Chapter Beta Read by: - Specter06.
Chapter 35 (Exit Aperture)
"Just great!" After McGregor managed to save his vessel from the clutches of a surprised Borg invasion, he was faced to face with the collective on the outside. The whole situation began to annoy him.
As soon as the enemy vessels entered range, they opened fire with a barrage of projectile weapons. They slammed into the already drained shields weakening them further.
Due to the extensive damage and the previous emergency venting into cold space, some of the shield energy converters had frozen solid and was unable to process the huge amounts of energy needed for the shield capacitors. The energy was gradually being drained.
"What's the status of our shields?" McGregor looked towards Tulack.
"Our shields are at forty-five percent and dropping."
McGregor stepped up to the railing and placed his hands on it. The weapons fire behind him through the panoramic windows flashed up the command center, as if they were at a disco.
"Activate all the guns and bring every beam cannon we have online. Its time to end this." McGregor saw this as checkpoint time and he wanted the battle over now.
But he still had the transwarp exit aperture to deal with. Without the space station, he would have to defeat every Borg vessel that decided to exit. He didn't want to be a doorstop.
"Tulack, contact Leeli. We need a method to destroy the aperture now." Given luck and determination, she might find a way to seal the aperture and prevent any more Borg from entering the Alfa quadrant permanently. Unless they traveled directly from the Delta quadrant, which was unlikely because it will take them around 70 years, McGregor thought.
The beam cannons, in view to the command deck crew, opened fired on the Borg. Each highly charged beam penetrated the hull of the Borg cube and rammed its way through the center of the vessel until it exploded out the other end, as if someone shoved a pole through a delicate toy.
Already three Borg vessels had been destroyed and the collective decided to pull them back. McGregor was not happy; the last thing he wanted to do is play cat and mouse with the damn Borg.
"Shit, I don't want to go and hunt the Borg down." McGregor gestured to the firing control officer. "Lock the beam cannons on the fleeing cubes, and fire!"
Streams of light stabbed through the Borg vessels, blasting huge holes through the core of the cubes. Some Borg Vessels broke apart into millions of pieces and some just hung in space mortally wounded. McGregor saw it as payback and grinned like a mad man as each strike hit home, Adapt to that!
Like a wild animal, Arania marched on the command deck more angry then a Klingon on a bad day. "Those robotic peasants, I will kill every last one of them, they violated my body and nearly killed me!"
McGregor looked at her fragile blue figure as she marched to the firing control station and shunted the original offer away. She grabbed the controls and began firing at the Borg. Each vessel was pulverized and the Borg could not flee the range of the massive 1TW Beam cannons. Arania rotated the barrels of the cannons at such breathtaking speed that each charge cycle was completed by the time she got a lock on the next target. McGregor was impressed.
"Captain, if I may suggest, I believe Arania is venting her anger, and letting her loose on the primary weapon controls is probably not the best course of action at this moment." Tulack leaned over his station and McGregor met his gaze.
"Do you want to take her off the controls?"
Tulack looked back towards Arania and saw her grinning like a girl. She was receiving the necessary satisfaction and revenge to heal her wounds and he assumed it would be best to leave her alone.
"I stand corrected Captain; I believe this is the kind of help that will allow Arania to recover quickly."
A call came over the intercom, "Search teams here. We've done a sweep of the ship and found no Borg drones, just dead bodies. We have counted thirty seven dead officers." Dread filled McGregor heart as he finally realized how many people had died, even though they are part of Starfleet and not part of his personal crew, he still felt saddened.
A call suddenly overlapped the original transmission and then cut it off, "This is Kane McGregor, I have lost two of my warriors and I would like to thank you for this marvelous glory you have given my people. They have served you and the empire well, and my companions would like to celebrate their passing at a time of your choosing." McGregor initially forgot the Klingons were onboard and he knew they would fight to the bitter end. But now was not the time, there were still a number of Borg ships outside and the exit aperture needed closing. He thanked Kane for his information and closed the channel.
Blast cannons shot stabbing white beams towards the Borg vessels, draining their shields bit by bit. McGregor walked closer to the far side of a panoramic window and watched the rave of white lights streak through space at there own accord. The storm of lights and plasma bolts was an impressive view from the command deck.
A 1TW beam glided in space trying to catch the faster agile ships, but the beams only managed to skim the assimilated vessels. It was down to basic weapons.
Like moths to a flame, the assimilated vessels swarmed around the explorer trying to drain its shields. Pulse cannon turret guns opened fire and the entire area was a hurricane of ordinance. But the assimilated vessels adapted to the simple cannons and McGregor could see it would take more to destroy the ships.
Warning lights lit up several stations on the command deck as the primary shield of the Explorer was teetering on the edge of failure. McGregor knew that if the shield failed, the Borg could invade his ship again; he was not going to let that happen. Boy, he wished he had some quantum torpedoes.
"How many ships are left?" McGregor asked.
