Star Trek: The Next Generation – Souvenirs

Written By: Commander Cody CC-2224

CHAPTER 51

Because all of the Starfleet personnel on board the Enterprise were far too busy fighting off the shipboard Borg invasion, Lt. Commander Data was forced to resort to recruiting one or two of the colonial children. Of particular interest was the idea of making a sort-of-formal request to Ben, of all people, to accompany him, no doubt on the dangerous mission of possibly retaking the Corellian Battle Cruiser K'Mar and activating its main weapon system to destroy the remaining Borg cubes, which was what Commander Kese was planning on doing since his escape from the already Borg-overrun Corellian battle cruiser. Alongside Data toted a heavy replicated MG-42 Berlin machine gun dating back to the origins of Earth's World War II. Armed with a heavy duffel bag containing replicated M-1 Carbines, a Thompson SMG from the 1930's, a couple of AK-47s, and a handful of Colt M1911s. Included in the duffel bag of a portable weapons cache was the holographic ammunition for these aforementioned real replicated and antiquated weapons. Given the amount of arsenal that Data was already having in possession it could be ascertained that he was without some fair measure of doubt prepared to do some serious fighting against the Borg infestation. The next best thing he needed for the mission was a couple of assistants; first, Commander Kese, since he had in possession of his slightly large head the knowhow of advanced Corellian technology on board the K'Mar in his advanced brain matter, and second, an available and willing sidekick. Somehow Lt. Commander Data knew Ben to be up to the sidekick task, since he was told sometime by Commander La Forge that Ben, having somewhat of a Johnny Tremain personality, was that type of boy who wanted to have a piece of nearly every action involving…of all things, fighting bad guys.

Of course, Ben would not be up against the classic redcoats that often looked tame in children's books about America's history of the War for Independence. Ben would be up against a new but relentless and virulent type of humanoid species that made every attempt to strip themselves of all things human and wear machine parts all over their bodies. Even more dangerous about the Borg was that once Ben was captured, he would have to endure a terrible form of a prisoner-of-war captive; in essence he would literally become one of them. And if Ben became one of them, he would be completely cut off and alienated from the rest of his friends he swore to look after and protect.

But Lt. Commander Data needed an available secondary person to look after his android back, and given that everyone else was too busy minding their own damn business in the battle against the Borg, about the "only" available individual to be his sidekick was…Ben. And so with his objective so clearly framed within his android mind, Data fluently placed his android hand directly on the touch-button of the door chime, thus having the system alert the VIP refugees in the Guest Quarters room to his presence.

The Corellian officer present in the Guest Quarters disengaged the locking mechanism and immediately allowed Data's entry, almost without question, much to the surprise of Felicity and her friends and siblings. Slamming down the duffel bag and unzipping it open it to reveal its seemingly strange but warlike contents, Data then proceeded to making his request in Ben to accompany him on what his android mind hoped Ben would perceive as the most thrilling mission that he ever participated in his teenage years. So Ben, as he was having some sort of yearning to be in the action, willingly volunteered to join the party in the manner of a true gentleman.

"I am going to make an attempt to bring the Corellian cruiser's turbolaser guns online," he declared fluently and a mite tonelessly. "However, every one of the Starfleet personnel on board the Enterpriseis busy fighting the Borg that they can't spare any one to cover me. I am asking one of you to accompany me."

Commander Kese instantly became a mite surprised. This was what he planned to do from the beginning, and now Data was also planning to do what Kese had in mind in the first place. How was it possible that both Data and Kese had the same objective in mind, even though they never discussed this particular objective in person? Then again, maybe it was all just mere coincidence…

Ben immediately stood up on his own two feet, in response for the volunteer opportunity offered by a Starfleet officer. For him, this seemed to be the moment he was waiting for. And he didn't need to let Felicity's father know of this in person, because Felicity's father wasn't there to make objections about this sort of thing in the first place! With no grownup, aside from Chaplain Garland and Lt. Commander Data, making fairly reasonable objections about Ben's personal safety that were grounded in the superfluities of objective perspectives, Ben decided that this was the time of his life.

