Author's Notes:
Feel free to post any thought's or comments on the story you might have. I've yet to receive any, so anything would be nice. Also, I'd like to get a little more feedback on the writing and grammar of my story. I'm from Finland, and as such I'm not as used to the language as most, so, if there are any blatant grammatical errors or just plain sillyness in the writing itself, let me know.
Chapter 3: Strangers and Mysteries
"Report." Picard demanded as soon as the turbolift doors slid open. Riker, Data, Troi and Worf followed him out in short order to take their stations, while Picard walked over to his chair and sat down.
"Sir, the last time the anomaly was active we detected a small variance within it that differed somewhat from the rest of the space inside the bubble, at that point it almost seemed like a tangible object, and when the bubble disappeared there was a ship at the point the bubble had previously occupied." The Ensign that had manned the sensors when all this had happened explained.
"A ship?" Picard asked with a surprised look.
"Well our sensors picked up nothing except empty space before the anomaly, and when it was gone there the ship was."
"On screen." Picard said.
The front of the ship changed again to show an image of a strange looking vessel tumbling aimlessly through space. The front of the ship looked like it had been crushed and floating debris could be seen all around it.
"Sir, the vessel appears to have sustained heavy structural damage and there are power fluctuations throughout the ship's power grid," Worf said, interpreting all the information the sensors were relaying to his console. "I'm also reading three lifesigns aboard it, coming from a rear compartment that still seems largely intact."
"Can you get a transporter lock on them?" Picard asked.
"There is some residual interference from the anomaly, but I believe I can compensate for it." Worf replied.
"Good, beam the survivors directly to sickbay, and have a security detail meet me there." Picard said and walked over to the turbo lift again.
"You have the bridge number one."
-----
By the time Captain Picard got to the sickbay, Dr. Crusher and a medical team were already busy examining the survivors.
A compliment of four security officers armed with phaser pistols were also stationed there, standing against the far wall as to not interfere with the medical crews work. Picard had wanted them there just in case. Being on a broken transport and then suddenly appearing on an alien starship could be a little disgruntling, and it wouldn't have been the first time the survivors put up a fight. But as it was, all three survivors were lying on the biobeds, out cold.
He noticed a pile of what looked like rifles and bulky spacesuits on the floor near the beds. Apparently the aliens had been thoroughly armed when they had been beamed over. A good thing they had been unconscious, as things could have gotten ugly if they had decided to panic and open fire on his crewmen.
But if the weapons and armor seemed odd to him, the survivors themselves seemed even stranger. Two of them were obviously human, that much could be plainly seen, but the one that Crusher was currently examining was clearly alien, of a race previously unencoutered none the less.
Its head, as well as the scaly grey skin, had similarities with the Jem'Hadar's, even the head was similarly formed and shaped. It had no mouth and no ears though, at least none that the Captain could see, and the rest of the body was nothing like the Jem'Hadar's. It was clad in some tattered rags and had chains around its ankles and hands, a prisoner Picard surmised. That would also explain why the two others had been so heavily armed, the ship they had come across was probably some sort of a prisoner transport.
"What's their status?" Picard asked, his eyes still examining the strange alien.
"The two humans over there are just unconscious and only need little rest. I've given them some sedatives so they won't wake up before their bodies have had the chance to heal properly." Crusher started. "But this one has a physique quite unlike anything I have ever seen before, even among aliens, so it's impossible to say for sure if it's okay. But if I had to guess, I'd say it's no worse off then the other two. I haven't given it any sedatives though, as it already had a lot of them running through its system." She continued, still scanning the alien for some clue as to its current state.
The Captain felt a bit perplexed at this point. Had the ship really somehow been transported there with the anomaly, like the sensor officers report seemed to indicate? And more importantly, why were two humans escorting a prisoner that was of a race previously unknown? Their ship had not been of a Starfleet design from what the Captain had seen, although there were plenty of freighters and civilian vessels out there that he hadn't encountered before, so that could easily be explained. Still, everything about these three seemed odd and out of place.
