One of One

by zArkham

As the USS Voyager becomes embroiled in the war between the Borg & Species 8472, a strange anomaly is detected on the Borg Cube where Captain Janeway is negotiating for the life of her crew and maybe for all life in the Delta Quadrant. Within that anomaly hides a centuries old secret. A being who found that resistance was not futile and will continue to resist till the end.

33. V is for ?

PRIME DIRECTIVE: Space may be the final frontier, but I'll never get there by any monies derived from this as Harry Potter and all properties of such are owned by the Dark Lady JKR. All content, characters related to Star Trek are owned by Paramount Pictures, Inc....except maybe some of that stuff that ended up being used in Starfleet Battles which is owned by the Amarillo Design Bureau who used much of their content via the Starfleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph Schnaubelt and published by Ballantine Books.

XxXxX

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE – V IS FOR?

(Episode: ST: VOY Q2 and elements of Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy)

(References: ST:TOS Amok Time)

(References: ST-1:TMP)

(References: The General War – SFB Alternate History)

XxXxX

PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER: "For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." – (The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark) – Carl Sagan – American astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, and science communicator – 1934 – 1996

LAST UPDATED ON: 03-13-2022

Janeway's Personal Log, Star Date 51956.7. I have to say the last two months have been nice and quiet even by Delta Quadrant standards. That makes almost a half a year of relative calm. On a normal cruise, one could even say it's been boring. Busy, but routine for a typical Starfleet tour. With all our experiences in the Delta Quadrant, routine is a welcome respite from the more normal, and dangerous, things we've grown used to encountering.

Still, I am the last to lament how quiet it has been as there has been so much to do. There is so much going on that every day feels like it needs eight more hours to get everything done. For my part, I've found that Chakotay is very much the de facto captain of Voyager now. I've been seriously thinking of transferring command to him and taking up the role a full admiral would have in a fleet. Given my pregnancy, it is becoming more and more the only option. Still, it's a wrench to think about giving up command of Voyager. Our situation, however, has always been fluid and so this is just another thing I need to adapt to. Everyone else has been forced to do the same. Compromise is the order of the day and it's been challenging to get all of the various groups in the Fleet to work together and not kill each other over differences in world views.

We've already learned that the Varro and the Skurk do not mesh well with the Klingons. The make-up of the children and much of the added crew has made me think of the old Maquis complaint of how human centric Starfleet is. Now, however, the shoe is on the opposite foot. I've been noticing for quite some time an undercurrent of worry from the human crew. Now a minority in terms of numbers, many of the human crew members worry they are being marginalized. Ironic given this is exactly the complaint so many non-humans in Starfleet have brought up ever since the various racial fleets were combined into Starfleet.

For all these tensions, the Fleet continues to make progress. The Klingons have, after some initial issues, integrated faster than I expected. Tuvok believes it has less to do with Klingon discipline and more that the Banished have had to live in space for a long time. So they are already conditioned to accept the sort of compromises the Fleet needs to work properly.

It does help that more of them have work now. Prior to this, most of the Banished lacked a lot of real work. More hands than tasks to do most days. With crewing up the Thunderchild as well as all the work needed to bring the Demonslayer and Kalday up to speed, the Klingons have plenty to do.

The new Cube (or Alpha or A-Cube as it has become to be called) is still very much a work in progress. However, with a lot of work, it now is at least operational in acting as a replacement for the industrial unit which the Varro used to grow the Aušrininkas. It will probably be years before we can get it to do much more than that. If we ever meet Species 8472 again, we should thank them that they captured the Cube that they did. A Tactical Cube was almost too much for us at the time and a normal sized Cube would've been far too much.. Still, we were lucky the Alpha Cube had the specialized equipment which allowed Project Matrix to happen but that it also houses a Sphere, Getting that working is much more in line with our current capabilities. Even so, the larger Maw component on the A-Cube means we can process old components into newer, modern ones and get all of our ship upgrades going faster than we had originally planned. The Skurk have taken to this with a will and practically took over the work to create new industrial pods. All of this allowed us to launch the USS Ares a full two months earlier than expected.

So, for now, we have the tools we need to make the long journey workable. That and we've enough resources we can do a bit more exploring, training and keeping up with all the new children in the Fleet. What once looked to be a terribly long path back home, now almost seems like not enough time to get everything done before we get home.

Which begs the question of will it still be home to us by the time we get there?

XxXxX

COMMODORE'S READY ROOM, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 307, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51970.2

Janeway took a long sip of coffee as Tuvok concluded his report on the progress of creating a school system for the Fleet. At present, much of it was still fragmented along racial lines. Currently, it was hard at present to see how a classroom environment could include the cautious Varro and the raucous Klingons. Still, as Tuvok had said, it was a work in progress and changes would certainly be made in the decades to come.

She leaned back in her chair and pondered the report while the rest waited for her reaction. While much in the room had been taken from her old ready room, her new one was large enough to accommodate almost half the Fleet Council. Currently only the Fleet Captains along with Tuvok and Ransom were present. For all that it was something she mostly designed herself, the room did remind her she was no longer in command of Voyager by her own choice.

However, this was something she knew had to be done. Turning back to the matter at hand, she set down her coffee mug and tapped the PADD in front of her. "This will take some time to fully process. That and your plan does rely on continued contact with Starfleet." She turned to Seven, "How confident are you in our ability to continue such contact?"

"The main element of contact with Starfleet continues to be the MIDAS Array. As of our last scheduled contact, the Pathfinder team remain confident they can continue to communicate with us. Moreover, they believe they can create a receiving unit which will negate the need to piggy-back the signal off the communication array they inadvertently were using. From the preliminary schematics sent in the last transmission, we should have no difficulty in creating one," Seven explained.

"What is the status of who owns the array…or at least claims it?" Ransom asked from his chair to her left.

Seven looked to V'Lana who shrugged, "Everything points to the Hirogen. The satellite my team stumbled on seemed to imply their technology. Of course, I contend that the Hirogen probably didn't build it but took it over and derived much of the technology we've seen them use from it. Perhaps at one time the Hirogen weren't hunters the way they are now but I doubt it. Most martial races tend to take or adapt technology rather than create it. If anything, the Klingons are a good example of that." She looked to the three Klingon captains, "No offense intended."

Both Captain Kohlar and the new captain of the Demonslayer, Captain Morak, scowled. The captain of the Kalday, Captain Rodek, however merely smirked, "None taken. I'm sure as your Ventris will tell you, we Klingons have always struggled to give research and sciences their due."

V'Lana nodded, "Exactly. That the Hirogen are even more…feral if you will, then it seems more likely they just took it over. Either way, it's probably best we don't give them any reason to band together to hunt us."

"I bloody well agree to that!" Harry Potter said with a scowl. "The last thing we need is to get jumped by enough Hirogen to board us. Even with my magic, I've found them very hard to kill."

"Let us hope Starfleet comes through and we can give them less of a reason to target us," Janeway said. She looked at the dashboard in the monitor built into the table and saw the time. "I believe that's all for now. For now, we all need to think about Tuvok's report and talk it over with your people. We can start working out the actual mechanics during our next Fleet council meeting. Dismissed."

Janeway rubbed her stomach while she watch the various captains and others file out. Only Seven paused briefly to give her a significant look. Janeway merely shook her head and smiled. While she was having intermittent bouts of nausea, she was fine. The former drone nodded and left with the others.

She sighed. Ever since she had become pregnant, Chakotay had become more distant. Certainly his duties as the new captain of Voyager could be to blame. Yet Janeway still felt her old Number One somehow felt she was now Harry's woman of all things. Which couldn't be farther from the truth.

Janeway sat for a moment and sipped some more coffee. She was on her second small cup for the day. She was doing her best to cut down and had mostly succeeded. Mostly this was by using a smaller cup and limiting herself. Even so, she was dreading giving it up in a month or two. She set her cup down and stared into the dark liquid, her mind already starting to crunch on the info Tuvok had given.

"Why the mopey face, ma belle commodore? Already mourning losing your figure?"

Janeway looked up with a start to see Q sitting across the table from her. For once, the being's quip didn't faze her, "My bodily changes are a negligible challenge compared to having to create a school system from scratch, I'm afraid."

Q chuckled at that, "Yes I suppose it would be so. I doubt you got much training on that at your vaunted Starfleet Academy."

Janeway leaned back and looked at Q for a moment. Normally the being was jittery with energy. Today, however, he seemed rather laid back. "I'm surprised you're here. Where were you a few months ago? You said you were bored with Riker. I would have thought we had enough excitement to at least keep your interest for an afternoon."

