*****I DON'T OWN ANIMORPHS OR STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION***********
Chapter 5
The Battle For Bajor: Marco's Tapestry
(Jake)
I walked into the observation lounge to see Marco having a grim look on his face. I didn't like the look but how was I suppose to know what it meant. The rest of the Senior Staff of the Enterprise were present and I knew it had to be something serious. I sat down as Marco brought something up on one of the display screens that were at either side of the room. It was a planet that I recognized as Bajor.
"I just got a report from Deep Space 9." Marco said. "They've just destroyed a small Yeerk Task Force that had came into the Bajor system under an hour ago. The Romulans and the Klingons have each dispatched a fleet to the system and Starfleet is ordering us to Bajor."
"What other ships are coming?" I asked.
"There's a list of the ships that will comprise the Federation fleet at Bajor on the PADDS in front of you." Marco stated.
I picked up the PADD and began to read off the list to myself.
U. S. S. Hood U. S. S. Prometheus U. S. S. Challenger U. S. S. Sarek U. S. S. Bellaraphoen U. S. S. Chimera U. S. S. Defiant U. S. S. Monitor U. S. S. Hercules U. S. S. Ulysses U. S. S. Virginia U. S. S. Bozeman U. S. S. Catastrophe U. S. S. Disaster U. S. S. Titanic U. S. S. Titan U. S. S. Intrepid U. S. S. Triton U. S. S. Grant U. S. S. Robert E. Lee U. S. S. Delaware U. S. S. Saratoga-A U. S. S. Rhode Island U. S. S. Missouri-G U. S. S. Mexico U. S. S. New Mexico U. S. S. Texas U. S. S. Freedom U. S. S. Independence-C U. S. S. Liberty-D U. S. S. Constellation-A U. S. S. Hathaway U. S. S. Vulcan U. S. S. Surak U. S. S. Archer U. S. S. Reed U. S. S. Samuel Clemens U. S. S. Pavel Chekhov U. S. S. Wolf U. S. S. Abraham Lincoln U. S. S. George W. Bush-D U. S. S. Tony Blair-G U. S. S. Columbia-C U. S. S. Babylon U. S. S. Nova U. S. S. Jericho-B U. S. S. Egypt U. S. S. Betazed U. S. S. Levi Chapman
"If you count the Enterprise, the number will come up to fifty Starfleet vessels. Deep Space Nine's long-range sensors have detected a large Yeerk fleet coming towards the station in Zero-Space. The Yeerks know we can detect them in Zero-Space and that's why they are taking their sweet time. Admiral Uhura has charged us with finding a way to make the Yeerks engage us as far away from Bajor as possible so I want options, people." Marco said. "Ax, can a ship in Z-Space monitor normal space?"
"No. Also, intense gravimetric waves may be able to , figuratively speaking, yank a ship in Zero Space out and return them to normal space. To build such a device will not be difficult utilizing available technology though in our own universe, this was thought as only theory for we didn't have the technology to try it out." Ax said. "Rachel, has your adopted Klingon father been in contact with you about the Klingon fleet?" Marco asked his tactical officer.
"General Martok has been able to get Chancellor Gowron to give him permission to test out the new Vor'cha-Class Battle cruisers in this engagement. According to him, they only have two of them and they are highly experimental but very powerful." Rachel replied.
"Remember people, we can't let them have Bajor for without it, the Yeerks would have complete run of the Gamma Quadrant and we can't let them have that." Marco dismissed us.
I stayed as the others left the lounge to see Marco stare out at the stars. We were in a system that had a beautiful nebula and I walked over to my friend.
"Penny for your thoughts." I said.
"Don't you know?" Marco asked. "Starfleet Officers don't get paid."
"Well, the principle is the same." I said.
"I don't know what I'm doing Jake. I'm no Captain Picard. Hell, I think a nameless ensign could do a better job than I've been doing. I take stupid risks that come back as good things and I don't think my luck is going to hold out. Just leave me alone. That's an order." Marco said to me. "Set a course for Bajor. Maximum Warp."
I walked out onto the bridge and sat down in the Captain's Chair. I gave the order and we went to warp. Counselor Troi turned towards me.
"Something troubles you. I can feel it." Deanna said.
"I'm worried about Marco." I said.
"He's a good captain. Why are you worried?" She replied.
"It's not the fact that he's a good captain. Marco is a great one. It's just that I think he may be losing his nerve. I don't know how he'll get it back." I told her.
"We could try this way." She said whispering me the plan she'd just concocted.
(Marco)
I walked into my quarters and collapsed into my bed. Why were these mattresses so firm? I asked myself. Maybe it was so that their officers could more easily get out of bed. I thought some more. I was almost nearly asleep when I felt myself flash out and found myself on the floor of a familiar forest. I looked around and figured out that it was Ax's forest. I was home.
