The time of the Borg, chapter 4

Part 4 of the time of the Borg tale. The officers of the Enterprise, minus Troy, have been sent back to the time of the Borg creation by Q. An opportunity to destroy them at birth. However, the situation is complex and they have been split up.

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Meanwhile, Riker, Worf and Claire where at a town called Southfield and Riker was hitting a snack in his attempts to hit at the developing Borg. Although he had contacts with the opposition not all of them were happy with the enterprise crew. In fact some approached Riker and Worf and suggested that the two were not 'honourable', enough to help them. A rather stupid thing to say with a Klingon present thought Riker. So, Worf had to duel with no less than two combatants despite his own claims that two against one would be dishonorable itself. 'Perhaps they want to see what you are capable of, suggested Riker who also said, 'Never mind, remember your old Klingon phrase the greater the odds, the greater the glory!'

'That's easy for you to say, growled Worf, 'Why don't you do the duel yourself, then?'

'I think not, why keep a Klingon and duel yourself?' Though Riker had been impressed by Worf who competently one the duel against the two and congratulated him in the arena afterwards.

But they were not with Claire. Previously, she had noticed something interesting and had gone of on her own. She found all of the political conflicts a bit wearing and had gone on a bit of a break. Mind she had seen evidence of a society on the brink of collapse any things ere broken, the planet had more than its fair share of dirt, there were shortages a plenty. Also the evidence of military hardware was never far away. As she noticed as yet another well-drilled squad of armed, uniformed men passed by her. But she had met a rather charming young man who helped her to take her mind of things. She knew that she should probably stay on the mission that she was part of but she found it a very confusing one. Especially as it did not seem to be an official Federation authorized mission. So she greeted the man at one of the nicer restaurant establishments on one of the more relaxed planetary suburbs. But there were problems. Firstly anytime she turned on the planets newsfeed she was reminded of the tense political situation. Secondly after only a little bit of talking it became clear that her boyfriend was a bit of an idiot.

After he had gone beyond his blond and good-looks charm it was clear that he was a keen supporter of the Nationalist opposition. Claire herself, coincidentally, was possibly not the best-looking of people. She was brunette with unkempt hair, it was just like that and she had a habit of brushing it with here hands in annoying dates, and rather a wood-pecker style long nose. As she brushed her hair between courses, she did find out something interesting from her suitor. That was that the Nationalist coup was set to start soon. In the next few days. And her suitor was boosting about how he was going to be in one of the leading local roles. Mind, he was such an idiot that he had forgotten about the timing of the coup. As a very fine desert of strawberries and cream, both plentiful on this world arrived, Claire heard loud shooting and bullets passing the window in the street. The coup had started. Claire had no choice but to take cover. She would have liked to have returned to the others to warn them, but the soldiers outside had put a block on movement. She was trapped in the building as her boyfriend made a few remarks and made a hurried return to his organization.

Having taken a while to find the right cell with all of President Richard's hoarding, he did have a bit, Picard, LeForge and Beverly Crusher finally found the cell where Data was been kept in. Picard held out his tri-quarter and was about to open the holding doors when Crusher tapped his shoulder. Picard looked around and saw Q behind him. 'Well, well my friend and how are you getting along?' said Q cheerfully.

'Don't you my friend me,' Picard snapped, 'And as for how we are getting along, to give a quote from an old twentieth century classic, this is another fine mess you have got us into!'

Q gave a mock pause, 'I don't know that one! Still, you could be more grateful as after all I have given you a once in a lifetime chance to destroy one of your most dangerous enemies.'

'If we manage it. And if the information which we give them might not in fact make them stronger,'

Q gave a mock sigh, 'Well, think what you like of me. I'm here just to remind you to stay focused,'

'You can be sure that I will, thank you,' said Picard, but Q had already vanished. Picard wondered what Q meant by staying focused.

With the help of Geordi and Crusher, Picard moved into Data's cell and was about to undertake a full jail-break. When he heard a noise behind him. In the joining metal corridor was the President, his chief of security, Nyder and a squad of guards with them with the inevitable blasters. However, the President sounded relieved. 'Ah, there you are, Picard. Just checking up on your colleague where you? You should have asked me, he is fine, I assure you.' The President moved his bald face towards Picard and shook gently as was his wont. 'But now we need him. The coup has started, We will need your help as well. That is unless you want my enemies in charge of this world. Terrible people, terrible,' a little ironical statement as his enemies naturally used the same statement about President Richard. Picard was kept in the cell whereas his colleagues where lead away. Noticing a concerned look upon his face, the President said, 'Oh, don't worry about their fate. As I said, they all look informed people, we need them. And I need you. You know about my Borg. I find that fascinating. We must talk. Oh, and in more comfortable surroundings,. And over lunch.