Q smirked at that, "Oh your tiny mind couldn't comprehend the ins and outs of my actions. Some days even I'm not sure which way I'm going. Past, present, future…they are all mostly set as you have seen. So the trick is to mask what you could know and let yourself be somewhat surprised."

Janeway blinked at that but it made sense given what she and Tuvok had seen in the Continuum. "What about your child? Isn't that a new thing? Something which wasn't predicted?"

Q smiled in a roguish way, "From a certain point of view, one could say that. Although, again, tiny minds Kathrine; you simply cannot truly understand the higher framework of reality. Still, my child is why I'm here."

Q made an eloquent gesture and in a flash of light, an older teen in an ensign's uniform in command maroon appeared in a flash of light next to Q. "Junior here has progressed from causing mayhem and general chaos in the Continuum to needing to see how things are in your corner of reality. Who better to watch over him for a spell than Preggy Aunt Kathy?"

The 'teen' waved, "Hi Aunt Kathy!"

Janeway could feel the color draining out of her face. Q was bad enough. An adolescent Q? "Wait, you just were harping about my tiny mind and yet you're expecting me and the rest of the Fleet to babysit an almost literal demigod?"

"Demigod? I'm way past that, Aunt Kathy!" the teen said with a huge grin.

"Yes, a chip off the old block he is…even if he's going through a rebellious phase," Q said.

Janeway couldn't tell if Q was proud at this or angry…or both at the same time. "While I appreciate you didn't show up when he was in his Terrible Twos, I'm not sure having a Q on board is going to be anything but a disaster."

Q sighed, "Here we go…" even as the teen scowled, "Ah but that's the issue, Aunt Kathy. I'm not a Q. I'm something new. Call me V."

Janeway raised an eyebrow at that, unconsciously mimicking Seven, "So you are even more of an unknown than a cosmic being who seems to exist to spread chaos wherever and whenever he goes?"

Q put a hand over his heart, "Oh Kathy; you say the nicest things! I really should have insisted on taking you into my bed instead of letting that lay-about Potter do it instead."

V gave his father a dirty look, "Well supposedly I'm here so Dad can teach me some moral lesson. He doesn't seem to realize I'm just as cosmic as he is. He's just dumping me on you for his own fun and amusement."

Q smirked, "Maybe that's the lesson I'm trying to teach you. My fun and amusement is of fundamental importance to all time and space."

Janeway couldn't help it as she slumped down with a groan, her forehead touching the table in front of her. She knew making that log entry talking about quiet and boredom had been just asking for trouble! Why hadn't she edited it or just deleted it?

XxXxX

TECHNICIAN STATION, HIERARCHY SURVEY VESSEL, SECTOR 307, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51972.4

Phlox edited his mind-casting cubicle so that the protective dome was opaque. Many technicians disliked having others being able to look at them while they lay there when their minds were in the data-stream. Normally Phlox didn't care. Today, however, he needed to mask that he might leave the ship. He'd already inserted the code which would hide the transport. It had been a stroke of luck that the humans had started using the Hirogen communication array. He had managed to crack their system enough to allow himself to use this as not only an entry point to finally crack their security but would also allow him to physically beam onto any ship in the fleet.

Phlox checked his stealth generator and weapon for what seemed like the 100th time since he'd left his quarters. It wasn't enough to crack the system. With his work being disseminated, any of the other technicians might get there first. No, he had to do more than just observe and report back so a plan to interrupt their computers systems would allow the Devore to finally attack. His plan was far more ambitious. One which would net him fame and glory.

It all came down to the wizard Harry Potter. It was plain to Phlox that the Devore could attack at any time. Their ships would probably be able to destroy the Federation fleet if their commander were willing to absorb the damage needed to do it. That they hadn't meant they felt that the wizard needed to be dealt with first.

So killing Harry Potter would not only bring him fame and glory, it would allow the Devore to complete their own mission without any further intervention by the Hierarchy. They had lost two more technicians and Phlox felt that him assassinating the wizard would be enough to satisfy the terms of their agreement with the Devore. He felt Administrator Forn would be glad to be done with the mission and be safely back on course to their homeworld.

Seeing that everything was ready, Phlox entered his cubicle. As soon as the now opaque door shut, he thumbed the switch to cast his mind into cyberspace.

OoOoO

INTERNAL WATER POD, KELIONININKAS, SECTOR 307, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51973.3

Janeway knew what felt like sunlight was merely the artificial lighting. Still, the wind and water was real. It was real in a way no holodeck could ever mimic. That and the boat they were on was a real, wood replica of the type the Talaxians had used back on Tartarus.

Added to this was the song Harry and his old Talaxian friend Jevex were singing. It had been a song sung by the river laborers unloading cargo back on Tartarus during the heyday of the Talaxian civilization there. Such things had mostly fallen out of memory before the Exiles stumbled onto the last surviving city. A lot of such customs had come back in the years before they had finally escaped Tartarus.

Like Janeway herself, B'Elanna seemed content to let Dannix and her new husband Polvex handle the ship while the other two worked the sails. It was a nice getaway for the two women from the cares and worries of the day. For Janeway, much of it was due to her pregnancy and trying to wear multiple hats at once. For B'Elanna, it was being a new mother of twins on top of being Chief Engineer.

After a final tying down of ropes, Harry came over and sat between the two women. "What did I tell you? Nothing beats a nice day on the water. I didn't even get to see the ocean till I was 20 and that's saying something given I grew up on an island! Still, I found I loved it."

Janeway took a sip from the fruity drink Neelix knew she like. He'd packed a wonderful assortment of food for the outing. "Didn't your family, the Potters I mean, have a maritime tradition?"

Harry nodded, "Yes…not that I knew anything about that till after the War. Unlike most wizards, the Potters didn't cheat Muggle merchants and rarely made waves with the locals. Unlike the Blacks. They felt superior to everyone in England. They were worse overseas."

Jevex sat down across from Harry with a sigh. While not an Elder, Jevex was certainly feeling his years. "That Q boy of yours is certainly a handful. He made quite the commotion the other day in the Txajzeb."

Janeway sighed in return. Hers, however, wasn't a sigh of old joints complaining. It was the sigh of a woman who knew bad news followed her regardless of where she went. "What did he do this time?" Q's child had been a handful throughout the Fleet in the few days since his arrival.

Jevex shrugged and made a face, "Nothing to outrageous…well yes it was outrageous but most people I talked to feel like this V is acting out to act out. I mean he is a cosmic being and I'm just a one-time dirt-farmer of sorts. I just have trouble seeing a being on that level being as remotely petulant without it being on purpose."

Before anyone could respond, there was a flash of light and V appeared in swim trunks (which looked like they were a matched set to the command maroon uniform) holding a large glass with a tiny umbrella sticking out of it.

The being flashed a grin, "Glad someone is paying attention. The Source knows dear old Dad certainly isn't."

Janeway scowled before smoothing out her features, "I take it this is less teenage rebellion and more…dinner theater?"

V laughed, "Something like that. As I told the Borg Queen a while back, there are certain things which are going to be and there is no use fighting it."

B'Elanna didn't bother hiding her scowl, "Why where you talking to the Borg Queen? She seems pretty low on the list of potential fun activities in my opinion."

V smirked, "It depends on your definition of fun. No, I had to talk her out of coming in, Cubes blazing, after your last encounter."

Janeway and Harry traded a look, "That was right nice of you but why would you bother?" Harry asked.

V took a sip of his drink before shrugging, "It's like I said, certain things are going to happen. Me being here is one of them. I can't be here if you all are assimilated drones now can I?"

Janeway couldn't help but frown at this. V may have warned off the Queen for now but it was obvious that she wasn't going to let them quietly slip out of the Delta Quadrant.

V looked around and thumped the sidewall of the boat, "This is such an interesting metaphor for you ephemerals at this stage."

Harry coughed, "Some of us are not as ephemeral as others. Still, what do you mean?"

V gestured around him, "On one level you're sailing on a boat that the Talaxians and humans used not that long ago as things go. Yet at the same time, your sailing it in a starship light-years from your home planet. It shows how far you've come and yet how far you have yet to go. It's interesting to see if you bother to look…which too few in the Continuum do these days."

"Halfway between the gutter and the stars then?" Harry quipped with a smirk.

V laughed at this while the others looked confused, especially the pre-industrial Talaxians.

Harry just made a dismissive gesture, "Lyrics from a famous music video from my time. Lots of dancing but surprisingly little cow-bell. Forget I said anything."

"But it is a good summation of where your people are. An exciting time on one level and yet dreadfully boring on another level. Sure it's great fun to watch you types fly about in your starships, poking into things you probably shouldn't with your understanding of the universe. All the while you're doing this when you've barely evolved past how your species had been doing things for centuries on end before that last big burst of technology." V said very much in the same condescending way his father had.

