Pandora's Comet
Chapter 1.

Authors notes:-
Technobabble. It effects every trek series like a cancer. Putting us to sleep and providing the answers to a lot of problems. Cybermen have always been creatures of technobabble, logic and mechanical efficiency. So much like the Borg (hint, hint). Federation crews look for technological solutions to problems, as the recent Doctor who has shown that's not the only answer. Hence this story and what is coming in the next chapter. Like writing a cold bucket of water thrown in someone's face!

Chapter 1

Guinean looked down at the necklace in her hand. Behind her the lift sped past however many sensors that were blissfully unaware they awoke one of the greatest horrors of the galaxy. The intricate symbols etched on the innocent looking piece of jewellery caught some hidden red light and glowed. Good, she thought, it still worked. That was her back up plan but she couldn't risk it with out trying something, anything, first. If "They" sent their expert in these matters... The turbo lift's doors opened to the bridge; 'Jean-Luc?'

'Guinean! What brings you up here?' You could count on one hand the times she had come to the bridge, each time the ship was five minuets from blowing up. Guinean hoped this alone was enough.

'We need to talk. It's about the comet.'

'Of course, I'll be in my ready room number one.' He didn't know what to make of this but the rest of the crew weren't far wrong with the guess:- "trouble". She followed Jean-Luc down the slope and to the ready room. Once inside she tried to sit down only to get restless and start pacing across the room. This was going to be difficult; centuries of hiding herself and her people's connection to... them. This situation brought them very close to that secret. 'What's wrong old friend?' he finally asked.

It was time to, as the humans say, bite the bullet. She looked out of the door sized window, remembering a simpler time. 'Back before my people learnt to travel space we were visited by strange race. Distantly related to us they were fiercely isolationist, yet still some of them were curious.' Guinean looked for that distant star she called home, she could still find it these days but she was facing the wrong way and it wasn't there in the blackness of space. 'They told us stories of the other races in the universe including one known only as the Cybermen.

'When the homeworld of the Cybermen was dying they fled to another buying a few short aeons before that world too extinguished. The destruction was catastrophic and it tore their new world apart. What was left were several isolated communities that survived in a form of suspended animation. Without inter-galactic ships or warp drive they had the rubble of their world converted into giant comets that were spread across the galaxies.' Guinean turned back to Jean-Luc hoping he understood. 'This is one of their hive-comets. You must destroy it now. Any moment you waste is a second closer to our destruction."

Hidden in a black ice cavern, deep under the surface of the comet, a highly sensitive device picked up a second deep scan. The scan could not penetrate the camouflage screens that hid the deeper caves where the crew slumbered, but they slept no longer.

A security program deep in the core of the logic engine was activated by the device. Slowly the tri-fusion power core activated, trebling in output in jumps every three cycles. Protocols flickered down ancient data paths into the cyber-hives central hub. Frozen in the ice like a fly in amber two optical ports swivelled, cracking their way open. The Cyber-Controller was awake.

High above; Lieutenant Commander Data flickered across the readings, not noticing that they were too perfect. He quickly ran a diagnostic program on the console checking if the modifications to the deflector would affect the interface.
Picard looked at the eyes of his friend, she was scared. Even in the depths of the Borg attacks she could mask that feeling. Now, now was different 'Are you sure Guinean? If they are refugees then we should help them.'

'Jean-Luc they are anything but refugees. The Cybermen obliterated whole races, annihilated whole systems that did not match their form of life. They are worse than the Borg and even more resilient. Destroy them now while you have the chance.'

'What makes them so dangerous?'

A far too familiar flash of light took over his chair; 'There's no point in trying to explain it to him. He just doesn't have the experience Guinean.'

'Q. What are you doing here?' she half growled at the lounging being.

'I was looking in on the neighbourhood. Imagine my surprise when I find CAPTAIN Picard shadowing one of the last Cyber-Arks. I thought you proved you were an intelligent race. I must have been wrong.'

With both his friend and his enemy telling him to tuck tail between his legs and run he was more than ready to bark, but there was more than that at stake. 'Q; I can't abandon the planet. If this is as dangerous as both of you say, which I have no doubt about, we have to do something. Can you help.'

Q spread his arms wide. 'Mortal matters Jean-Luc, I'm not allowed to interfere.'

'That's all you ever do Q! Interfere in mortal matters!'

'That was before, this is now. The Time War you lot slept through changed everything, it shattered cause and effect and left this reality adrift from the universe.'

'Time War?'

Guinean stepped between them; 'My peoples cousins, the ones who told us of the Cybermen, had certain technologies. They could travel through time as well as space but so could their enemies...'

'...and of course they both killed each other off.' Q jumped to his feet and walked around the desk. 'Have you ever seen a Time War Jean-Luc. Battles across the whole of time and space. Weapons that can rip the very fabric of time, deviation that swallowed whole worlds... The repercussions, the after effects...'

He turned back to them 'You're not aware of time are you Jean-Luc? You don't see it because you're too much a part of it. The Time Lords expelled us from time, they said our powers were not for our own amusements but to maintain order in the universe.' Q was actually ranting about this judgement of all the Q. 'Own amusement! See who's laughing now! All of them were killed when they caused their own sun to nova. Where's their order now huh.'

'And it is that lack of order that limits you now isn't it?' Picard guessed. He shed away from the idea anything had the power to deny the Q anything.

