Still don't own Picard. Still own the Rovarians.
They arrived on a transporter pad much like the one Hugh remembered on the Enterprise, except this one was bigger to accommodate Rovarians. A transporter operator nodded at them as they stepped-rolled in Spirit's case-off the pad.
"Captain's waiting for you on the bridge." he said.
"Tell her we're on our way." Spirit replied, "Hugh, Elnor, follow me, please." The two looked at each other and followed her out into a wide corridor with Rovarian crew heading in both directions, some carrying what looked like Rovarian PADDs, others with tools, and still others with things Hugh didn't recognize. All of them had armor similar to Spirit's thought they wore different bands on their arms. Hugh noticed symbols on them and realized the bands must be some sort of rank and post system, though he didn't know what most of them meant. He did recognize the winged staff of the Medical department and he guessed that those bearing a symbol of some stars on a grid must be Astrometrics.
The ship itself was somewhat like the Artifact, in that it was darker colored, blacks and grays dominating the color scheme with a little brown or red here and there, and dimly lit with panels along the walls as opposed to the ceiling. Extra wide doors slid open and closed as people passed in and out. The floor was covered in thin carpet, just like a Starfleet vessel. Also like a Starfleet vessel, computer screens lined the walls of the corridors, ready to be activated by anyone who might happen to need one.
The two followed Spirit into a turbolift where Spirit declared "Bridge. Permission: Leader 2 Beta."
"Permission granted. Destination: bridge." said the sultry yet mechanical voice of the computer. The lift shot upward and Hugh could see through its transparent back wall the decks the were rising past. From the amount of them, he knew this was a larger vessel than the Enterprise.
His thoughts were interrupted when suddenly all he saw was black and the lift stopped. They exited onto a large bridge with Rovarian officers at their stations, and the Artifact in the wide window across the front of it.
"XB evac underway, Captain!" an officer called.
"Excellent, keep an eye on those Romulans." came a low female voice. Below the raised console they were currently behind, a Rovarian with gold bands like Spirit's, except this one's bands weren't connected.
"We're here," Spirit announced. The captain whipped around to face them, then rose off the pad where she was parked.
"Taurus, you have the conn." A big officer who was missing a hand gave grunt and replaced her. This one had two connected gold bands.
"Hello Hugh, Elnor. I'm Captain Kiali. Welcome to the Artax." Hugh was certain she would've smiled if she was built for it.
"Thank you, and thank you for saving our lives, friends." Elnor said.
"Spirit tells me you knew about the XBs being murdered," Hugh stated, "How is that?"
"Not here." Kiali hissed quietly. She led them through a door off the bridge into a conference room. Two chairs appeared for Hugh and Elnor.
"We have been watching these Romulans for quite some time." Kiali started. "Ever since the Utopia Planetia attack-which took out part of Gusev's shipyards as well-we've felt that something wasn't right about it. Miners from Gusev were there searching for survivors, and they managed to salvage enough of a synth's hardware that we could analyze its code. It took us years to do, and we didn't get much out of it."
"But we got enough," Spirit continued, "Enough to tell that it wasn't a malfunction that triggered the attack and it wasn't a decision by the synths. It was a virus implanted in their code that could be remotely activated."
"Did you figure out who planted it? Who wrote it?" Elnor asked.
"No, but we did figure out where the command to activate the virus came from." Kiali answered. She activated a holoscreen and pulled up the trace data.
"How is that possible? That's Starfleet Headquarters." Hugh exclaimed.
"The console belongs to someone named Oh." said Kiali. "Starfleet's records say she's half Vulcan and half unknown, but that's incorrect. Our investigators searched all non-Federation data for her, even hacking into some databases, and we found her in a Tal Shiar file."
"She's half Romulan, and a Tal Shiar officer" Spirit added.
"Right. So we had the person who triggered the attack and may also have implanted and written the virus. What we didn't have was why she did it." Kiali continued, "So, we looked at other Tal Shiar officers she worked with and saw that they were stationed here, on the Artifact. We left a ship here, cloaked, to do recon. Further research from them about the facility revealed the Borg Reclamation Project, whose Federation connection was you, Hugh. And that's what piqued our interest."
"Me? But...why?" Hugh asked.
"Because when you arrived, the Tal Shiar got scared."Spirit answered, "They started sneaking around, being a lot more secretive. Like they thought you were a Federation spy. Which is stupid, because everyone who hasn't been living under a rock for decades knows who you are."
"Anyway," Kiali continued, "we figured someone ought to keep an eye on you, since the Federation wasn't yet aware these Romulans weren't quite who they said they were."
"The Jhat Vash" Elnor said. Spirit nodded.
"We figured that part out when we realized Commodore Oh was talking to "Rizzo" which turned out to be an alias for Narissa, who had a brother that was considered a disappointment to them. Through that connection, we deduced that she was still a member, and we realized the Artifact was just a cover for the Jhat Vash operation."
"Our cloaked ship kept tabs on every person aboard the Artifact. They called home when Picard first arrived at the Artifact, saying things were heating up. Spirit had Admiral Ceres muster a fleet and we headed here immediately. The ship already here sent a scout onto the Artifact when Picard beamed aboard. The scout followed Narissa like a hawk. He reported the XB executions, and we sent word to Starfleet. Upon hearing that, Clancy gave us the go-ahead to intervene. That was about the time we arrived. Lieutenant Gemini-" here Kiali nodded at a smaller Rovarian who had just one gold band, "-hacked into the Artifact's systems and got their defenses down, and Spirit beamed herself onboard."
"You know the rest from there." Spirit said. Hugh and Elnor nodded, letting everything sink in. It was a relief for Hugh to know someone had been watching over him and his XBs. As if reading his mind, Kiali gently put a hand on Hugh's shoulder.
"I'm so sorry for those you lost," she said softly,"If there is anything we can do for them, we most certainly will do it. We are already providing medical care and a safe haven for the still living XBs, and the drones are safe as well. If there is anything else we can do for you and your people, you need only ask."
"Thank you." Hugh whispered, his eyes watering. Just moments after the cold brutality of Narissa and her actions, these people-who were complete strangers to the XBs-had rushed to their aid and were showing them kindness and care they'd never known from anyone except maybe Hugh. It warmed his heart, and he gave them a sad smile. "On behalf of my people, thank you. For everything you've done and are doing."
"Of course." Kiali said, "Our laws would not permit us to just stand by when we have the ability to help. Now then, where would you like to meet Admiral Picard?"
"Nepenthe." Elnor answered. Hugh nodded. Kiali pressed an area of her neck just above the collar of her armor.
"Helm, lay in a course for Nepenthe, Warp 5." They barely heard the reply from the helm officer, and only by looking out the window could anyone tell the Artax had gone to warp and left the Artifact behind. Kiali returned to the bridge, leaving them with Spirit.
"And thank you," Hugh addressed her, "for saving my life."
"I'd gladly do it again." Spirit said. "Come on, I'll take you to the Observation deck."
Apologies if this isn't that exciting, but I kinda BSed a lot of this, soooo...yeah.