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Star Trek Voyager/Doctor Who Crossover – Worst Case Scenario: Chapter 14: Master Schemer
By
Celgress
Delta Quadrant
"A pity the Doctor doesn't fully trust you." The Master said sharing a bottle of replicated kanar with Gul Dukat abroad his Phage command ship, a small table separating the two. In this very room the Master had talked with the highest ranking Romulan onboard USS Voyager yesterday in similar fashion.
"I honestly hadn't noticed." Dukat said kicking back the drink as if it were water. "Nor frankly do I care."
"Ah but I think you should." The Master said sipping his beverage.
"Why may I ask?" Dukat said eyeing his alien companion suspiciously. Dukat was an old hand at galactic poker and he could sense the Master was testing him seeing if Dukat would tip his hand. Dukat quickly decided he wouldn't give his host any such satisfaction. "I doubt you genuinely care about my welfare or that of my allies."
"Pragmatic considerations," The Master said. "I'm nothing if not a pragmatist. Once we've vanquished the Daleks entire regions of interstellar space will be how they say up for grabs."
"Forging potential alliances early I see." Dukat said refilling his glass.
"I find in situations such as this, it never hurts to be proactive." The Master said. "Based upon what you and others have told me concerning the character of the former Federation it was populated by beings of a pacifistic nature, correct?"
"Correct." Dukat said taking another swig. Wondering where this conversation would lead.
"However whatever polity takes its' places may not be so, accommodating in orientation." The Master said picking his words carefully.
"What makes assume such?" Dukat said feigning disinterest.
"Unlike the leadership of the former Federation those of this new entity, whatever it may call itself, have been forged in the crucible of war. Terrible conflicts breed tenacious individuals, by eliminating those who are weak while simultaneously elevating those who are strong. After dealing with the Daleks I'm certain they shall not hesitate when flexing of military muscle against lesser powers, like their neighbors, is required for securing their interests." The Master said watching Dukat visibly tense. Supressing a smile the Master forged onward. "However if you were to align your future holdings, whatever they may prove to be, with my burgeoning Phage Empire perhaps together we could pre-empt any aggressive acts of our future, mutual enemy or enemies. Furthermore by keeping our arrangement secret until territorial consignments are diplomatically hammered out following the inevitable Dalek defeat we insure our bargaining unit and it's influence are fait accompli."
"Cunning old serpent, aren't you Master." Dukat said finishing his second drink on his second gulp. "What makes you think I won't simply inform the others of your, offer."
"Do as you wish." The Master said waving his free hand dismissively. "Unlike you I have nothing to lose by our negotiations being made public."
"Are you threatening me?" Dukat said his grip on the glass growing tighter.
"Not at all," The Master said now allowing himself a smile. "I'm merely pointing out that unlike you I most certainly am not trust by anyone on your nominal side. While I sense a certain degree of tension between yourself and several other parties just as many are undecided if they should invest any trust in you."
"Point taken," Dukat said ruefully. "I'll be in touch." Dukat got up from his seat and was escorted from the relatively cozy chamber by a pair of humanoid Phage.
Sometime later Kes greeted the Master when he entered the Phage command bridge with a friendly nod. Assuming his position on the throne like chair to his queen's right the Master smiled back her. The two sat in silence for several minutes staring into each other's eyes their hands entwined until a humanoid Phage manning several control panels informed his royalty of an interesting development.
"My King my Queen one of our scout vessels has encountered difficulties after entering a nearby nebula."
"And this warrants our attention why exactly?" Kes snapped annoyed at the underling's violation of her and her husband's silent time together.
"My deepest apologises my Queen." The humanoid Phage said. "Before data transmission ceased the scout ship reported encountering a massive Dalek construct accompanied by more than two dozen Dalek vessels of various sizes inside the nebula. The apparent size along with configuration of the construct is consistent with that of a Nightmare Child."
"At last," The Master said practically jumping out of his seat. "If we can commandeer this facility we could easily engineer entire fleets of starships on a vast scale within a matter of days or at worst weeks."
"Impressive," Kes admitted then frowning said. "Won't taking the facility from the Daleks prove, exceedingly difficult my love?"
"If my plan is properly executed, it shat." The Master said grinning from ear to ear.
"What do you have brewing in that devious mind of yours?" Kes asked with a school girl type giggle.
The Master's winked at Kes then laughed. "You'll have to find out along with everyone else my dear. Let's say we'll soon discover how brave our new allies can be."
USS Voyager holodeck, the next day
"My people nicknamed this type of Dalek facility a Nightmare Child," The Doctor said strolling around the miniature holographic representation of the Dalek construct. "Basically what we are looking at here people is mechanised carnage on near unfathomable scale. Crudely put Nightmare Child is a massive military factory. It chews up whole solar systems, coverts them into raw materials then spits out fleets and Dalek armies alike by using temporal manipulation to achieve a frightening rate of production. Capturing and converting this facility to our own needs is of paramount importance. I can't stress this enough."
"What kind of resistance will we encounter in the nebula?" General Martok said.
The Master standing off to the Doctor's left answered. "Before my scout was eliminated it catalogued upwards of thirty Daleks vessels of varying sizes." The Master's information elicited a collective groan from those present. "If they were expecting an attack we'd be dealing with hundreds rather than slightly more than two dozen vessels." The Master said raising his voice to be heard over the crowd's murmur. "Once we've taken control of Nightmare Child we can rebuilt our ship strength and then lunch attacks anywhere in the galaxy against our foe."
"While that maybe," Picard said thoughtful. "How do we deal with the Daleks that are present? Attacking thirty Dalek vessels and a Daleks station of this size and type with twenty Phage warships and one Federation starship seem ill advised at best suicidal at worst."
"Aye there may be a way." Scotty said rubbing his round chin. "Does this Nightmare Child thingy possess typical Dalek force shielding?"
"Brilliant Mr. Scott," The Doctor said running over and kissing Scotty on his head startling the old Scotsman.
"Could you share?" Geordi said.
"I think what the Doctor and Mr. Scott are excited about is that Nightmare Child has a flawed design." Data said in his usual monotone.
"Meaning," Geordi said a tad annoyed by his best friend's cryptic comment.
"Examine the model more closely Geordi." Data instructed.
A moment later Geordi detected what he'd been missing. "I get it Nightmare Child isn't shielded in anyway. It even lacks a basic dampening field."
"Of course it does." The Doctor said twirling around the room excitedly. "Who could find it little own would dare attack it."
"We must still deal with the Dalek ships." A Romulan commander said.
"Unlike the ships Nightmare Child possesses a multiphasic core." The Doctor said. "Meaning if we can infiltrate Nightmare Child all we need to is temporarily phase it out of normal scape and…"
"Combusted the nebula's gasses," B'Elanna said cutting the Doctor off.
"Using." The Doctor said at B'Elanna.
"Modified quantum torpedoes," B'Elanna replied instantly.
"Very good Torres," The Doctor said. "All we need now is to draw up a battle plan."
Nightmare Child, three days later
Daleks were nothing if not predictable. While the Tardis infiltrated Nightmare Child USS Voyager and the Phage ships fired their payloads into the nebula incinerating the Dalek fleet. Inside Nightmare Child the strike team comprised of Worf, Riker, Kira, Garak, Asil, Tuvok, Data and several others used assault rifles based heavily upon sonic screwdriver technology to dispatch any enemies they encountered. Surprisingly there were very few Daleks, Jem'hadar or Bren present. Once they reintegrated the Nightmare Child into normal phase the others boarded the facility. Soon liberation would come to their galaxy.
To Be Continued