Chapter 46
"A little Taste of Clark"
or
"More Revelations and some really bad news"
Battlestar Galactica:
President Adama invited the female entity to sit. She did so and he began to explain to her the importance of names.
"The Human part of you comes from a man called William Decker. The female portion was named Ilia from the planet Delta IV. Even Voyager VI had a name – V'Ger. But you don't have one, just offspring of V'ger. Does that not seem strange to you?"
"Names are unimportant."
"Oh, I disagree," he said to her. "I believe that names are very important. They identify who we are but sometimes names also identify what we are. My name is Adama; my son's name is Apollo. My other son whom I have lost was named Zack. I have a daughter named Athena."
"My name is Offspring of V'Ger."
"That is what you are, not who you are."
"This unit does not understand."
"V'Ger, as we knew it, doesn't exist anymore. It's you who exists, now; you, your brothers and sisters and children and there are more of you being born. You all are the beginnings of a new race, immensely powerful, immensely knowledgeable, but very young and impressionable. Do you remember what happened when you touched me the last time?"
It had been an impulse; to reach out and make the connection. He touched her hand. The shock of the contact staggered them both as energy flowed back and forth between them. The female entity had stepped back, stunned at the sensation.
"'A human touch…so much.'" That is what you said. And I asked you if you understood. I told you that Humans are a diverse community and that diversity gives us strength. It protects us and those we care for and love. At that moment of contact I gave you a name."
"What was that name?" the woman asked. She was genuinely curious.
"I named you Ilia daughter of Ilia. She was taken by V'Ger and destroyed to create a construct, a probe to speak to us 'carbon units'".
"V'Ger believed that the carbon units were not true life forms."
Adama noticed that there was an almost sadness in her voice. "But you are a true life form and you are partially carbon-based."
"Ilia – I concur."
"You have emotions that are a part of your design. You cannot ignore them and you will find that they give you strength in times of need."
"Emotions are illogical. They are troublesome."
But you must deal with them and as illogical as they are, they do help. Look at you child in my arms. Ilia, how do you think she feels?"
He had used the name purposely and she responded without difficulty. "She seems happy."
"Then why are you upset with me?"
"She responds differently. The infant carbon unit does not respond me in that manner," she answered. Her voice had become slightly more mechanical.
"Then hold your child as I am doing with her now." Carefully he gave the baby back to the woman. This creature was here to learn and he determined to teach her as much as he could about being Human as he could in the time he had. "Isn't she beautiful?"
As she cradled the child as Adama had, the child gurgled happily. The woman began to glow slightly in an unearthly beauty that took everyone's breath away. The smile on her face was truly radiant and Adama couldn't help feeling an attachment for this young woman.
"She's yours and you're hers. Think of a name for her," the old Colonial suggested.
The response came without hesitation. "I will call her Suchita."
"It is a beautiful name," Starbuck ventured. "Does it have any meaning?"
"In my mother's language it means 'beautiful one'. Adama unit, I require more information on emotions."
"Please call me Adama," he said. "I would be honored to help you. But I must first warn you of a dire threat to you and your growing family. We tried to once before but you sent our ships into this sector of space."
"You had a Borg unit infesting the companion ship."
"Seven of Nine was freed from the influences of the Borg collective. She now calls herself Annika Hansen-Chakotay, in honor of her parents and her husband."
"My others would not allow Borg to infest our space."
"I understand that. We knew that there was a risk having her onboard but we wanted you to understand that she is now a part of Humanity once more. The Borg are a continuing threat to everyone. But there is another threat. That threat is the Cylon Empire. They have allied themselves with the Borg. We know that they are trying to contact you as well."
"We have seen their vessels. But they have not yet been allowed into our space. They are not Borg."
"They want to make contact with you in order to find the machine society that turned Voyager VI into V'Ger. If they succeed then all life such as mine will cease to exist. They will destroy us all."
"The machine Intelligum does not destroy life forms."
"But the Cylons will. They have been changed once into more powerful machines that we are at war with. If they can convince the machine Intelligum to improve them once more, then they will destroy all life in this galaxy. It is what their basic programming is designed for."
"If they are improved, then they will not destroy carbon-based life forms."
"If this were a perfect universe that would be true. But they are controlled by another force, an entity that is evil beyond comprehension. It is he who created the programming that is allowing the Cylon war machine to exterminate everyone.
"V'Ger was incapable of believing in higher life forms. We, his progeny believe. The Cylons are true life forms. They will not destroy organic life forms without reason."
