Written by the Victors, Chapter Three

"The victors invariably write the history to their own advantage."
-Jean-Luc Picard, "Contagion"

---

The computer core sank deep into the earth, fading away into darkness as Alex and Selene stood on the walkway encircling the top. Alex had only been in this room once before, as an engineering student at the Academy. Back then, the room had been bustling with technicians and officers, as well as other cadets. The room had been bathed in the blue glow emitted by the core, and he had barely been able to concentrate over the noise of all the other people around him.

Now, the room was dark and cold, the mainframe dead.

Selene looked up at the still intact ceiling, the first they had seen since entering the building. "Well, it doesn't look like it was hit directly. Could the power be dead?"

Alex shook his head as he sat down at one of the mainframe's consoles. The technology in front of him was centuries out of date as far as he was concerned. He felt as though he would have better luck accessing the computer with... what was it called? Oh yeah. The internet. "Shouldn't be. This computer was the heart of Starfleet. Even six hundred years ago, there were hundreds of redundant power systems. Even a full-scale bombardment shouldn't have cut the power. This thing should still be operational."

"Can't you just...?" Selene rubbed the back of her neck and pointed toward the mainframe. Alex sighed. "No. The nanites need an operational computer to link to, otherwise it's nothing but black."

"Don't have to get testy. Sheesh. Like I would know."

The words hit him hard, making him flinch. There. He had just done it again. Selene noted the expression. "You okay? What'd I say?"

Alex shook his head. "Nothing. You didn't say anything." As he ducked under the console and checked the connections, he absently pulled the locket from his uniform and began threading the chain through his fingers. Holding one arm back towards her, he asked, "Could you hand me one of those tricorders?"

The hard plastic surface of the small scanner touched his hand and he brought it forward to look at it. Flat pad. Mid-twenty-fifth century design, which means that the hard line connections would be... here. Digging his nails into the thin joint, he pulled and snapped it off, exposing a microfilament wire. Pulling it out, he slid the wire into a small slot on the underside of the console and pressed the activate button on the tricorder. With a quiet beep, the console lit up and came to life. Pushing himself back to his feet, he turned and began cycling through the computer's files. Selene gaped. "How did you do that?"

Not even looking up, he answered, "I'm an engineer. It's my job."

Leaning over his shoulder, Selene stared at the flickering display. "So, what are we looking for?"

Alex could feel her hair brushing the side of his cheek, her breath on the back of his neck. Even her smell was the same. Without meaning to, he felt his shoulders relax and his eyes close.

His eyes snapped open and he practically jumped to his feet, startling her. "Right now, I'm not really looking for anything. The tricorder only had enough power for the console, not the mainframe. I'm just... running a diagnostic."

"Oh. You okay?"

"Yeah." The lie felt like bile in his throat, and he fought the urge to tell her the truth right then and there. Looking down, he saw the locket dangling from his fingers. His breath catching in his throat, he watched her reach for it. "What's that?"

"Nothing." Yanking it away, he tied the gold chain around his neck. "Belonged to someone I knew." Before Selene could ask, the console beeped again, signaling the end of the diagnostic. Looking at the display screen, Alex felt his nervousness melt away as he stared at the puzzle in front of him. "That's odd."

Selene very consciously kept her distance. "What?"

"The mainframe isn't damaged. It's inactive." He glanced over his shoulder at her. "It's been turned off."

"Can you turn it back on?"

Alex picked up his flashlight and made for the ladder leading down the side of the mainframe. "Yeah, but I'll have to do it from the main console at the bottom. It's where it would have been shut down from." Selene made to pick up her own flashlight, "So, back down we go."

"Yeah. Back down we go." Silently, Alex began his descent.

-----

Idiot.

Idiot. Idiot. Idiot.

It's not her. Don't think. Don't dream. Don't hope. She is a completely different woman.

Not really. A little tougher, maybe, but she's just as funny and kind as Selene. She has the same smile, and what does that say about her? Growing up in this screwed-up Universe, and she can still smile and laugh and joke?

Are you really that much of a glutton for punishment, Carver? You should just leave. Leave this woman behind and get as far away from her as possible.

I can't just leave her behind. I can't just let her die.

