Well we have a awesome new chapter! I think so at least... :D Special thanks to MalSer for helping brain storm, and suggested a lot of good ideas! He also helped me with grammar errors so hopefully there isn't any others lol. I also have won two costumes from the live auction one Aurora security guard, and a Wraith Commander from the episode when Teyla was a Queen. :D
Highlights from the Auction: Stargate 70k! Banjo man auctioneer he sounds like a banjo seriously... Thor puppet went for 16k and his chair 800. The horus guard helmet went for 30k, and the Anubis Helmet went for 18k. Its crazy!
Please review as this chapter gets into the current arc pretty well with ds9. :D Thanks for reading!
Chapter 21
Alpha Quadrant
Location – Deep Space Nine
Time – One Week Before AMP's Return
Chief O'Brien sat working on the weapons array installing the new upgrades. First it was shields and now weapons, which had him pulling long hours overhauling the station's defensive and offensive systems. He'd had his engineering crews working overtime for the last two days. Rom was also in the weapons array center working on another subsystem.
"Chief," said Capt. Sisko as he entered the weapon array center. "How are those upgrades coming?" Walking over Sisko looked into the main system where O'Brien continued working.
"Ha," said O'Brien shaking his head while he re-aligned the tool to work on the next system in the array. "I would really like to know where Starfleet got this technology. It's like nothing I've seen, yet surprisingly compatible."
"I asked and all I got back was it was "top-secret" from Starfleet," said Sisko. "How long till the new upgrades are finished?"
"Probably a week," said O'Brien. "I have teams working around the clock replacing the phaser arrays on the six small pylons on the inner ring. Asgard Ion Pulse Cannons… who the hell thought that up?"
"Well, if we have the Old Norse gods on our side then I will take all the help we can get," said Sisko.
"Won't your Prophets get mad Captain?" asked Rom turning away from his work.
"I haven't heard any complaints," answered Sisko. "The Dominion just sent their third convoy of warships through the wormhole two hours ago, and will likely send more convoys until they are ready to take over the Alpha Quadrant." Rom whined at the thought of the Dominion conquering everything.
"Rom," said O'Brien. "If you don't want that to happen I suggest you get back to work on that subsystem."
"Yes Chief," said Rom going back to subsystem and running his tool over some optic-cards.
"Captain," said O'Brien. "Do you think Starfleet has been keeping these upgrades in reserve? I mean, these systems are completely new and I figure it would take years and years of research."
"It's possible Chief," answered Sisko. "These upgrades are almost too good to be true."
"Either that or someone gave us all the information needed to make it," replied O'Brien.
"Whatever the case it's top-secret and what information I did get just didn't make sense. I couldn't get a straight answer out of anyone."
"I wished these upgrades had appeared earlier. That way I could spend more time with my family before they leave the station."
"Leave the station?"
"It's too dangerous here with the Dominion sending military convoys through the wormhole almost on a weekly basis."
"With each convoy more people leave," said Sisko thoughtfully. "We may end up evacuating the station." Rom whined from behind the two. Chief O'Brien nodded and finished up adjusting the last optic-card.
"I just hope that these shields and weapons of the Asgard live up to their name."
"Me too Chief," said Sisko before leaving.
A dark clothed figure entered what was infamously known as Quark's bar. The figure moved with practiced ease as he went to the back corner of the bar. Quark's practiced eye for shady characters spotted the dark figure immediately.
"I wonder who we have here…" said Quark while watching the figure move to the most isolated and darkest part of his bar. 'Maybe he is the contact I am expecting…' thought Quark. 'Better see what he wants.' Quark grabbed his data pad and walked over to the new comer.
"What can I get for you?" he inquired as the figure locked eyes with Quark. The man's eyes felt soulless and accented his raven black hair. Quark figured the guy was six foot two inches tall, and had a body built for wrestling Nausicaans.
"I would like… its Klingon and popular… What was it called?" asked the stranger.
"Raktajino?" suggested Quark. 'What is the galaxy coming too when they can't even remember the name of the drinks they drink?' thought Quark.
"Yes I do believe that was it. I would like to have one of those."
"And how will you be paying?"
"What would you like?"
"Latinum."
"What if I don't have any latinum on me?"
"Well…" Quark said, pulling up a chair. "What other services can you provide?" asked Quark getting excited at the thought of black market deals.
"How about some advice," replied the stranger?
