"Captain," Ensign Kim looked up at her, "We are within visual range of earth, and I'm still not reading any Federation ships in the area."
"What?" Janeway stood up, "On screen."
The bridge was silent as they looked at the image of San Francisco, or what should have been San Francisco. Ensign Kim eventually regained his composure, "I'm detecting the Eiffel Tower, the Great Wall of China, the Dome of the Rock... This is earth, but there are no signs of Starfleet, or the Federation. The only ships I'm detecting don't match any known design."
"We are receiving numerous hails from various locations on the planet," Tuvok stated, "From The Provisional Government of Syria, the Sovereign Republic of Terra, Drago-Khatzof Pride, The Viledian Empire, The Reunited States of America, the African Union..."
"I see," Janeway cut in, "Send standard greetings on all channels. Try to determine the dominate government and establish contact."
"I believe the Drago-Khatzof Pride is the predominate military power on the planet. They wish to speak with us."
"Put them through," Janeway ordered.
"I am Erik Tarkan of Drago-Khatzof Pride. Identify yourselves."
"I am Captain Kathrine Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager. We..."
"What Federation are you talking about?"
"The United Federation of Planets. We're only passing through this area in an attempt to get home."
"Your vessel doesn't match any known design. We will have to inspect it, and that cargo pod you're towing. Our inspectors will arrive shortly. Do not attempt to fight them."
"Captain," Tuvok cut audio, "I am detecting four large vessels breaking orbit from the planet and closing. They are carrying a total of three thousand four hundred life forms."
Janeway signaled to restore audio, "I'm not in the mood for an inspection. Call off your ships."
"You are in violation of our space. If you do not submit to the inspection, you will be destroyed."
"Captain," Tuvok spoke up again, "I am detecting several small, fast moving objects coming from the approaching ships. They appear to be torpedos of an unknown design."
"Evasive maneuvers," Janeway ordered, "Return fire."
"We are currently beyond weapons range," Tuvok informed her as Voyager was struck by missles, "We have registered seven direct hits. Aft shields are weakening."
"Get us out of here, warp six," Janeway ordered. Then, without any warning, the mysterious starship Voyager vanished from Neitzchian sensors.
***
"Where do we go now?" Trance asked.
"There's only one species that I know the Borg won't be able to assimilate," Harper answered, "The Consensus of Parts. The Borg can usually find a way to assimilate organic species with nanoprobes, but since the Consensus is almost entirely mechanical, they'll have to reverse-engineer the technology themselves. Plus, they're advanced enough to put up some serious resistance."
"What about the adaptive shields?" Tyr asked, "What will keep the Borg from simply destroying the Consensus of Parts?"
"It's all a matter of firepower," Harper responded, "The adaptive shields can reduce the effectiveness of a weapon, but they can't stop it completely. If we throw enough firepower at the Cube, we can take it out."
"What makes you think the consensus will want to help us?" Tyr was obviously skeptical of the plan.
"We did free 'em from VX," Harper reminded him.
"If the Outcast Consensus is as intelligent as it claims, it wouldn't allow emotional bias to get in the way of its judgement."
"If they have started thinking like Neitzchians," Rev wandered over, "They should realise that the Borg are a serious threat, and will want an opportunity to stop them. However, I doubt it will take that sort of cold logic to convince them."
"If they can destroy the Borg ship, what'll they do then?" Trance asked.
"They'll reverse-engineer it, like they did everything else," Beka responded.
"Yeah, and since the Borg store so much technical information on the computers, that shouldn't be too hard," Harper added, "I just hope they share some of it with us."
"Hey, did you notice what Q said back on the Andromeda?" Beka asked.
"Yeah, he said he was in every Star Trek series," Harper responded, "But he was never in TOS."
"Not that," Beka shook her head, "About the Borg slipstream drive."
"He said that they map slipstream paths as they travel," Dylan responded.
"Dylan, with that technology..."
"...We could create a new route to Tarn Vedra."
***
'Requesting tactical update...'
'15 swarm ships and three Magog destroyers encountered in the target sector. Resistance quotient is approximately 64. Shields were lowered by collisions with multiple swarm ships. Initial drone compliment was lost. Magog forces were assimilated as they attempted to eat or infest drones. All combat vessels were assimilated. Once they have adapted their tactics, they will be a significant threat to the collective in this universe.'
'We will wait before making any further direct assaults on species 10082. We have assimilated the colony of species 10081. Resistance was expectedly high. We will begin using the colony's resources to build a unimatrix in the area. What is the status of our probes in this universe?'
'We updated the computers of five probes. One was not at the pre-determined coordinates. We detected energy signatures consistent with a warp driven vessel using phaser and photon torpedo technology. No wreakage was detected.'