I can't face that again.

Fine. Just remember. She's not the same woman.

I will. I promise I will.

-----

Alex stepped off the ladder onto the floor, shining his light around and trying to find the main console. Debris littered the dusty floor, and he sneezed. The light jumped and landed right on the console.

And the skeletal figure slumped in front of it.

Alex screamed in surprise, dropping the light and sending it skittering across the floor. Selene dropped down into a crouch and picked it up, shining it on the skeleton. "Well. Guess we know who shut this thing down."

Casting an annoyed glance in her direction, Alex stepped up to the corpse and took a close look at the uniform. A black jumpsuit with grey shoulders and gold piping. Six gold pips lined the neck. An admiral's uniform from anywhere between the late twenty-fourth to early twenty-sixth centuries. "About the right time-frame for the war, and it would take an Admiral to shut down and lock out the mainframe."

"Lock out? If it's locked out, how are you going to access it? It's an inoperative computer."

"Once I've got the console up and running, I'll be able to crack the encryption codes and activate the computer. It'll be operational." As he started to work at the console, apologizing to the unknown Admiral as he pushed the chair out of the way, he heard Selene muttering to herself.

"Smart ass."

Alex smiled to himself as he set to work.

-----

Starfleet Command, San Francisco
Six Hundred and Eighteen Years ago:

"Congratulations, Admiral."

Michael Augustus Raine smiled and accepted the preferred hand, shaking it firmly. His promotion from Captain was finally official, and though he would be sad to say goodbye to the crew of the Argos, he could do more good here in the Admiralty.

Especially for the Khanate.

In the three centuries since the time of Enkidu, none of the Khanate had managed to infiltrate Starfleet to this level. Many had chosen to remain at lower ranks on explorer ships, learning about new races as they were discovered. More than seventy years ago, Raine's own great-grandfather had returned from the delta quadrant on the Voyager, bringing with him a complete dossier on the Borg, as well as the designs for their shields, weapons and engines, all of which were installed on the steadily growing Khanate fleet being built in orbit of New Chrysalis. A few years later, the designs for the prototype cloaking device on the Reman warbird Scimitar were mysteriously stolen from the Tal Shiar.

And now, Raine found the entire Starfleet database at his fingertips. Classified information, prototype designs, all would be his. His name would be as revered as his great-grandfather's.

On the surface, he laughed as he gathered the other man in a hug. "Bill, you better take care of the Argos, you got it? I'm trusting you."

William Hutten, the former first officer and now newly appointed Captain of the Sovereign class cruiser, smiled. "What about the crew? Do I have to take care of them, too, Sir?"

Raine made a show of mulling it over. "If you have to. But if you bring that ship back with a single scratch on her, you'll have to explain it to me, not Command, you got it?"

Hutten made a look of mock horror. "I'd rather face the firing squad."

The two men laughed, and moved towards the door to Raine's office. "So. Where you going?"

Hutten stopped and shrugged. "Medical run to Romulus to help deal with the outbreak of Rigellian fever. Ever since those new Avatar class ships came out, we Sovereigns don't get the glory quite as much any more."

Raine nodded, "Yeah, I hear that even Enterprise is being scheduled for mothballs."

"Shame. Enterprise is a beautiful lady with a lot of history."

"Yeah, and it's written in every scratch and dent. Now get going, I've got all sorts of Admiral-like things to do."

Hutten smiled and stepped out the door. "Lunch when I get back, Sir?"

"If you're buying. See you around, Captain."

"Admiral." The door slid closed, and Raine was alone. Sitting at his desk, he pulled a small device from inside his uniform and attached it to the computer. Locking the door, he turned towards the audio transceiver. "Computer. This is Admiral Michael A. Raine, security clearance One-One-Alpha."

VOICEPRINT RECOGNIZED. PREPARE FOR RETINAL SCAN.

Raine leaned forward and watched as the computer shone a quick light into his eye, an image of which appeared on the screen. RETINAL SCAN CONFIRMED. PLEASE ENTER PASS CODE. "Pass code: Gilgamesh and Enkidu."

PASS CODE CONFIRMED. SECURITY CLEARANCE ACCEPTED.