"That's good news doctor, inform me when they regain consciousness. I'll leave the security detachment here until they do, just in case. Oh and I think it's best if we store all their equipment and weapons somewhere else for now, I wouldn't want them getting their hands on them once they woke up, especially the weapons." He continued, looking down at the vicious looking rifles.
Soon after the rescue of the two humans and the alien, rumors started spreading throughout the Enterprise. Where had these strange survivors come from and why were the two humans escorting a chained prisoner of previously unknown alien race? Were just a few of the eagerly discussed topics among the crew. One particularly strange rumor even insisted on the survivors being from another dimension or some such, and that that was the reason for them being so odd.
Data had been tasked with finding out more about the small ship the survivors had arrived in, and to try to discern where they had come from and anything else of interest. But what he found out was far from enlightening, rather the opposite. Everything from the on-board instruments to the engine seemed to be horribly outdated, almost as if the survivors hadn't had access to some of the most basic technologies the Federation employed these days. But how could that be, since they were so obviously human?
Picard had contacted Starfleet HQ the moment he left the sickbay to inform them of what had happened, and to ask them how he should proceed. Starfleet decided that the best thing to do for now was to sit tight until their guests woke up. And when they knew more on how they had gotten there and who they were, they would decide on their next course of action.
And as it were it didn't take long before Worf received a hurried transmission, telling him that one of the survivors was awake and that he was needed in the sickbay.
The first thing to cross his path once he entered the sickbay was a security officer lying on the floor. He had a bloody nose and was apparently unconscious. The other three officers that had been posted there were currently wrestling with the recently awoken survivor. Apparently he hadn't taken kindly to waking up in a strange bed.
The officers did their best to restrain the giant, but they were having little luck. It now looked more like the survivor was restraining them instead of the opposite. Not especially surprising, Worf thought, as the strange human was nearly a head taller then them and much more muscular.
Beverly Crusher was there too, circling the group and shouting for them all to calm down. But as it was, that seemed to have little effect. She had a hypo-spray in her hand too, probably filled with some sort of a sedative, but she couldn't get close enough to use it, as the survivor was continuously positioning one of the guards between him and her.
"I must insist that you let go of those men!" Worf roared and pulled out his phaser pistol, pointing it at the brute.
The survivor had no idea what Worf had just said of course, but the pistol pointed at him needed no explanation. He was a little unsure of it actually being a pistol though, as it looked more like a toy, or perhaps a remote control of some kind.
The feral man regarded the strange looking alien for a while, still holding the guards tightly against him. Worf was after all only the second alien he had ever seen, and the other aliens had proven themselves quite hostile, who was to say these weren't also. But knowing that he really didn't have a choice in the matter, as he could hardly fight himself through this entire place, whatever that place might be, he let go of the nearly strangled Starfleet officers. They backed away and held their distance, trying to catch their breath and massaging their throats, letting the situation calm down.
The door to the hallway slid open, and in walked a very grim looking Captain Picard, with Deanna Troi following him closely.
"Could someone please explain to me what is going on here?" He asked with a raised voice, eyeing the unconscious security officer on the floor.
"It would appear as if our guest here was a bit startled when he woke up, Sir." Worf said, nodding towards the large man standing beside the biobeds.
"I see." Picard said, his expression turning to a smile when he realizes the situation for what it is. "It's a good thing I had their weapons removed then. Check on him, will you Beverly?" Picard said, meaning the guard lying on the floor with a bloody nose.
Picard stretched his arms out to his sides, as if to show the man he was unarmed and meant him no harm, then he slowly started walking towards the bewildered man. "We mean you no harm-" He started but was abruptly cut off by Beverly who was now busy treating the downed guard.
"I don't think he can understand you Jean-Luc, he has no universal translator and he didn't seem to react in any way when I tried to speak with him earlier." She explained.