"Janeway," The Borg Queen's eyes narrowed, "The Cube will attempt to intercept the alpha quadrant vessel. You will remain in this sector and guard our forward industrial base until spheres can be constructed."
'How will we locate the Federation vessel?'
"Voyager was lost in a parallel universe. Because of their pitifully slow warp drive system, the time to cross even a single galaxy would take them over seventy years. Since the probe is not in the correct location, and there was no wreakage, we can only conclude that they managed to capture the probe. If you were lost, and separated from your allies, where is the first place you would return to with your newfound slipstream drive?"
***
"Something destroyed a Neitzchian colony a few hours ago. We've never seen anything like it," Rijan explained, "The vessel was a large cube."
"A cube?" Councilor Kisak looked amused, "That's original."
"The vessel single-handedly destroyed the colony's defense fleet. Somehow, they were able to capture the Neitzchian ships without even docking with them."
Kisak paused, "Perhaps having allies in the Commonwealth will pay off after all. Find Captain Hunt and give him our information about the attack."
"Is that necessary?" Rijan asked, "We aren't exactly allies of the Neitzchians."
"Better safe than sorry. We have to find out who these people are, and what they want."
"I understand. Hunt mentioned Meshki 6 when he was last here. I'll send slip scouts after him immediately."
"Good," Kisak responded, "Keep me informed. Also, send for the rest of the high council. We'll be meeting in two hours."
"Yes Councilor," Rijan placed two fingers against the bridge of his nose, in a traditional sign of respect, and headed off to carry out the orders.
***
"You present a convincing argument, Captain," The robotic diplomat studied the High Guard officer momentarily, "We will help you, if you can assure us that they aren't a significant threat to us."
"My engineer assures me that they aren't powerful enough to stop the consensus," Dylan responded, "But they will be soon. If we're going to do this, we have to do it now."
"What qualifies your engineer to make these claims?"
"He's the foremost expert on the Borg," Dylan responded, "He knows how they think, how they work, and what technology they have. I'm willing to stake my own life on his information."
"Very well. I assume you will be with the consensus in this battle."
"Of course," Dylan nodded.
"Dylan," Rev looked over at the main viewscreen, "The consensus is changing shape."
"The consensus is changing shape to be a more effective battleship," The diplomat explained, "We will carry the Maru inside, if that is alright with you."
"Beka?" Dylan asked.
"No problem," Beka responded, "As long as I get my ship back when they're done with it."
"There is no cause for concern. The Eureka Maru is... not a priority for us."
"Way to let her down gently," Harper smirked.
Dylan pressed a few keys on the Maru, "We're ready to dock."
"The consensus looks forward to working with you, Captain Hunt," The diplomat responded as the massive conglomeration moved to consume the Maru.
***
"This has to be an alternate reality of some kind," B'Elanna said, "Starfleet just contacted us two weeks ago."
"Or maybe we're seeing the future," Chakotay responded, "If we are, I'd like to do something to keep it from turning out this way."
"We don't recognize any of the technology," B'Elenna looked at him, "If this is the future, I can understand them having an advanced transwarp drive, but what about the weapons? They don't seem any stronger than photon torpedos, and they didn't use any energy weapons. We didn't even detect any shields on their ships."
"So if we are in an alternate reality, what do we do now?" Lt. Paris asked.
"We should return to the energy vortex," Seven stated, "Even with the data on the Borg probe, this timeline is almost entirely foreign to us. We have no allies, and Voyager cannot use a transwarp network in this dimension to reach earth in our home dimension."
"I want to know why the Borg are coming here specifically," Janeway looked at the officers assembled in the conference room, "And I'd like to stop them if we can."
"We could close the vortex, but the Borg now possess the technology to build additional gateways as needed. We cannot prevent Borg incursions into this timeline or any other."
"If only we had that technology," Neelix looked wistful, "We could use it to go from earth in this timeline to the earth we've been trying to get to."
Everyone turned to Neelix, and nearly all of them appeared to be in state of mild shock.
"Neelix..." Janeway began, "That's an excellent idea."
"Huh?" Neelix suddenly became alert, "Wh...what idea?"
***
'Assimilating new data... Voyager was identified by species 10081 four hours ago. Hostile action from the planet resulted in Voyager's escape from the system. Checking for warp signatures... Warp trail has been dissipated. Unable to track Voyager. The planet will be assimilated.'
'No, we will return to the unimatrix. When Janeway learns that we are assimilating this universe, she will do everything in her power to stop us. The moment she arrives at the unimatrix, we will capture Voyager.'
'Target priority for homeworld of species 5618 is higher. We must begin assimilation.'
'I am increasing the target priority for Voyager. Only a few in this universe have any knowledge of us. When we have eliminated those threats, the probability of our success will increase greatly.'
'We will proceed to grid 2421 of galaxy 152. Objective: Protect unimatrix. Secondary objective: Assimilate any target from timeline 001.'