'Before you could nudge things. Play a little here and there while they kept the ripples in check. Now we have to police ourselves and my superiors in the Continuum don't like fixing ripples.' He admitted

Guinean grinned 'What a shame. The great Q reduced to policing that very thing they were thrown out of. The universe itself.' As she finished the lights in the room dimmed and flickered back to full.

Tapping his badge Picard called out; 'Data. The lights in my ready room just malfunctioned.'

'Yes sir, the event occurred ship wide. It was due to an intense sensor reflection from the comet's core.'

Picard frowned, Q inspected the gold model of the Stargazer and Guinean was clutching her necklace. 'Red alert, shields up. Mr Data pull us away from the comet.' He headed for the door. 'Now would be a good time for one of your ripples Q.'

At a distance not comfortably understood by human, or just about any other type of mind, a small light began blinking in an eye catching rhythm. Of course no one noticed it at first.
Will saw the Captain almost fly out of his ready room from the corner of his eye. 'You don't think it was a harmless sensor echo.'

'Not a chance number one. Lets say we've had a visitor.'

'Aww Jean-Luc is that all I am?' Q barged out of the ready room with Guinean just behind him

'Q!' several members of the bridge crew jumped.

'Hold your horses mon ami this isn't me.'

Will felt more than saw something manifest, he span around. A shadow fell to his right and began glowing. Three more appeared around the bridge as Worf shouted 'Intruder alert!'

The shadows flickered and four identical silver men stepped out of them. They were wearing baggy silver jump suits, their joints surmounted with small balls. Behind Worf one of them fired at the science consoles, killing the crew men stationed there.

He and the Captain moved. He barged the nearest intruder into the wall, out of the way while Picard grabbed the gun.

Worf drew and fired his phaser on one of the attackers it had no effect. Another one grabbed him from behind, almost crushing his shoulder. Breaking the metal grip the Klingon warrior grabbed the metal man by the handle bars around its head. He hefted it over and dropped the whole thing across the tactical console that shattered in a fountain of sparks. Straining every muscle in his back Worf twisted and pulled, ripping its head off.

The one he had fired at panned to him, bringing it's gun around. Worf's phaser, if it could have been any use, was smashed beneath the console. A set of blue pulse rings caught the machine on the chest, detonating something deep in the box like armour covering that part of it. The Captain had wrestled a blaster from the one he and Commander Riker took down.

Data pushed the console away and jumped at the machine man to his left. It's strength was formidable but it was still no stronger than him. Data plunged his fist into the chest components. White foam spilled out across his hand and it shook like a puppet in an earthquake before collapsing. Looking around he saw that the rest of the crew were dealing with the intruders and he took his post. Quickly reviewing the sensor logs he was tempted to run a self-diagnostic. How could he have been so foolish as to miss it, the records were identical, perfectly identical. Something should have changed even if it was only by a small amount.

Halting the diagnostic program he ran another scan. The dampening field had collapsed, reviling the true scope of the comet. While most of it was ice something had dug deep into the rock core of it. In the centre fusion reactors powered a set of mass gravity drivers. Outside of that centre several caves held sets of status cambers. Those chambers were reactivating in small batches. 'Mr Worf. Damage report.' The Captain pulled some order back to the bridge.

'Tactical console destroyed. Transferring to science 2. One moment.'

'Mr Data?' Data reported what he had found.

'How did they get through our shields?'

'Unknown. As is their type of transporter sir.'

Lieutenant Worf called out from the science station; 'Captain, intruders reported in shuttle bays one and two, deflector control and main engineering. Casualties reported in all sectors.'

'Divert all security teams to those locations with phaser rifles set to full. Open haling frequencies to the comet.'

Data understood the Captain's reasons but did not hold out much hope. 'Channel open.' growled the lieutenant. He was just as happy as Data with the idea.

'This is Captain Picard of the Federation Starship Enterprise. Our scans show you can alter the course of your comet. You must do so immediately.'

'This is ... Cyber-Controller.' It was an audio only transmission. The voice on the other end came in quick metallic bursts. 'The Cyber-Hive will ... continue to the planet. The Cyber-Hive will ... awaken. You will ... not stop us. You are defenceless ... against us.'

'We are not defenceless and any attempts to attack us will be met with deadly force. We will stop you.'

'You will ... attempt. You will ... fail. All Cybermen will return ... to Ark-Hive. The ship is to be ... disabled and destroyed. Transmission ... ends.' The channel cut off in a burst of static.

'Captain! Reports on the intruders; they are vanishing from the ship.' Worf called out. Systems across the bridge then started to malfunction. 'Power surges from the warp core.'

'LaForge! What's going on down there?'

'Sorry Captain they took engineering before we could stop them. I lost three Crew members. They've taken the warp core off line and somethings eating away anti-matter containment bottles. We're looking at a matter/anti-matter reaction within the hour!'

On the other side of the universe a young human girl was looking at the flashing light. 'What is this thing.'

'Hum?'

'This little light, what is it.'

'That thing? It's the emergency beacon, anyone with a transmitter needs help we pick it up and give them a hand.'

'And the flashing someone's in trouble?'

He moved around the central column flicking the odd switch here and there. 'If they're using that it means "help us we're all about to die".' The whole room suddenly lurched to one side throwing her into one of the beams. 'Banzi!' The Doctor kicked another control switch and the TARDIS rocketed though the vortex, scaring several particles of random matter into sentient life.

End chapter 1.