"This has to be the Holodeck." I said. "Computer, Exit."
It didn't respond.
"Computer, Exit!" I exclaimed. The computer didn't respond but I did get an answer.
TSSSEEEEWWW! TSSSEEEEWWW! TSSSEEEEWWW! TSSSEEEEWWW! TSSSEEEEWWW! TSSSEEEEWWW! TSSSEEEEWWW! TSSSEEEEWWW! TSSSEEEEWWW! TSSSEEEEWWW!
Hork-Bajir Controllers with handheld Dracon Beams came firing at me. Fortunately, their aim sucked and they hit a deer. Why didn't anyone hear this? I asked myself. I began to morph into my gorilla morph and when I finished, let's just say that these Controllers returned to their roots. Walking around in the forest, I wondered where everyone was.
Marco! Oh please, let that be you and not some escaped ape!
I looked up to see Tobias land on a tree.
It's me, Tobias. Where is everyone? I asked.
You were gone for too long, Marco. We're losing the war badly. Tobias said with a touch of sadness in his voice.
How badly? I asked in disbelief.
Most of the Animorphs are dead. Ax was filleted by Hork-Bajir blades. Cassie was vaporized trying to save a band of Free Hork-Bajir from a swarm of Bug Fighters. Jake was cooked then eaten by Visser One in his tiger morph. Rachel and I are the only ones left until you came back. We still have some of the auxiliary Animorphs but too few of them remain. Tobias said to me grimly.
Have the Andalites ever come? I asked somehow not wanting to know the answer.
There is only one Andalite left and you know whose host that is. Tobias told me.
Visser One's host. I said.
The destruction of the Andalites was actually kind of ironic. The Yeerks used a Quantum Virus on the Andalite Home World. Just as Alloran had used one on the Hork-Bajir Home World. The Yeerks have even managed to enslave the Chee. I can't even figure out how they did that. Tobias said.
All this time that Tobias was telling me these horrible things, we were walking towards a cave. I saw Rachel. She was battered, bruised, and had a large cut across her left cheek. Her once beautiful blond hair now was a grimy brown, caked with mud. She seemed older than she should have been.
Tobias, what year is it? I asked the bird.
It's 2003. Those end-of-the-world nuts were only off by a few years. Tobias replied to me.
Suddenly, I saw people beaming in all over the site. Erek, now a Chee- Controller, hit my gorilla face with the stock of a phaser rifle. I stared at it in amazement, trying to figure out how they got one of those when Erek pointed the barrel of the weapon at me.
"Another Animorph bites the dust." Erek said coldly as he fired the weapon.
FLASH!
I found myself in a white space where I saw Q in a white La-Z-Boy clapping. He seemed about to laugh at me.
"What's so funny, Q?" I asked him.
"You don't get it, do you?" He asked me.
"Get what?" I asked him.
"That was your future if the Yeerks succeed with conquering this universe. In a way, this is your tapestry. This is the most probable future if the Yeerks beat your Starfleet, Klingon, and Romulan fleet and this whole series of events will depend solely on one individual." He said.
"One person and who might that be?" I asked him.
"Gees, you humans are all alike. It's you, monkey-man!" Q replied to me. "If the Yeerks win this war, the Animorphs will be sent back with no memory of the experience and the Yeerks will have complete memory and the technology they acquired. If the Animorphs win this war, everything will be returned as it should be and you Animorphs will have complete memory of the whole event. Is that any clearer for you, human?"
"So, if I screw up, good-bye both universes." I replied.
"Yes, now you're getting it. Maybe with the weight of two universes on your shoulders, you'll be able to understand the true consequences of failure in the Yeerks' defeat. Well, now that you know the consequences, time to return you." Q said flashing me away.
I returned to my quarters as if I'd never left. I was human again and I walked back to the bridge as the Enterprise was dropping out of warp. We came in under fire. A Dracon Beam came within a nanometer of damaging the hull before Rachel could activate the shields. The Yeerks had arrived early but every ship was still here. I watched the Hood catch a volley of Dracon Torpedoes before the old ship's shields collapsed and the ship was destroyed. The Catastrophe, the Titanic, and the Disaster were flying in perfect formation concentrating their fire on a Mega Blade Ship that the Yeerks had constructed. Another volley of Dracon Torpedoes flew from the Mega Blade Ship and vaporized the Bozeman.
"Enterprise, glad you could make it." Admiral Uhura said from the Grant. "Cover us while we make a run on that Mega Blade Ship."
"Will do, Admiral." I said. "You heard the lady! Photon Torpedoes! Full Spread!"