'Perfect.'
"What?" Janeway stood up, "On screen."
The bridge was silent as they looked at the image of San Francisco, or what should have been San Francisco. Ensign Kim eventually regained his composure, "I'm detecting the Eiffel Tower, the Great Wall of China, the Dome of the Rock... This is earth, but there are no signs of Starfleet, or the Federation. The only ships I'm detecting don't match any known design."
"We are receiving numerous hails from various locations on the planet," Tuvok stated, "From The Provisional Government of Syria, the Sovereign Republic of Terra, Drago-Khatzof Pride, The Viledian Empire, The Reunited States of America, the African Union..."
"I see," Janeway cut in, "Send standard greetings on all channels. Try to determine the dominate government and establish contact."
"I believe the Drago-Khatzof Pride is the predominate military power on the planet. They wish to speak with us."
"Put them through," Janeway ordered.
"I am Erik Tarkan of Drago-Khatzof Pride. Identify yourselves."
"I am Captain Kathrine Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager. We..."
"What Federation are you talking about?"
"The United Federation of Planets. We're only passing through this area in an attempt to get home."
"Your vessel doesn't match any known design. We will have to inspect it, and that cargo pod you're towing. Our inspectors will arrive shortly. Do not attempt to fight them."
"Captain," Tuvok cut audio, "I am detecting four large vessels breaking orbit from the planet and closing. They are carrying a total of three thousand four hundred life forms."
Janeway signaled to restore audio, "I'm not in the mood for an inspection. Call off your ships."
"You are in violation of our space. If you do not submit to the inspection, you will be destroyed."
"Captain," Tuvok spoke up again, "I am detecting several small, fast moving objects coming from the approaching ships. They appear to be torpedos of an unknown design."
"Evasive maneuvers," Janeway ordered, "Return fire."
"We are currently beyond weapons range," Tuvok informed her as Voyager was struck by missles, "We have registered seven direct hits. Aft shields are weakening."
"Get us out of here, warp six," Janeway ordered. Then, without any warning, the mysterious starship Voyager vanished from Neitzchian sensors.
***
"Where do we go now?" Trance asked.
"There's only one species that I know the Borg won't be able to assimilate," Harper answered, "The Consensus of Parts. The Borg can usually find a way to assimilate organic species with nanoprobes, but since the Consensus is almost entirely mechanical, they'll have to reverse-engineer the technology themselves. Plus, they're advanced enough to put up some serious resistance."
"What about the adaptive shields?" Tyr asked, "What will keep the Borg from simply destroying the Consensus of Parts?"
"It's all a matter of firepower," Harper responded, "The adaptive shields can reduce the effectiveness of a weapon, but they can't stop it completely. If we throw enough firepower at the Cube, we can take it out."
"What makes you think the consensus will want to help us?" Tyr was obviously skeptical of the plan.
"We did free 'em from VX," Harper reminded him.
"If the Outcast Consensus is as intelligent as it claims, it wouldn't allow emotional bias to get in the way of its judgement."
"If they have started thinking like Neitzchians," Rev wandered over, "They should realise that the Borg are a serious threat, and will want an opportunity to stop them. However, I doubt it will take that sort of cold logic to convince them."
"If they can destroy the Borg ship, what'll they do then?" Trance asked.
"They'll reverse-engineer it, like they did everything else," Beka responded.
"Yeah, and since the Borg store so much technical information on the computers, that shouldn't be too hard," Harper added, "I just hope they share some of it with us."
"Hey, did you notice what Q said back on the Andromeda?" Beka asked.
"Yeah, he said he was in every Star Trek series," Harper responded, "But he was never in TOS."
"Not that," Beka shook her head, "About the Borg slipstream drive."
"He said that they map slipstream paths as they travel," Dylan responded.
"Dylan, with that technology..."
"...We could create a new route to Tarn Vedra."
***
'Requesting tactical update...'
'15 swarm ships and three Magog destroyers encountered in the target sector. Resistance quotient is approximately 64. Shields were lowered by collisions with multiple swarm ships. Initial drone compliment was lost. Magog forces were assimilated as they attempted to eat or infest drones. All combat vessels were assimilated. Once they have adapted their tactics, they will be a significant threat to the collective in this universe.'
'We will wait before making any further direct assaults on species 10082. We have assimilated the colony of species 10081. Resistance was expectedly high. We will begin using the colony's resources to build a unimatrix in the area. What is the status of our probes in this universe?'
'We updated the computers of five probes. One was not at the pre-determined coordinates. We detected energy signatures consistent with a warp driven vessel using phaser and photon torpedo technology. No wreakage was detected.'
"Janeway," The Borg Queen's eyes narrowed, "The Cube will attempt to intercept the alpha quadrant vessel. You will remain in this sector and guard our forward industrial base until spheres can be constructed."