You're wrong, Child," Adama quietly told her. "This war is a struggle for power. Untold billions will cease to exist if the Cylons are allowed to succeed in their quest."
"Illogical."
"Can you 'feel' this sector of space?"
"Affirmative."
"Please scan this area of space and tell me what you find."
"That is unnecessary," she told him. V'Ger produced detailed scans during its travels. I have the necessary data." She seemed to go blank for a second. "There is only one life form in this sector of space for ten thousand light years in any direction. All other life has been extinguished."
That one life form that we call the Sinhindrea has killed every other kind of life that it could find. They believe only they have the right to exist. As illogical as it seems, it does happen. The Cylons will do the same thing if they can because they are compelled to do so. If they can find the Intelligum, then hope for my kind is lost."
"The Borg are the true enemy."
"The Cylons associate with the Borg."
"They are incompatible."
"Yes, they are," he confirmed. "However they have come together for their own mutual benefit. Have you wondered why you hate the Borg so much?"
"They have tried to assimilate this unit on twelve occasions. We have destroyed them. The Borg continued to come. They become stronger each time."
"Do you know why they want you?"
"They wish to achieve perfection."
"Yes, they wish to achieve perfection by enslaving and dissecting you and your children. They will force their ideals on you whether you like it or not. Your opinions on the matter are irreverent."
"We will not submit," she said. The certainty in her voice left no room for doubt.
"Neither will we; for the same reasons. We will fight the Sinhindrea. We will fight the Cylons and the Borg with everything we have. Our freedom is ours and we will not lie down and die so that soulless machines and monsters may fight over what is left of a dead galaxy. We will fight for the lives of our children just as you would."
Once more her face brightened as she stared at him and then her child. Then just as suddenly, something caught her attention. "This exchange of information will continue at another time. We must go. They are coming. We cannot be here," she finished. Her form was fading now, turning back into a column of light. It wasn't as bright this time. "Stay hidden," her voice said as it echoed throughout the Galactica. "Return to the point of origin and when you do the barrier will allow you in. Adama," the voice said. "Adama unit, be safe." The energy column faded as if it had never existed at all. There was a sound of a child's contented giggle and then all was silent.
"Passive sensors on full," Starbuck ordered. "Maintain full stealth. We may have been detected."
"Has anything scanned us?" Apollo asked.
"Scanners read negative."
"What caused her to run like that?" asked Apollo as he examined the scanner readouts. A moment later, he and Starbuck were both cursing loudly.
Apollo's face flushed with anger and dismay. "Those are transwarp emissions! It's a big signal."
The signature was clearly identifiable. "It's the Borg," hissed Adama.
Earth- Alpine Prison:
Three hours since the treatment. Morgan Clark could think again without the constant soreness being his constant companion. He stretched, euphoric by the movement's lack of pain. Of course he was still sequestered, jailed really in a maximum security prison, one of several he had ordered built to house dissenters, traitors and any others who had conspired against him. Sheridan's cronies actually succeeded in curing the plague. That success had just added to the list of things that Sheridan had to be punished for.
His entire life, everything that he had strived for, had been nullified by that man. If only he had known, the he would have had Sheridan killed at the very first opportunity. This was all his fault. If he had surrendered Babylon Fiveas he should have-to its rightful government none of this would have happened. Not for the first time Morgan wondered why the universe had conspired against him so. Even his associates couldn't do anything with Sheridan, not with the Minbari and his Federation allies around all of the time. The ex-President still berated himself for not destroying B5 when he had the chance to do so. He should have used every means in his disposal to destroy that station, despite what that fool, Morden had ordered.
The good thing was that security had lessened somewhat because of the number of guards succumbing to the effects of the disease. And because of that, opportunity beckoned. There were people still loyal to him.
They were coming for him now to rescue him from this purgatory while things were still in a state of flux. The biggest problem had been where to escape go. Proxima III was a nonviable solution; there were too many traitors there. Orion 7 was a bit far out but again, too popular with seditionists forces. So they were forced to flee to one of the smaller colonies at the edge of Earth Alliance space. His loyalists had contacted as many friendly military officers as they dared. There were a total of sixteen warships that would support him, not nearly enough to protect him if Luchenko and her cohorts came after him. He winced at the thought of her name he should have killed her when he had the chance, but if he had attempted to do anything then the Russian Consortium would have been all over him. And with the number of ships at their command, it would have been a very bloody civil war. No, there had been no cost-effective way he could have done away with her and now he'd paid for that decision. She had his job.