"I'll go, sir," he offered, after a moment's consideration.

After a curt, emotionless nod, Data began formally requested the Corellian officer to tag along with him along his newfound group, because he would most likely need him to access and disengage the security protocols aboard the Corellian cruiser, as well as lead the entire group to the cruiser's Main Battle Bridge.

"I am also asking you to accompany us because we'll need you to override the security protocols on board the cruiser," he said to the Corellian officer. "And lead us directly to the cruiser's Main Bridge."

The Corellian officer simply looked at Data like he was crazy or something. "I'm afraid I'm disinclined to acquiesce to your request," he only responded in a smug manner. "And it's the Main Battle Bridge, not the Main Bridge!"

Commander Kese's reply was rather surprising because this was what he was intending to do. However, the last thing he expected was an android. Perhaps it wasn't so much the mission as the way Lt. Commander Data asked Commander Kese. If Corellians were ever this conscious of their rank, it would usually be Commander Kese. Besides, Data was rushing this. Kese needed some time to think things through, and Data was pushing him. And a large majority Corellians in general didn't like being pushed; at the very least not by foreigners like Data.

Data only looked at the officer curiously, apparently unaffected by such a response that would normally tick off a good-natured human being. "Are you implying cowardice, sir?" he asked curiously.

"To be blunt, yes," replied Kese. "But it's a fear of something else."

"What sort of fear?" Data queried the officer further.

"The fear of being assimilated," was Kese's reply, and only excuse for refusing to come along.

In a few seconds Felicity was quick to call him a coward. Felicity had gone to great lengths to do semi-heroic things, especially since she was ten years old. How was it that Felicity was relatively fearless, yet the Corellian officer seemed to be rather unwilling to take some personal risks? Not thoroughly understanding, much less attempting to comprehend the aspects behind Commander Kese's reasons for his answers, she decided, much to her fiery redheaded mind, that such a refusal was unprecedented; uncalled for.

"Why, you are a coward, then!" Felicity was quick to conclude rather hotheadedly. "When an enemy attacks you cower in the shelter the guest quarters! When you took us off that vessel you abducted us on, you couldn't even fight the horrid monsters you encountered! You just simply retreated and stuffed us into those tubes we were locked in!"

But Corellian officers didn't take criticism that lightly. In fact, Commander Kese was quick to stand up to her and point out her hotheaded conclusions.

"How dare you imply this, Miss Felicity Merriman!" he snapped quietly, as he sprang to his feet. "Look at yourself, if you very well can! You can afford to criticize me of cowardice because as a girl, or rather a puny human being of the weaker sex, you can very well afford to watch from the sidelines while your friend, Mr. Davidson, is going to fight the Borg! While he, along with me, will be forced to engage in dangerous battle with one of the most ruthless enemies in the galaxy, you cower in your sheltered life and weep like a sissy over his departure, thinking that he'll never come back! And of course, girls with the likes of you can afford to worry about fancy gowns and dance lessons, while we worry about getting our precious body parts shot to pieces!"

Felicity felt her face beginning to redden out of embarrassment. These words seemed to sting her and actually began to have some sort of impact on her outlook of affairs concerning the virtue of bravery. Here she was, a mere human being, criticizing a fairly respectable commander of another humanoid alien race, when she herself hadn't had to escape with her life, just like what Commander Kese had to do to get on board the Enterprise and plan strategy to assist in the battle against the Borg. How could she not put herself into the boots of Commander Kese when she berated him in such a seething manner unwarranted for a girl her age? It was like boldly criticizing her elders! For all her efforts to play serial critic at the Corellian officer, she seemed to overlook something in the officer's own situation: mainly that the officer himself escaped from the K'Mar with his life because he was ordered to. Aside from that, the officer was also ordered to seek assistance from any crew or civilians on board the Enterprise.