The Enterprise let loose ten torpedoes which impacted with the Mega Blade Ship. The MBS fired its Dracon Beam Cannons on the Enterprise and we were hit hard. I hit my comm badge.
"Ax, do you remember the last episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation?" I asked him.
"Yes, why?" He asked.
"You know that weapon I asked you to build. That heavy beam cannon. Is it finished?" I asked.
"It's been ready for three weeks. You just never look anymore." Ax said.
"Activate it." I ordered the Andalite.
I looked on a panel to see what it looked like from the outside. The ventral side of the Saucer section right in the middle of the ship opened up. A large rectangle came out and attached itself to the hull. I smiled and looked at Rachel.
"Fire!" I yelled.
The massive weapon fired a large beam of phaser energy that went through the shields of the Mega Blade Ship and destroyed the ship. A cheer went faster than light through the bridge and I can't say I blame them. Then, an ominous feeling passed over me as I knew something was approaching. I hit the communications panel which would broadcast to all of the fleet.
"Enterprise to all ships! Take evasive action now!" I yelled.
All of the ships followed my command as an enormous ship decloaked right in the middle of the battlefield. It was massive and about thirty-nine times the size of a Galaxy-Class starship. I remembered the movie, Star Trek: Nemesis, and knew that some of the Yeerks, obviously, have seen that movie. Its many weapons began to fire. In the space of two and a half seconds, the Hathaway, the Archer, the Reed, the Mexico, the Missouri, the Sarek, the Vulcan, and the Abraham Lincoln were consumed by Dracon Beam fire. Another Dracon Beam was fired towards the Enterprise but thanks to Tobias's piloting skills, the beam missed the Enterprise by barely a nanometer and struck a nearby Romulan Deiridex Warbird. The Warbird was almost instantaneously destroyed. Admiral Uhura organized us into a formation but I knew that this battle couldn't be won. I sat back down into the Captain's chair that I knew I didn't deserve in defeat.
"The mighty Animorph, Captain Marco, thinks he's defeated?" I heard Q say.
I turned to see that Q had replaced Jake on the bridge.
"What do you want, Q?" I asked him.
"Only what you want. The Yeerks to be destroyed and your Earth to be safe. I kind of like your version of Earth. More interesting." He said.
"And let me guess, you can't flash the Yeerks away, can you?" I asked him.
"Well, I could. But, what would be the challenge for you then? If someone handed you everything you ever had in your life, how would you be able to help yourself?" Q asked me.
"I see what you mean, but how can I destroy that thing?" I asked him.
"You've watched how many episodes of Star Trek and you can't figure that out? If you can't think of a way, then that reality I've shown you will come true. It'll be inevitable. Don't you see? Because of you, both universes can either be saved or lost. The choice is yours." Q said flashing away, replacing Jake.
After a moment of thought, I had an idea. I had no idea if it would work but what the hell? As the saying went, damned if you do, damned if you don't.
"Open a channel to the Federation/Romulan/Klingon fleet." I ordered.
"Channel open." Rachel said.
"Ships of the Fleet. This battle may seem impossible and probably it is. Probably none of us will survive. Well, I'm not going down without a fight. As the Klingons would say, Today is a good day to die. I only wish that you do what you think is right. 'Qu'pla." I said closing the channel. "Bridge to Main Engineering. Ax, I want you to tie the warp engines directly into the Heavy Beam cannon. Think you can do it?"
"Marco, that's easy. Main Engineering out." Ax said.
"Data, can you create a narrow tachyon pulse beam?" I asked the android.
"That would be simple to do. Why?" Data asked.
"Rachel, I want you to full volley of torpedoes to be ready on my mark." I ordered my Tactical Officer.
"Aye sir." Rachel replied.
"Tobias, set a collision course with the Yeerk Scimitar. Ready the Heavy Beam Cannon, torpedoes, and the tachyon pulse on my mark." I said.
As we drew closer, for some strange reason, we weren't fired upon. Checking the tactical displays he had access to, I found out that our remaining forces were attacking the Yeerks on another side of the Yeerk Warship, distracting it from the small Enterprise. A smile crossed my lips as I gave the order.
"FIRE!" I yelled.
The tachyon pulse hit the Yeerk Scimitar's shields first, then the torpedoes, then finally the Heavy Beam Cannon managed to tear a hole large enough for the Enterprise to slip through. Rachel wasted no time and quickly began to carve up the unshielded hull of the Yeerk Scimitar like a Thanksgiving Turkey with the Heavy Beam Cannon. Data swivelled around in his chair to face me.
"Captain, despite the fact that we are within the Scimitar's shields and the fact that they can't risk firing upon us with the possibility of serious damage to their ship, we do not have the fire power to destroy such a ship." Data told me.
"Mr. Data, have you ever heard of a fire cracker?" I asked him.
