Chapter Nine: Gifts and Conquest
With a deft stroke of her hand Alissa signed her name across a sheet of parchment, and with that the alliance between the Sinai Empire and the Borg Collective was complete. Emperor Sin'tau rolled the scroll up and handed it to an aid, who hurried off.
"So, now that our alliance is official, I believe the time has come to begin the invasion of the Resalian Federation. I have a fleet of five thousand vessels standing by as we speak," Alissa said. "I have already sent the schematics for Transwarp and adaptive shields to your scientists, and I have several ships of materials available if you need them. I have a feeling this is going to be most enjoyable."
"Enjoyable?" Sin'tau asked.
"Yes, once your fleet is in orbit of the Resalian homeworld. They will pay for what they have done to you Emperor Sin'tau. Oh, I have also arranged to have several hundred food replicators sent your worlds which are experiencing shortages. That should give your people some relief."
"You have been most generous, but you have not asked for anything in return for your help."
"I know. The only technology that the Collective does not currently have is your stealth technology. It would prove most valuable."
"I will have a generator transferred to your vessel. Also, Sinal has been asking to see you."
"Oh?"
"Yes. Ever since you saved her life she has spent a great deal of her time making something for you. However she would not tell me what it is."
"Well then, let's go and find out," Alissa replied.
Sin'tau led Alissa into the center of the Royal Flagship. Here everything was covered in gold, silver and gleaming jewels. Sinal's chambers were a few doors down from Sin'tau's and covered with sapphire-like stones. Sin'tau knocked softly.
"Come in," Sinal said from inside. Alissa walked in and found herself in a softly lit room covered in soft blue and purple walls and carpeting. A massive bed occupied one corner near a window that took up an entire wall. Sinal was at a small desk beside the bed, putting the finishing touches on something. She looked up at Alissa and smiled. "Hello Ms. Alissa. I've been waiting for you. Even since you saved me I've wanted to say thank you."
"You're welcome. But really, it was nothing."
"I made this for you," Sinal said, holding out a pendant. It had a long silver chain that sparkled in the light, and at the end was a glittering blue stone.
"Thank you," Alissa said softly as Sinal helped her fasten the pendant around her neck. "It's beautiful, but I'm afraid I don't have anything like this to give to you."
"It's ok; you could give me a tour of your ship. I've wanted to see it for days."
"All right. But only if your father says you can go." Sinal turned to her father.
"May I go Father, please?" Her father looked over at Alissa for several long moments. He was still suspicious of her, but so far she had not tried anything, and she was already doing vast mounts of good for his people.
"Very well," he said a minute later. "But take this with you." He handed her a small device. "It's a locator beacon. If you get into trouble just activate it and I will send my men over to help you." Sinal took the device and placed it in a pocket of her dress.
Alissa sent a command to the diamond and she and Sinal were transported to Alissa's bedroom. I was only half the size of Sinal's.
"I'm afraid it isn't as impressive as yours," Alissa said.
"It's great," Sinal replied, running her hand over the sheets. She walked over to Alissa's desk and saw a photo of Alissa a few years younger. She was being held by a man and a woman. "Are these your parents?"
"Yes," Alissa replied. She took the picture and turned it away from her.
"Did you have a fight?" Sinal asked. Alissa's eyes narrowed and she sat down on a chair.
"You could say that."
Flashback:
"Mom, Dad! Look what I did!" Alissa cried, hurrying over to her parents with a pad in her hands. She was only eight, but she was already in fifth grade.
"Honey, your mother and I are very busy right now," Alissa's father said.
"I know, but just look at this. I found a way to increase the processing power of your computer." She handed the pad to her father, who glanced at it and dropped it into a growing pile.
"We'll look at it later, but we're really very busy right now. Why don't you go and play with some of your friends for a while?" Alissa's mother said.
"I don't have any friends. I've told you that," Alissa replied. "The other kids don't like me."
"Maybe that's because you're too young to be making new computer programs. You should be playing on the holodeck or at Kadeskat."
"But those things are boring! I LIKE doing things like this. I wish you'd led me help you with your work. I'm sure I could be a good assistant."
"Alissa, this is grown up work. It's too delicate for you. Maybe when you're older. For now go and play with the other kinds. If you just give them a chance I know you can become great friends. Now run along," Alissa's mother said, giving her daughter a small push."
"Please let me help! I want to grow up to be just like you!" Alissa pleaded. Her father turned to her. He loved his daughter very much, but sometimes she got on his nerves.
"All right Alissa, I'll tell you what. If you can find a crystal with these exact properties, then you can help us," he said, knowing that no crystal like the one he had programmed into the pad existed on Earth. Perhaps it was a bit cruel, but at least it would let him and his wife finish their work day in peace and quiet.
End flashback:
"I spend a month looking for that crystal. Every time I could I'd get on a shuttle and search everyplace I thought might have the crystal my father told me to find. Then, after a month I realized that my father had sent me on a wild goose chase."