"I count two Romulan Warbirds, one Klingon war vessel and some other vessels… I can't get a lock on them sir." Someone shouted over the frantic noises the guns were making through the hull of the Explorer.
As if she wanted to make a point, Arania charged the primary beam cannon and fired it directly at the Romulan vessel; it was blasted into atoms.
"Correction, One Romulan Warbird left." Arania replied with her brow furrowed.
"Captain, main shields are down to eight percent and engine room reports it will take ten minutes to reactivate the converters."
McGregor slammed his fists against the station he was stood next to, looks like we are going to have more Borg visitors.
"All stations prepare for Borg invasion, activate…" McGregor was interrupted by a frantic call.
"Captain, six vessels have just jumped out of slipstream, it's… it's…" The ensign let out a long sigh as she realized it wasn't the enemy. "I'm counting six ships. They're Federation."
Out of the frantic activity, six Starfleet vessels plunged into the criss-crossed free-for-all battle with quantum torpedoes flying in all direction. Each hit struck a Borg assimilated ship sending shrapnel everywhere.
McGregor bent over his station, annoyed and abashed. Great, Janeway will be rubbing her nose in this once she finds out.
When the battle finally subsided, the Explorer edged forward with its running momentum, smashing into destroyed hulls and floating Borg bodies. The Explorers shield shimmered with impacts and no one dared lower their only protection, in fear of collision. But everyone still thought about the remaining threat that needed to be dealt with.
Leeli interrupted the eerie silence, bringing everyone back to reality. "Captain, I have made accurate calculations and surmise that a direct hit with three 1TW beam cannons at an emerging Borg vessel should destroy the Borg's exit aperture."
Leeli handed McGregor her glass computerized tablet and studied the results. He knew the Borg will be coming soon and decided to take the chance. There was no risk, the generators are online and the shields are back to one hundred percent.
"OK, make the preparations. Communications, tell the Starfleet ships what we're doing." McGregor walked away from the window and sat in his chair, waiting.
Now that everything had settled and the immediate danger has passed, Arania could not resist the burning question that has plagued the crew. She walked up with a burning question on her mind. "Captain, your daughter, Jasmine… I never knew."
McGregor did not respond and his face remained cold and blank; the bridge went silent except for one officer who relayed the ready command.
"Scan the aperture and fire when a Borg ship enters." McGregor stared into the sea of darkness, slightly embarrassed at the whole family discovery thing. He'd rather be assimilated by the Borg than answer any questions relating to that.
Whispers on the command deck caught McGregor's attention, like a knife to his thought. He could hear the words, words about his relationship to Jasmine. He felt embarrassed. It was something he wanted to keep secret and his crew was not supposed to know that he was a family man. That would change the image he wanted to portray and he'd forgotten about the situation until Arania brought it up.
Damn that woman.
Saved by the bell, or call, Nathan yelled over the whispers, "Captain, the aperture is powering up, I am detecting a Borg… thing. It's not on any Starfleet database, it's huge!"
"Right, power up the Beam cannons, now's our chance!" McGregor jumped to his feet and watched the pulsating blue anomaly in space. It began to grow.
Like the deck cannons on a battleship, the 1TW Beam cannons glowed like three hot suns, bursting to the limits with maximum energy.
The diamond shaped vessel slowly submerged out of the exit aperture covered in Borg indentations. Green streaks shot across its hull and millions of festering, shifting clumps of mismatched Borg components swum up and down the main structure. McGregor felt like he was out of his depth. Where was Janeway when you need her?
McGregor's legs had locked up, but he forced himself closer to the window. His voice was husky. He did not want this responsibility or the consequences if this idea failed. "Fire the primary cannons."
With the combined power of three 1TW cannons, the barrels of the cannons shot out their load of hot throbbing energy into the depths of space. Never before had McGregor witnessed the release of so much energy into space. White-hot stabbing beams ripped into the rupture causing a chain reaction unlike anything the crew had seen before. Explosions ruptured the hodgepodge Borg vessel and secondary explosions blasted parts around like popcorn inside a glass container.
The exit of the aperture spluttered and vomited parts of the destroyed Borg vessel before the transwarp suction sucked everything inside, like a black hole. Space remained undisturbed and calm.
"Is the aperture gone?" He questioned, it was directed to anyone who could gather the responsibility to answer.
Nathan replied with good news, "Yes, the aperture is closed permanently."
After a short concession of sighs and relieved gestures from the crew, everyone erupted in cheers and celebration as the threat was now neutralized and the Borg could not invade easily again.
McGregor assumed the same was happening on all the other starships and confirmation was sent to every ship in the known quadrant, the Borg has lost their only easy passage and Starfleet can now pick up the pieces.
Arania walked into McGregor's ready room and saw him staring out at the biggest junkyard in the sector. Damaged hull fragments and dead bodies floated in space, hitting at random objects. It was a sight she was glad to see pass as the ship entered warp and the stars began to wiz across the window.