Also, it became pretty surprising to Felicity's friends and siblings how Commander Kese was able to understand the things that most girls back in Felicity's time wanted in their childhood. Almost unknown to them, except to Ben, who had the opportunity to view Felicity's visual memory log, Commander Kese was able to know this due to the visual memory logs of the five children that Kese viewed some time ago when he was stationed on board the K'Mar.And Commander Kese was in some small measure able to use these things…to shame Felicity!

The last thing that Commander Kese expected was a pair of two youngsters; yes, from the very same people that his people brought from their own time. "I was ordered…by my captain…to escape from the K'Mar," he said through gritted teeth and fear at the very same time. He left out the part about seeking assistance from any of the Enterprise personnel, which was part of his plans, really. To Kese it was preferable that he let his fear take over his objectivity. But Felicity had no call to judge him prematurely, at least from the Corellian officer's point of view.

"Besides," he continued, "The situation is far more complicated than you think!" the Corellian officer interjected further. "If one of our people, including myself, were to be assimilated by the Borg, the Borg will use our knowledge of time travel to disrupt the timeline in order to assimilate other beings from different times!" He abruptly turned his head to face Data. "Mr. Data, I am not going to stand being insulted by this puny human female. I refuse to accompany you, much less her friend, or should I put it quite bluntly, her stuffy lover boy!"

Again, Felicity felt the same surge of embarrassment creeping over her. She took a step up to Data and grabbed one of the Thompsons from Data's duffel bag.

"You're right," she said quite bluntly. To hell with word-mincing; this was a time to be honest, particularly about her damn self. "If I'm going to criticize you of lacking bravery, then perhaps I should be brave as well. I'm going to accompany both of you."

"Lissie, 'tis most improper for a gentlewoman to be engaged in fighting!" Nan protested out loudly.

'Tis not safe, Lissie," Elizabeth tried to counsel her best friend on the cautious side.

"I don't bloody well care," Felicity declared quite crossly. "The last thing I want to be accused of is not practicing what I preach. I've already made my choice."

"Elizabeth is right, Lissie," Ben reminded Felicity. "It isn't safe. Besides, you're still…" He took a deep breath, because what he was going to say was something that Felicity most likely wouldn't like, much less stand to hear about her

"…A bit of a girl," Ben finished in a rather blunt manner.

Felicity flounced back at Ben, snarling furiously at him, her green eyes glaring, and began her heated, snappish retort. "I'm sick of hearing such nonsense from you, Benjamin Davidson! 'Bit of a girl' and all that! Besides, I know bloody well it isn't safe for a girl! At least, from your point of view!"

"Then 'twould do well if you heeded such proverbial advice from a friend," Ben said seriously.

"Nope," Felicity said simply. However her simple, one-word reply was smug. Was she starting to act like Elizabeth's older sister, Annabelle?

"I've already made up my mind." She plaited her wavy, ginger-red hair back to her head, flounced directly at Ben and faced him with great determination. "I'm going with you." As if she had to have her own way.

Ben could only goggle in reaction over Felicity's blatant defiance to the convention of her times. Time and again she'd do things like that, such as at times when Felicity would dress in his breeches and sneak out to see Penny in Mr. Nye's pasture. But for him this was going too far. "Lissie…you can't!" he could only say in exclamation out of his own mouth.

"What's to stop me?" Felicity challenged Ben directly. "Hmm?"

"Me," said Ben in a forthright manner. "Your friend. Your sister. Your brother. The Reverend, mayhap."

"I haven't said nothin' in particular," Chaplain Garland quipped. To himself he said, "Save for Miss Elizabeth." The Chaplain in particular didn't think that even children should be viewed as idiots who didn't know any better, but rather as young adults who could think for themselves. Since Ben was the leader of the group, he decided to see for himself what the outcome of the decisions made by Ben and Felicity could be. To him, this was probably another social experiment for him to witness.