"Yes, the ancient Chinese first developed gunpowder approximat-" Data began to say before I cut him off.
"I didn't mean for you to give me a lecture." I said. "Back in Earth's twentieth century, a prank children would pull would be to put a fire cracker known as a cherry bomb into a mailbox. After it was lit, the cherry bomb would explode destroying the mailbox."
"What do you mean, sir?" Data asked me.
I pointed towards the view screen. "That, Mr. Data, is our mailbox." I said.
(Jake)
"And a tri-cobalt device will be our cherry bomb." Marco said.
A smile crossed my face as Marco spelled out the plan. "Data! Ax! You're with me." I exclaimed heading for the turbolift.
Data entered with me and when we arrived at Transporter Room Three, Ax already had phasers and phaser rifles out and three tri-cobalt devices, assumably one for each of us. Ax had demorphed and was in his Andalite form.
I would much prefer to have my tail during this conflict. He said with a phaser rifle on a shoulder.
We stepped onto the platform and I looked at the transporter chief.
"Energize." I said.
We dematerialized in quantum mist and rematerialized somewhere on the Yeerk Scimitar. I had my hand phaser already out as a Taxxon-Controller came around a corner. Before I could fire, Ax whipped out his tail blade and cut the Taxxon in half. Before the Taxxon could even let out a scream of pain that it surely must have felt, I quickly vaporized it so to remove the evidence that we had been here. Data looked at his tricorder and pointed the way that we should go so to find the Yeerk Scimitar's Zero Space engines and get out in time. Sweat began to bead up on my hands and I wondered why the Yeerks kept this ship so freaking hot. Was this only for battles or was it a problem they have with the ship's environmental systems? Though if I asked Ax, he'd probably say that Yeerks couldn't hit the broad side of the technology barn or something like that. Soon, we found the Zero-Space engines and we each armed our devices for one-hundred and fifty-five terachrochrans. One hundred Hork-Bajir came into the engine room and we quickly stunned them. Data was the true hero of that small incident. He told us about the wide dispersal of our phasers which we obviously didn't know about. We decided to beam them back with us and I returned to the bridge of the Enterprise.
(Marco)
I smiled as Jake and Data rematerialized onto the bridge. When Jake sat down, I felt like he had good news.
"We accomplished the mission and managed to capture a hundred Hork-Bajir- Controllers." Jake said with a smile.
"Hail the Scimitar." I ordered.
I knew it was pretty much obvious that I'd see Visser One staring right back at me from his ship. With a smile on my face, I approached the view screen.
"End of the line, Yeerk. Your warship is finished." I said with that grin on my face.
I will fillet you with my host's tail blade. I will... Visser One said as I transmitted a list of recipes to him. I will have Marco Cordon Bleu. I will make you Barbecue...
"Visser, I believe Spock said it best when he said, "Go to Hell!" I exclaimed signaling for the detonation of the tri-cobalt devices.
Huge explosions were visible on the hull of the Yeerk Scimitar as I waved good-bye to the Visser only to discover to my dismay that the bridge of the Yeerk Scimitar was actually a Blade Ship that was docked with the Blade Ship. He managed to get past the fleet and disappeared into Zero-Space. After the battle came the awards, medals, commendations, and what not and I found myself back in my ready room staring out into space as the Enterprise was going to warp. Jake walked in and looked at me.
"What is it, Number One?" I asked him giving Jake Riker's moniker.
"Starfleet wants the Enterprise to come to Earth. They want to award you the Christopher Pike Medal Of Honor for the battle." Jake said.
"Set a course." I said.
"Already have. Marco, during the battle, did you actually have a plan?" Jake asked me.
I sat down at my desk. "Jake, I was doing what I do best."
"So, you BS your way through the entire battle and get a medal for it." Jake said.
"You know me too well." I said.
Jake left and I was left alone in my ready room. A kitten flashed onto my desk. From the way it looked, it was a Persian.
"It is." Q said flashing himself onto the couch.
"So Q. Come to congratulate me?" I said.
"Actually, yes and no. The cat's your present. I picked him up on a far- off colony world that the Yeerks have just taken. There were only a few hundred people there but they put up one hell of a fight. This kitten had walked over to me and I knew you'd like it. But remember, you have scored a major victory against the Yeerks and have set them back slightly. You did good, human. Much better than Picard could have done. I do admire the fact that you gave Visser One a small database of recipes. I suppose he still plans to have you for breakfast." Q said.
"Well Q, all I can say is thanks for the kitten and I will remember the lesson that you've taught me." I said.
"Well, there's hope for your race yet. It probably would've killed Picard to say that. See you around." Q said flashing away.
I saw the kitten was female and I named her Toby. She swatted lightly at my nose and I laughed at the playful creature.