Activating the device he had placed on the computer, he began typing at an incredible speed, watching as centuries of classified Starfleet files scrolled by. The Kir'Shara incident. Well, now, isn't that interesting? Romulan first contact seven years prior to the wars. Now that is interesting. Soong... He stopped typing and his fists clenched. The birth of his people three hundred years ago and Starfleet still wouldn't publically admit to it, classifying it deep within the database. Not important right now, Raine, keep going. More files flipped across the screen, the device recording everything, until Raine noticed a single name.

SINGH, KHAN NOONIEN.

His typing stopped and he frowned. Khan? Khan had been missing since the twentieth century, having escaped Earth on the Botany Bay. This was public knowledge. Why did Khan have a classified entry in the Starfleet database? Curious, Raine accessed the file.

James Kirk's log entries appeared before his eyes. Raine had never really liked Kirk, thinking that the man had been too full of himself. His "autobiography", Risk is our Business, had been little more than self-aggrandizement, a way to perpetuate his already legendary status. All around, Kirk had been an inferior being, from a race of flawed beings.

But this...

The logs told of how Kirk's Enterprise had found the Botany Bay, adrift in space, the Augment crew still frozen in stasis. Kirk had revived the Great Khan, and exiled him, his followers and a Starfleeter named Marla McGivers to Ceti-Alpha V after retaking the Enterprise. Khan had spent fifteen years on that planet, forgotten even after Ceti-Alpha V had been devastated in a natural disaster.

Then the logs told of Khan's death at Kirk's hands.

Raine felt his world tilt as he read the logs, signed by James Kirk himself. Images of Khan accompanied the file, including pictures taken by the crew of the starship Reliant. The Great Khan Noonien Singh, the legendary hero of his people, was dead. Killed by a filthy, lesser, baseline Human.

The desk cracked as Raine drove his fist into it. Gritting his teeth, he pulled his recorder off the computer and walked out of his office. His people had to know about this.

This time, Starfleet had gone too far.

-----

Aishwarya sighed, "Raine returned to New Chrysalis with the files and presented them to the Ruling Council."

"They didn't take it well, I'd guess."

Aishwarya smiled sadly and shook her head. "Khan is a great hero to our people, the First King who led us through the Eugenics Wars and ensured our survival by any means necessary. It would be as though you discovered that King Arthur had returned and been murdered before he could make his presence known." Again running her hand over a book's binding, she looked away. "We went to war, launching our attack on the Borg first."

"The Borg? You went after the most powerful race in the galaxy first?"

"It made perfect strategic sense to our leaders. Eliminate the most powerful threat before any others. At the same time, the Borg had the largest industrial base. If we were to launch a war on a body as large of the Federation, we needed those resources..."

-----

Sector 5478-98-A2, Borg Space
Six Hundred and Sixteen Years Ago:

The Borg cube sailed through the inky blackness, it's grey hull dully reflecting the starlight as it emerged from the transwarp conduit. Inside the cube, all was quiet, drones silently going about their business with perfect efficiency. Every system ran within exact parameters, every mind was in agreement.

Perfect. Precise. Harmonious.

A section of the cube reported an unknown error .00002 seconds before an entire section of the cube was sheared away by an energy weapon of undetermined origin.

With clockwork precision, the Collective assessed the damage and responded, bypassing systems and sealing off the affected areas. Deep within the multitude of voices that formed the Collective, the screams of the drones in that section died as they were cut off from the whole. .01 seconds after the explosion, the cube was once again operating perfectly, the damage contained. The cube had barely shaken.

INTRUDER ALERT.

The three humanoids materialized inside the cube, transporting directly through the shields. As it sent drones to assimilate them, the Collective analyzed the information available.

SPECIES 5618 - HUMAN. HOMEWORLD: EARTH, SECTOR 001. MOST EFFICIENT MEANS OF ASSIMILATION: JUGULAR VEIN.

Drone 012547 approached the first of the humans, assimilation tubules snaking out from its wrist and seeking the throat of the invader. The human reached out and grabbed the drone by the arm, snapping it in half. One handed, the human lifted the drone in the air and threw it across the corridor and into seven other drones.