V paused before sighing, "But on the other hand, it's also the boring part in that it's all about discovery, wars and the like over and over for centuries to come. It gets old quickly to many. You folk won't get interesting again till you really start evolving to the next level and start having to make some hard choices." V made a face before he brightened, "Although I'm rather partial to all the explosions in the space battles at this stage. It's actually rather beautiful when you can see it like I can."

"Well dear old Dad seems to like what you think of as boring," B'Elanna pointed out in a dry tone.

V harrumphed at that. "I think my father could be just as happy watching an ant farm or colonies of anaerobic lifeforms evolving around undersea volcanic vents. Me? I want more excitement. It's why I'm here"

Harry's eyes narrowed, "Is this about the Cy-Dru?"

V laughed again and began clapping, "Bravo! Two perceptive comments in minutes! Yes, I am here because these digital beings are something you don't see much of…in this galaxy anyway for various reasons. They are evolving so much quicker in such a different medium. And yet they are still tethered to you organics. It's exciting to watch and I like exciting."

"Well could you tone down the exciting done to my crew," Janeway asked. "We'll all pretend you're being horrible and we're doing our best to tame you and maybe we can all get through this."

V chuckled at this as he stood. "Oh well I wish I could say I was okay with that but there is some excitement which I'm here to watch. So sorry, Aunt Kathy, some excitement is on the horizon."

The cosmic being drank the rest of his drink before disappearing in a flash of light.

Janeway sighed, "B'Elanna, if you ever hear me make anything resembling a log entry where I ever use the word 'quiet' or 'boring' then please feel free to whack me upside the head."

Harry groaned, "Oh no! How could you go and just give Murphy the finger like that?"

Jevex frowned, "Who is Murphy?" Dannix and Polvex were obviously just as confused.

B'Elanna laughed bitterly, "He's the human deity of misfortune and bad luck…in a way."

Jevex looked at Janeway with a frown one usually associated with a parent upset with their child. "How have you lived this long in the Delta Quadrant invoking such a being?"

Janeway shook her head, "Sometimes I wonder that myself. Let's head back. We need to put the fleet on alert."

XxXxX

JEFFERY TUBE 4a, DECK 1, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 307, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51973.6

If anyone had been in the corridor, they would have seen the hatch to the Jeffery's Tube open and then close after a moment. What they wouldn't have seen was the alien who had emerged from that same tube.

Phlox checked his left wrist-pad's status display. So far, it showed his precautions to avoid detection where working perfectly. Not that he was that worried. The Hierarchy had long mastered the arts of stealth. After breaking through the encryption those damned digital beings oversaw, the act of remaining hidden on Voyager was something a basic recruit would have no trouble doing.

Phlox kept checking because while staying hidden was easy, staying hidden and being able to escape after killing the wizard Harry Potter was another thing.

Luck, however, was on Phlox's side as the commanders of all the various ships in the fleet were coming together for a meeting. Not only could he kill the wizard, but in the same attack kill the leaders of the fleet. The Devore would then have a much easier time in taking their revenge. Plus it would earn him more glory. It would definitely advance him and his family in the Guild of Data-Masters.

Voices from up the corridor made him ensure he was not sticking out into the corridor. While chubby compared to most of the races on board the ship, the alcove for the Jeffrey's Tube left him ample room to keep from being bumped into. For all the stealth technology the Hierarchy had at their command, nothing could help with being physically bumped into.

His piggish eyes narrowed as he saw his target walking beside the female commodore of the fleet. She was flanked by a dark-skinned man Phlox knew to be her one time security chief Tuvok. Behind them where three Klingons.

Phlox let them pass and fell in behind them. Luck was with him again as the small size of the door made it so the group broke up as they went through the door into the new fleet briefing room. Thus Phlox had enough time to get through without anyone noticing the door delaying shutting.

Phlox quickly made his way to a part of the room he judged would have the least traffic as the briefing table was already filled with seated captains in that part of the room. He smiled when the six he followed in sat down. It was obvious from the seating that all were present. Which was good. Patience was a virtue every data tracker and infiltrator practiced to an artform. Yet Phlox didn't like to wait any more than anyone when his mission completion was so close at hand.

After hearing Commodore Janeway call the meeting to order, Phlox looked over at the wizard. The black-haired man was listening intently to what the Commodore was saying. Phlox had been watching and at no time had this Harry Potter ever looked his way. Confident he was still stealthed, Phlox withdrew one of the crown jewels of technologies of the Hierarchy. It was an energy bomb which attacked all organic life except that which was protected by a very specific frequency. A frequency built into the stealth system Phlox was currently using.

He tensed as he activated the weapon. Yet none of the various aliens noticed.

Phlox's face split into a wide grin as he lobbed the weapon onto the center of the table. It bounced once before detonating in a flash of purple energy. Almost instantly, most everyone around the table collapsed to the floor and writhed in agony. Phlox noticed that those present who had been former drones didn't react as badly but in short order they too succumbed to the weapons destructive effect.

Alert sirens began to wail but Phlox's instruments did not show any sort of containment fields going up. So much the better for him! He activated the transport function built into his right wrist-pad and beamed out.

This was possible as he was wearing a transporter repeater. It boosted his signal through the Hirogen communications array and thus allowed him the ability to transport farther than a standard transporter beam could hope to attain.

Phlox laughed in glee after he finished materializing in his pod. He had done it! He had succeeded where all else had failed! The rewards would be great for such a victory. Still chortling to himself, he keyed the release and his opaque pod door opened up…

…into a forest.

Phlox quickly checked his right wrist-pad. His vitals seemed to be stable. As much as it was a proven technology to the Hierarchy, the transporter repeaters still came with a risk. Psychotic breaks were known to happen.

Yet his vital signs seemed stabled which made Phlox's stomach clench in worry. He gingerly stepped out of his pod and knelt. He took his glove off and felt the grass. It certainly felt real. He stood back up and put his glove back on and reactivated his stealth unit.

"That's not going to work here," came a voice from behind him.

Phlox turned to see a group of Druoda in bright clothing in a loose group. Even though they were smiling, Phlox's heart froze. Seeing Druoda in this part of the Delta Quadrant was no coincidence.

Even so, they didn't radiate any hostility. One of the females took a step forward, "I have to say, Phlox, that your efforts to penetrate our defenses were commendable."

Phlox's eyes narrowed. It felt like he was being talked down to like he was a bright child. "I just killed your fleet's leaders. I think I did more than just penetrate your defenses."

The assembled Druoda laughed. The female waved them into silence, "Ah in one sense I wish that were true. Even if I am based on the real Omotayo, my matrix was born of a weapon. So I know the desire to complete one's mission. Sadly, our mission was to thwart yours and we have."

Phlox feeling of dread intensified, "What have you done?"

Omotayo smiled in a rather evil way, "We've done to you what you wished to do to us. Although where you worked to hacking into our system, we've hacked your brain. You never beamed off your ship. Everything you saw was in a simulation. While you thought you were sneaking around Voyager, we've had your body doing all sorts of damage back on your ship."

"What?!" Phlox cried out.

"It's true," The Druoda woman said not unkindly, "You've already killed everyone in the infiltration section. You have also sent your ship's engine into going critical by using codes we previously hacked from your ship's system. You are 3.2 seconds away from being incinerated along with the rest of the crew when your ship explodes."

Phlox was stunned, "Why…why are you telling me this?"

Omotayo smiled indulgently as she gestured to the forest around them. "We created this to help Seven of Nine recover her memory. We felt that perhaps before your physical body died, you might want to wander through it. To reflect on your life and perhaps come to peace before the end."

She gestured and a backpack appeared, "We've created enough food, drink and shelter for you to live comfortably for the few days you have left."

"Days," Phlox repeated dumbly.

"Of course, time moves as we wish it here in our realm. Still, we calculated the amount of time one such as yourself might need to come to terms with their death. Of course, if you wish, we can simply reconnect you to your body and you'll be dead before you realize it. It's your choice."

Phlox looked at the alien forest. What reflection could he do? He was dead and his family would only know that their ship had been lost. He could reflect for those few days offered but to what point? Nothing awaited him but death and his family would only know that he had died far from home.

Omotayo frowned, "I see your mind. So be it. For what it's worth, you did much better than we had predicted."

With a wave of her hand, Phlox's sight flared green. He had a brief glimpse of an engineering panel before everything flashed white as the ship exploded around him.