"Not even they…and you…can stop me," Felicity said determinedly to Ben. "I have no intention of sitting helplessly on the sidelines, worrying myself sick over your safety, Benjamin Davidson. Besides, you need all the help you can get."

"No, I don't," said Ben. "I've got Mr. Data, and that alien creature-man."

Felicity knew that she would have to approach Ben a mite gently if she was to not only calm him down but also persuade him to let her go with him. "Mayhap, an extra helping hand would help in case something happens to them," said Felicity calmly, as if she was trying to be sweet on Ben, just like Elizabeth's older sister Annabelle was, which both Felicity and Elizabeth were quick to tease about. Then she suddenly changed her sweet demeanor to a serious one, which was reflected in her very face. "God forbid," she finished rather quietly.

Suddenly Chaplain Garland couldn't help being amused by Felicity's seeming bambi-like pleading. "This is fun to watch," he muttered to himself in sheer amusement.

But Ben, primarily out of concern for the safety and well-being of Felicity and less about the conventions of his time could not and would not let himself be swayed by Felicity's attempts to persuade him sweetly. "Lissie, no," he said with great conviction and earnestness, in his internal struggle to exhibit himself as a figure of authority to her as, as he was the eldest boy. "This…is foolhardy. As a gentleman, I object strongly against this."

But Felicity was still determined. She herself had done plenty of boneheaded things like walking on fences, attempting unsuccessfully to tame a wild horse before she got Penny, and warning the colonists in her hometown of Williamsburg about the theft of the gunpowder by Lord Dunmore's men. Why did she have to be inexplicably uninvited to participate in fighting against Borg drones? After all, she was a girl who wants to be in the middle of the action. And she kind of hated missing it out.

But then, Ben would need someone with him, in case he ran into a helpless situation, especially if Data and Kese get put out of commission.

"Object all you want!" spat Felicity, still refusing to allow herself to be let down, even by Ben. "I'm still coming with you anyway. We need you. I need you. What will become of us if we lose you?"

But Ben waved off Felicity as if she was a great and terrible annoyance to him.

"You are such an inconsiderate boy, Ben Davidson!" Felicity excoriated him with great indignation. "What is this to you anyway? Is it playtime?"

"No!" Ben exclaimed in the same indignant manner as Felicity did to him.

"Does all this have something to do with satisfying a part in you that yearns to make up for lost opportunities you could have had, ever since I convinced you to abandon your foolhardy attempts to run away from your apprenticeship with Father to join Washington's army?" Felicity asked him loudly.

Ben was somewhat stopped cold in his tracks.

"Yes! Well…No!" Ben stammered rather hesitantly, unsure of his own self, unsure of his answer. "No, it doesn't!"

"You're not being honest with me, Ben," Felicity said crossly to him. She could almost tell if Ben was not being honest with her at all. It was how she knew him. "I really think it does."

"To Hades with what you think in all your girlish, sixth-sense presumptions!" Ben cut in quite rudely. "I'm still gonna say, "No"! Then to himself, as an aside, he muttered, "Besides, you're still a bit of a girl for this."

Felicity immediately perked her head up over hearing Ben's muttering. "I heard that!" she snapped. Then she sighed crossly to Ben. "I think I'm just as capable as you are, Benjamin Davidson."

"So you say," Ben scoffed, while having his arms crossed. He stole a glance at Elizabeth, Nan, and William, all grouped together. Chaplain Garland was still seated on the desk chair, and Commander Kese still had his arms crossed as he stood up. "What about Lizzie…and your siblings…Lissie?"

"I can watch over them, Ben," Elizabeth spoke up right away, taking one step forward with her right foot. For Felicity, It felt pretty heartening for Elizabeth to act like an older sister for her Felicity's siblings.

"But even so…!" Ben was about to interject. He scratched his head skeptically. "Lissie…I don't think your loved ones…much less your Father and Mother…is going to like this." He heaved a sigh and exhaled slowly. "You're asking for trouble."

