I am SOOOOO sorry that this took so long. I have reasons (new job being chief among them) but I know you don't want to hear about that. For those of you who are still reading and haven't lost faith in me, thank you and enjoy!
"That is quite the story," Admiral Osborne said after hearing their report, "I assume Admiral Picard knows all of this as well."
"Yes Sir," Benjamin said, "I'm sorry, Sir, but I felt that, considering the situation-"
"It's alright, my boy," the old man said, chuckling, "Picard's clearance is more than sufficient. The only reason he didn't know before is because he wasn't directly involved in the project. Is there anything else that I should know about?"
Benjamin chewed his lower lip, not sure if he wanted to tell Osborne about the 'vampire' and his 'prophecy'. The whole thing seemed more than a little far fetched, and it might be better if he waited for Command to hear it from Picard. The Admiral had light years more respect than Benjamin or Siegel. Besides, he wasn't sure that he believed it himself. Fortunately, his first officer spoke up.
"Yes," the big man answered, "Picard is going to report to Command, but he told us that he's going to recommend that the Enterprise be sent back to the Neutral Zone to investigate further."
Osborne nodded, "That seems wise. I will advise that I would like the two of you to remain on board. No one knows the capabilities of the Jumper Drive batter than you. You said you still have the power source for the drive?"
Both men nodded. The young captain looked over his shoulder to the drawer he had placed the case in. Unless someone knew that it was on board and knew exactly where to look, it would be safe. Benjamin turned back to the screen.
"It's on board the Enterprise, Sir," Benjamin told him, "We kept it in the secure case."
"Excellent," the old man said, "I'm going to use the remote access codes to transport the case down to our research lab. In the mean time, I want you to tell Captain Riker and Admiral Picard that I am ordering you to remain on board. I intend to approve dispatching the Enterprise with the condition that you go along. Your mission, in addition to assisting the Enterprise crew, is to retrieve the Jumper Drive if you can, or destroy it if you can't. Anyone who has been granted clearance to know of the Drive's existence is also cleared to be made aware of that objective. Is that understood?"
Both men nodded. A chime issued from somewhere in Osborne's office. His eyes moved off the screen for a moment, then he looked back to the two officers.
"Speak of the Devil and he shall appear" he said, smiling, "I'm being summoned to hear Picard's report. I will speak to you both again before you depart."
"Yes, Sir," they said in unison.
"Oh, and one more thing," the old man said suddenly, "I want you both to know that I am proud of you. I know that this first command didn't go as smoothly as we had all hoped, but we are Starfleet and these things do happen."
Benjamin felt a huge weight lift off of his shoulders. Maybe he wouldn't lose his command after all. Maybe he and Siegel would be given a second chance. As far as he knew, he was the youngest captain in Starfleet history, but for the last several days, he had been worried that his claim to fame was going to be as the worst captain in Starfleet history. He realized now that he had been overly dramatic in that assessment, but it was hard not to. His ship gone and the special project for which he had been promoted compromised, he felt sure that he'd be demoted faster than a ferengi runs from a fight.
"Thank you, Sir," the young captain said, "You have no idea how much of a relief it is to hear that."
The old man smiled in a knowing way, "One day soon, my boy, I will tell you about how I lost my first ship. For now, I have to go. Good luck to both of you."
The screen went back to the default image of the Seal of the United Federation of Planets. Silence rang in the room for several seconds. Benjamin got up and walked to the Replicator to get some water. While he sipped it, he saw a smug smile grow on Siegel's face. Knowing what the big man was thinking, Benjamin rolled his eyes and smiled with relief.
The chime of the door broke the silence. Both men looked at the door, unsure of who it might be. The door chimed again before Benjamin remembered that they were in his quarters and he would need to give the command to allow the door to open.
"Come in," he said loudly.
The door opened and Spike stepped into the room. He carried a large trunk over his shoulder and he had to maneuver it into the room with him. Without saying anything, the blonde dropped the trunk on the bed and threw the lid open, revealing the contents. The object lying on top immediately caught both Benjamin's and Siegel's attention. It was a Bastard Sword, with a blade just a little over a meter and a half long and a slightly over sized grip. The trunk was filled with other objects as well; old books, crystals, jars filled with unidentifiable substances.
"Alight, Big Man," Spike said, bringing both men's attention back to him, "I've got a few question for you, and if you answer them properly, Father Christmas might have something in his magic bag for you."