Chapter 5
The Battle For Bajor: Marco's Tapestry
(Jake)
I walked into the observation lounge to see Marco having a grim look on his face. I didn't like the look but how was I suppose to know what it meant. The rest of the Senior Staff of the Enterprise were present and I knew it had to be something serious. I sat down as Marco brought something up on one of the display screens that were at either side of the room. It was a planet that I recognized as Bajor.
"I just got a report from Deep Space 9." Marco said. "They've just destroyed a small Yeerk Task Force that had came into the Bajor system under an hour ago. The Romulans and the Klingons have each dispatched a fleet to the system and Starfleet is ordering us to Bajor."
"What other ships are coming?" I asked.
"There's a list of the ships that will comprise the Federation fleet at Bajor on the PADDS in front of you." Marco stated.
I picked up the PADD and began to read off the list to myself.
U. S. S. Hood U. S. S. Prometheus U. S. S. Challenger U. S. S. Sarek U. S. S. Bellaraphoen U. S. S. Chimera U. S. S. Defiant U. S. S. Monitor U. S. S. Hercules U. S. S. Ulysses U. S. S. Virginia U. S. S. Bozeman U. S. S. Catastrophe U. S. S. Disaster U. S. S. Titanic U. S. S. Titan U. S. S. Intrepid U. S. S. Triton U. S. S. Grant U. S. S. Robert E. Lee U. S. S. Delaware U. S. S. Saratoga-A U. S. S. Rhode Island U. S. S. Missouri-G U. S. S. Mexico U. S. S. New Mexico U. S. S. Texas U. S. S. Freedom U. S. S. Independence-C U. S. S. Liberty-D U. S. S. Constellation-A U. S. S. Hathaway U. S. S. Vulcan U. S. S. Surak U. S. S. Archer U. S. S. Reed U. S. S. Samuel Clemens U. S. S. Pavel Chekhov U. S. S. Wolf U. S. S. Abraham Lincoln U. S. S. George W. Bush-D U. S. S. Tony Blair-G U. S. S. Columbia-C U. S. S. Babylon U. S. S. Nova U. S. S. Jericho-B U. S. S. Egypt U. S. S. Betazed U. S. S. Levi Chapman
"If you count the Enterprise, the number will come up to fifty Starfleet vessels. Deep Space Nine's long-range sensors have detected a large Yeerk fleet coming towards the station in Zero-Space. The Yeerks know we can detect them in Zero-Space and that's why they are taking their sweet time. Admiral Uhura has charged us with finding a way to make the Yeerks engage us as far away from Bajor as possible so I want options, people." Marco said. "Ax, can a ship in Z-Space monitor normal space?"
"No. Also, intense gravimetric waves may be able to , figuratively speaking, yank a ship in Zero Space out and return them to normal space. To build such a device will not be difficult utilizing available technology though in our own universe, this was thought as only theory for we didn't have the technology to try it out." Ax said. "Rachel, has your adopted Klingon father been in contact with you about the Klingon fleet?" Marco asked his tactical officer.
"General Martok has been able to get Chancellor Gowron to give him permission to test out the new Vor'cha-Class Battle cruisers in this engagement. According to him, they only have two of them and they are highly experimental but very powerful." Rachel replied.
"Remember people, we can't let them have Bajor for without it, the Yeerks would have complete run of the Gamma Quadrant and we can't let them have that." Marco dismissed us.
I stayed as the others left the lounge to see Marco stare out at the stars. We were in a system that had a beautiful nebula and I walked over to my friend.
"Penny for your thoughts." I said.
"Don't you know?" Marco asked. "Starfleet Officers don't get paid."
"Well, the principle is the same." I said.
"I don't know what I'm doing Jake. I'm no Captain Picard. Hell, I think a nameless ensign could do a better job than I've been doing. I take stupid risks that come back as good things and I don't think my luck is going to hold out. Just leave me alone. That's an order." Marco said to me. "Set a course for Bajor. Maximum Warp."
I walked out onto the bridge and sat down in the Captain's Chair. I gave the order and we went to warp. Counselor Troi turned towards me.
"Something troubles you. I can feel it." Deanna said.
"I'm worried about Marco." I said.
"He's a good captain. Why are you worried?" She replied.
"It's not the fact that he's a good captain. Marco is a great one. It's just that I think he may be losing his nerve. I don't know how he'll get it back." I told her.
"We could try this way." She said whispering me the plan she'd just concocted.
(Marco)
I walked into my quarters and collapsed into my bed. Why were these mattresses so firm? I asked myself. Maybe it was so that their officers could more easily get out of bed. I thought some more. I was almost nearly asleep when I felt myself flash out and found myself on the floor of a familiar forest. I looked around and figured out that it was Ax's forest. I was home.