'How will we locate the Federation vessel?'
"Voyager was lost in a parallel universe. Because of their pitifully slow warp drive system, the time to cross even a single galaxy would take them over seventy years. Since the probe is not in the correct location, and there was no wreakage, we can only conclude that they managed to capture the probe. If you were lost, and separated from your allies, where is the first place you would return to with your newfound slipstream drive?"
***
"Something destroyed a Neitzchian colony a few hours ago. We've never seen anything like it," Rijan explained, "The vessel was a large cube."
"A cube?" Councilor Kisak looked amused, "That's original."
"The vessel single-handedly destroyed the colony's defense fleet. Somehow, they were able to capture the Neitzchian ships without even docking with them."
Kisak paused, "Perhaps having allies in the Commonwealth will pay off after all. Find Captain Hunt and give him our information about the attack."
"Is that necessary?" Rijan asked, "We aren't exactly allies of the Neitzchians."
"Better safe than sorry. We have to find out who these people are, and what they want."
"I understand. Hunt mentioned Meshki 6 when he was last here. I'll send slip scouts after him immediately."
"Good," Kisak responded, "Keep me informed. Also, send for the rest of the high council. We'll be meeting in two hours."
"Yes Councilor," Rijan placed two fingers against the bridge of his nose, in a traditional sign of respect, and headed off to carry out the orders.
***
"You present a convincing argument, Captain," The robotic diplomat studied the High Guard officer momentarily, "We will help you, if you can assure us that they aren't a significant threat to us."
"My engineer assures me that they aren't powerful enough to stop the consensus," Dylan responded, "But they will be soon. If we're going to do this, we have to do it now."
"What qualifies your engineer to make these claims?"
"He's the foremost expert on the Borg," Dylan responded, "He knows how they think, how they work, and what technology they have. I'm willing to stake my own life on his information."
"Very well. I assume you will be with the consensus in this battle."
"Of course," Dylan nodded.
"Dylan," Rev looked over at the main viewscreen, "The consensus is changing shape."
"The consensus is changing shape to be a more effective battleship," The diplomat explained, "We will carry the Maru inside, if that is alright with you."
"Beka?" Dylan asked.
"No problem," Beka responded, "As long as I get my ship back when they're done with it."
"There is no cause for concern. The Eureka Maru is... not a priority for us."
"Way to let her down gently," Harper smirked.
Dylan pressed a few keys on the Maru, "We're ready to dock."
"The consensus looks forward to working with you, Captain Hunt," The diplomat responded as the massive conglomeration moved to consume the Maru.
***
"This has to be an alternate reality of some kind," B'Elanna said, "Starfleet just contacted us two weeks ago."
"Or maybe we're seeing the future," Chakotay responded, "If we are, I'd like to do something to keep it from turning out this way."
"We don't recognize any of the technology," B'Elenna looked at him, "If this is the future, I can understand them having an advanced transwarp drive, but what about the weapons? They don't seem any stronger than photon torpedos, and they didn't use any energy weapons. We didn't even detect any shields on their ships."
"So if we are in an alternate reality, what do we do now?" Lt. Paris asked.
"We should return to the energy vortex," Seven stated, "Even with the data on the Borg probe, this timeline is almost entirely foreign to us. We have no allies, and Voyager cannot use a transwarp network in this dimension to reach earth in our home dimension."
"I want to know why the Borg are coming here specifically," Janeway looked at the officers assembled in the conference room, "And I'd like to stop them if we can."
"We could close the vortex, but the Borg now possess the technology to build additional gateways as needed. We cannot prevent Borg incursions into this timeline or any other."
"If only we had that technology," Neelix looked wistful, "We could use it to go from earth in this timeline to the earth we've been trying to get to."
Everyone turned to Neelix, and nearly all of them appeared to be in state of mild shock.
"Neelix..." Janeway began, "That's an excellent idea."
"Huh?" Neelix suddenly became alert, "Wh...what idea?"
***
'Assimilating new data... Voyager was identified by species 10081 four hours ago. Hostile action from the planet resulted in Voyager's escape from the system. Checking for warp signatures... Warp trail has been dissipated. Unable to track Voyager. The planet will be assimilated.'
'No, we will return to the unimatrix. When Janeway learns that we are assimilating this universe, she will do everything in her power to stop us. The moment she arrives at the unimatrix, we will capture Voyager.'
'Target priority for homeworld of species 5618 is higher. We must begin assimilation.'
'I am increasing the target priority for Voyager. Only a few in this universe have any knowledge of us. When we have eliminated those threats, the probability of our success will increase greatly.'
'We will proceed to grid 2421 of galaxy 152. Objective: Protect unimatrix. Secondary objective: Assimilate any target from timeline 001.'
'Perfect.'