"If it is worth a raktajino, then sure."
"Don't smuggle in yamok sauce, because I will prevent the Dominion from ever taking this station." The figure finished with a straight face that even Quark could appreciate.
'I don't think he is bluffing…' thought Quark. "You're either crazy or so deadly I don't even care. I will get your raktajino, and…" 'How did he know I was going to smuggle in yamok sauce?' thought Quark, 'Maybe I should ask him.' With one look at the figure Quark decided not worth it. "Some things are better left to the unknown…have a nice day."
"Thank you," said the stranger with a smile.
'He bothers me…' thought Quark on his trip back to his bar. 'Better get one of my waiters to deliverthat raktajino…'
Major Kira pulled up a seat at the bar just as Quark sent off the waiter with the raktajino. "Ah the smell of a raktajino just makes the late shift livable," said Kira.
"What is it with raktajino today?" replied Quark with a shaken look on his face.
"What is with that look you have Quark?" asked Kira noticing the normally calm demeanor of Quark was shaken but not stirred.
"Mild fear for my life, I think," answered Quark before he remembered who he was talking too. He picked up the raktajino and handed it to Kira. 'Errr…I shouldn't of said that.'
"Afraid you'll lose money?"
"Not that," answered Quark. "Well, money I could handle but there is a guy back there at the far table that just gives me a bad feeling. He knows stuff that I haven't told anyone else, and to top it off he says he will prevent the Dominion from taking the station." Kira narrowed her eyes at the last part, and moved to turn around and get a good look at the guy. "No, don't look now. He will know you talked to me…" Quark quickly blurted out.
"Right," said Kira looking side-long at the Ferengi. "I'll have a talk with him after I finish my raktajino."
"Just don't mention me, ok?"
"That guy really has you scared, doesn't he?"
"I know my share of people on the wrong side of the law, and my best bet is that he is one of the most dangerous." Quark finished with a shudder as he accidentally met eyes with the stranger again.
Kira finished her drink and gave the empty glass to Quark. Standing up she walked around as if heading towards the holo-suites, but passed by the stairs and headed towards the lone figure at the back table.
"Is this chair taken?" asked Kira with her hand resting on the chair next to stranger. The figure looked at her and just shook his head. Sitting down she turned to human and said, "Haven't seen you around here before."
"Be surprised if you had," said the stranger. His raven black hair matched his eyes as if he was related to the bird in some way. Otherwise, his features were neither ugly nor necessarily handsome, more like the most average looking face she has ever seen.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" asked Kira matching the stare coming from the stranger. He smiled and laughed at Kira's attempt to match his stare.
"I guess you can call me Drake," he answered. "And what am I doing here? If there's ever a time when the station is threatened and you want help just look for me here…or I may just find you…"
"What does that mean?" asked Kira with anger in her voice. The thought of the station being in danger didn't sit with her at all.
"Major, there are no hidden meanings. Now if you don't mind I would like to finish my raktajino before it becomes lukewarm," said Drake while taking a swig of the cooling drink. He didn't need to eat or drink, but he could taste and store food (or other things…) in him and to get rid of them later. He would drink and eat on worlds back in Pegasus so not to raise the suspicions of the locals.
"Fine, just know that if you do anything to this station I will find you no matter where you go or try to hide and I will kill you," said Kira while standing up.
"Good day Major," said Drake taking another drink of the raktajino as she left.
As Kira was walking away the thought crosses her mind, 'What if he meant he would destroy Deep Space Nine before letting the Dominion gain it?' She turned around and reached for her phaser, but found only an empty holster. "Where did it go?" asked Kira while looking around. She spots a note on top of her phaser at the table where Drake was. 'Where did he go?' thought Kira as she made her way to the vacant table. Grabbing her phaser she quickly put it away, and grabbed the note.
She read it aloud in disgust that her weapon was taken without her knowing about it. " 'P.S. I am not going to destroy this beautiful station. See you around and remember to contact me when you need help.' Great," Kira mumbled, "now we have a guardian devil…"
On the upper level Drake stood watching and listening as the Major finished speaking. He had slipped some of his nanites into her weapon that allowed him to track her and listen. "Guardian Devil indeed! If only she knew how right she actually was." The Black Fleet Atra Operatio agent moved off heading to the promenade.