"Worf, can you adjust the computer so that it will automatically translate everything said in this room." Picard asked, never once loosing eye contact with the survivor.
"Aye sir," Worf said and moved over to a computer terminal and started tapping on it. "It will probably take some time for the ship to learn his language if it's not in the computers database." Worf reminded him.
"Then we'll just have to try to get him to talk to us now wont we." Picard said and smiled at the newly awoken guest again.
But it turned out that only a few short phrases were needed for the computer to extrapolate the language the stranger was using. As it turned out he was speaking English all along, or, more precisely, a very strange dialect of the language. Another mystery to add to the pot, Picard thought.
"My name is Jean-Luc Picard and I'm the Captain of the USS Enterprise, the ship you're on right now." He started. The guest looked him up and down, going over every word Picard had just said in his mind and scrutinizing the man's physical appearance.
"The uniforms you're all wearing, they're not Confederate. And neither is this like any Confederate ship I've ever set foot on." He finally said.
This puzzled the Captain a bit. "I'm sorry, but I have never heard of an organization known as the Confederacy before, unless you're talking about the Breen Confederacy, and I very much doubt that you are, as they aren't overly friendly towards outsiders. This ship is part of the United Federation of Planets, just like everyone onboard it. I might add that it's usually considered polite to introduce yourself when you meet someone new, might I know who I'm speaking with?" Picard continued.
The guest stood still for a moment, wondering if he would be giving away anything important by doing that, but he finally came to the conclusion that it hardly mattered if they knew his name or not, so he responded. "Morham, my name is Chris Morham, a Marine in service of the Terran Confederacy, and I can't say that I've ever heard of the Federation either." He said at length.
"And as I've never heard of the Confederacy, it would seem that were both at an impasse here." Picard said with a disarming smile.
Morham let himself relax a bit, as he no longer felt as threatened as before. Picard responded in kind by telling his security detail, along with Worf, to stand down.
"How exactly did I end up here?" The stranger asked, looking around the sickbay. It all seemed to smooth, too comfortable, compared to all the previous ships he had been on.
"We found your ship badly damaged and adrift in space. You yourselves were pretty badly injured so we brought you onboard to treat you." The Captain explained, trying to sound as friendly as possible.
It all started coming back to Morham now. His mission, the captured Protoss warrior, and the strange anomaly that had rocked the ship shortly before he had blacked out. But he still had his doubts.
"Is he alright?" He asked, nodding towards the other human survivor.
"I'm fine, thanks for asking, and you really should be less suspicious of other people my dear Private. They're telling you the truth you know." The supposedly unconscious man replied.
Everyone's eyes now shifted to regard that person and Crusher had to recheck some of the readings on the computer as they still reported the man as unconscious. "Oh and I'm Fitch by the way, now that were introducing ourselves and all." He added with a stupid grin.
But he had barely finished that sentence before Deanna Troi interrupted "He has telepathic abilities, Captain!" Her alarmed voice said.
"Indeed I have," Fitch replied, looking at the woman with a surprised look on his face. "I take it that you are too? No wait… not telepathic, not quite anyway." He said and narrowed his eyes at the woman.
"I hope you can forgive my telepathic intrusion Captain, but it was the only way I could know for sure that you were telling the truth." He explained, trying to return Picards disarming smile, but to the Captain it seemed more ominous then disarming.
"I suppose I can forgive you under the current circumstances." Picard replied, deciding to give the survivors some leniency, this was after all a very strange situation for them.
"Good! And now that were done with the pleasantries I'd like to apologize for my friend here, he can be a bit simple at times, treating situations like an ape would. You know, smash and bash, that kind of thing." He said, looking over at Morham with a sneer. Morham was still too confused to take any insult though.
"Yes well, if you don't mind, I have a few questions for you, about where you came from and how you came to be here-" The Captain started but was quickly cut off by the doctor.
"That will have to wait, right now these men need to rest."