OoOoO

CHAPEL, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 307, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51973.6

"It is through this effective tactic; Admiral Kirk was able to lead the 9th Fleet to victory against the retreating Klingons and win back this critical sector for the Federation. It should be obvious…"

"BORING! V yelled out, drowning out the rest of the conclusion of Icheb's presentation as the Brunali stood in front of what was normally the chapel's pulpit. In front of him were the children mostly conceived naturally on Tartarus or freed from the Borg.

While the other children and teens in the pews gave V dirty looks, Mezoti only looked mildly put off, "I agree. The facts of this campaign should be evident to any who care to examine the facts without the shell of myth and propaganda which has grown up around it."

She turned to Icheb, "In fact, I believe your presentation lauds Admiral Kirk for doing something which shouldn't be seen as revolutionary. It was merely assessing the battlespace and seeing that for all the Klingon's firepower, their supply line was weak, their sepoy troops were wavering and even the rank-and-file Klingons were worried at the direction of the war after years of triumph feeding triumph turning to continued losses and retreat."

Icheb did not look offended, "It is easy for you to say such things as you seemed to have retained more of the adaptations of processing the Borg were grafting into us. However, without the benefit of the Hive Mind, such things are much harder to do. Even more so during a time of turbulence and various unknowns. What is obvious to us today was not so at the time. Kirk earned the accolades bestowed on him."

Bellatrix laughed softly at that, "From what Dad says, it's amazing he hadn't been thrown into the brig forever for all his Prime Directive violations."

Naomi snickered at this, "I'm betting the Commodore came down on poor Harry Kim over Derran Tal because she was worried he was trying to follow in Kirk's footsteps."

Bellatrix laughed again. This time with more of a saucy air, "I don't think it was Kirk's foot Commodore Janeway was worried Kim was emulating!"

As Cedric did a face-palm, V guffawed at this, "I have to say, I'm starting to see the reason my Dad likes to hang around your type of ephemerals."

Yovan cocked his head to one side and frowned, "What an odd statement. The beings in this room and in this fleet come from a wide range of planets ranging from the Alpha and Delta Quadrant. From what I learned via the Borg as First, most sentient life is similar to us. How are we in anyway different?"

V grinned, "Oh you're not. I just like to throw you all a bone to make you feel special from time to time. Sure, in the grand scheme of things as it is played out through time and space you are at once special and insignificant at the same time. Still enjoyment is where you find it. It is the one thing I agree with my father. My mother is sadly too wedded to the jaded views of the Continuum to understand this."

Auoda Paris made a face. While only eleven years old, Tom Paris had noted how his daughter shared his thirst for fun and adventure, "That doesn't sound fun. Why advance to your cosmic level if it's one big snore because you've already seen everything?"

Cedric nodded at this, "Dad says he couldn't understand Voldemort. It was one thing to try and cheat death; it's a common thing mortals would think to try. But he did it in such a way where his immortal life would be joyless and awful."

V snapped his fingers, "Exactly the point my father and a few others make. It's one of the reasons I don't think of myself as a Q. There is too much to appreciate if you only know where to look. To the old stodgy Q back in the Continuum, they think they've seen it all. The truth is the 'all' is always changing if you bother to look."

A rather evil smile flashed briefly over V's handsome face, "And if that doesn't work, excitement can be made to order."

Icheb and Yovan traded looks. As the oldest of those present, they knew of the warning which had gone out about stemming from V's earlier comment.

Yet before they could ask the cosmic being about it, V had turned towards the bulkhead and stared as if he was looking through it. V then threw up his arms in disgust, "Aw come on! You had a 37.85684 percent chance of success! I was rooting for you and you let me down!"

V turned back to the startled children and teens. He sighed and his shoulders sagged as if he was suddenly exhausted. "I guess the old Earth saying of if you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself is a universal maxim. I'm not going to be cheated out of my explosions."

"Explosions?" Rigel asked even as his sister was texting her father via her PADD next to him.

V smiled, "Oh yes! When you see things on my level, ships exploding in space are the best!"

With that statement, V disappeared in a brilliant flash.

OoOoO

BRIDGE, DIV VĖRITĖ, SECTOR 307, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51973.6

Admiral Maxence was sipping on what would be considered tea on Earth as he read through his daily briefing. On one hand, the fleet was in a good position from a supply side of things. This was surprising to the Admiral given how far they were from Devore space. Yet they had managed to be able to continue to restock from areas they had gone through as they shadowed the human fleet. Maxence smirked to himself. The sheer power of his fleet certainly helped to convince many systems it was best to appease them with supplies so they would be on their way rather than suffer a terrible defeat in space to be followed by an orbital bombardment.

Yet on the other hand, morale in the fleet was growing dangerously low.

Maxence frowned at this thought. So many who followed him had done so out of a patriotic zeal to punish the destroyers of Galaron III. Now that zeal was flagging. Worse, Colonel Kashyk had drafted many whom High Command had deemed questionable, especially the many Brenari Kashyk had recruited. Still, Maxence had to admit that with things as they were, those Brenari trusted enough to still be part of the Devore military had even more incentive to curry favor in order to save their friends and family.

This did little to mitigate Maxence's worry about morale. While news from home was sparse, the news they got was grim. Their ships were needed back home. Yet Maxence also knew that the news of their victory would go a long way to lift the morale of all back home. If only those blasted Hierarchy bastards would fulfill their part of the bargain!

"Well they can't. They all died 2.3 minutes ago," came a voice to his left.

With a startled cry, Maxence swiveled his command chair to find a young human male in a Starfleet uniform looking at him dispassionately.

"You're not the wizard!" Maxence growled out as he waved off the bridge crew from taking action.

"No, I'm something far more powerful. I'll give you a hint. My dad's a Q." the seemingly human said with a smirk.

Maxence's stomach clenched. Of all the things to happen now! A Q had somehow found them interesting enough to appear!

"Oh don't get that sour look on your face. I'm here to do you a favor. You see, I want a space battle but your hired help couldn't get it done. So, here's the deal…whether you like it or not. I'm going to give you just enough time to go to red alert…or whatever you Devore use, and then I'm transporting your ships to Commodore Janeway's fleet. Now don't disappoint me with a boring space battle. I want action! I want adventure! I want pain and pathos! Dance for me, you ephemerals!"

With a rather crazed laugh, the being disappeared in a flash of light.

Maxence wasted no time snarling out orders, "Stations! Send out the Priority Combat Alert to the fleet! We're finally getting our revenge!"

OoOoO

BRIDGE, THE PHOENIX, SECTOR 307, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51973.7

"Well isn't this a fuck-all way to end the day," Harry Potter said as he threw the ship into a deep banking curve. "Veer! Now is not the time to tell me we can't get the cloaking device back online!" It had been happenstance that a Devore torpedo and exploded early. It was his normal luck the Phoenix, even though cloaked at the time, had been close enough to be damaged by it.

Of course the entire battle had gone from zero to 60 in moments after the Devore ships had materialized almost on top of the fleet. Even bad luck was an achievement right now!

Harry didn't want to admit it but he was shocked they hadn't lost any ships yet. He knew that wouldn't last.

"Cloak will be back online in 30 seconds…mark!" Veers said dispassionately. Harry had noticed both he and Alars tended to revert a bit back to acting more like the drones they once were when in combat. Probably because it helped keep the fear in check. And the pucker-factor was certainly ratcheted up to eleven at this point.

Harry turned to Alars, "Cloak us and then push all available power to the integrity fields."

Alars eyebrows rose in surprise. He knew Harry's views on relying on such fields. It implied they were about to engage in some stressful maneuvers.

Yet given the tactical situation, Alars could not fault the wizard's decision. With the Devore ships appearing out of nowhere, even the fleet being ready for action was barely keeping the battle from turning into a disaster. The very size of the Devore ships and the range they were at might yet be the deciding factor. The distance between the ships, a range rarely found in space battles, certainly kept Harry Potter from using Fiendfyre.

As his vision blurred slightly as the Phoenix cloaked, Alars was thrown against his restraining harness. Even the artificial gravity was hard pressed to deal with the maneuvers Harry was doing to keep their tiny ship alive in amidst the chaos of phaser and torpedo fire.

OoOoO

BRIDGE, USS EQUINOX, SECTOR 307, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51973.7

While Tahl's face was impassive, internally he was thinking about the comment he had made to Sub-Commander Dhael regarding getting more combat time with humans then he did back when he was one of the top captains of the Romulan Imperial Navy.

He was certainly regretting those words now as the Equinox rocked around him. Still, even in the face of death, Romulans held to their duty to the end. "Helm bring us around Two, Two, Four, mark Seven. Prepare for rescue operations."