* * *
Delta Quadrant
Location – AMP – War Room
Time – Present Time
Bradshaw set the pad down and turned to Zeus. "So this Seven seems to be taking things into his own hands… He gave Starfleet Asgard technology and all the notes we used to back engineer it. And why is he on Deep Space Nine?"
Zeus shifted his weight and crossed his arms. "I trust his judgment, and didn't you say the Dominion War would need to be prevented or settled quickly so we can focus on the Borg?"
Bradshaw saw the logic, but still didn't like being kept out of the loop. "You're right, but I would prefer to be notified about major things like this."
"My men will do their job no matter what, and Drake will succeed. Regarding the Asgard technology, you did want Starfleet stronger, didn't you?"
Bradshaw relaxed seeing it was futile when dealing with Zeus about logic. 'He is as bad as a Vulcan!' thought Bradshaw. "I see your point, but we may not necessarily have to involve Starfleet," said Bradshaw.
"What do you mean?"
"Drake's information on the current stardate indicates that Janeway will negotiate a temporary alliance with the Borg in a few days. That means Species 8472 has already been in conflict with the Borg for the last six months." He pointed at the Star Trek Milky Way Galaxy map, and the holographic map zoomed into Borg identified space. Borg ship signatures populated the map, and showed a fissure through Borg space. "That fissure we found going through Borg space is actually what Janeway and Chakotay call the Northwest Passage. I was thinking if we could become allies with species 8472 we may be able to easily eliminate the Borg."
"True, but according to our files weren't they bent on destroying all life in this galaxy?"
"I have thought about that, and I believe if we show them that we hate the Borg too we may eventually turn around that thinking."
"They communicate telepathically though… We don't have anyone that is able to do that."
"Kes on the Voyager can though, and I want to meet up with them after Seven of Nine has beamed over to Voyager. We should send an assault team to capture Seven and kill the others drones."
"Voyager's crew may not like us appearing out of nowhere, and initiating combat on their ship. What if species 8472 won't ally with us and still plans to destroy all life here?"
"I would prefer to ally with them, but if that proves impossible then we will find a way to save this galaxy from both them and the Borg. Fighting against them would give us access to the Borg nanite weapon, plus our ship should be able to stand up to them. We will need Starfleet's help to finish off both the Borg and species 8472 if it comes to it."
"How will we get on their good side?" asked Zeus even though knew almost all probable answers he still wanted to humor his Tau'ri friend with these question and answer games.
"I have a plan," said Bradshaw with a smile.
Zeus rolled his eyes. "Do tell."
* * *
Alpha Quadrant
Location – Deep Space Nine – Quark's Bar
Time – Four Days After Kira Meets Drake
Drake was walking to the bar to drop off his empty glass while holding a datapad he "borrowed" from Odo. He was almost finished reading the information on the datapad which explained more about Odo's experience with his people, the Founders. Drake just needed to return it as stealthily as when he took it. Near the bar Julian and O'Brien started throwing darts in their game. O'Brien finished his turn and gave the darts to Julian who moved farther back to give himself a handicap in the game.
"Why must I always stand so far back?" asked Julian complaining before taking his turn.
"You're genetically engineered, and I want to win."
"I want to win too," said Julian as he aligned his throw and hurled the dart. Julian being so far away, he was unable to see Drake moving from behind the support column towards the bar. Drake didn't even look away from the datapad as he caught the dart mere inches from his temple with just two fingers, and in one fluid motion he tossed the dart over his head. Noise came from the dart board as the dart Drake threw landed bulls-eye on the dart board.
"Julian I thought you were supposed to heal people, not kill them," said O'Brien chastising his friend. Drake dropped off the glass as if nothing happened people were looking at him.
"I am very sorry about that…" said Julian while catching up to Drake. "…Excuse me, but I don't believe we've met."
Drake turned to Dr. Bashir after finishing what he was reading. "Drake," answered Drake. "You don't have to worry, I was in no danger."
O'Brien had walked up to Julian's side. "I'll second that," said O'Brien. "You have very good reflexes. Care to join our game? I would love to see if you can beat my friend here, and Julian here can get you some food."
"That is alright," said Drake talking about the food. "I am actually quite full, but I am curious about the game. I also want to try my skills against a genetically engineered human." Julian raised his eyebrows at the word "human."
"I guess everyone knows now days," said Julian.
"Well you are the only one in Starfleet," said O'Brien leading the other two to the dart board. He gathered the darts and handed them to Julian.