"This has to be the Holodeck." I said. "Computer, Exit."
It didn't respond.
"Computer, Exit!" I exclaimed. The computer didn't respond but I did get an answer.
TSSSEEEEWWW! TSSSEEEEWWW! TSSSEEEEWWW! TSSSEEEEWWW! TSSSEEEEWWW! TSSSEEEEWWW! TSSSEEEEWWW! TSSSEEEEWWW! TSSSEEEEWWW! TSSSEEEEWWW!
Hork-Bajir Controllers with handheld Dracon Beams came firing at me. Fortunately, their aim sucked and they hit a deer. Why didn't anyone hear this? I asked myself. I began to morph into my gorilla morph and when I finished, let's just say that these Controllers returned to their roots. Walking around in the forest, I wondered where everyone was.
Marco! Oh please, let that be you and not some escaped ape!
I looked up to see Tobias land on a tree.
It's me, Tobias. Where is everyone? I asked.
You were gone for too long, Marco. We're losing the war badly. Tobias said with a touch of sadness in his voice.
How badly? I asked in disbelief.
Most of the Animorphs are dead. Ax was filleted by Hork-Bajir blades. Cassie was vaporized trying to save a band of Free Hork-Bajir from a swarm of Bug Fighters. Jake was cooked then eaten by Visser One in his tiger morph. Rachel and I are the only ones left until you came back. We still have some of the auxiliary Animorphs but too few of them remain. Tobias said to me grimly.
Have the Andalites ever come? I asked somehow not wanting to know the answer.
There is only one Andalite left and you know whose host that is. Tobias told me.
Visser One's host. I said.
The destruction of the Andalites was actually kind of ironic. The Yeerks used a Quantum Virus on the Andalite Home World. Just as Alloran had used one on the Hork-Bajir Home World. The Yeerks have even managed to enslave the Chee. I can't even figure out how they did that. Tobias said.
All this time that Tobias was telling me these horrible things, we were walking towards a cave. I saw Rachel. She was battered, bruised, and had a large cut across her left cheek. Her once beautiful blond hair now was a grimy brown, caked with mud. She seemed older than she should have been.
Tobias, what year is it? I asked the bird.
It's 2003. Those end-of-the-world nuts were only off by a few years. Tobias replied to me.
Suddenly, I saw people beaming in all over the site. Erek, now a Chee- Controller, hit my gorilla face with the stock of a phaser rifle. I stared at it in amazement, trying to figure out how they got one of those when Erek pointed the barrel of the weapon at me.
"Another Animorph bites the dust." Erek said coldly as he fired the weapon.
FLASH!
I found myself in a white space where I saw Q in a white La-Z-Boy clapping. He seemed about to laugh at me.
"What's so funny, Q?" I asked him.
"You don't get it, do you?" He asked me.
"Get what?" I asked him.
"That was your future if the Yeerks succeed with conquering this universe. In a way, this is your tapestry. This is the most probable future if the Yeerks beat your Starfleet, Klingon, and Romulan fleet and this whole series of events will depend solely on one individual." He said.
"One person and who might that be?" I asked him.
"Gees, you humans are all alike. It's you, monkey-man!" Q replied to me. "If the Yeerks win this war, the Animorphs will be sent back with no memory of the experience and the Yeerks will have complete memory and the technology they acquired. If the Animorphs win this war, everything will be returned as it should be and you Animorphs will have complete memory of the whole event. Is that any clearer for you, human?"
"So, if I screw up, good-bye both universes." I replied.
"Yes, now you're getting it. Maybe with the weight of two universes on your shoulders, you'll be able to understand the true consequences of failure in the Yeerks' defeat. Well, now that you know the consequences, time to return you." Q said flashing me away.
I returned to my quarters as if I'd never left. I was human again and I walked back to the bridge as the Enterprise was dropping out of warp. We came in under fire. A Dracon Beam came within a nanometer of damaging the hull before Rachel could activate the shields. The Yeerks had arrived early but every ship was still here. I watched the Hood catch a volley of Dracon Torpedoes before the old ship's shields collapsed and the ship was destroyed. The Catastrophe, the Titanic, and the Disaster were flying in perfect formation concentrating their fire on a Mega Blade Ship that the Yeerks had constructed. Another volley of Dracon Torpedoes flew from the Mega Blade Ship and vaporized the Bozeman.
"Enterprise, glad you could make it." Admiral Uhura said from the Grant. "Cover us while we make a run on that Mega Blade Ship."
"Will do, Admiral." I said. "You heard the lady! Photon Torpedoes! Full Spread!"
The Enterprise let loose ten torpedoes which impacted with the Mega Blade Ship. The MBS fired its Dracon Beam Cannons on the Enterprise and we were hit hard. I hit my comm badge.
