Chapter 3: Bearers of Bad News

My dearest Anthony,

Just a short note to say I've been an idiot, the two of us has something
great going and I ruined it by not taking it, by not taking you seriously.
Now with the federation facing a threat that they might not overcome,
I thought it was time to come clean.

I could blame a great multitude for my commitment issues, from my
childhood in general too the premature death of my dear sister. However
that would just be me looking for excuses, the truth is Anthony I was scared.
Scared that change would drive us apart eventually and fear that I couldn't
be the husband that you needed. I hate the wedge that this has driven
between us and I hope you can forgive me. The Da Vinci is heading straight
towards a confrontation with the Borg, and I have to assume the Tolkien is
too. The federation and indeed the quadrant is facing a fight for their very
existence a fight it might very well lose.

Whatever happens the quadrant will never be the same, and I just wanted to
tell you that I love you. If we are both still around in a week I just want you to
know that I think I'm ready, if you'll have me of course.

Yours lovingly,

Bart

USS Da Vinci
Troyius Sector beta quadrant
Stardate: 58104.8

Bart sat up from his desk, having just finished writing his first letter to Anthony in years. Technically that wasn't true, he had continued his tradition of writing letters to his estranged former partner, however this was the first one that he intended to send. Bart had missed Anthony more than he was willing to admit, and with the federation seemingly about to come to an end he thought it was time to clear the air. "I just hope you can forgive me Anthony" he said to himself before continuing his work on Borg encryption.

Sonya was on her way to deliver some bad news, she had considered putting it of till the shipboard announcement but she felt she needed to do this first, in a way if she could handle this she might be able to handle informing the rest of the crew too. She rounded the corner to Bart and Chell's quarters and hit the door chime.

"Come in" came Bart's tired but clear voice. The sound almost drove Sonya to tears, Bart was one of her closest friends but she was afraid that after she told him what she had to tell him he would never be the same again. She stepped in to the cramped quarters causing Bart to look up from his work. "Typical" she thought "borg encryption, no one had been able to break it before but that wasn't going to stop Bart from trying."

"Hello captain" Bart responded, almost jovially. "What brings you here?"

"I need to talk to you about something Bart, have you heard of Anthony lately?" She responded, chastising herself for her obvious delay tactic. "Just tell him" she thought "better get it over with fast"

Bart looked confused, and grabbed a piece of paper lying on his desk. "Heard from him no, not really, I did just finished writing a letter to him though."

Those words stopped Sonya in her tracks, a look of shock on her face. "I, I she mumbled"

This scared Bart, Sonya was rarely at a loss for words. "What is it Sonya?" he asked for a minute dropping the formal platitudes.

The lack of formality awoke Sonya, "I need to tell you something Bart." She responded when she regained her voice. "I've just received word from Starfleet, we've lost contact with starbase 234, the base and the ships defending it are presumed lost with all hands."

"That's horrible" Bart responded slightly confused. "But I don't see how…"

"Bart" she said, interrupting him "The Tolkien was assigned to protect starbase 234"

Bart felt his heart break, his face turned ashen and he started to feel sick. "He's gone," he muttered. "I was too late"

"Bart, you don't know that there still might be a chance, he could have made it too an escape pod, he could have…"

"Stop it captain, the federation is falling apart and a lot more people will die, I have no right to."

Sonya was taken aback at his response, she didn't know what she expected but it wasn't this. "Of course you have the right Bart, it doesn't matter what's happening around the federation; you have a right to mourn him."

"I will, but you have better things to do then comfort me!"

Taken aback by this response, Sonya walked back towards the exit, the last thing she hear before the door closed was Bart's subdued sobbing. Sonya headed straight for her ready room, Bart was right there was something she should do.

Chell was sitting alone in the Da Vinci's tiny mess hall, thinking about his place there. After voyager's return he had little hope to find a new posting in Starfleet, and he was very surprised that in fact after just three months someone at Starfleet contacted him. A captain had handpicked him, Chell someone in the fleet wanted him he had to admit it felt good. It wasn't just any posting either, the SCE might not be the most glamorous branch of Starfleet but Chell had always been impressed by their work. He just wished he was fitting in better.

It wasn't like anyone was particularly rude or mean to him, except Tev of course. It was just that this crew, like the voyager crew was very tight and had served with each other for years, this made it hard for him to carve a niche for himself. The mess hall doors opened disturbing Chell from his thoughts, and P8 blue entered, his fellow SCE team member. To his surprise instead of taking one of the many empty tables she walked straight to his table.

"Mind if I join you specialist" she asked.

"Yeah sure, special… specialist blue." Chell stuttered in response, social interactions had never been his strong suit.

"Call me Patty, everyone does." She responded, while making a tinkling noise that somehow made her sound amused.

"Alright Patty, please call me Chell, everyone used to do that too." The doors opened once more, and more of the SCE team came in, Soloman, and Abramowitz walked straight to Chell and Patty, not even bothering to ask if they could take a seat. Chell was starting to feel a little uncomfortable but before he or anyone else could comment on it Captain Gomez's voice came from the ships intercom.

"Crew of the Da Vinci this is the captain. Whether you're on duty or not, please stop for a minute there's something I need to tell you. The Sonya paused to give everyone, including her some time to prepare for what she was about to say.

"By now you're aware of the Borg incursions happening throughout the quadrant, how countless of Starships and colonies have already succumbed to them. "I wish I could tell you it was over, I wish I could tell you that this was just another relatively small incursion of our space like we've seen before. I wish I could tell you all these things but it would be a lie. Recent intelligence from the USS enterprise and Aventine indicate that nothing less than a full scale Borg invasion is on its way. Its goal seems to be nothing less than the complete and total destruction for the federation and its allies." Another long pause, allowing the crew to come to terms with what she just said.