This assertion seemed to have the capability to affect Felicity's heartstrings. Right now she was already finding herself missing her Father and Mother. She could even remember Ben saying this to her. In fact, she could even remember several versions of this statement being repeated to her over again because her stubborn personality was what was almost constantly putting her Mother especially on the edge.

"Mother and Father, as you say, don't even exist in this time," she said to herself quite sadly and sarcastically at the same time. "And not Elizabeth's Mother and Father, either." It sounded somewhat callous to say, but that was the truth. Mr. and Mrs. Merriman were not here to make objections about their daughter going on a perilous mission to save humanity from the clutches of the Borg.

"I'm older than you are, Lissie, so you have to do as I say," said Ben.

"And I'm the daughter of the owner of one of Williamsburg's finest shops, so you have to do as I say!" she retorted quite crossly.

"Says who?" challenged Ben.

"Says me!"

"Well, your Father's not here to give the orders, so I'm in charge," Ben pressed further.

"You can kick and scream and drag me to another place, Ben, and I'm still coming with you, whether you like it or not," said Felicity. "Because…I still care about you. Besides…"

For Ben this was too much. Felicity was going too far. In a fit of self-righteous rage he cut in immediately. "I CAN'T LOSE YOU, LISSIE!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

Ben bowed his head in frustration and shame over what he already did to her. In response Felicity only gave him a hard, serious, demure look.

"I can't. I just can't," said Ben in a quiet, lowered tone of voice which was almost close to sounding like muttering to himself. "Not even soldier-Ben is strong enough to face the imminent loss of spunky, sprightly Felicity Merriman."

Felicity still kept her head hung. But something told her that she should wake Ben out of his personal stupor and tell him straight that she would be with him every step of the way, if she could, and whenever she could. She took Ben's right hand and squeezes it gently in affection. And she flashed her sweet smile. The smile that could literally melt the heart of any boy. It touched Ben deeply at the innermost depth of his heart. He slowly formed his face to smile back at her, and Felicity responded with all the beauty and charm that she could ever radiate.

"Ben, if we work together on this,…you will not have to be," Felicity said to him gently and understandingly.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Ben interjected.

Felicity squeezed both of Ben's hands, just to soften him up a bit. "It means…that if both of us are together, we can have a chance of giving Mr. Data…and the other fellow…Kese…if you will…all the help they need in order to do whatever they have to do," she said to him.

"But we're just there…to give them cover," said Ben.

"Even so…I wouldn't miss it for the world," said Felicity. "If we're together on this…we have a chance." She stole one glance across the room. "All of us…will have a chance."

That particular dramatic moment could have lasted a mite longer if everyone was not so much in a hurry, but the contrary seems to be the case. Data had to interrupt this mild romantic mood.

"Are you finished?" asked Data rather tactlessly.

"For the most part," she finished right away with a rather exasperated sigh.

Data continues supplicating the Corellian officer to accompany him.

"Sir, it is imperative that you come with us," said he. "You'll be needed to access the security protocols on board the cruiser in order to deactivate the autodestruct system and activate the cruiser's turbo-lasers. If we don't bring those turbo-lasers online, the Enterprise will be completely assimilated by the Borg, and so will the Corellian vessel, in which case the Borg will utilize whatever important knowledge you have on time traveling in order to seriously alter earth's timeline."

The disgruntled Corellian officer agreed. What choice do I have anyway? he asked his own self. Now that not only two, but three people, were able and willing to help him get the job done, he might as well take the opportunity.

"Very well," he said. "But I warn you that if the Borg assimilate me, or you, or the girl, we're all are going to be in very big trouble, including myself."

Felicity beamed at him.

"I have my security keycard and the access codes," Kese offered. "However, there will be Borg presence on board. We will need a few charges to open the doors in case the Borg sealed them."

