers. Desoto stepped off and passed through a security arch. Several scanners swept over him, checking his DNA and a dozen other identifying markers to confirm he was Robert Desoto. Bars mounted in top flashed from red to green. Data and Picard followed.

The officer on watch approached, PADD in hand. "Admiral, Bollux and Blue Max are in cell 1178," she reported, checking the PADD's screen.

Desoto nodded and walked along to the aft of the brig to a long corridor, cells in the bulkhead. Almost all of them were empty save one. The trio approached the lone occupied cell, a battered droid sitting on the cot mounted on the bulkhead. Two chairs were the only other objects visible in the room. His photoreceptors lit up as Desoto approached. "Admiral," he intoned.

A MACO soldier standing there pressed several buttons on a control panel and the force field covering the brig shut down. Desoto motioned to Bollux. "All right, Jean-Luc and Data. This is Bollux."

Bollux stood up. His chest panel popped open and an eyestalk popped out. "Don't forget about me!" Blue Max piped up. The stalk swiveled around, looking at Picard and Data. "Hi, there!'

Desoto chuckled. "Call me when you're done," he said. He extended a hand to Picard. "Good to see you again, Jean-Luc."

Picard smiled and shook his old friend's hand. "And you, Robert. Don't get too comfortable here," he said, his smile turning ever so slightly into a smirk.

Desoto shook his head. "Just when I settle in, they'll be sending me on a milk run on the Hood." He turned to Data and shook his hand too. "Good luck to you too, Commander. I have a feeling whatever happens here will affect our relations with the New Republic for years to come." And with that, he turned and walked back and eventually out of the brig.

Picard walked up to Bollux and pulled a chair over. He sat down and looked the droid over. "Hello, Bollux," he said, smiling. "I'm sorry your stay in Federation space hasn't been more... accommodating."

Bollux held up a hand, palm out. "I understand, Captain. The circumstances of my arrival are not ideal for everyone." His head turned and he looked at Data, also sitting. "However, perhaps it is what my galaxy needs."

Picard held up a hand. "Perhaps we should go back a bit, Bollux. Tell me a bit about yourself, your history. Where did you come from? How did you get to meet Blue Max? We have to know where you've been before we can move on to where you want to go."

Bollux's head canted slightly. "That makes sense." He paused for a moment and his photoreceptors flashed slightly as he accessed his oldest memory files. "I am from the Fondor Shipyards, a simple labor droid. I was assigned to observe mynocks near a fuel module, but I wasn't given a return time. Therefore, it was about three weeks until I returned. My circuitry and algorithms had evolved enough for a personality. I was upgraded and promoted to shift supervisor, but was eventually sold as surplus to make way for a newer model."

"That makes little sense," Data interjected, head canting to the side and voice rising. "A promotion implies a place in the shipyards more than just a piece of machinery."

Bollux turned to him and held his hands up. "That is how it is for droids. After that I went from job to job, finally ending up in the Corporate Sector in the possession of outlaw smuggler Doc." He reached up and fully opened his chest, Blue Max's small form sliding out. "His daughter paired me with Blue Max. That is where I met Captain Solo and Chewbacca."

Data bristled slightly. "I have seen him with droids before, See-Threepio and Artoo-Detoo especially. He is not... particularly kind to them," he said, his voice taking on an edge. "How did you get along with him?"

Blue Max piped up. "He wasn't too bad, once he got to know us."

Bollux canted his head in agreement. "That is correct. He seemed to have genuine respect for us." He paused for a moment before continuing. "He left us in the care of Skynx, a historian researching Xim artifacts in the Tion Hegemony. Skynx is a Ruurian, so he eventually morphed into a chroma-wing and went back to his homeworld. I passed from owner to owner until I was bought by Captain Ladecs nine months ago."

Picard crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, scowling. "Bought and paid for, passed from owner to owner." He focused on Bollux. "I sit and talk with you. Your dialogue is a bit precise, like a Vulcan or Benzite. There is no reason for a being like you to be treated in such a manner."

Blue Max's eyestalk swiveled around and focused on Picard. "Thanks, but to tell the truth, most droids are dumb machines with limited programming. Guys like Bollux and I are pretty rare."

"But not uncommon," Picard interjected. "And organic beings know of the difference between a sehlat and a Vulcan, or a human and a badger." He glanced down at the deck, mouth slightly open and lips curling. "In 2365, I defended my current first officer's rights as a sapient being. With the millennia of experience with artificial life forms such as yourself, has no one stood up to champion your cause?"

"I do not know," Bollux admitted. "But I will not go back to the New Republic, Captain. They will wipe my memory and turn me into a mindless automaton. I do not want that to happen."

Picard's jaw clenched. "And I will not permit it."

Commodore Varth paced back and forth while Admiral Desoto sat in his office in ops. "Meeting with the droid?" he asked, throwing his hands up in the air. "What is he doing, having oil and crumpets with it?"

Desoto looked up from a PADD at Varth and scowled. "Sit down, Commodore," he ordered. "Not Picard's fault you took so long getting here."

A derisive chuckle escaped Varth's lips. "And have my molecules scrambled into electronic soup and scattered across the solar winds? Not likely." He turned his head as the office's entrance slid open, allowing Picard and Data entry. "Well, shall we-"

"Commodore Varth, I formally request a representative of the New Republic sent to Starbase Babylon for a hearing on Bollux and Blue Max's rights and whether or not they are malfunctioning devices or if Pandora's Box has, indeed, been opened," the Captain said in a single breath.

Varth looked Picard over with wide eyes. He straightened himself off and brushed at the front of his uniform tunic. "That droid in the brig is a malfunctioning piece of equipment with simulated intelligence and feelings," he stated. He motioned to Data. "Unlike your first officer, Bollux and Blue Max are simply tools with a glitch."

Picard tilted his head back slightly. "We shall see, Commodore. Will you honor my request?"

"A hearing for a malfunctioning machine? This should be most entertaining," Varth said, curling his lips back in a sneer. "Your funeral, Picard."

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