Commander Burke gave him a questioning look from the chair next to Tahl. With the coming of the new Klingon ships, Korath had taken a posting to the Demonslayer. This had led Commander Burke to come back to his old spot after proving that regardless of the previous circumstances, he had earned the right to be second-in-command.

Tahl grimaced as he gestured to the tactical display, "The Marianne is going too…"

Before Tahl could finish, the Marianne was bracketed by fire which caused it to veer off the axis of the Galactic Horizon line. Its various lights beginning to flicker on and off.

"On it captain," Burke said tightly.

OoOoO

The children watched through the viewports as well as the tactical display being beamed to the wall of the chapel from Rigel's PADD. While they all had an emergency station, none of them felt it mattered at this point. It was obvious to even the youngest that whether they lived or died was very much a coin flip at this point regardless of where they might be on the ship.

In that vein, Mezoti frowned and turned to V who had reappeared after the battle had begun. "The tactical situation is rapidly degrading. Our fleet will be destroyed in under 10 minutes. If you wished to see an impressive battle, I believe you brought the Devore fleet in too close to ours. Our fighters and superior torpedo targeting would have punished the Devore fleet as they closed. This would have made the battle more even."

She paused and cocked her head to the side, "Will you stay with us or jump away before we are all incinerated?"

The other children looked at V, expecting him to sneer or rant at the girl. Instead they were surprised to see the being look a bit abashed. "I hate to say you're right…but you are. Sadly when you think on the scale I do, distance between ships in space is harder to judge than I had thought." He rubbed his chin for a bit before he seemed to realize all the kids were looking at him. "No! I'm not going to leave. I just need to even the odds a bit."

V made a face before smiling, "Ah! Just the thing!" before snapping his fingers.

OoOoO

In one small corner of her thoughts, Janeway was still smarting that she was sitting to the left of the captain's chair. Many commodores or admirals might take the captain's chair during a battle like the one they were currently fighting but Janeway would never do that to Chakotay.

Around her the bridge crew were bent to their tasks, their voices clipped and precise. Yet the fear was palpable. The last time they had tangled with the Devore, only through the interference of Harry Potter had saved the day. Yet that had only been possible due to the distance the fleet had been from the Devore. This was not the case now.

Janeway saw one of the smallest of the Devore ships, one still larger than Voyager break out of formation and accelerate swiftly, "It's going for the Kelionininkas!"

"I see it," Chakotay said. "Conn, bring us around to Six, One, Four mark…"

Before the new captain of Voyager could finish his command, three beams of green energy streaked away from the back of the Kelionininkas. These beams struck the Devore with precision and the ship rapidly began to decelerate as it desperately moved to break contact. It was hit twice before it was out of range of the T-Cubes weapons.

Chakotay turned to Janeway, "If only we had more of either Cubes weapons online."

Janeway nodded, "I'm grateful what for what we have. Hopefully, this display will keep the Devore from targeting her anymore. They, at least, may be left alone if the Devore triumph."

"It's looking likely," Commander Baxter said ominously from his XO chair to the right of Chakotay, "They are pushing us into being split into two groups. I estimate we'll last only 10 minutes more if that happens."

Alerts sounded at various stations. Science Officer Mohindra cried out, "Commodore! Three Klingon ships have appeared to the flank of the battle! Sensors show they are old-style, late 23rd century. Wait…confirmed. These ships were reported lost near the Federation border when attacked by the V'Ger probe in 2270."

Janeway's eyebrows went up in surprise. "What the hell are they doing here?"

Chakotay couldn't help but blurt out, "Who cares! If they can get into the fight, we may have a chance!"

OoOoO

BRIDGE, IKV AMAR, SECTOR 307, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51973.7

"Report!" The command came purely out of instinct as Captain Morga's last memory was of the brilliant flash from the impact of the torpedo from the enormous alien vessel they had intercepted after it had wreaked so much havoc as it passed through Klingon space.

There was a pause before Sogh Karel responded from the operations section, "The situation is confusing, my lord. We seem to have been transported into the midst of a battle. One side has ships of unknown configuration. The other is a mix of ships. I show three Klingon ships, a Federation Ares class destroyer. There are two other ships which are Federation by form but are of unknown design. There are also numerous smaller ships as well and they are defending a ship that…well it defies our database."

"Tactical!" Morga ordered.

The three screens in front of him changed to reflect the situation. One showed an overall view of the battle, the other information about the ships. Yet it was the main viewing screen, showing actual video of the battle which caused all the officers on the bridge to gasp.

The size of the ships as well as the ferocity of the combat was amazing even with all of the bridge crew being veterans of the General War.

His second, HodHom Toral turned to him, "Regardless of the why, it is obvious one side has Klingon ships fighting in it. We are honor-bound to assist."

"Agreed!" Morga said. Before he could give another order, two vessels came out from under cloak. The unfamiliar smaller ship fired an unknown weapon which caused one of the larger alien ship's shields to flare green even as the Romulan Warbird behind it fired a Class R torpedo.

"My lord, all the ships in our database are showing as having extensive modifications," the science officer said as he continued to hunch over his display. "I've been able to identify the Klingon ships as the Demonslayer and the Vak Kalday fleet tug. The most surprising is the Thunderchild. It was lost before the dilithium upgrade in Tholian space. Yet it has been severely upgraded with tech I'm also reading on the two unknown Federation ships. The Warbird has been upgraded as well."

The science officer turned away from his station to look his captain in the eye. "I believe we have been transported to some future point, my lord. The two unknown Federation vessels are clearly more advanced than the other two."

"Well it seems we have been saved from death to fight. Let us not disappoint our savior. Tactical, inform the Separ and the BortaS we will swing around to cover the Vak Kalday." Morga ordered. He swiveled his chair to his communications officer. But before he could give the order to make contact, that station beeped. "Hail coming in from the largest of the unknown Federation vessels!"

Morga swiveled his chair back towards the main viewer, "On screen!"

The screen swirled in a chaotic cascade of colors before stabilizing to show a Federation bridge of unknown origin. The insignias were familiar to Morga but the uniforms were not. Another indication that they might indeed be in the future.

He was surprised that the male with facial tattoos in the command seat did not speak but the pregnant woman in the seat next to him rose, "Klingon commander, this is Commodore Janeway of the Federa…well Alliance fleet. Our records show your ship to be the IKV Amar, lost to the V'Ger probe in 2270. If so, are you Captain Morga?"

"I am. What is happening? How did we get here?" Morga asked in a curt tone. The enormity of what had happened was starting to sink in and it wouldn't do to show the fear that was beginning to creep in.

The woman scowled, "You've been pulled from the past to the year 2375 by a cosmic being who likes to play with the likes of us. Sadly, you've jumped out of certain death in 2270 to a fight for our lives in 2375. Know that in our time, back in the Alpha Quadrant, the Klingon Empire and Federation are allies in a war against an invading race from the Gamma Quadrant. We could use your help. Plus, if we survive, I doubt you'll get far in the Delta Quadrant without our help."

Morga was silent for a moment before the tactical realities of the battle intruded. The alien ships had begun to fire on his ships. "Agreed! Link us with your tactical. There are Klingons among you. We shall not abandon them!"

The human woman smiled a rather wolfish smile, "Welcome to hell, Captain Morga. Glad to have you along for the ride."

OoOoO

"What is that?" Bellatrix asked as she pointed towards an unknown icon on the tactical display.

Icheb beat the others to the answer, "Sensor show it to be an old style Federation listening post." The Brunali looked at V, "It is likely it was pulled from wherever V pulled those three Klingon vessels from."

V frowned as he looked at his fingers as he snapped them a few times as if checking for errors. "Huh; what do you know? I guess my Dad was right about something. There is a bit of finesse needed at this level."

V was silent for a moment before looking up and grinning, "Well it doesn't matter. Those ships should even things…"

His voice trailed off as two of the Klingon ships where bracketed by the crossfire of the Devore dreadnaught and one of cruisers. Without the substantial upgrades all the other ships from the 23rd Century had gone through; the outcome was inevitable. One Klingon ship exploded outright while the other began to break apart with escape pods shooting away from the ship like fleas fleeing a drowning dog.

Mezoti turned towards V, "Your plans seem to be poorly executed. Perhaps the lesson your father wanted to teach you is that your reach exceeds your grasp."

V simply glowered at the former drone as the battle raged on. After a bit, V snapped his fingers again.