"I do not need to tell you the gravity of the situation, all statistical simulations suggests that this is a fight we will most likely loose, but we shall give them a fight. Starfleet is mobilizing the biggest fleet that has ever been amassed to blockade the Borg's entry into our space. President Baco is getting as many people as she can to help friend or foe. Unfortunately we are too far away to make it in time to do any good. All remaining Starships have been ordered to protect as many worlds as possible, in case… in case the blockade fails, our assignment is to protect Troyius. I need all of you to duty like I've come to expect, at a 150%. We are the miracle workers of the galaxy, the impossible just takes five minutes extra and Troyius shall stand. That is all"

Everyone around the table stayed quiet for quite a while after the speech was done, trying to come to terms with it their own way. It wasn't like they didn't know before but to hear it spoken out loud like this was a different matter. "It's a fight for our very existence" Patty mumbled.

"You have no idea" Chell responded.

Sonya was exhausted, that speech took all the energy that she had left, having spent the last sixteen hours going over briefings, Starfleet communiques and in the rare moments there was no news coming from the admiralty she spend improving upon her general Borg knowledge. However there was no rest in sight she still had a meeting with the senior crew to run in an hour. She doubted if any of it would help her, she knew that logically speaking there was no way they could win this fight. The Borg had near infinite resources and it seemed they were not going to back down this time.

"Maybe we shouldn't fight then" The most Vulcan part of her mind kept thinking, "Maybe we could flee, or perhaps hide. She knew these weren't really options, one cannot evacuate the billions of federation citizens across the federation. "Maybe then, this really is the end" she thought sadly.

An hour later Sonya was sitting in the conference room, slowly waiting for everyone to arrive, going through all her notes on a PADD. She was surprised to see Bart there already, after breaking the news to him she didn't expect him to make it, especially since there was only so much a linguist and cryptologist could do during a full scale invasion. However here he was, like always and if she didn't know him as well as she did she wouldn't be able to tell that anything was off with him. She wanted to say something, anything to make it better but she couldn't find the words. There was no time anyway, as the rest of the senior officers just arrived and it was time for the meeting.

"Thank you for making it everyone." Gomez started when everyone was taking their seats. "I hope you've managed to process the news as well could be expected but it's time to go to work." Everyone looked to their captain expectantly, waiting for her to call on them. "So we need ideas, any idea that can help us fight the Borg, so shoot."

It was Corsi of all people who first piped in. "Well we are carrying Five Mk XV phaser cannons in our cargo bay, which were supposed to be installed on starbase 234 is there any way we could use those?"

Bart visibly cringed at the mention of starbase 234, but oblivious of this Tev rebutted. "Don't be preposterous, the energy requirement would be ridiculous and we can't generate that much…"

"Well I don't know Tev." Sonya responded. "We did something similar before you joined our crew, we managed to overcome the consumption problems by tying them in to our back up generators."

This took Tev aback, he became uncharacteristically quiet and Sonya could see the possibilities going through his mind. "Yes I suppose that could work, let me think on it for a moment" he responded, for once sounding a little humble.

Sonya was pleased to see this, "he's coming along, finally" she thought. "Al right Commander Corsi and Tev work that out, any other ideas?"

"I'm tinkering with an idea that might reinforce our structural integrity field, by rerouteing our engine power through it." Patty responded. "It won't make us invulnerable but every little bit helps.

"Indeed, well done Patty, I'm here if you need me to help you setting it up, any other ideas." The room fell silent, everyone desperately wanting to come with an idea, knowing that what they had now was only going to delay the inevitable. "Come on people, anything?"

"Well I might have something…" Bart said softly" I've been trying to use linguistic algorithms to alternate our weapon and shield frequencies to make it harder for the Borg to adapt but I feel like I'm out of my depth here"

Sonya was again surprised that Bart had managed to work on anything considering the news she gave him, not to mention that it was a great idea. "That's some really good thinking Bart, maybe Soloman can help you making it a reality."

"That shouldn't be a problem." The small Bynar responded. "I'll get right on it"

"Alright people, I won't keep you any longer, get too it dismissed."

Everyone got up and started to walk to the door. "It's not going to help" came a soft mutter from the corner"

"What was that Specialist Chell?"

"With all due respect it won't matter, if the Borg are here to destroy us well…"

"We shall see, everyone dismissed, except Chell I need a word with you"

Sonya was angry at Chell's comment, but did her best not to show it to him as he stayed behind while everyone left. It was comments like these that could destroy crew morale, and this was the last thing she needed. When the last person left the room she turned to Chell. "I'd prefer you keep such opinions to yourself next time specialist"

"I was just saying what we were all thinking, captain…"

"That does not matter, we will do whatever it takes to win and we need not be reminded that we might fail. Hell you were aboard voyager, you of all people should know the Borg are not invincible."

"No captain, you're wrong." Chell responded sadly. "Being on voyager only showed me how futile resistance is in the end."

Confused Sonya responded. "Voyager fought the Borg more than anyone, and survived how can you say that?"

"Yes we fought the Borg, but we were lucky, and never faced more than one cube at the time not really anyway. We also had unusual advantages, crew members aboard the cube, virus's, future weaponry none of which we will have now. No one realises how many ships the Borg have we traveled through their space they have millions of cubes, spheres, diamonds, probes you name it, in the end there's nothing we can do to stop them by force."

Now Sonya was getting angry, not really at Chell though because she knew he was probably right but she couldn't say that. "Specialist, you are hereby ordered to stop that line of thought, and try your best to find a way to help."

"Yes captain, I'm sorry captain."

"Dismissed!"