"Drake, do you want to go first?" asked Julian.
"Oh it's quite alright," said Drake declining throwing first. Julian threw from his handicap distance, and got one bulls-eye while the other two were still close to the center. The dart board did a little tune for the bulls-eye while Julian moved to gather the darts. He handed Drake the darts upon his return. Drake stood where Julian was and started to aim with his right hand.
"You can move up," suggested O'Brien. "Only Julian has to stand back there."
"What's a challenge if you aren't on equal footing?" responded Drake while taking time aiming. Others in Quark's bar were watching Drake, and Quark was relaxing after envisioning his bar as a major shoot out because of Julian.
"Yeah Miles," said Julian. "Where is the challenge if you aren't on equal footing?" Miles O'Brien was about to retort when Drake threw and got a bulls-eye on the first throw. Surprise appeared on Julian's and Miles' faces as the next two darts also bulls-eyed.
Drake retrieved the darts and handed them to Julian. "Don't worry about going easy on me Dr. Bashir."
"Right, and I guess my reputation precedes me," said Julian noticing that Drake knew his last name. He took careful aim before throwing the darts, he also got three bulls-eyes, and Miles turned to him in shock.
"You can still make them from there?" asked Miles and Julian just shrugged in response. "I don't believe this! Both of you move back. Clear a path people!" The crowd parted as the Drake moved back five feet holding the darts and aiming. He threw another three bulls-eyes receiving a cheer from the crowd. Quark shook his head not believing what he was seeing. Drake handed the darts back to Julian who threw after aiming very carefully.
"This is impossible!" shouted Miles as Julian matched Drake with three bulls-eyes. Drake walked back until he was next to Morn who was sitting watching the event. Drake threw the darts and the whistled through the air before hitting the center of the board again. The crowd cheered for both Drake and Julian. Drake quickly retrieved the darts and handed them to Julian who was just as dumbfounded at Drake's abilities, and started wondering if Drake was human or something else.
"You can do it Julian," said Miles.
"Shhh. I am trying to concentrate here," said Julian while aiming his first dart. He almost had to throw it like a quarterback in order for the dart to reach the dart board. He got another three bulls-eyes, and retrieved the darts for Drake.
"Julian that was amazing!"
"It was more luck than skill that time though…"
"Luck is part skill," said O'Brien. Drake was back at the entrance to the bar with a huge crowd around the path to the dart board. His arm moved fast while he threw the next three getting another three bulls-eyes. "I don't know Julian," said O'Brien looking at the distance. "I think he has you beat."
"I think so too," agreed Julian waiting for Drake to come back.
Quark was nodding his head at what he just saw vindicated in his earlier opinion of Drake. "Morn," said Quark out loud to Morn who was standing next to him behind his bar. "I knew Drake was someone not to mess with… When you think you have seen it all these Hoo-mans show you something new." Morn nodded as Julian took his time aiming.
The silence was so thick it was as if they were in outer space with no air for sound waves. The crowd had spilled out of the bar giving Julian and Drake enough room. This caught one Bajoran security officer's eye and he notified Odo about the disturbance. Julian threw the first dart getting a bulls-eye which the crowd celebrated intensely. Julian was actually sweating from the effort he was putting in, and Drake made it appeared as if this was nothing.
"You got this Julian. You got this…" said Miles coaching his friend. Julian didn't reply and threw his second dart hitting too low of the bulls-eye but still within the inner ring of the dart board. "It's okay Julian. Just make this next one." He threw again and this time the dart went too high.
"You did better than I thought you would," said Drake while shaking his Julian's hand. "But I have to go," said Drake while spotting Odo and a few of his security officers heading towards him. He left easily moving through the crowd and disappearing within moments. Drake had decided that the distraction he created was enough to allow him to place the datapad back in Odo's office without getting caught.
"Julian you did wonderful," said Miles trying to get to Julian who was in a distant gaze. "Hello, you there?"
"I wonder if he is even human…" said Julian absentmindedly.
"I wonder the same thing about you sometimes," said Miles. Odo and his security officers were breaking up the crowd.
A few hours later Kira got word of what happened from Quark who now looked shaken AND stirred. The thought of Drake being able to bulls-eye a dart board so far away frightened her. She was wondering if she should approach Odo about this, but remembered that he had feelings for her and wanted to avoid the awkwardness.