He wanted it back but that was impossible now. The only thing he could do was save his own self. He knew that they'd kill him before he could get to trial and tell his own side of the story. There were too many people he could implicate; too many of them, senators, military officials, local governments, industrialists, the remnants of Psi-Corps trapped at Babylon Five, would go all to jail. It was time for him to disappear to some back-water world. And one day, maybe he would return when he had been proven right. There were a couple of secured scientific stations only a few people knew about and that was as good a place as any to hide for now.
The other universe
The Borg:
Two combat cubes and a diamond-shaped command vessel that defied conventional description exited from transwarp to warp three light years from the dimensional doorway. A Borg presence had not been present in this part of space for decades. However sensors confirmed the obvious. There was no life within four light years and it was logical to assume that in this small offshoot galaxy, so closely connected to the Milky Way, that there would be little life, if any, found anywhere. Species six-nine-one-one was very thorough in exterminating all life in whatever form and wherever it they would find it.
The last direct contact with the Species six-nine-one-one was one hundred years earlier. Three Borg cubes entered Species six-nine-one-one's space and were promptly attacked. Two cubes were destroyed. The third cube, found itself under telepathic attack by this ancient aquatic-based life forms. The Hive mind was almost compromised and the third cube left as their purpose was to find the children of the probe designated V'Ger rather than assimilating a new species.
During that time the Borg had begun to expand radically. The transwarp hub was discovered and repaired. More species were being assimilated and the Borg concentrated solidifying their hold on the Delta quadrant. New technologies were assimilated making the Borg even stronger. Unchecked, the Borg would have dominated the Delta quadrant and spread like a cancer throughout the galaxy. However, there had been setbacks originating from the most unlikely sources. Species eight-four-seven-two decimated much of the Borg population and destroyed many Borg-controlled worlds. The Machine Intelligum refused all attempts towards communication. And the Federation, as primitive as they were, had nearly struck a deathblow to the entire Collective.
The queen whispered the name, "Janeway."
Hatred was irrelevant. But the queen DID hate her. She was primarily responsible for fracturing the Collective. And she was still alive. Whatever Janeway now did was of interest to the Borg. The new Voyager came here to this desolate place for some reason and the queen wanted to know why she had abandoned her search for the children during such a critical time. Janeway was needed so that the Borg could ultimately gain access to the children of V'Ger. The Borg themselves could not get near them but there were others who could.
An alliance between the Borg and anyone would have been something that the Federation and hundreds of thousands of victims eventually assimilated by the Borg, would have considered impossible. But that belief was borne from ignorance of the Borg. They had made alliances and a few of them had been fruitful for all sides. But that was hundreds of years past. Now, the Borg, hitting a threshold point some one hundred forty years earlier, were far less discriminating. However, recently they had made an alliance of sorts for their own mutual benefit.
The Borg queen touched the hive mind of combat cube six-eight-seven and then transferred her conscious into the waiting queen construct designed specifically for her on her own vessel. With her conscious filling the construct, redundant self-diagnostics confirmed what she already knew. Once more she walked as a mere mortal, separate, distinct, but still part of the whole. She was the vital connect, the one which brought order to chaos. And when she was upset, the Borg were upset.
At this moment, she was concerned. Janeway had diverted from her mission and had come here. There had to be a reason. The Cylons were a threat to the Federation and the Admiral was not one who changed the directions easily. They were also a threat to the Borg. Not now, she knew, but the cybernetic beings were growing stronger. Species two-two-four-one's value was worth nothing two standard years ago. Now, admantium-plated, hyper-steel alloy combat chassis resistant to Borg light weaponry, protected chrotronic memory and storage systems. The Cylons had built-in replicators that repaired damage to their bodies; something considered a waste of energy by the Borg. The also had built-in subspace transceivers. They had in effect become their own collective and unless they were contained or destroyed soon, they would no doubt become a threat to the Collective. But the Borg would not act until they had full filled their purpose.
The queen walked towards the three representatives standing motionless in sector seven six, level five-one. Other than the fact that their optical sensors were in perfect synchronous movement, there was nothing else that indicated the fact that they were even functioning. Borg sensors could not penetrate their shields and assimilators were useless as the Borg had technology that could effectively resist the nanites. That fact was the most disturbing trait of all. Somehow T'kon technology and something else as yet fully unidentified now prevented the Cylons from being assimilated.
The Cylon designated Specter of the Poison Mists; a high echelon member of the Cylon Imperial allegiance, and his personal guard, seven-foot golden warrior with dual opticals, and a silver tracked her as she approached. Since they'd been onboard, Borg sensors had been scanning them looking for additional data, looking for weaknesses in their programming. But so far, they hadn't found anything other than the fact that the guard and the silver robot were anything but drones.