"Ax, do you remember the last episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation?" I asked him.
"Yes, why?" He asked.
"You know that weapon I asked you to build. That heavy beam cannon. Is it finished?" I asked.
"It's been ready for three weeks. You just never look anymore." Ax said.
"Activate it." I ordered the Andalite.
I looked on a panel to see what it looked like from the outside. The ventral side of the Saucer section right in the middle of the ship opened up. A large rectangle came out and attached itself to the hull. I smiled and looked at Rachel.
"Fire!" I yelled.
The massive weapon fired a large beam of phaser energy that went through the shields of the Mega Blade Ship and destroyed the ship. A cheer went faster than light through the bridge and I can't say I blame them. Then, an ominous feeling passed over me as I knew something was approaching. I hit the communications panel which would broadcast to all of the fleet.
"Enterprise to all ships! Take evasive action now!" I yelled.
All of the ships followed my command as an enormous ship decloaked right in the middle of the battlefield. It was massive and about thirty-nine times the size of a Galaxy-Class starship. I remembered the movie, Star Trek: Nemesis, and knew that some of the Yeerks, obviously, have seen that movie. Its many weapons began to fire. In the space of two and a half seconds, the Hathaway, the Archer, the Reed, the Mexico, the Missouri, the Sarek, the Vulcan, and the Abraham Lincoln were consumed by Dracon Beam fire. Another Dracon Beam was fired towards the Enterprise but thanks to Tobias's piloting skills, the beam missed the Enterprise by barely a nanometer and struck a nearby Romulan Deiridex Warbird. The Warbird was almost instantaneously destroyed. Admiral Uhura organized us into a formation but I knew that this battle couldn't be won. I sat back down into the Captain's chair that I knew I didn't deserve in defeat.
"The mighty Animorph, Captain Marco, thinks he's defeated?" I heard Q say.
I turned to see that Q had replaced Jake on the bridge.
"What do you want, Q?" I asked him.
"Only what you want. The Yeerks to be destroyed and your Earth to be safe. I kind of like your version of Earth. More interesting." He said.
"And let me guess, you can't flash the Yeerks away, can you?" I asked him.
"Well, I could. But, what would be the challenge for you then? If someone handed you everything you ever had in your life, how would you be able to help yourself?" Q asked me.
"I see what you mean, but how can I destroy that thing?" I asked him.
"You've watched how many episodes of Star Trek and you can't figure that out? If you can't think of a way, then that reality I've shown you will come true. It'll be inevitable. Don't you see? Because of you, both universes can either be saved or lost. The choice is yours." Q said flashing away, replacing Jake.
After a moment of thought, I had an idea. I had no idea if it would work but what the hell? As the saying went, damned if you do, damned if you don't.
"Open a channel to the Federation/Romulan/Klingon fleet." I ordered.
"Channel open." Rachel said.
"Ships of the Fleet. This battle may seem impossible and probably it is. Probably none of us will survive. Well, I'm not going down without a fight. As the Klingons would say, Today is a good day to die. I only wish that you do what you think is right. 'Qu'pla." I said closing the channel. "Bridge to Main Engineering. Ax, I want you to tie the warp engines directly into the Heavy Beam cannon. Think you can do it?"
"Marco, that's easy. Main Engineering out." Ax said.
"Data, can you create a narrow tachyon pulse beam?" I asked the android.
"That would be simple to do. Why?" Data asked.
"Rachel, I want you to full volley of torpedoes to be ready on my mark." I ordered my Tactical Officer.
"Aye sir." Rachel replied.
"Tobias, set a collision course with the Yeerk Scimitar. Ready the Heavy Beam Cannon, torpedoes, and the tachyon pulse on my mark." I said.
As we drew closer, for some strange reason, we weren't fired upon. Checking the tactical displays he had access to, I found out that our remaining forces were attacking the Yeerks on another side of the Yeerk Warship, distracting it from the small Enterprise. A smile crossed my lips as I gave the order.
"FIRE!" I yelled.
The tachyon pulse hit the Yeerk Scimitar's shields first, then the torpedoes, then finally the Heavy Beam Cannon managed to tear a hole large enough for the Enterprise to slip through. Rachel wasted no time and quickly began to carve up the unshielded hull of the Yeerk Scimitar like a Thanksgiving Turkey with the Heavy Beam Cannon. Data swivelled around in his chair to face me.
"Captain, despite the fact that we are within the Scimitar's shields and the fact that they can't risk firing upon us with the possibility of serious damage to their ship, we do not have the fire power to destroy such a ship." Data told me.
"Mr. Data, have you ever heard of a fire cracker?" I asked him.