McGregor turned and confronted Arania. He didn't know what to say and he wanted to keep his relationship with Jasmine private. It was a difficult past that he did not wish to share at this moment in time.
Arania recognized his body language and handed him the updates about the Explorers rebuild effort. She thought that perhaps when things return to normal, he would be more talkative. When the time comes.
McGregor offered her a warm smile as she left the room, not pressing the matter.
McGregor walked over to the port window and stared at his scarred vessel that would be repaired once they reach Earth. He made preparations to replant and grow the habitat dome and finalize his bill for Starfleet, after all he was going to get something from the fight, a fight he did not want.
A call came through his terminal, Greg appeared on the screen. "Captain, I've found some interesting things about this ship."
McGregor sat on his chair and leaned forward. "Go on, I thought I knew everything about my ship."
Greg seemed unruffled but she shifted the view slightly as one of the turret gun spun in its chamber in the background.
"I was running some maintenance on the weapons when I discovered an identification tag. Sir, it appears that Starfleet, or the Federation did not construct the Explorer class ships."
McGregor looked surprised; it certainly was a human ship from the initial setup, except it was old. "What do you mean it was not created by humans?"
"No sir. That's not what I mean, from the records I gathered, a private organization run by a rich tycoon funded the construction of twenty colony ships to setup industries on planets that would bring back a rich supply of resources to Earth. The project was lost and dissolved when the tycoon died from… health matters."
McGregor could not hold back a bitter smirk, "I guess he bit of more then he could chew… So, why tell me this now?"
"McGregor, this ship is made from components that Starfleet doesn't know about, or can't manufacture, we have lost a whole bunch of energy converts that I've never seen before." He held a device into view. It looked charred and unrecognizable.
"There's a whole list of schematics in the database that might have that device in it. Look under 'Old stuff' then convert the plans into the replicator system and make one. I've done it before." McGregor made a bitter noise. "Is there anything else?"
"No sir, I will get right on it." The terminal went black and McGregor's reflection appeared on the dark glass.
Caught up in a whirlwind of silence, he stepped back towards the window and removed his top. The room was warmer then he thought and as he fiddled with the climate control system, Jasmine walked in.
She stared at him and was supplied to find half his top off and T-shirt showing. He clearly looked embarrassed.
"What do you want, and you should chime in first!" McGregor could hardly breathe, she just walked in and their relationship was the talk of the ship. The clamor of emotions in his head drowned all rational thought.
"You should understand, it was not your fault, we all forgive you. You did not leave our mother to die; there was nothing you could of done. We forgive you." She walked over to him at the window relieved at the thought she was carrying for a long time. "My brother and sisters want you back in our life, it's been too long. We know what happened and we don't blame you."
McGregor snapped, "You don't understand. If it weren't for me, she would have never died. You have no idea what's it like to loose someone like your mother."
McGregor sat down feeling disorientated, barely able to stand. Then Jasmine saw it. She moved back making a surprised sound, staring at his arm. "You…. You have mothers bonding ring."
He immediately placed his free hand on the bonding ring that has been embedded in his arm for over ten years.
"I knew it, I could always feel my mother, out there, now I understand why." Jasmine came closer to her father and touched the ring. It shimmered with a faint light that glowed into Jasmine's skin. She shivered slightly.
She backed away. "Mums spirit lives on inside you. She feels a peace and wants you to reunite our family. She does not blame you."
Jasmine leaned back, her skin began to return to normal from its glowing state. McGregor looked in shock, as if he'd seen a ghost.
"What was that?" He questioned, but he already knew the answer.
"I think you already know. I have to return to my station, I came to hand you the status reports." Jasmine walked out of the room and McGregor could not help but feel that she was frightened by the experience. But she will recover as always.
He stood up and looked at the bonding ring as it pulsated and glistened in the starlight, healthy and alive. She was right, as long as the bonding ring remains on his arm, his partner will still live on inside him. McGregor felt connected to her. Something that kept him alive and strong. Without her spirit and now his children, he could not cope with the universe.
With settled nerves and a clear mind, McGregor replicated himself a fresh cup of Earl Gray tea and sat behind his desk holding a glass-computerized tablet with the latest status reports.
With the cup in his hands, he took a much-needed sip. It was the most rewarding taste he had experienced in a long time. With all the battles and the huge rescue mission, he could finally get back to his normal job, which was to deliver goods; it was peaceful and profitable undertaking, until the next big problem knocked on his ships hull.
The End of Star Trek: - The Cataline Race.
Final note from the Author:
I wish to thank all the readers for taking the time to read this story that has taken over a year to complete and one of my major projects I was doing. I hope it has enlightened your lives and given you a new insight to Star Trek and the lives of the people involved.
I hope that everyone will leave a review to encourage more people to read. You are welcome to express your views on what you have read. It is always a reward to hear feedback from a work of art that takes years to make.
Many thanks everyone and enjoy fan fiction.
Shane