Data slapped down the heavy duffel bag after toting it during what seemed to be an indefinitely long time and unzipped it open in a nimble manner. Unzipping another section of the bag's interior, the contents revealed, aside from the weapons and ammunition in the main sections, a few isomagnetic disintegrators used for breaching doors., along with several magazines for the weapons.

Before leaving, the children embraced each other dearly. First, Felicity embraced her younger sister and brother, squeezing them tight, as if this would be the last she would ever see them again. Then she cast her motherly gaze at them.

"Be good, all right?" she asked them both. Both Nan and William nodded in assent.

Then Felicity embraced Elizabeth. "Please look after them for me," she pleaded with her best friend. Felicity's countenance was almost sad, for she hated leaving them, and so was Elizabeth's. But staying true to her convictions, Felicity decided to let go, but hoped within her eleven-year-old heart that this letting go would not take so long, for her sake and for theirs.

"You'll need to take off that dress if you're going to run a little faster," Ben reminded Felicity.

Felicity removed the dress, revealing her modest undergarment covering, or her shift. Elizabeth, Nan, and William react shocked.

"There. Now I feel a little more flexible," said Felicity, feeling more relieved than ever about her newfound sense of freedom regarding the convention of a young lady's dress.

Only Elizabeth and Nan shook their heads. Elizabeth embraced her best friend and squeezes her tight. Then they look at each other.

"Look after the others. Please?" Felicity pleaded with her best friend.

Elizabeth nodded a solemn and serious nod. She felt like she was going to cry. All of a sudden the responsibility of being the eldest child to both Nan and William was suddenly slapped upon her shoulders. Elizabeth was so used to being the youngest in her family. Now all of sudden she was the eldest. Never before in her life had she ever had a taste of what it would be like to be completely the eldest child when Ben and Felicity would be absent from the little group. Now she had it.

But aside from all that, her worry was about Felicity's safety. She did not know when she could see Felicity and Ben again. In addition to that also, Elizabeth had little Nan and William to look after. Poor her. She was now overwhelmed.

Elizabeth took a deep breath, knowing that she would make a pledge to look after Felicity's two siblings as faithfully as she could. "I will," she promised solemnly, looking again up to her best friend. "Lissie…you and Ben…and the others…be safe. All right?"

"Aye," promised Felicity slowly and surely.

After a touching exchange of hugs with the rest of the children, Felicity and Ben accompanied Data and the Corellian officer and leave the Guest Quarters. Elizabeth stayed behind with Nan and William and the Chaplain.


Lt. Commander Data, Corellian Bridge Commander Kese, Felicity, and Ben made their hurried rush across the Deck 10 corridor. Armed with a replicated Remington 700 shotgun, along with his replicated MG-42 heavy machine gun, Data he fired up to six shots against four Borg drones that were in the way. Another six shots were fired at a fresh batch of Borg drones that were making their stealthy approach behind this newfound assault team.

Commander Kese fired off a handful of disruptor shots at incoming Borg drones. Both Ben and Felicity, however, were a bit too clueless on how to fire their weapons.

"Do not bother," said Data to Ben and Felicity. "Our focus is getting to Transporter Room 8. It is the nearest transporter room from Deck 10, two decks down. And still fully functional."

Coming across a corridor, Data fired four shots at four Borg drones that were walking up to Data himself. Giving the all-clear, the group followed Data's lead into another section of the Deck 10 corridor. They continued on until Data hit upon a hatch at that particular section of the corridor itself.

"Where are we going?" asked Ben.

"Jeffries tube," answered Data himself.

"Can't we go up that…that 'lift' thing'?" asked Felicity.

"Too risky," said Data. Power to the main turbolift may be cut off. We shall have to take a longer approach if we are to avoid getting trapped inside the turbolift. Come on."

When the group reached the hub of the Jeffries tube network, the four party members made their hasty but pretty steadied descent on a ladder shaft. They continued their descent two decks down until they reached Deck 12.