"What's a wild goose chase?" Sinal asked.
"Oh, it's an expression that means a futile task that can never be completed. Anyway, after I realized my father had lied to me, I managed to steal a shuttle and escape from Earth. I reprogrammed by warp field so they couldn't track me and set out on my own. Seven months later I encountered the Borg and I was assimilated."
"You're parents don't sound very nice."
"They were scientists. Their work came first," Alissa said sadly. Then she smiled and held up a black crystal. "But thanks to my assimilation I was able to finally find my father's crystal. When I assimilate Earth I intend to give it to him."
"What's assimilation?"
"It's how the Borg increase our numbers. What happens is that we inject nano probes into other people like I did to you and they become part of the Collective," Alissa explained.
"So you assimilated me?" Sinal asked.
"No. I modified my nano probes so they only healed you. Come on, I'll show you." Alissa led Sinal through several doors and down a corridor. They emerged into one of the Diamond's main service junctions. Drones walked along or regenerating in their alcoves. Sinal poked one in the stomach a few times with her finger.
"Hello? Mr. Drone?"
"They can't respond to you. You see, except for me and a few others, all Borg drones are basically mindless and unable to do anything without instructions from me," Alissa said.
"Why did you make them like that?"
"Because Sinal, the galaxy is an evil place. You saw the consequences of the war with the Resalians. Right now there are countless wars going on, most without any good reason for them. Millions are dying from starvation and disease. The Borg are the one race that are apart from all that. We don't suffer from disease or hunger. We don't wage pointless wars. When we assimilate others we take them from their lives of pain and suffering and they are reborn with a greater purpose."
"What purpose is that?" Sinal asked.
"To bring lasting peace to the galaxy. That's why I saved you and your father's empire. There are a few races out there who want peace as well and are willing to fight for it. With the help of your father and any other races I find who are worthy the entire galaxy will finally be perfect."
After a tour of the rest of the ship, a task which took nearly three hours, Sinal and Alissa relaxed in Alissa's bedroom.
"Ow, my feet hurt," Sinal said, lying down on Alissa's bed.
"I'm sorry; usually I just transport myself where I want to go. So, do you want to go back to your ship now?"
"I suppose. Father is probably starting to worry about me by now."
"Oh, before you go, I have something for you," Alissa said. She typed a sequence of commands into a replicator and a pendant appeared. It was identical to the one Sinal had given Alissa except that the stone was an emerald. "It's a Twin pendant. Now that we each have one, no matter how far apart we are we'll always be connected."
"Thank you," Sinal said, enveloping Alissa in a hug.
"You're welcome. Get ready, I'm going to transport you back now. I'll see you soon."
"Ok, goodbye," Sinal said as she vanished in the transporter beam. A moment after Sinal vanished the Queen's program appeared.
"So, have you made a new friend?"
"I think so. She's very nice. So, is the fleet prepared?" Alissa asked.
"Yes, just as you commanded. Ten thousand vessels, all armed with nano probe torpedoes, are crossing into Fluidic Space as we speak."
"Good. Once Fluidic Space is ours is will become our fallback position in the unlikely event that our positions in this galaxy are overrun. I have found that you should never underestimate what the galaxy can throw at you."
In Fluidic Space, hundreds of quantum singularities opened and disgorged thousands of Borg Cubes and Tactical Cubes. 8472 Bio-ships came at them in waves. Nano probe torpedoes and bio beams lashed between the fleets. Hundreds fell from both sides. But then a Multi Kinetic Neutronic Mine detonated near the largest gathering of Bio-ships, destroying over 4,000. The Borg fleet then surged forward, bringing the fight to the reeling Bio-ship fleets. 8472 structures and bio-ship farms were destroyed by the hundreds. Tens of thousands of Bio-ships attacked. The Borg fleet lost thousands of ships but kept up the attack. Soon a second wave came through the singularities. The Bio-ships brought up their planet killer formations, destroying hundreds of Cubes in flak mode shots, but Nano probe torpedoes soon put an end to them. Cloaks were useless in Fluidic space, so the Borg simply fed more vessels into the grinder. Alissa's adaptations, combined with those of the Doctor, meant that any Bio-ships that came within a kilometer of a Borg vessel died from radiation.
Eventually the 8472 fleets pulled back. The Borg began construction of defensive structures and construction yards. Once the Doctor completed his analysis of captured Bio-ships the Borg could grow their own if needed.
The leaders of Species 8472 discussed their options. The Borg's new weapons made their previous advantages void. They came to the conclusion that there was only one option left to them. One of their ships set a course for a part of the Borg galaxy far from Collective territory. There lay a planet called Earth.
So, what did you think? Alissa has made the first alliance in Collective history. Will it keep? Will Alissa and Sinal become lasting friends? Will the Federation and Species 8472 make their own Alliance? The answers to that and more in the next exciting chapter of A New Way. Well, see ya all then, and remember, you can send me any ideas you think would be good in the story. Bye for now. The Emperor protects.
ENTILZA