"There is one thing that will have to be dealt with right now though." Fitch said, stopping the Doctor in her tracks and nodding towards the Protoss, still lying on the third biobed.
"Yes, we gathered he was some sort of prisoner of yours." Picard said. They had removed the shackles from it, deciding that it would be the best way to proceed, the Federation had no quarrel with him and first encounters usually didn't involve one part being in chains.
"He is dangerous, very dangerous." Fitch started. "And I can guarantee you that he will not be able to tell your crew apart from any other human, and since his grudge is against just that, humans, I'd advice you to keep him locked up."
"I was afraid you might say that. The Federation doesn't usually keep newly encountered species incarcerated, but I suppose it can't be helped." The Captain said solemnly. "Beverly, erect a forcefield around his bed and inform me when he wakes up. Try to keep him calm at all costs until I arrive. Oh and I'll also leave the security detail here until he does, just in case." Picard turned to leave the sickbay, but was confronted by the sight of his beaten and bruised officers standing at attention against the wall.
"Well, perhaps not this security detail." He whispered to himself and resumed his march for the door. He had a million questions for the newly awakened guests but that would have to wait, doctors orders.
Fitch and Morham were equally puzzled, The United Federation of Planets, forcefields, space ships that were far to comfortable looking with people in pyjamas walking around in them, and a whole lot of other things were still unexplained. But just as Picard, they would have to wait and see what answers the future would bring them.
-----
A meeting for the senior staff, as well as the two human survivors, was held early the next day, after they had gotten the much needed rest the doctor had insisted on. The purpose of the gathering was of course for the crew of the Enterprise to learn more about their new guests. And as the guests themselves had seemed quite puzzled when Picard had first mentioned the Federation, he thought that the meeting might also provide them with some interesting insight into their current situation.
As strange as the notion sounded, this might actually be a first encounter situation with another independent human organization, previously unheard of, the Captain thought. The most popular theory among the crew was that they were from a long lost colony that had been isolated from the Federation and forced to evolve on its own.
All the senior officers were already seated at the long table in the briefing room, impatiently waiting for their guests to arrive, all except Doctor Crusher who was escorting the guests themselves. They had been so anxious to meet the survivors that they had all turned up early for the meeting, not wanting to miss even the tiniest detail of what was to ensue.
Picard gazed out trough the viewport to his right, at the stillness of the space beyond, and found that once again it calmed him a bit. He was tapping the table rhythmically with his fingers and his chin was burrowed deep in his hand.
Shortly before the meeting Data had actually found some evidence to support the theory about the anomaly being transportive in nature. Like a wormhole or the like, as he had explained it. This of course begged the question as to where these humans were actually from and how they could have remained undiscovered by the Federation for so long. Perhaps their home was even in some remote part of the Delta or Gamma quadrants, though how they would have gotten there was anybody's guess, since their ship had seemed horribly outdated and not even warp capable.
Then, at last, the doors to the briefing room slid open and in stepped Doctor Crusher, closely followed by the two guests and two security guards, the latter two who promptly took up positions at the door. The Federation wasn't usually this suspicious of their guests, and a meeting of this sort wouldn't normally warrant such safety procedures, but the recent threat of war with the Dominion had changed a great deal in the UFP and their standing policies when dealing with strangers.
The eyes of the people sitting at the table immediately moved to follow the strange entourage, with Fitch and Morham, the two survivors, staring right back at them. There was that strange looking alien that had pointed a phaser at him, Morham thought, having spotted Worf. The rest of them seemed human enough though. One guy had some pretty ridiculous looking yellow make-up on him and an unnaturally stale look about him but that was probably just some strange fashion quirk these people had, that and the pyjamas' they all wore.
The two guests seemed very different from each other. Morham was a huge man, with broad shoulders and a shaved head, the very epitome of a soldier. He did seem a little less animal and a little more man now that he was clothed and had a less bewildered look on his face though, Worf thought.