"This way!" called Data loudly. As the leader of this little group, he was the first to venture into the intended destination of the left-hand corridor of the Jeffries tube network. The rest followed suit, crawling through the tube itself. For modern children, it would have been nothing more than imagining oneself crawling through a play tunnel. But for both Felicity and Ben this was just yet another unusual adventure through a strange plastic tunnel.

"Keep moving!" ordered Data.

"This gun is hurting…my back," panted Felicity.

"Well, you wanted to come along!" argued Ben. "Why are you complaining?"

"Because I can, and I will!" answered Felicity hotly and crankily at the same time.

The group sped on through the Jeffries tube until they reached the hatch area. Data pried the hatch open and led the group into the middle of the corridor of Deck 12. This was the nearest Transporter Room from their current location on the ship.

The surroundings of Deck 12 were filled with commotion. It was bad enough both Felicity and Ben had to squeeze and push their way through crew personnel firing their replicated weapons at Borg drones. Even more dangerous was the presence of Borg drones with their nanotubes ready to assimilate any unsuspecting human being on contact. Ben fired as many shots as he could afford from his M1 Carbine, and Felicity clumsily did the same thing with her Thompson SMG. However, the clumsiness of handling an automatic firearm as foreign as a machine gun was getting to the point of possible serious injury that Ben had to tell Felicity to just not bother firing her gun. Bravery was needed to get through this mess, but so were brains.

Immediately Data eyed the readings of his fully functional tricorder. "We are approximately eleven kilometers from Transporter Room 8," he informed. Pumping his Remington he walked briskly to the right side of the corridor relative to facing the hatch area. Then he immediately tapped his combadge rather daintily.

"Data to O'Brien," he called.

"Go ahead, Leftenant Data," replied Transporter Chief Miles O'Brien on the comm.

"I have a small assault party that is preparing to board the Corellian Battle Cruiser K'Mar," he informed promptly. "I request your presence in Transporter Room 8. We need someone to beam us aboard the cruiser."

"Right away, Leftenant," O'Brien answered promptly on the comm. "O'Brien out."

Data scanned his tricorder again. "I detect five foreign life signs," he informed. "All Borg. Take cover."

Guns at the ready, Felicity, Ben, and Commander Kese stayed put behind the corner of the corridor. Upon encountering the Borg pretty stealthily, Data trained his sights on the lead Borg drone. Then slowly and steadily squeezing the trigger like it was nothing at all, he fired a single shot.

The lead Borg drone received a single shotgun round which busted the front of his chest area. Sparks flew from where the shrapnel burst through his body and he dropped dead to the corridor carpet floor, unconcious.

Commander Kese was the first to intervene in the situation. Training his Corellian disruptor rifle as fast as he could at any of the Borg drones he could catch his sights on, he fired two shots. Another drone down.

Then Ben and Felicity were the next to intervene. As a result of her clumsiness with handling the Thompson SMG, she had great difficulty steadying the firearm when it came to firing off the weapon at full auto setting. Ben, on the other hand, seemed to be fairly adept with firing his Springfield M1 Carbine, thanks to training himself to firing the ancient but futuristic-to-him Mauser rifle in Holodeck 2, before Elizabeth rudely interrupted him, at least from his own point of view. But Ben was a rookie, as this handling of a modern firearm, even if it was ancient in 24th century standards, was only the beginning of becoming briefly acquainted with new technological wonders of war. Aiming pretty carefully despite the bulkiness of the weapon itself, he managed to squeeze a handful of shots at three Borg drones.

However, Ben accidentally hit Data with a single shot. Because the projectile was real, it drilled through Data's android back, specifically near his right shoulder. Both Ben and Felicity were surprised that Data wasn't bleeding; he couldn't bleed because he was just an android! A shot like that done to a human would have been fatal back in Felicity's and Ben's day because it was not only the serious bleeding that would have had to be taken into account; it was also the possibility of serious infection, which would make a person bedridden, possibly indefinitely. Not only that, there was the strong medical possibility of having one's spinal cord shattered, thus incapacitating the person for life, as the nerve connectors from the brain to the rest of the bodily motor functions of the human body would be severed as well. With Lt. Commander Data, however, he seemed to be taking it pretty well, and was even pretty emotionless about it. What was left of this incident of unintentional friendly fire, however, was a bullet gap drilled into his android back.