OoOoO

"All wings, listen up! As we cross behind the Kelionininkas, we'll do our warp jump. The hope is the tech we have working in the Cubes will mask us enough to jump unnoticed. Once we drop out of warp, we need to high-tail it to the coordinates I'm sending now. We then warp back and volley every missile we have." Junior Lieutenant Rick Sternbach said as he sent the info to all the wings with actual pilots. The automated fighters were being controlled by the Cy-Dru and were attempting to give enough cover for this maneuver to hopefully work. The bulk of them had already been destroyed even if they had destroyed the one Devore destroyer the T-Cube had hit earlier in the battle. Sadly, while their Fleet was inflicting serious damage on the Devore, the sheer size of their ships and the power it brought with them was starting to wear the Fleet down.

This 'Hail Mary' had to work or the fleet was doomed.

The flight leaders of Green, Blue and Gold squadrons called in that they were ready.

Sternbach hit his Command channel as the fighters flight path took them behind the massive bulk of the Kelionininkas, "Commodore, this is Aslan; jumping now."

"Good hunting Red Leader," came Janeway's voice tinged with static.

"All wings link and jump on my mark. Three, two, one, mark!"

The four squadrons of Marauder fighters disappeared into warp space and away from the battle which continued to intensify.

OoOoO

Admiral Maxence cursed as the tactical display showed another ship appear out of nowhere. Yet this same display quickly showed that while it was similar (if larger) to the smaller Federation destroyer, it did not have the modern upgrades. Still, the Admiral had a sinking suspicion that the Q was responsible for these ships appearing just as his ships was close to completely destroying the bulk of the Federation's fleet.

No matter! Let the cosmic being have his fun. He would have this new ship destroyed like he'd already done to two of the three previous newcomers. Still the ship was recovering and joining the battle much faster than those previous ships. That and it was in position to provide excellent covering fire. He needed to end this quickly. As powerful as his ships were, Maxence couldn't afford for them to be too badly damaged or they'd never make it back to Devore space. Those same races who he'd bullied into selling supplies to them might jump at a chance to get revenge if his ships weren't in top shape. They'd already taken far more damage than Maxence was comfortable with.

"Kashyk! Have the Résolu target that new ship. Destroy it quickly and then rejoin the battle lines!"

His second moved to obey as the Admiral sat back and let the tactical data wash over him. He didn't see his second also tap out a command on his wrist comm.

OoOoO

BRIDGE, THE MARIANNE, SECTOR 307, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51973.7

Ensign Hao Nguyen sat in the captain's chair in a bridge which had seen much better days. A bridge which was also supposed to be empty. Yet he and his two companions had not beamed away when the rest of the ship had been evacuated. The three had a different plan.

"Pat? Will it work?" Nguyen asked quietly.

Staff Sergeant Patrido 'Pat' Martinez didn't answer for a moment as he continued to work on the main panel. "Try it now!" came his voice muffled by the emergency helmet all three wore as they had activated the Xenylon emergency protocols.

Nguyen nodded to Technician Stanley Crichton. "Fire it up softly Stan."

Crichton nodded and began typing in commands. Around them the emergency lighting dimmed and then went out as main lights returned. Crichton turned, "We're at 14.6% power but given once we strap in, we won't need the artificial gravity anymore, we'll have even more power."

Another flicker as the main lights went off to be replaced by the red emergency lighting again.

Martinez stood up and stored the tool he'd been using in his tool-bag, "There, it's not a lot of power, but emergency lights are all on battery power. Like Stan said, once we've turned off the gravity, I'm thinking we can get close to 20%. Although we may have to use some of that extra juice to shore up the hull integrity fields otherwise we might fly apart before we ram."

Nguyen nodded even as a ball of ice formed in his stomach. All three of the remaining conspirators to the 'Wildman Plan' had stayed behind because they felt they could never fully integrate back into the Fleet after what they had almost had a hand in accomplishing. Even the reality of them being under Arturis' verbal spell hadn't been enough. They might as well have dead albatross around their necks like the fabled Ancient Mariner. The rest of the crew certainly acted like they did.

But Fate had given them a way out which might have some meaning and be an apology of sort. Still, this was the first time one of them had articulated that they weren't going to survive past a few more minutes…and it was by their own choice rather than the hazards of combat.

The other two men seemed to have both come to the same realization. Yet both turned back to their work with Pat sitting down in the console next to Stan. Within a few moments, they were strapped in and the gravity went off. So far none of the combatants on either side had noticed the Marianne wasn't as dead as she appeared to be. Still with the intensity of the combat all around them, Nguyen wasn't surprised they had been missed. All the better.

"Pat, how fast can we get from this dead stop?" Nguyen asked.

A few keystrokes brought the answer, "A bit over one-third impulse."

"It'll have to do," Nguyen said. "Let's do this…power up to maximum!"

To anyone watching, the Marianne had been little more than a wreck in space. Yet the Marquis had built their vessels hardy and the evacuation had been more about the realization that the ship couldn't take much more punishment than it being fully out of commission. The ship seemed to shrug off its wounds and come back to life.

As the ship powered up, Crichton suddenly called out, "Holy shit! I've got the four squadrons dropping out of warp behind the Devore! They look like they are…hot shit that's all their missiles!"

The tactical display showed a swarm of missiles streaking towards the Devore's rear. They couldn't have asked for a better distraction! "I'll take it! Punch it, Pat!" Nguyen said as he pounded his fist onto the armrest.

The Marianne leapt forward even though it was at a fraction of what the ship had been capable of after the upgrades done back in the Pit Stop. The ship swerved through some debris of what had been a Klingon cruiser brought from somewhen.

"We're at full thrust for what we can manage! We have a straight shot!" Crichton said with a savage grin. The tactical display showed they'd ram the Devore dreadnaught almost directly to the bottom midpoint by what looked like an important sensor array cluster.

Yet even as the Marianne shot towards her death, the three were smashed against their restraints as the whole ship groaned around them.

"What the fuck was that?" Nguyen said through clenched teeth. He felt he might have a broken rib.

"It is..it's…damnit to hell! We're stuck fast in a tractor beam! Those bastards learned from what Potter did," Crichton said, despair creeping into his words as it dawned they would not get their heroic death after all. All they could do was wait till one of the Devore weapons array had an opening in its targeting pattern and that would be the end of them.

Yet that shot never came. A loud beep caused Martinez to shift the tactical display. Not 1,000 kilometers away, the Phoenix shimmered into view with the Tovarek behind it and off to one side. The Romulan ship fired its Plasma R torpedo even before the Phoenix fired its own Polaron Ram. Both ships quickly disappeared.

All three held their breath. The torpedoes (used mostly by the Romulans and Gorns) grew weaker the longer they traveled. The Tovarek had fired at almost point-blank range. With the Devore shields sapped by the Polaron ram, the effect would be catastrophic.

And it was to be. Almost the entire Devore dreadnaught was obscured by the detonation. Even so, while the ship suffered a huge gash to its lower deck, it was obvious that the ship wasn't out of action. Even so, the three men felt the tractor beam cut off.

However, the dreadnaught's might was tested again as the attack had interrupted their point-defense system and two more massive explosions rocked the giant ship as two of the missiles fueled by the warheads the Cy-Dru had been pulled from got through.

Martinez looked at Nguyen, "Orders? We can do a lot of damage by ramming into that gash."

Nguyen thought about it, "No. Even damaged as they are, we'll never get through their defensive screen now that they know we're alive. Besides, I think we did enough. I'm betting after they caught us, their people turned back to the main battle. It gave the Phoenix and the Tovarek the opening they needed to get so close. It's enough for me. I'm afraid to say I find myself thinking the martyr's death is not for me."

The other two men nodded, "How about we get this old gal out of here? That's going to be pretty heroic by itself," Crichton pointed out.

"Maybe even go link up with that old-style Federation listening post that's just floating out there since those Klingons showed up. If I remember right, they don't have any weapons except anti-debris phasers," Martinez suggested. "We at least could try and knock out any missiles sent their way."

Nguyen nodded, "That sounds like a plan. Make it so."

OoOoO

"Oh yes! That's what I'm talking about! Oh the gradients in chaotic harmony! The interplay between the cascading warp plasma as it spills out and degrades into oblivion! That'll never get old!" V enthused as the children watched the Devore dreadnaught take a huge one-two blow.

Naomi looked up from her PADD. "So did you bring the Vulcans back from the dead, V?"

V turned to the half-Ktarian, "What do you mean? There is no bringing beings back from the dead under normal circumstances, even for the Q."

"Well that ship you brought in is the USS Intrepid," Naomi explained even as she then grunted with the rest as the ship was jolted by weapons fire and the gravity fluctuated for a moment.

"Yes, I know," V said loftily. "Cosmic being here."

"I know you know. But records are clear that the Vulcan crew died. V'Lana's dad and the other Vulcans on the USS Enterprise heard their death-cry. Ergo, you brought them back from the dead."

