Enterprise Bridge, near Concord HQ
Flanked by Worf and Riker, Picard looked at the viewscreen where the leader of Concord Commands "Inner Circle" was displayed. This was Concords first communication since their initial demands for the Enterprise to follow them.
The trip had been uneventful, and the crew of the Enterprise had tried to learn whatever they could about this new place. They had followed the ship into heavily populated space, and stellar traffic had significantly increased as they moved closer to their destination. They had also noticed an increase in Concord vessels as they moved closer to their destination. From this, they determined that it must be Concord's home planet.
Using sensor readings, Geordi had determined that Concords FTL drive worked by projecting some kind of "depleted vacuum" that was devoid of energy in any form. This had the effect of generating antifriction as a complement to normal acceleration, giving their vessels a limited faster than light capability. They had determined that their Warp Drive was more efficient, although it appeared that Concord standardly used wormholes for interstellar travel.
They had finally arrived at their destination, and exited warp to see a large amount of ships in a defensive formation around a floating spherical structure. They were currently holding position near the top of the sphere, but were not docked to it.
The woman on the screen said, "Hello, Captain Picard of the United Federation of Planets. I am Panaja Paukansa, head of the Concord Command, leader of the Inner Circle."
Picard replied, "Hello as well. I am pleased to make your acquaintance."
Very seriously, Panaja said, "Now that we have dealt with the pleasantries, let's get down to business. Frankly Captain, we have no idea where you came from, and how you managed to make it into the most heavily monitored border in the galaxy with no one noticing."
Picard sighed, unsure of where to start, "We found ourselves there after traveling through an artificially created temporal vortex. The vortex must have been unstable, and instead of traveling into our past, we were sent into the future."
Panaja looked disturbed by what he had said. "Captain, we have absolutely no records of the "United Federation of Planets" ever existing. Now, our records are incomplete, since many were lost during the Fall after the collapse of the EVE wormhole."
Picard was shocked, "So, not only are we in a different galaxy, but you are saying that we may be in a different universe entirely?"
Panaja replied, " It appears that way. If the United Federation of Planets had exited, we would have at least some record of it Of course, perhaps the Jovians would know, since they were least affected by the collapse of the wormhole, but they haven't been very talkative for a while."
Realization suddenly hit Picard. It had been floating in the back of his mind, but he hadn't put the pieces together until now. Why would the Borg not show up here? Had the vortex destabilized further after they had gone through? Or where they here, somewhere in this galaxy? If they were, he had to warn them. They would be woefully unprepared for a Borg attack.
Picard said, "Panaja, I have something very important to tell you. It could affect this entire galaxy. The temporal vortex we came through was not crated by us. It was made by a race called the Borg. They are a race of cyborgs that exist in a hive mind. Their sole mission is to assimilate all life into their Collective. They have regenerative capabilities, can adapt to new weapons which render any attacks against them useless unless they have not adapted to it, and are on a technological level surpassing that of the Federation. The temporal vortex was created by the survivor from a major battle near my home planet, and the remaining Borg vessel went into it. They probably ended up here, like we did."
Panaja flicked through some papers on her desk, showing little signs of alarm. "Can you tell me anything about their vessel so we know what to look for?"
Picard said, "The Borg emphasize functionality above aesthetics. Their main ship is a Cube about three kilometers long on each side. However, you are lucky in the fact that the Borg only came through in a sphere. We assume it is some sort of escape pod, since we haven't seen that type of ship before. You are also fortunate in that we managed to damage it before it could enter the vortex. "
Picard watched as Panaja conferred with someone, or a group of people offscreen. The audio had been deactivated, so Picard could not tell what they were saying to each other.
Finally, Panaja turned her attention back to Picard and said, "We have not detected this vessel you speak of anywhere in monitored space. And we cannot expend the manpower to search all of uncontrolled space looking for them."
Picard felt a surge of anger, but he quickly suppressed it. What else could he expect after all? These people didn't know the Borg like he did. "You must find them. The longer they have to travel and assimilate technology and people, the greater a threat they will be. They must be stopped now, before they can adapt to your weapons, and learn all your tactics."
Panaja looked exasperated with the current line of conversation. "Look, send us what information you have. We'll keep monitoring, and if they appear then we will let you know."
Picard was disappointed with the decision, but realized it was useless to argue. "All right then. We will transmit the information to you as soon as we have compiled the data necessary. Now, I would like to discuss the present status of my ship and crew."
Panaja nodded and said "Of course Captain. Being Terran in nature, I have no doubt that you ship can destroy most any single spaceship that anyone can bring against you. However, I urge you to join a faction or nation. That way, people will be less likely to attack you."
Picard replied, "If you could transmit over a list of factions and description , that would be appreciated."
Panaja talked to the people off the screen again. Picard looked at Riker and Worf while presumably the "Inner Circle" was discussing their arrangement.
Finally Panaja turned her attention back to Picard. "There is one final issue, Captain. Your ship could be a valuable technological resource. It could be very dangerous if one of the empire's seized it. They could use it to get an advantage over the other empires. So we're going to make you an offer. In return for you giving us blueprints for all your technology, we will make you honorary members of Concord Command. You will have the weight of Concord behind you, but you will have no responsibilities to us."
Picard glanced at Riker, who shrugged discreetly, "I will have to discuss this with my crew."
Panaja nodded, "Of course. Take all the time you need. Concord Command out." The viewscreen flickered into black as the connection was severed.
Picard began walking away as he said, "Have Dr. Crusher, Mr. La Forge, and Councilor Troi report to the situation room for an officers meeting. We have much to discuss, don't we." Picard exited the bridge followed by Riker, Worf, and Data.
Executive's Office, Concord HQ
"So what is your opinion of them Andre," asked Panaja.