"Yes, the ancient Chinese first developed gunpowder approximat-" Data began to say before I cut him off.
"I didn't mean for you to give me a lecture." I said. "Back in Earth's twentieth century, a prank children would pull would be to put a fire cracker known as a cherry bomb into a mailbox. After it was lit, the cherry bomb would explode destroying the mailbox."
"What do you mean, sir?" Data asked me.
I pointed towards the view screen. "That, Mr. Data, is our mailbox." I said.
(Jake)
"And a tri-cobalt device will be our cherry bomb." Marco said.
A smile crossed my face as Marco spelled out the plan. "Data! Ax! You're with me." I exclaimed heading for the turbolift.
Data entered with me and when we arrived at Transporter Room Three, Ax already had phasers and phaser rifles out and three tri-cobalt devices, assumably one for each of us. Ax had demorphed and was in his Andalite form.
I would much prefer to have my tail during this conflict. He said with a phaser rifle on a shoulder.
We stepped onto the platform and I looked at the transporter chief.
"Energize." I said.
We dematerialized in quantum mist and rematerialized somewhere on the Yeerk Scimitar. I had my hand phaser already out as a Taxxon-Controller came around a corner. Before I could fire, Ax whipped out his tail blade and cut the Taxxon in half. Before the Taxxon could even let out a scream of pain that it surely must have felt, I quickly vaporized it so to remove the evidence that we had been here. Data looked at his tricorder and pointed the way that we should go so to find the Yeerk Scimitar's Zero Space engines and get out in time. Sweat began to bead up on my hands and I wondered why the Yeerks kept this ship so freaking hot. Was this only for battles or was it a problem they have with the ship's environmental systems? Though if I asked Ax, he'd probably say that Yeerks couldn't hit the broad side of the technology barn or something like that. Soon, we found the Zero-Space engines and we each armed our devices for one-hundred and fifty-five terachrochrans. One hundred Hork-Bajir came into the engine room and we quickly stunned them. Data was the true hero of that small incident. He told us about the wide dispersal of our phasers which we obviously didn't know about. We decided to beam them back with us and I returned to the bridge of the Enterprise.
(Marco)
I smiled as Jake and Data rematerialized onto the bridge. When Jake sat down, I felt like he had good news.
"We accomplished the mission and managed to capture a hundred Hork-Bajir- Controllers." Jake said with a smile.
"Hail the Scimitar." I ordered.
I knew it was pretty much obvious that I'd see Visser One staring right back at me from his ship. With a smile on my face, I approached the view screen.
"End of the line, Yeerk. Your warship is finished." I said with that grin on my face.
I will fillet you with my host's tail blade. I will... Visser One said as I transmitted a list of recipes to him. I will have Marco Cordon Bleu. I will make you Barbecue...
"Visser, I believe Spock said it best when he said, "Go to Hell!" I exclaimed signaling for the detonation of the tri-cobalt devices.
Huge explosions were visible on the hull of the Yeerk Scimitar as I waved good-bye to the Visser only to discover to my dismay that the bridge of the Yeerk Scimitar was actually a Blade Ship that was docked with the Blade Ship. He managed to get past the fleet and disappeared into Zero-Space. After the battle came the awards, medals, commendations, and what not and I found myself back in my ready room staring out into space as the Enterprise was going to warp. Jake walked in and looked at me.
"What is it, Number One?" I asked him giving Jake Riker's moniker.
"Starfleet wants the Enterprise to come to Earth. They want to award you the Christopher Pike Medal Of Honor for the battle." Jake said.
"Set a course." I said.
"Already have. Marco, during the battle, did you actually have a plan?" Jake asked me.
I sat down at my desk. "Jake, I was doing what I do best."
"So, you BS your way through the entire battle and get a medal for it." Jake said.
"You know me too well." I said.
Jake left and I was left alone in my ready room. A kitten flashed onto my desk. From the way it looked, it was a Persian.
"It is." Q said flashing himself onto the couch.
"So Q. Come to congratulate me?" I said.
"Actually, yes and no. The cat's your present. I picked him up on a far- off colony world that the Yeerks have just taken. There were only a few hundred people there but they put up one hell of a fight. This kitten had walked over to me and I knew you'd like it. But remember, you have scored a major victory against the Yeerks and have set them back slightly. You did good, human. Much better than Picard could have done. I do admire the fact that you gave Visser One a small database of recipes. I suppose he still plans to have you for breakfast." Q said.
"Well Q, all I can say is thanks for the kitten and I will remember the lesson that you've taught me." I said.
"Well, there's hope for your race yet. It probably would've killed Picard to say that. See you around." Q said flashing away.
I saw the kitten was female and I named her Toby. She swatted lightly at my nose and I laughed at the playful creature.