But even if he was an android, as Felicity and her friends and siblings no doubt knew from the start of their stay on board the Enterprise, Felicity decided that it would at least be fairly courteous to ask him if he was at the very least all right.

"Are you all right?" asked Felicity pretty confidently.

"Yes, ma'am," replied Data rather casually. "Might I inquire as to who fired the shot?"

"I...I did," admitted Ben rather hesitantly. He hung his head. Even if it was an android he accidentally shot at, he could not help wondering if he would unintentionally repeat a fatal mistake like this when it came to a real live human being in combat action. Feeling pretty stupid, he asked, "Did you get hurt?"

"I am an android," Data replied simply. "I cannot feel pain. Your projectile from the replicated M1 Carbine just drilled into my back, near my right hand. Fortunately, the projectile was too small, however, to penetrate vital bio-functions near my arm in order to cripple my right arm."

Felicity was too surprised that Data managed to take an injury serious for a human so casually, like as though it was just simply nothing at all. But Felicity's deep musings were interrupted abruptly when Data urged the rest of the group to continue moving.

"Let's get moving," he said simply. "We are approximately five meters to Transporter Room 8."

The group of four continued moving through the corridor until they reached Transporter Room 8. Data was the first to enter, and the rest followed suite.

Felicity became quite surprised that Chief Miles O'Brien has managed to get to Transporter Room 8 that quickly. Whom should they find…but Chief Miles O'Brien.

"How…how did you manage to get in here?" she asked the Transporter Chief in a rather surprised manner, feeling nervous at the very same time.

Miles O'Brien was even more surprised, since he was pretty used to seeing people being accustomed to seeing the operation of transporters. "I used the transporters, Miss," he said, baffled at Felicity's seemingly "unusual" but blunt and frank question. "How else would I be able to get my own self to this Transporter Room as quickly as I could?" Then he cast his friendly brown eyes at both Felicity and Ben, and then turned his head over to Lt. Commander Data. "What? You brought those two kids along? Are you out of your android mind?"

"They merely volunteered," said Data fluently in a rather emotionless manner, as was his usual way of speaking. Then, to get back to business, Data said, "Is the transporter ready?"

"Yes, sir," replied O'Brien. The four then promptly stepped into the transporter, with Data at the front, Commander Kese on Data's right hand side, and Felicity and Ben on Data's left hand side.

"Energize," commanded Data.

An intense field of sky-blue sparkles surrounded the entire assault party, and they dematerialized off the transporter, like faeries disappearing into pixie dust.

"That was quick," O'Brien quipped to himself in a rather sarcastic remark.


Author's Notes

I happened to have the gut feeling that some readers might get confused over Commander Kese's reply to Lt. Commander Data asking him to accompany him in reactivating the main weapon system on the Corellian Battle Cruiser K'Mar. It may be possible that Kese was just making excuses, since perhaps he wanted more time to himself on planning his own little strategies, and Data, as mentioned, was pushing him in a rather untimely manner for Commander Kese himself. Or perhaps fear overtook and greatly interfered with his objectivity.

Unusually the dialogue became so cheesy for me to read in my drafts that I literally became squeamish just actually reading the entire damn chapter. In the past, so many words and phrases just kept a-coming to my active imaginary mind that I just had to type them on my old DELL laptop computer before they evaporated too quickly. After that I could have the luxury of "studying" them and changing them at whim.

Some of my light sarcasm had to complement the elements of "cheesiness" that I think were pervasive to the not-so-clunky atmosphere of the story that I wanted to portray.