Fitch, in stark contrast to Morham, was a lot leaner and seemed a lot more controlled. His eyes told of a cold and calculating mind, an unsympathetic mentality that did what was required without the burden of either guilt or conscience. Troi didn't need to see his eyes to know this though. She could feel it in him, and it scared her. Where there usually were some feelings floating around in a person at all times, Fitch had nothing, he was simply blank, like a whole in the space around him, cold and lifeless.
Captain Picard, who was seated at the head of the table, got up and welcomed the two of them with a firm handshake. There were two empty seats just next to him and so the Captain motioned the guests to take them. He then proceeded to introduce everyone at the table to each other. And when that was over and done with, it was time to get down to the real business.
The revelation that the gold skinned fellow was indeed an android was a little disturbing to Morham though. How very different these people were from them. He wasn't completely unfamiliar with AI though, he had heard of the adjutant creations that were sometimes employed by the Confederacy and other powerful factions, artificial minds created to calculate strategies and help with the daily business of the higher ups. It was more the notion that Data was so lifelike and human in appearance that felt disturbing to him, and what's more, he seemed to have a will of his own.
"There are so many things I would like to ask you, and so many issues we need to go over, that I frankly don't quite know how to begin. So I guess the best thing would be to just get on with it." Picard started, focusing on the two guests. "During our brief chat in the sickbay the other day, you didn't seem to recognize the Federation when I mentioned it, a little odd since most humans belong to this faction, and even those that don't call the Federation their own, know about it. So, as a sign of good faith, I thought that I would start by introducing our organization, and then we can take it from there." He explained, putting on his best diplomatic charm.
"Suppose it couldn't hurt." Morham said, sitting back in his seat and crossing his arms in front of him.
Picard got up from his seat and walked over to a large display mounted on the wall. He tapped a few controls on it and the view changed from the insignia of the Federation to a starchart of the Alpha and parts of the Beta quadrant, with parts of the space highlighted in a blue color. It signified the territory that the Federation occupied the guests would later come to learn. The Captain started by telling the guests about the basic structure of government the Federation utilized and the anti-capitalistic philosophies that they were so proud of. Then he moved on to mentioning that the Federation was actually comprised of many different races and planets, all living as one. Eventually, he had covered all aspects of the topic and given a complete and detailed description of the organization he worked for.
Fitch and Morham were both a little stunned when they learned that the Federation spanned thousands of solar systems, and that they had a great deal of alien member worlds among them. Their own Confederacy was comprised of only a handful of solar systems and the only alien species they had stumbled upon so far were the Protoss. Not only that, but if the map on in the display was correct then the Koprulu sector would also have belonged to the Federation. Something was definitely not right here, and Fitch thought it prudent to point it out.
"Captain, if you don't mind me interrupting," He said, getting up from his seat.
Picard stopped in his tracks and looked at the man. "Yes?" He prompted.
"I just noticed something rather peculiar." Fitch continued, and walked over to the display. "This sector of space right here," He said, pointing to a small area of Federation space on the display. "Is it inhabited?"
The Captain pondered the question for a while. "Yes," He finally said. The Enterprise had visited that region a while back during one of its assignments. "I believe there are a few Vulcan colonies in that area, why?"
"Vulcan?" Fitch asked with a cocked eyebrow.
"Ah, of course, I keep forgetting you don't know this part of space as well as we do. The Vulcans were one of the species who originally founded the Federation." Picard explained, he had to remind himself again that these men apparently knew nothing about their world.
"Well, I'm no expert on starcharts, but I believe this is where our home is, the Koprulu sector." Fitch said.
"But, that's impossible." Picard replied. "We would have spotted your organisation a long time ago if that was the case."
"Yes, I know." Fitch agreed.
"Are you sure you aren't mistaking?"