ERROR. STRENGTH ABNORMAL FOR SPECIES 5618.

The three invaders leapt forward, impossibly attacking the drones with bare fists and winning. Twenty-seven drones lost connectivity to the Collective within 3.15 minutes.

ERROR. SPEED ABNORMAL FOR SPECIES 5618.

4.65 minutes after the encounter began, drone 4567432 managed to inject one of the invaders with assimilation nanites. Calmly, the Collective reached out for their newest drone and found nothing. The nanites were destroyed by the invader's immune system before even a tenuous link to the collective was formed. Drone 4567432 went off-line.

ERROR. SPECIES DESIGNATION INCORRECT. CREATE NEW SPECIES DESIGNATION. SPECIES 11289. UNKNOWN ORIGIN.

5.18 minutes after they transported aboard, the three unknown assailants vanished, leaving a severely damaged Borg cube in their wake. For the first time since their war with Species 8472, the Collective was confused.

The few remaining drones aboard the cube reported an unknown vessel decloaking 2.374 kilometers away from them. As the Collective watched, the vessel fired from it's forward weapons array, disintegrating the cube.

-----

Aboard the Khanate vessel Helen of Troy, Commandant Augustus Raine watched the remains of the Borg cube fade away into nothingness with a predatory smile. Around him, the crew went about their duties silently as the Helen recloaked and proceeded deeper into Borg Space, the other two hundred and ninety-three vessels of the cloaked Khanate fleet behind her.

The war had begun.

-----

"The Borg were defeated in three years, Raine conquering their homeworld with little resistance. What the Borg could not assimilate, they could not learn. They lost because we are completely immune to assimilation. A single flaw on their part. The inability to learn."

Jason frowned, "And Starfleet never investigated a war that was defeating the greatest threat we'd ever seen?"

Aishwarya shook her head, "The entirety of Borg Space was largely considered off-limits because the Borg were their greatest threat. Any Federation vessel that discovered the war was destroyed and considered lost to the Borg."

Makes sense, I suppose. Jason's frown deepened. "What happened then?"

"Ironically, we assimilated the Borg industrial base and used it to rebuild and improve our ships. Then we turned to the Dominion, and made a bargain..."

-----

Homeworld of the Founders
Six Hundred and Twelve Years ago:

Raine smiled as he watched Odo shudder, incapable of reverting to his liquid form, trapped as a humanoid for the past twenty hours. Kneeling before the suffering Founder, he laid a hand on the Shape-Shift Inhibitor. "You've faced this device before, haven't you, Odo? Long ago, at the beginning of the Dominion War, wasn't it? Garak tortured you with it, didn't he?" The dying former security chief only moaned. "We stole the plans from the Obsidian order years ago, in the case that we ever faced your people." Looking up, Raine nodded at the smiling Founder that stood on the other side of the cell door. "And now your people have given up on you. You betrayed them during the Dominion War, and they have long memories, Odo. Very long. And if there is one thing I hate, it's a man who betrays his own people."

Rising he stepped from the room and nodded to the guard. "Leave him. It shouldn't be long." The Khanate guard saluted as Raine and the Founder left the Helen's detention area, Odo's moans echoing behind them.

"You gave up one of your people, Changeling."

The Founder barked a laugh, "Odo has never been one of us. He betrayed us long ago and he is getting what he deserves. But on to the business at hand, Commandant, why should we ally ourselves with you? You're Human."

Raine growled, "We are Khanate. We are not Human."

"My mistake, then. But the question remains: Why should we ally ourselves with you? What can you offer us?"

Raine lifted a syringe from inside his uniform. "The next stage in your evolution."

As the Founder stared at the syringe, Odo's moans became a brief scream, and then silence reigned.

-----

"Got it!"

Alex and Selene looked up in awe as the mainframe shook itself back to life, a behemoth waking after a centuries long sleep. With a low thrumming noise, the computer came back on line, filling the room with a light blue glow. Selene looked at Alex with a smile. "So what now?"

Alex began typing commands into the console. "Well, let's see what the last file entered was. That should be a good place to start."

"It's my fault..."

The voice emerged from the audio speakers set into the console, as clear as when they recorded. Silently, Alex and Selene listened as the voice went on.