"I should tell Sisko about him," decided Kira as she took the turbo-lift to ops. The turbo-lift came to a gentle stop, and headed to Sisko's office. She noticed that Miles who was involved in the event earlier today was at work at a console updating the interface to show the upgrades.
"Major, how can I help you?" asked Captain Sisko as Kira entered his office. He noticed immediately that the normally confident Major looked afraid.
"Captain," said Kira. "Here is my daily report." She placed the report on the desk, but stayed at attention.
"Everything ok, Major?" asked Sisko.
"Four days ago I met this weird guy named Drake," said Kira remembering meeting the raven haired human. "He felt dangerous and even Quark found him disturbing."
"Quark found someone disturbing?" asked Sisko while smiling at the thought.
"Yes, and I agree with him fully," said Kira thinking it odd that she actually agreed with Quark on something.
"Continue Major," said Sisko with professionalism.
She explained everything about how he was able to take her gun, and the message he left. She even went over the event that happened two hours ago, and how she thinks the guy should be arrested.
"I see… Can you have the Chief come in here?" asked Sisko wanting Miles' opinion also before taking any actions. She nodded and left to get him. She returned with Miles a moment later. "Chief what did you think of this Drake character?"
"I wouldn't want to make him angry…" said Miles. "Julian doubted if he was even human."
Sisko nodded and said, "Thank you Chief, and Major I will handle this." With that said he dismissed them, and sat back to contemplate the issue. "Hmm… Odo has his hands full keeping theft and other crimes in check. Worf is out with Martok in the Rotarran on a patrol, but will be back in a few days. How did Kira describe him?" asked Sisko. "Dark clothes, raven black hair, and eyes so dark that they resembled a bottomless well, now who does that remind me of? Sounds like a job for a specialist." He pushes buttons on his desk, and opens a com line to the finest tailor on the station.
"What can I help you with Captain?" asked Garak over the com line.
"Mr. Garak, I'm having a fashion crisis. Can you meet me on the promenade in say, ten minutes?"
"Certainly, Captain. I'd be happy to oblige…" said Garak pausing slightly. "Might I inquire as to the…nature…of this emergency?"
Standing up Sisko walks towards his door before responding. "I'm thinking about some alterations Mr. Garak, but I can't say whether they'll entail having something hemmed in or let out. Given your skill with a needle is this something you can help me determine?"
Garak in his shop smiles knowingly, and his dark eyes sparkle with excitement. "Most definitely Captain. I'll get my sewing kit."
What neither of them knew was that Drake had already placed nanite bugs in Sisko's office, the wardroom, ops, and had been listening to everything since Drake saw Kira travel to Sisko's office. "This could be fun," said Drake with a sparkle in his eyes about the coming challenge.
* * *
Delta Quadrant
Location – AMP – War Room
Time - 50974.09 – A Day After Last Time
The trio of McKays entered the war room heading towards the holographic table in the center where Col. Bradshaw along with Zeus were planning an incursion into Borg space. Arcturus McKay lead the way with waves of rolling superiority. Rod McKay followed next with an annoyed look while staring at the back of Arcturus's head. Darth McKay seemed distant and annoyed he had to leave his toy drones.
"You three have the reports I asked for?" asked Bradshaw. He turned away from the holographic map to face the newcomers.
"Guess what I found," said Arcturus with a smug grin.
"I asked you to look into that Borg station's power source, and while space and subspace is all messed up for a hundred and ten light years around the station's location."
"I found it in the Borg database we got from the station, but I still want you to guess."
"Give me a moment…" said Bradshaw trying to find anything in the Star Trek database that Alice had taken from their original universe. He searched and searched, but he finally found something that made his face go pale. "Omega?"
"YES!" said Arcturus with so much enthusiasm that it seemed he would start jumping up and down. "I haven't found out how they were able to harness that particle, but they did and used it to power the inter-universal gate!"
"But… how? They didn't have this in the original timeline…"
"Right and the original timeline didn't have us in it either," said Arcturus. "So far everything seems similar to what we know but there are several differences, like the titan drones and an inter-universal station."
"This means we could have issues…" said Bradshaw more to himself than to any of the others. "Zeus, I would like you or one of your men to take that Black Fleet Light Cruiser and shadow Voyager immediately! We can't have her accidently getting destroyed on us."
"I will have Four go now," said Zeus and prepared to send a message. 'Take the BFLC to shadow and protect Voyager until we meet up.'