"Like I said, I'm no expert on starcharts. But yes, by the location of Earth and the way the galactic spirals are located I'm quite sure that is the location of the Koprulu sector. This nebula, right here," Fitch said, pointing at a small purple cloud like spatial phenomenon. "Further confirms it."
Data's mind, who had continuously tried to solve the mystery of the anomaly and the strangers during these last few days suddenly clicked, the puzzle that had eluded him completed by a final missing piece. And it all came out of his mouth in the form of one single word
"Fascinating."
"Do you have an explanation?" Picard asked, wondering whether Data's obvious realization was a relevant one.
"Yes Captain, I believe I just solved the riddle of both the anomaly and our guests." He stated flatly, drawing Geordis full attention as well.
"Well perhaps you would like to explain it to the rest of us as well." Geordi said impatiently, he had been working on the anomaly, along side Data, without result for too long now, and if Data had a theory that might finally solve the mystery then he was anxious to hear it.
"Indeed, please elaborate." Picard echoed.
"One of the key problems we had while analyzing the anomaly was determining where it gets the energy to start and maintain the reaction that lead to the phenomenon, but so far we have not discovered the source. But I think I just did. Simply put, it comes from another dimension." Data explained. "This would also explain some of the fluctuations we have seen during the exact moment it appears and disappears." He continued, looking up at the Captain.
Picard had heard all about different dimensional theories so the idea didn't seem all that preposterous.
"This would also mean that our guests here could be from an alternate reality and not from an unknown part of space." Data added.
"So, what your saying is that this 'bubble' is actually some kind of wormhole like anomaly, except it links two dimensions together rather then two points of space in one dimension?" Geordi asked, catching on to Data's train of thought.
"Not so much a wormhole as a, well actually, a kind of transportation device. Everything caught inside it when it disappears will be transferred along with it to another reality." Data said. "Though it is worth mentioning that the process is highly unstable, it might have been sheer luck that our guests got through it in one piece the first time."
"I hope you're not saying we're stuck here for the rest of our lives." Fitch said, a hint of anger creeping through his otherwise calm exterior.
Troi found it odd that the man could be visibly angered, yet she still felt no feelings emanating from him.
"It is impossible to tell before we run some more tests on the anomaly. We might find a way to utilize the bubble safely now that we know a little more about what it does and how it works, but nothing is certain." Data explained.
"Good, I want you Data, and Geordi, to resume your work on the anomaly once this meeting is over." Picard said. "But for now let's get back to the reason we're all gathered here in the first place, to learn more about each other."
"Yes, I for one would be greatly interested in knowing more about your history. If indeed you are from an alternate reality, it seems that it's in large part very similar to ours, but at some point it obviously branches off and takes another direction." Riker said.
Morham had never been any good at history so the task of explaining it to the Feds fell to Fitch. Admittedly he himself was not all that well versed when it came to history either, but he knew the basics. The few things he remembered from the ancient history of Earth seemed to add up with the Federations view of history, all the way up to the late twentieth century. There things started to differ, first only minor things, and then progressively more and more things started falling out of place.
The eugenics wars had never existed in Morham's and Fitch's reality, and neither had the third world war, but they had had a similar occurrence. The more liberal views on genetic manipulation and cybernetic enhancements to the human body had led to a dramatic increase in 'not quite so normal' people in their society as well. It got to the point where normal people started fearing the mutated or enhanced ones, just like in the Captain's world. So it was no surprise that when a world wide government called the UPL came to power it would quickly ban all further enhancements and genetic tampering on humans. There was one dramatic difference between the two Earth's and how they dealt with the problem though. The UPL had not only banned future tampering, but it also 'exterminated' the ones that were already different in what could only be described as a global holocaust.
And in other regards Earth's situation was far from good at this point, it was slowly being choked to death by the ever increasing population, and crime and disarray was running rampant all across the globe because of it. The leaders knew something had to be done, and so in the end it was an ambitious man named Routhe that came up with a solution.