"It's my fault..."

-----

Mainframe Control Room, Starfleet Command
Six Hundred and Nine Years ago:

Admiral William Hutten screamed as he lost his grip on the ladder and hit the hard floor, feeling a wave of nausea wash over him. Painfully rising to his feet, he clamped a hand over the steadily bleeding wound in his side, feeling the blood seep through his fingers. He knew that he had been the lucky one, only catching the edge of the blast as the bombardment had collapsed the roof of the Admiralty.

But he still knew he was dying.

Above, he could hear the explosions as the Khanate fleet raked Earth with their weapons, his old Captain Michael Raine commanding the attack. Of course, the man preferred to go by Augustus now, but Toh-may-to, Toh-mah-to, as his mother used to say.

Dragging himself to the console, he entered his identification code as Raine's face appeared on the screen in front of him. "Bill."

Hutten scowled and spat at the screen. "Mike."

"So this is how it ends between us? Last words spoken over a comm line? How many times have we faced each other, Bill?"

"Andor. Boreth. Ferenginaar. A half dozen other worlds before here." Hutten frowned, "This is where it ends."

"For you, old friend, maybe. Believe it or not, I'm proud of you, Bill. You have the heart of a warrior."

"I don't care if you're proud of me, Mike. I don't care about traitors."

Raine frowned, and leaned back. "Where is she?"

"Where you won't find her until she's done. Then, you'll know what it's like to be me. She'll be a beautiful lady, Mike, with a lot of history behind her."

Raine scowled, "And it will be written in every scratch and dent, Bill." With a jab, Raine severed the line, his face vanishing from the screen. Quickly, wincing with every motion, Hutten turned the subspace array in orbit in a direct line for Sol. "Grissom, this is Hutten. Do you read?"

The voice was static-filled as it replied. "Admiral, this is Grissom. What are our orders?"

"Get her away from here. Far away. Earth has fallen. She's our last hope."

"Yes, Sir. In the name of the Praetor, she will be safe."

Hutten smiled as he slumped back into the chair, "Thank you, Subcommander. Tell the Praetor we held them back as long as we could. The Empire is alone now."

"I will, Sir. It's been an honour."

The channel died, and Hutten could hear the booted feet of the Jem'Hadar at the top of the ladder.

-----

On the starship Grissom, Subcommander Toval of the Romulan Empire wiped green blood out of his eyes, watching the Transwarp hub in orbit of the star grow closer. A disheveled human turned to him from the helm. "Orders, sir?"

"Open the hub. Set course for Romulus. Inform the Praetor..." Toval sighed, "Inform the Praetor the Federation has fallen."

Misery filled the bridge as the small fleet entered the transwarp hub, a half-complete spaceframe being towed between them, the name on her completed saucer reflecting captured sunlight and announcing herself to the Universe.

USS Enterprise, NX-1701-F.

-----

The skeleton watched sightlessly as Alex and Selene listened to Hutten's final confession, recorded seconds before the mainframe went off-line.

"It's my fault. I never saw it. All that time we served together, and I never saw it. How many times did I save his life? If I had let him die, how many lives could I have saved then? But we were more friends than Captain and First Officer. How much of that was a lie? How many times did he save my life thinking, 'Let him die'?

"I can hear him now. He's come for me himself, the bastard. He's come to gloat. I'm too weak to fight back, now. Blood loss. But I can make sure that he doesn't find out where I sent the Enterprise. I'm going to shut down the mainframe, that will at least delay him.

"If I'm going to die, I don't want to remember this war. I don't want to remember what Mike became. I'll die remembering that I owe him lunch when I get back from Romulus. I'll die remembering my friend, not my enemy.

"I can hear him now, him and the Jem'Hadar. They're coming.

"They're coming..."

"Wrong."

Alex and Selene whipped around, phasers drawn, as they watched a dozen Jem'Hadar soldiers deshroud behind them, their elegant features bearing twisted smiles. Slowly, Alex and Selene dropped the phasers to the ground, raising their hands. The leader stepped forward and picked them up.

"We're already here."

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Author's Notes:

The history lesson's over. We now return you to our regularly scheduled program.