'Affirmative. Asthun out,' came the reply message from Four or Asthun.
"Good," said Bradshaw once he got the affirmative nod from Zeus that it was done. "Arcturus, did you also look into increasing the power of the personal shield units?"
"I was actually the one that accepted that project," said Rod moving forward next to Arcturus. "I looked into it, and it isn't possible. The power that each unit holds is the max."
"So there is nothing we can do?" asked Zeus a little bit worried for his men.
"I didn't say that," said Rod. "I think I have come up with something better. I believe the best way is to make each socket on the armor part recharging plate. However, that means carrying a generator."
"What kind of generator?" asked Bradshaw knowing that we have few portable generators.
"A micro-naquadah generator… say the Micro-Mark III which is more advanced than what was used on the X-699 plasma cannon."
"Would one be enough?" asked Zeus.
"No… Well maybe for engagements that don't last more than twelve hours," answered Rod. "I was thinking of taking three of them and connecting them in a backpack that will shield the generators. The backpack will then power the three recharging plates thus increasing the longevity of the personal shield units."
"We won't have another Micro-Mark II with these, right?" asked Bradshaw remembering what happened with the mMark II naquadah generator series.
"No the defect was fixed in the mMark III," answered Rod. "I remember what happened to SG-48 when they used the X-699 and ended up blowing themselves and the surrounding kilometer area."
Zeus closed his eyes as he pulled up the incident report about what happened. "You are sure it will not happen again?" asked Zeus with a serious expression.
"Yes?" said Rod bristling under Zeus's gaze. "The main issue with the mMark II was that they tried to increase energy generation by adding a little bit of naquadriah to it, and you know how hard to keep that stuff stable."
"Rod, make sure we don't, and is there any other way?" asked Bradshaw.
"We just don't have any other options, but I will look into it."
"Darth, how is that project I sent you?" asked Bradshaw turning to the last McKay who looked off in his own world.
"Mass severing of the connection to the Borg Collective?" asked Darth still seeming not all there.
"How is it going?"
"What answer would you like?"
"You have made progress would be nice to hear," said Bradshaw.
"It turned out to be more complicated than I thought it would be," said Darth.
"How so? Voyager was able to do it in the dvd files we have on the ship."
"Yes, well that was just one drone," answered Darth with a hint of annoyance. "You're talking about trillions of Borg drones all at once. The Borg have redundant systems for keeping the connection active. There are twenty or so uni-matrixes and we could sever all Borg connections if we could implement a power overload on all of them simultaneously. If we do it one at a time the others will easily adapt the load to the others until repairs are made to the uni-matrix link system is fixed."
"Couldn't we just destroy each uni-matrix?"
"This is one of the things that can't be solved by you military-violence types," answered Darth taking a breath out of habit even though he didn't breathe anymore. "The Borg will adapt, you must understand this. If we start destroying the uni-matrixes they will start rebuilding them because they have the resources to do it. They may even start building small subspace link satellites in the thousands to compensate the connection to the Collective. And if we go after them they will adapt by putting stronger link systems on their cubes. Then we will have to do it cube by cube, and that could take a while…"
Zeus saw the issue and suggested an answer, "A virus… A super-virus that would be able to cause power overloads everywhere at once."
"That could work, but the virus would have to do it faster than the Borg could adapt and assimilate the virus," said Darth thinking that over. "Admiral Janeway that came from the future tried a virus, and that did do a lot of damage. However, it was assimilated and the damage was contained."
"I remember one time the airforce base I was at was hit with a massive sleeper virus," said Bradshaw. "The virus was undetectable in its inactive form, and because of that was able to spread unchecked. Then the hacker that sent it activated and within a second the whole base was shutdown."
"That may just work…" said Darth mumbled to himself while going over the idea in his head. "You're just asking me to write a super sleeper virus that makes the Borg mainframe as frail as Windows ME?"
"May take you what, a week?" asked Bradshaw.
"Ha! It would probably be easier to get the Borg to assimilate Windows ME and watch the Borg apocalypse happen," said Darth while laughing at his jokes.
"So a month?"
"It will be done when it is done," answered Darth.
"Last time I heard that I ended up waiting ten years for Starcraft 2!"
"It would just be easier to destroy them all," mumbled Darth.