Colonizing other starsystems was an idea that they had only recently started toying with and the dangers were quite evident, not to mention that the trips between starsystems still took a very long time with their primitive FTL drives. So Routhe suggested cryogenically freezing the prisoners that remained from the extermination and then launching them off towards another starsystem. They would then finish colonizing the planets there, so that everything was ready for the rest of the settlers when they arrived. The prisoners were after all, expendable. And if they died, it would be of no real consequence.
Routhe's idea was soon carried out, and as result a number of large gargantuan class vessels were constructed and loaded up with as many prisoners as possible and launched into space. The trip was to last decades, but something went wrong during that time, and the ships never reached their new homes. Instead they continued their voyage through space until the ships reactors reached a critical state. As a result they crash landed on a number of planets in what would later be called the Koprulu sector.
When the prisoners awoke they found that they were a long way from their intended destination, and that their ships were beyond salvage after the crash. And this is how life in the Koprulu sector began.
Fitch went on by explaining how the Confederacy came to be and even of the planetary bombardment it had performed on Korhal to solidify its power years later.
Picard had to wince at that revelation, it seemed apparent that the humans in Morham's and Fitch's reality weren't nearly as well off as the ones in his own, even with the Dominion on their doorstep. In fact, the humans in the Koprulu sector seemed much like the Federation's earthbound ancestors, violent and deceptive.
"Are you telling me that atrocities like the one performed on Korhal never happen in this reality," Fitch asked when he noticed the apparent astonishment the ship's crew displayed. "Are there no wars, no conflicts, no nothing here?" He kept prodding.
"Of course there are, and there probably always will be." Picard said with a slightly disappointed look on his face. "But humanity as species has grown beyond that. Wars are still common, but the Federation has never been the antagonist." He explained.
"Captain, if I may." Deanna interrupted.
"By all means."
"It is widely believed that first contact with aliens, and the realization that we were not alone in the universe, was one of the key factors that contributed to the change in humanity's behavior. Now, from what I understand, the people in the Koprulu sector and their version of Earth never experienced a first contact situation, up until very recently."
"Ah, I see where you're going with this. They never had that unifying moment because they still thought they were alone in the galaxy."
"Precisely."
"And speaking of wars and atrocities in our own reality, there's actually a war on the horizon right now, with something called the Dominion." Picard continued, wanting to clear things up with the Confederates. Things weren't perfect on their side of the fence either.
"The Dominion?" Fitch asked.
"Yes, an organization with its eyes set on bringing harmony to the galaxy. A noble goal in itself, indeed something our Federation strives for as well, but it's the method they employ that causes the problem, as conquering and enslaving their enemies seems to be their preferred technique of accomplishing this goal."
"And then of course there's the ever present danger of the Borg. A collective of cybernetic beings bent on perfecting life by integrating the biological with the technological. In other words they conquer people and then turn them all into half-man, half-machine like drones that have no will of their own and no personal freedom."
"Well, all in all I think I'd prefer your problems to our own." Morham chimed in. "A few days before our arrival here we got into a war with the only other sentient species we know of, the Protoss. They incinerated an entire planet and destroyed a large portion of our fleet in just a few days. Oh, and they massacred my entire squad on a retrieval mission, let's not forget that. Who knows how much damage they've done by now. With any luck, humanity doesn't even exist in our reality anymore, at least no in the Koprulu sector."
Picard realized then that the alien they were transporting must be one of these aliens. And if they indeed were as brutal as these Confederates would have him believe, then it was a good thing that it was safely behind a forcefield.
A little later the meeting was adjourned, with everybody feeling a little bit more on top of things again. Picard sent a message to Starfleet HQ, appraising them of the situation and informing them that the Enterprise would remain where it was for a while longer and try to find a way to safely traverse the anomaly.
The guests of course were to be allowed full freedom on the ship until that. A curious decision by the Captain, Fitch thought. Had they been in Confederate space they would sooner have been locked up and interrogated for all the information they had, then set loose on one of their vessels.