V leaned over and whispered into Naomi's ear. "You're a clever girl. I'd like to cheat and tell you you'll take over Janeway's job someday…but that's story's not yet written. So, show me how clever your really are."

The other children and teens watched as Naomi wrestled with the problem before she suddenly beamed, "You bootstrapped it!"

V smiled.

"What do you mean? Is this some weird Alpha Quadrant thing?" Yovan asked, clearly confused.

Cedric shook his head, "No, it refers to what on Earth was called the Bootstrap Paradox. It states if you took an artifact which had been in your family for generations and then traveled to the pass and gave that same artifact to ones ancestors, then when in the timeline did the artifact first originate? For your point of view, it was created in the past. Yet to your ancestors, the artifact was created in the feature. Therefore its existence is a paradox. I'm not all clear what a bootstrap is, though."

Bellatrix looked at Naomi, "You're saying V just took the shout from the memories of those Vulcans who heard it and then replicated it from the future to sound when he took the ship?"

They all looked at V who blew on the fingers of his right hand and then buffed them against the fabric of his uniform on his chest, "Yes, I'm just that good. It's easy when you can back and forth between time."

"Is that what you did for those Klingon ship?" Auoda asked?

V shook his head. "Nope; that was even easier. V'Ger had digitized the matter of the ships and stored it as an energy pattern in its matrix. I simply took that before V'Ger ascended into a higher form. Pretty cut and dried actually. There are a few races still in mortal form who could managed it out in the universe right now."

Rebi looked confused, his Wysanti face scrunched up, "Why do you keep taking ships from near the Federation from a century ago?"

His twin Azar nodded, "Is that time special or something?"

V shrugged, "It's too much of a bother to take ships from right now as that would irritate a lot in the…well let's just say it would be bad. As for that time period, a lot of ships went missing all the time. Plus, if you survive, they can be upgraded fairly easily since you people already have the practice partly due to my father's largesse. I figure if you all don't die now, well more ships for more explosions later!"

"I do not believe we are about to die. Something is clearly up in the Devore fleet," Mezoti said dispassionately as she pointed to where a cruiser and one of the two remaining destroyers had begun to fire on their own ships.

OoOoO

Admiral Maxence couldn't help but smile as the tactical situation shifted. Even with the catastrophic damage, the Devore fleet had finally reached a point where they could concentrate fire on every single Federation ship individually. With such concentrated firepower, each would be destroyed in turn.

Then it would be an easy matter to convince those on the generation ship that surrender was their only option. Then he would mate up the Vérité to the asteroid behind the smaller Borg cube. That would give his almost crippled ship stability while being repaired and it could be used to help move the ship at a higher rate of speed back to Devore space. The capabilities of that giant vessel would certainly make up for the losses brought about by this battle. That and the Borg weapons would help get them through any trouble they might face.

It was all coming together!

"Admiral! The Résolu and the Dague are firing on the fleet!"

Maxence snapped out of his thoughts of getting back to Devore space to see the tactical display showing exactly that.

"What the devil? Security! Ensure our cyber-shields are holding. It may be those damnable, digital lifeforms have hacked our ships!" Maxence ordered.

"Oh it's not that, Admiral," said Colonel Kashyk from behind him.

Maxence swiveled his chair to see Kashyk and the ops officer in the turbolift. "It's simply a long-planned mutiny." Before reinforced, security blast doors shut, Kashyk lobbed something into the bridge. It clattered and rolled almost to his feet.

Maxence barely had time to register what it was before it exploded, killing him and the rest of the bridge staff.

Commodore's Log, Star Date 51974.6. Harry Potter has said that luck is his super-power. I feel as if this has rubbed off onto us as we amazingly came through the Second Devorian Battle with none of our original ships lost. While the Separ was a complete destroyed with all hands, the bulk of the crew of the BortaS managed to escape. It helped that Captain Krith was able to separate his ship's boom before the bulk of the ship exploded.

Even so, the battle was costly. We lost 86% of our automated fighters which is a big blow to our power projection and defensive capabilities. I feel this is more than offset that for another battle, that none our crewed fighters were lost. In fact, none were even damaged in this fight as they warped out after volleying their missiles. That can't be said for the rest of the fleet as almost all ships have taken some significant damage. The Marianne, for example, will take over a month to fully repair.

The situation had remained dangerous given even with the Devore mutiny, a ship like the Résolu had plenty of loyal Devore on it. So while a cease-fire was initiated, I felt it wouldn't last. Yet for whatever reason, Q took that out of our hands. With a snap of his fingers, the Devore fleet, minus the Résolu and the hulk of the Vérité, disappeared taking all the loyal Devore with them.

Colonel, now Captain, Kashyk has taken over the command of the Résolu as they had enough defectors to crew it properly. The others, mostly Brenari are working with the Skurk and Talaxians to secure the Vérité to the second asteroid we'd previously pick-up to use as a resource for the Maw while the Talaxians worked on it over the coming years to do what had been done in The Garage for the Txajzeb.

Given the amount of Klingons already in our fleet, Captains Morga and Krith and the surviving crews are quickly being integrated in with the others. I have to say I am happy to have them. Almost all of them are veterans of the General War. While the Banished were accomplished spacers, they had relied on stealth, rather than combat, to hopefully find the answer to their quest.

Given Voyager left Mars without our full compliment of science personnel, the crew of the Epsilon IX are a gift. Even if Command Branch and his crew are a century behind in technology, I'm confident they will get up to speed just as fast as Captain Hudec and the rest of the crew off the USS Constellation rescued by Q did.

Shockingly, it is the USS Intrepid which might be the biggest integration issue. Tuvok says it will take time for the all Vulcan crew to adapt to the mental discipline which was forged through the dangers of the General War. A time when Starfleet could not afford to keep having all-Vulcan crewed ships. I knew that prior to the 'Awakening of Solidarity' created by the great T'Pau, it was the rare Vulcan who could stand to be on a ship with non-Vulcans.

In talking with the Intrepid's Captain D'Val, I hadn't realized how bad it had been for the Vulcans of that time. V'Lana explained that the issue was as bad as it was due to most of the Vulcans who were better at dealing with non-Vulcans had left long ago and would later become modern Romulans. So the ones most likely to have problems with others had stayed behind. She also said that her father, Ambassador Spock, had been instrumental in T'Pau's discovery as she had been closely linked to Spock's mind when he fought Captain Kirk during the Koon-ut-Kal-If-Fee during her father's Pon Farr on Vulcan. The dichotomy of Spock's human and Vulcan's minds gave her the insight needed to make the breakthrough.

I've studied a lot of Vulcan history, much due to my friendship with Tuvok, but it amazes me how so many historically relevant actions are barely recorded when it comes to Vulcan mysticism. Still, regardless of the Vulcans having to be similar to the Skurks and keep their distance, they should be able to integrate within a few months if we're lucky.

I cannot express how proud I am of my crew. Every sentient throughout the fleet, to include the digital Cy-Dru, worked together better than I had imagined. For all my earlier worries about how the fleet's demographics might pan out, this fight gives me hope we can transcend them.

Now all I have to worry about is dealing with Captain Kashyk and his obvious desire to rekindle his aborted flirtation with me. That and trying to wheedle out what Q did to those thousands of Devore and their ships and why he completed the Goshawk for us.

OoOoO

Q chuckled at the obvious disgruntled look on his son's face, "You know, you told the Borg Queen you had to be here in this time because I was going to try and teach you a lesson. Well did it sink in? Even that little ex-Borgling picked up on it. Regardless of what the Q say, and I include myself into this, omnipotence is a myth. Everything has limitations. I hope you realize now you can't simply snap your fingers and everything works as you wish."

Three of those in Janeway's ready room, Janeway herself, Tuvok and Ransom were surprised when the fourth chuckled. "There's always a bigger fish, eh?" Harry Potter joked.

Q laughed even as V scowl darkened. "Indeed! Of course the fish bigger than the Q Continuum are the stuff of legends."

"Can we just go now," V asked petulantly.

"Yes, but before we do, I'd like to speak with Harry Potter privately for a moment," Q said affably.

"Wait, you still haven't answered my questions; what did you do with the Devore?" Janeway asked crossly.

"Ah ma belle commodore, are you worried I blinked them out of existence for ruining your day?"

Ransom harrumphed at that, "Your reputation doesn't rule that out."

V chuckled at that, "He's not wrong."

Q made a dismissive gesture, "If you must know, I fixed their ships and sent them back to Devore space."

"That is rather out of character for you or any Q the Federation has records for. That and completing the saucer section for the Goshawk," Tuvok pointed out.