"Now who is the one that wants to solve everything with violence?" Bradshaw received a glare from Darth for using his own words against him. Seeing that Darth wasn't going to respond Bradshaw figured the meeting was over. "Ok get back to work, and Arcturus how is the inter-universal drive coming?"
"Short answer is that it will at least be a year unless I get some major breaks," answered Arcturus. "It took the Borg years to build the station and I have to alter our celestial drive for it to be able to transverse the multi-verse!"
"You're a McKay, you have major breaks built in," said Bradshaw.
"A year at the least," said Arcturus and he promptly walked out with the other McKays.
Bradshaw leaned over to Zeus and said, "Find out what is making Darth act weird toward me…"
"Don't won't to," replied Zeus before he beamed away.
"I wonder if he was kidding or what…" said Bradshaw turning back to the map and going over the plan for a third time.
Four/Asthun beamed to the light crusier that was in the Atra Operatio's secret hangar. He walked through the hall and opened the door to the bridge. He sat on the interface chair and unlike the chairs in Atlantis this chair stayed up when activated. The consoles activated right when he sat in the chair, and a little holographic display activated showing Wonderland in his ninja garb.
"Gonna miss me four?" asked Wonderland.
"I will not," said Asthun while pressing more commands on the consoles activating yet more systems.
"You're so mean!"
"I will not because you are coming with me," said Asthun seeing the AI's dismay. "Copy a portable version of you into the computer please."
"Tally-ho!" Wonderland began the data transfer of portable version of himself. "I feel the power!" Wonderland began to grow in size on the holographic display and laughing all the way. "I am invincible… muhahahah!" Asthun pressed a button causing the AI to shrink back to size. "But itty-bitty living space," said Wonderland as he was shrunk back onto the display.
"Activate the Asgard transporters for me, please?" asked Asthun. Wonderland always had a hard time giving Asthun a hard time because of his polite demeanor.
"Three… Two… One," announced Wonderland and with a flash the Black Fleet light crusier was beamed outside AMP. "Setting coordinates for Voyager and activating cloak," said Wonderland.
"Thank you Wonderland," said Asthun while he pressed the gelatinous interface on the chair bringing up a map showing Voyager's current location along with the jump coordinates from Wonderland. "Jumping now."
The invisible light cruiser lurched forward into the hyperspace window. The soft blue light of hyperspace permeated the bridge of the cloaked light cruiser, and from the outside nothing was visible. Wonderland's holographic form was sharpening his ninja sword projecting the sound of sharpening stone against his blade.
"In six minutes we will be within range of Voyager," said Asthun as he pressed on the gelatinous interface. Six minutes quickly passed and the light cruiser exited hyperspace. "Accelerating to maximum sublight," said Asthun trying to match speed with Voyager. This proved futile as Voyager passed the invisible light cruiser at warp 9.6 leaving the light cruiser in the dust.
"This is a problem," said Wonderland quickly doing the math.
"You are right. Our hyperdrives are faster than warp drives, but warp drives are able to still be in normal space while traveling while we have to go into subspace…" Asthun contemplated all possibilities, but realized at this time there was nothing that could be done. "We will have to jump ahead of Voyager, and watch them pass us."
"You are correct Asthun," said Wonderland calculating the amount of hyperspace jumps needed to stay up with the ship. "This is going to be a long and tedious mission…"
Asthun was deep in thought as Wonderland handled the next jump which quickly showed Voyager passing them yet again. "If they stop we may be able to attach ourselves to the underside of the ship…" Wonderland jumped the ship yet again only to be passed by Voyager yet again.
"Assuming they stop of course!"
"Wonderland, that information we got from Drake do you think we could create an artificial federation distress signal?"
"Let me link up with myself…" said Wonderland. "Yes we could do it, but that would mess with the timeline diverting Voyager from their current course."
"We can't have that now, can we… Let's just hope they stop for a bathroom break sometime soon," said Asthun.
"Was that a joke I heard?" asked Wonderland in shock.
"Maybe," said Asthun as the light cruiser completed yet another jump. "It seems true that they can't detect hyperspace windows…"
"If we continue jumping eventually they will notice the hyperspace windows," suggested Wonderland. "Thus messing up the timeline yet again…"
"Wonderland, calculate a jump one day ahead of them," said Asthun deciding less jumps may be better in the long run. "But keep sensors on them to watch their progress from a far." Wonderland nodded and sent the light cruiser into hyperspace to come out a day ahead of Voyager.