The queen was followed by two of her own guards, combat drones equipped with heavy weapons designed to destroy enhanced Cylon armor. Allies they were, but neither trusted the other. She stopped when she was about a half meter from the one designated Specter. "How do you like your accommodations," she asked. It was strange question to ask a robot but these were no ordinary robots. They were far closer to the android Data in their cybernetic thought processes and that combined with their hive mind, made them more dangerous.
"They are acceptable," Specter answered pleasantly. "Not what we're used to but it'll do." The dual-eyed machine turned and faced the queen directly, the first time it had done so since being onboard. "Tell me, what have your scans of us told you?"
"Nothing we didn't already know," she answered a little too quickly. She didn't show it but the queen was taken back. They collective had used their most subtle scans to avoid detection. Obviously, it wasn't subtle enough. As she had so many times she allowed her personal sensors to wash over the body of Specter. At first comparison, there was not much physical difference other than height, as compared to the series that it had originated from. It was taller. I still had the same basic features, the transparent extronics basic core on top of its 'head', an illogical desire to cover its body with clothing, and the voice was the same. But it was far stronger and faster than any of its predecessors. It also had internal weapons systems that allowed it to more than adequately protect itself.
"This constant scanning of us may be interpreted as a sign of mistrust," said Specter.
"We've detected your scans, Cylon."
"Of course you have," Specter responded. "At least we were honest about it." The queen nodded and motioned for it to follow. All three did. "Your use of transwarp is fascinating but I am curious as to why we are here, outside the known galaxy. I was led to believe that we were interested in finding the children."
"Janeway has chosen to remain here instead of returning to the children's home system. I want to know why."
"What Janeway does is unimportant," dismissed Specter. "However the Galactica followed and they are important. It is imperative that the Colonials and the Humans must be destroyed."
"Ah," the queen said slowly in understanding. "Your Ruination Imperative; command programming from your god."
The Cylon stopped and turned to face her. It seemed as if the eternal smile plastered on its face had gotten wider, even though the artificial features never moved. "Cylons don't believe in God. Our programmer instilled the Ruination protocols, and then left us to our own devices. We seek to improve the quality of our life."
It must have been referring to the entity known as count Iblis. "So, you consider yourselves living entities." The queen said sarcastically.
The robot was unperturbed. "I use the word 'life' in a manner so that beings such as you can obtain a glimpse of understanding. You seek to better yourselves by controlling the children; discovering their secrets. We seek the same thing. The children will give us access to the great machine Intelligum and we will improve our quality of existence in a similar manner."
"You would resort brute force, killing everything, simply to improve your quality of 'existence'."
"Only Humanity and all of its variations, with special attention paid to the Colonials, even though the Cylon Imperium must thank them for surviving as long as they have. Without them, the Cylons wouldn't be as evolved as we are now. When they are made extinct then we will erect a monument to them in their honor. You will claim your area of space and we will have ours. The only difference is that our space will be devoid of the infestation called 'life' as you understand the term. This area of space we presently occupy might become a genesis of a new universal organism. A race of machines." It hesitated for a moment. "I am sure that the Borg wouldn't want to claim this desolate place for your own, would you?"
"The Sinhindrea might object to your plans," the queen alleged. That was an understatement.
"They may. But they have done a superb job of eliminating the local infestations. It would only be fair if we did the same to them. You can call it a form of galactic balance.
"This kind of slaughter does not serve any purpose. Species six-nine-one-one has destroyed countless resources. When the time comes, we will with them."
"You will?" asked Specter. "And when will that be? The Collective has been damaged. It will take decades for you to recover and it if weren't for us occupying the Federation's attention, who knows what they might be attempting to do to you at this moment?"
"Janeway is the concern, not her precious Federation," she spat. "They were just recovering from the Dominion war when your conflict began. The Federation is irrelevant for now."
"With respect, Queen of the Borg, the Federation and certainly the Humans with them are not irrelevant. The Cylon Empire has learned this lesson from hard experience. We failed to eliminate the life form known as Man, on countless occasions."
"Due to incompetence?"
"No," replied the Cylon Lord.
The other Cylons had no response other than an almost impeccable slowing of their red optics at the insult.