"Well, ma'am," said Andre as he brought up some scans of the Enterprise, " They definitely are an advanced race. Our scans detected around a thousand life signatures on that ship. We also found something extremely intriguing." Centering on the bottommost section of the ship between the two arms of the nacelles, he highlighted some glowing particles.
"So what am I looking at," asked Panaja.
That," motioned Andre, "is the telltale signature of some sort of antimatter reaction. We believe that their ship is powered by some sort of controlled antimatter reaction. If it's true, then this would be momentous for New Eden. Imagine it, ships that can generate their own supply of antimatter. It would revolutionize warfare. Antimatter tipped nuclear missiles, as many antimatter railgun rounds as you could want, assuming you have enough empty casings. "
Panaja's mind whirled as she thought of the consequences of this technology getting out, and her mind recoiled from the image. "My god. Think of all the people that would be killed with this improved weaponry. If a piece of antimatter the size of a dollar bill can make a 13 kt nuclear explosion, then how big would be the explosion from a piece the size of an apple? If we used this, then all our ships could become floating bombs!"
"Well ma'am," said Andre as he tried to calm her nerves, "We don't really know how efficient this type of energy system is. If you'll recall, our fusion reactors are able to use 99% of the energy they emit, with only one percent being released as neutrons. We'd have to see how this antimatter system works before considering it's usage."
"I suppose you're right," replied Panaja. "Just in case, I want their path blocked off, so no one can stumble upon them, and I want them under observation at all times.
"Yes ma'am," Andre saluted and
Enterprise Briefing Room, Concord HQ
In the briefing room, the heads of the departments and Worf listened as Picard explained what had happened during his discussion with Concord, and Panaja's offer.
Worf started off the discussion after Picard had finished, "I do not see why we are even having this discussion. We will be returning to our time soon, and there is no point in joining if we will not be here."
Picard sat down as he turned his attention to Worf, "Perhaps Mr. Worf, but it will be a lot easier to get back with their cooperation than otherwise. Besides, they did ask for any technological assistance we could provide them."
Worf clenched his fist and said, "And why should we give our technology to them? Are they not advanced enough already? They have FTL travel, and, they are in the future. Shouldn't we be asking them for technology?"
Riker looked at Worf, "According to the records Concord sent to us, when the EVE Wormhole to the Milky Way collapsed, they lost all their technology. Well, except for the Jovians. They've only had FTL for a few hundred years. So, in comparison to us, they aren't that far advanced. It's entirely possible that we are more advanced than them in some areas."
Geordi chimed in, "Yeah. We've already seen that our warp drive is more advanced, since they have to use gates for targeting. That shows that they only have a point-to-point drive, and they can't stop before they reach their destination, like we can. It may not be faster, but it gives us better maneuverability. Not to mention our antimatter generation capabilities."
Beverly sighed as the room descended into arguments between Worf and Riker, with Geordi and Data chiming in with technical data and observations. Finally, she became exasperated and said, "Gentlemen, please. Can we focus on what we're here to discuss? Should we give them technology or not, and should we accept their offer to join them, if temporarily."
Worf grumpily slouched down in his chair, "I still do not trust them."
Picard looked at Diana and asked, "Councilor Troi, can you sense anything form them?"
Troi closed her eyes as she grasped for the intangible feelings of emotions from the minds of the people in the nearby space station. Finally, she opened her eyes and replied, "I can sense confusion, and a bit of fear, but nothing to suggest hostile intent."
Picard nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Now Geordi, what's the worst that could happen if we gave them all our technology?"
Geordi thought for a second, then replied, "They tear a hole in the space-time continuum and destroy the universe."
Picard grimaced, "Okay, so giving all our technology is a bad idea. We will decline their offer, but we will turn over the blueprints for our warp drive technology. They could probably use it." He looked over the table and said, "Move down to Condition Green, but stay on alert. Dismissed."
With the meeting over, everyone left the room, discussing their current situation. Nobody noticed Worf exiting by himself, and looked slightly angry with the results of the meeting.
Blood Raider Space
The Borg Queen lapsed into the information provided by the assimilated computer fragments attained from the ship graveyard. They had repaired their base vessel, and had improved it to a fully functioning combat-capable ship. They had also improved it with weapons gathered from the wreckage, once they had been repaired to exacting Collective standards.
She had learned much of the EVE galaxy that they had found themselves in. The four empires and Concord were the main threat to establishing the Collective here, and would have to be dealt with first. Fortunately, they would be busy with their petty rivalry's and minor conflicts.
But first, she would have to build up her resources and make a fleet. Looking through her records, she found a suitable place to do it. This empire called "Sansha's Nation", looked like a suitable area. Few knew of their location, and they could be easily manipulated due to their ideology.
Silently, she put the ship on a course for former Sansha Nation territory. There they would find the location of the refugee's from that nation. She delved into the stream of input from the Collective as the ship moved into hyperspace.
As the Borg ship moved to enter hyperspace, a lone salvage ship entered the area. The Cube registered for a second, too short a time for it to be identified on the ship's sensors. It was the only warning the Empire's would get, that a storm was coming.
A/N: There needs to be a little explanation about power sources here.
In the EVE Online universe, power is generated through a process called aneutronic fusion, in which only one percent of the emissions output is neutrons and the rest is usable energy. This makes it very efficient, although regular fusion power is still used.
In the Star Trek Universe power is generated through an antimatter reaction of deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen. It creates enough power to allow the Enterprise to have directed energy weapons, shields, and the ability to teleport people, which must take up a ton of energy.
Up next, some fun with the Borg, and the Enterprise tries to return hoe, and fails. Because if they succeeded, it wouldn't be a fair fight, would it?