Q shrugged, "With all the ruckus my son raised, I figured it might make those…adjacent to the Q a bit less put out if I put his toys away so to speak. Plus, for a being as cosmically awesome as I, creating that saucer section as just as easy as when I brought those crew so you'd be able to use the Defiant."

"Still, that was rather charitable of you," Ransom pointed out.

Q made an indulgent gesture, "Come now, bestowing gifts on mortals that entertain them has a long history you your culture. Why are you so shocked by this?"

Janeway still didn't like the look on Q's face and wasn't about to be side-tracked, "What did you actually do to the Devore?"

While Q obviously pretended to be aggrieved, V spoke up, "He sent them back because they would die a better death than if they stayed."

"What!" was the general comment from everyone but Tuvok.

"What do you mean?" Janeway demanded.

Q leaned forward so his elbows were on the briefing table, his hand interlocked under his chin, "It's like this Kathy. If I did nothing, they would all die in 3 months' time at the hands of the Hirogen. A rather grisly death I must say. Yet I sent them back so they could die instead in glorious battle defending their Imperium in just over a month from now. I would think I was being rather merciful."

Harry snorted at that, "I'm betting it was less mercy and more because the second option meant more explosions in space. Your boy seems to like that. I'm betting that's why you fixed the Goshawk as well."

"I cannot be held responsible for such coincidences," Q said with a sly look on his face. "Now, don't make me beam you all onto floaties in the middle of that internal sea you have. Harry Potter has a question and I find myself, oddly enough, wanting to give the answer to that question."

"If it gets both of you off my ship, I'm all for it," Janeway said darkly as the three left the ready room.

Q turned to Harry who had a confused look on his face. "I don't recall having to ask you about anything."

Q smirked, "Ah but you do. You were talking to the Doctor about souls. Remember? You couldn't see his soul nor any of the Cy-Dru who entered the biological hosts you grew for them. Now do you remember?"

Harry blinked, "Right. I was wondering if beings like you have souls. Souls look to me, via the Stone, to be an energy. You are energy. Are you all soul or not?"

V laughed at this. Harry looked at him but V waved him off.

Q looked indulgently at Harry. "You are a rare being, Harold James Potter. You have seen beyond what most have to die to see. The Hallows that are a part of you allow you to see into what cannot normally be seen at your level of existence. So to answer your question, let me say all you have to do is to simply look and you shall understand."

Harry blinked at this before it dawned on him what Q meant. He rarely used the Stone for this, but with it, he could look into a person and get a good read on them by looking at their soul. It wasn't perfect. Good people could do horrible things if they felt they were justified and evil people could do good for their own reasons.

Harry stood. Q did the same. Harry came around the table and manifested the Stone. He tossed his head as if to crick his neck before going still. Harry then cleared his mind and allowed the power of the Stone to flow through him as he looked at Q.

At first he saw nothing. The body Q created was flawless. Yet soon enough Harry could see it was put a fraction of what the being was. It was as if Harry was an ant and only could see the toe-nail on the smallest toe of a giant. Harry cast his gaze then into this giant.

The flow of energy was mesmerizing but it was energy flowing as if in contained in rivers of curtains. All moving in a rhythmic dance. Harry thought it interesting that these curtains almost look as if they were made of…Harry looked closer.

Harry eye's flew open. He hadn't realized he had closed them given he really hadn't been looking with his eyes. But even so. He had seen.

His eyes grew wide as the staggering implications rushed to overwhelm him. He moaned and fell to the floor before frantically crab-walking away from Q until he was trapped against the wall.

Q simply smiled sadly, "Don't ask a question you aren't prepared to accept the answer to."

"You…you…Harry stammered out, his eyes wild, his breathing ragged.

"Do we really have to do this?" V asked. He snapped his fingers and Harry vanished.

Q looked petulant but V cut him off, "He was going to apparate away and splinch himself something terrible."

Q sighed, "Yes, you're right. Caught up in the moment I guess."

V looked pensive, "Are you sure this was the right thing to do at this point?"

Q shrugged, "The stage is set and the lights are going up as the players are ascending the stage. All we can do now is wait to see how well the actors stay on script."

Q gave V a significant look and both disappeared in a dual flash of light.

XxXxX

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Sorry for the delay in this chapter. Real Word events keep hitting my part of the country. Last year (around chapter 10 or so I think) it was smoke from fires caused us to have the worst air quality in the world! Then a little later it was record breaking heat. Sort of hard to be writing when it's 115 degrees outside. Few homes here in the PNW are designed for high heat. Luckily, a friend got a new, in-house AC unit and gifted us with her old, window-mounted unit. Still, you try to be creative when it's 90+ and humid in your home. Then, just to add insult to injury, I then got a nasty summer cold of a variety I've had before which just lingers.

So didn't feel very creative…and then I got bitten by the What If? bug and cranked out Avengers Redeux. Sorry about that.

To top it off, during the time I was writing, I had two injuries to my fingers which made typing painful. Then after all that, my depression returned due to a change in medication (which obviously didn't work) and I didn't write for months and as the holidays hit, I also got the Seasonal Crud™ which turned out to be just that's as I got exposed to COVID in February and I tested negative.

However, I've finally become employed again so that is slowing me down as well. Then came the Writers For Ukraine One Million Word Challenge. This hitting just as I had gotten a new writing desk and chair so I could work out of our spare room instead of the kitchen. Well can't have the Universe hit you over the head harder than that to say, "GET THEE TO YOUR WRITING DESK!"

KLINGON BOOM SEPARATION: I don't know if it's ever been shown on screen, but on Klingon ships, the long neck section is called the Boom and its canon that it can detach from the rest of the ship like the saucer sections on Federation ships. However, like the early ships (the Constitution class being a good example) this wasn't the "easy" saucer separation that a ship like the Enterprise-D could do. It was an emergency action which generally required a visit to a major Starbase or shipyard to fix. The original Enterprise actually did this (off-camera) in the episode "Court-Martial" – In case of the Klingons, this emergency feature had the added task of being a safety measure in case of crew mutiny by the non-Klingon sepoy crew. As many Klingons as possible would get to the boom, it would separate and they'd set the aft section to auto-destruct.

THE FLEET: Well things keep hopping with this "rag-tag, fugitive fleet on a lonely quest to find Earth" so I thought it might be time, once again, to review. Here are the ships by name, length and race.

Kelionininkas – 9km – Varro/Borg hybrid

Vérité/Kevzam-Txim – 800m/2km – Devore Effrayant class dreadnaught/Asteroid

Résolu – 450m – Devore Orage class light cruiser

Voyager – 344m – Modified Federation Intrepid class galactic survey cruiser

Goshawk – 305m – Upgraded & Modified Federation Hōshō class strike cruiser

Intrepid – 289m – Federation Constitution class heavy cruiser (Not yet upgraded)

Amar – 250m – Klingon K'tinga/D-9 battlecruiser (Not yet upgraded)

Equinox – 241m – Modified Federation Nova class light cruiser

(Commissioner) Vak Kalday – 235m (w/o pods) – Klingon ReghuluS class fleet tug (in process of being upgraded)

Ares – 225m – Upgraded Federation Ares class destroyer

Demonslayer – 228m – Upgraded Klingon Kt'QIH/D-7C class command cruiser

Thunderchild – 214m – Upgraded Klingon Kt'MoD/D-6 class light cruiser

Tovarek – 131m – Modified Romulan Van Hatham class light cruiser (Warbird)

Ark Royal – 100m – Star Wars inspired Imperial Quasar Fire light carrier

Marianne – 80m – Maquis Raider (based on an enlarged Federation Mission Scout)

(Jules) Verne – 50m – Modified Federation J-Class freighter using an alien ship as a base.

Phoenix – 35m – Based on the Star Wars YT-1300 light freighter

Hugin/Munin & Seeker/Searcher – 32m – Hazari corvettes converted to automated scout vessels.

Baxial – 30m –Talaxian "family" freighter (term refers to small ships usually run/owned by a single family

Odjurjägare – 28m – Wyngari family freighter

(Amelia) Earhart & (Richard) Burton – 22-25m - Modular Delta Flyer

Falcon Fighter – 22m – Looks like a Modified Thunderfighter from the Buck Rodgers series.

Delta Flyer – 20m – Modified Federation shuttle

Marauder II Fighter – 18m – Star Wars inspired INCOM T-65 X-Wing (automated)

Marauder I Fighter – 15m – Star Wars inspired INCOM T-65 X-Wing (crewed)

Mata Hari – 12m – Unknown Alien design (Formerly the Alice)

Class 9 Shuttle – 8.5m – Standard Federation shuttlecraft