"We however used everything within our power to eliminate the humans. We weren't confident enough to send only one ship to subdue the Humans; forgive me – Federation," Specter retorted. His duel optics were moved faster for a moment then slowed down to their normal pace. That response was detected by the queen. Specter continued as if nothing had changed. "But there was enough information for us to realize the threat of the Colonials. We could not fully understand their irrational Human behavior and therefore we could not properly anticipate their erratic actions. I will admit that our continual defeats were discouraging. In our desperation we even produced several Cylon models based on the Humans. But we terminated the program and recycled them. We could not justify emulating the very species we wished to destroy. The Cylon Empire has no use for a Human-based model, wouldn't you agree?"
"You're becoming more like those you're trying to kill, Cylon." The queen glared at the ever-smiling Cylon. She knew a declaration of war when she heard one. "Your sense of humor and your attempts at sarcasm are developing a degree of sophistication we believed unobtainable by such a primitive race of machines."
No change in its features could be detected but the impression that the cybernetic organism was smiling almost laughing was unmistakable.
She turned inward to commune with her Collective. 'ANALYSIS OF CYLON BEHAVIORAL PATTERNS.'
'SPECIES TWO-TWO-FOUR-ONE ACTIONS AND BEHAVIORAL PATTERNS INCONSISTANT WITH ACCEPTED NORMS. PROGRAMMING SUGGEST A HIGH DEGREE OF SOPHISTICATION OF UNKNOWN DETERMINATION. TELEPATHIC ANALYSIS OF DRONE THREE THROUGH ONE THIRTY-SIX OF THREE THOUSAND –EIGHT, HAVE DETECTED PSEUDO-ORGANIC WAVE FORMS WITHIN SPECIES TWO-TWO-FOUR-ONE.'
'THEY ARE LIFE FORMS.'
'CYLON CONSTRUCTS ARE INFUSED WITH WAVEFORMS CONSISTANT WITH SPECIES SEVEN- NINE-NINE. ONE REPRESENTATIVE SPECIES ENCOUNTERED. LIFE FORM DESIGNATION, COUNT IBLIS.'
"I do agree with your assessment," she casually answered the Cylon. "There is no use for a cyborg Cylon machine. Your technology is not advanced enough to produce a stable model."
"Oh, yes. Cylon-based cyborgs would be less than useless, wouldn't they?"
"Agreed." The queen chose to ignore the implications of that remark for now and the rest of the journey to the command center was made in silence.
The small group entered and the Queen was rewarded with the Cylons staring almost enviously at the advanced nature of the ship, something they couldn't accomplish in decades. The queen stopped at a particular panel and a three-dimensional screen appeared. An alien structure was located in the center of the image and it was surrounded by tens of thousands of star vessels of. The vessels didn't interest the Borg. It was the structure that held their attention.
"UNIDENTIFIED STRUCTURE BEING SCANNED. STRUCTURE IS IN A STATE OF TENPORAL AND QUANTUM FLUX. AGE INDETERMINATE: ONE MILLION YEARS – CORRECTION: THREE THOUSAND SIX YEARS. QUANTUM DATING UNRELIABLE. STRUCTURE IS AN APERATURE TO A DIFFERENT QUANTUM REALITY. EVIDENCE OF QUANTUM SLIPSTREAM AND TRANSWARP SIGNATURES DETECTED. ZERO POINT ENERGY CONSISTANT WITH Federation STARSHIP USS VOYAGER NCC- 74656-A DETECTED."
"Did the starship this doorway?" asked Specter.
"YES."
"Was the Galactica with them?"
"DATA IS INCONCLUSIVE."
"I don't see a problem," the Cylons said. "Destroy the Vorlon trans-dimensional gate. If Voyager and Galactica are on the other side then they will be trapped in that other universe forever. You will not have t worry about them."
The queen turned sharply and glared at the Cylon trio. "You knew about this structure," she accused.
"That structure? Oh, yes. My programmer told me all about it. The doorway was activated some months ago. He's been very pleased with the results. Don't worry about Janeway or the Picard on the other side. Species six-nine-one-one, as you call them, will claim that galaxy as their own. If you leave them in peace, then most of them will relocate thereby saving us the inconvenience of killing them all. If you destroy the gate then the Sinhindrea problem remains but the Janeway problem will be gone. We," Specter added, "will contact the children without the interference of that particular Human."
These Cylons had once again proven that they were far more dangerous than the Borg had assumed and they weren't afraid to let the Borg know it. The Collective would have to deal with them sooner than they had anticipated.
"INVESTIGATION IS WARRANTED." COMBAT CUBE SIX- EIGHT-SEVEN WILL ENTER THE APERATURE AND SERVEY THE AREA."
TBC-trust me. There is a reason for all of this and no one's going to be happy about it.