Siegel raised an eyebrow and looked to Benjamin. The captain shrugged, leaning against the wall. If he wanted to answer Spike's questions, Benjamin certainly wasn't going to stop him. He knew most of Siegel's past, including the painful surgeries and training on Vulcan, but the details weren't something he readily shared if he didn't have to.
Siegel, still sitting at the desk, leaned back in his chair and shrugged, "Go ahead and ask, but I won't promise to answer."
Spike sat on the edge of the bed, flaring the bottom of his coat so that he wouldn't sit on it. Benjamin noted quietly to himself that the blonde moved with an intensity that he hadn't shown before. Even during the fight on the holodeck, the man had moved with an unhurried, fluid grace. Now, however, there seemed to be an urgency to him. His neck and back muscles were tight, like an animal ready to pounce.
Spike looked at the big man sitting across the desk from him. If he was right, than this was the man who was 'more than a man' mentioned in the little note on the sword. But he wasn't sure what to ask. He had only gotten this far in his head. He hadn't thought of any questions that might flush out if he really was the one.
The big man smirked, "You gonna ask, or are you just gonna sit there and stare at me?"
"Right, um," Spike thought a second longer, "Tell me about this compost skeleton you have."
Both Siegel and Benjamin laughed out loud. Not sure what the joke was, he scowled, but decided to wait.
Finishing in a chuckle, Siegel looked at Spike and shook his head, "The word is composite, not compost. It's made from a titanium composite alloy. It's the same stuff they made this starship from."
"Is that the reason you're so big?" He asked immediately.
Siegel nodded, "I was raised on a planet called Vulcan. It has stronger gravity than Earth. That made my muscles grow stronger than normal, which allows me to walk around with this heavier than normal skeleton."
"You're stronger than normal, then? How much stronger?" the vampire asked.
Both men chuckled at that. Benjamin set his now empty glass down and rubbed his neck, "A lot stronger. I've had the broken bones to prove it."
Sod it, the vampire thought to himself, I may as well just ask. "Do you think of yourself as 'more than a man'?"
The young captain, still standing at the far wall, started to chuckle again, but he seemed to realize that no one had joined in. Siegel hadn't even smiled. Instead, he stared at Spike in shock. Spike waited for him to answer, but quickly lost his patience.
"You gonna tell us what you're thinking, mate?" he said loudly, not entirely sure the big man would hear him.
Siegel finally blinked and shook his head. "Sorry," he said, "I haven't had anyone call me that…in a long time." His stare became vacant once more and he didn't elaborate. After a few seconds, a single tear made its way down his cheek.
Benjamin stepped forward, looking concerned, "Hello? Enterprise to Siegel, please respond."
The big man blinked again and shook his head. Grabbing the arms of his chair, he adjusted himself so that he was sitting more upright. The chair groaned in response. Spike noticed that he didn't make any effort to conceal the tear or even wipe it away.
"Sorry," he said again, "Lost in my own head. When I was a kid, to try and make me feel special, keep me from feeling like a freak, my mom told me that my skeleton made me more than a man."
Having been around prophecy and magic as much as he had, Spike knew that wasn't a coincidence. This was the man the sword was meant for. Suspicions confirmed, he stood, lifted the sword out of the trunk, and smirked to himself as the other two tensed. Before they could protest, he turned and handed the sword to Commander Siegel, hilt first. The big man stood uncertainly, cautiously taking the blade from Spike. As he lifted it, his face changed from uncertain, to curious, to finally breaking out in a big grin.
"This is incredible," he said, "The weight is perfect, the grip isn't too small. It feels like it was made for me."
"I believe it was," Spike said solemnly. He noticed Benjamin staring in disbelief. Spike retrieved the note that had been attached to the sword and handed it to Benjamin.
"This was with the weapon. After our meeting today, I realized that he might be the 'more than a man' it mentioned."
Benjamin's eyes moved as he read the note, then handed it back to Spike, "Doesn't tell us much, does it? It doesn't even rhyme."
Spike was about to answer, but they both heard a whoosh sound and looked over to see Siegel experimentally swinging the blade. Spike smiled at the look on the big man's face, like an overgrown child with a new toy. The vampire looked back to the captain, who sighed wearily before moving to the trunk.
"What else you got in here?" he asked.
Spiked looked with him, "Not sure. Most of this stuff looks like the magick doodads that witches would use."
"Magick, huh?" Benjamin asked, "I've been in Starfleet ten years, if you count my academy days. I've never seen anything that would fit my definition of magick."
The whooshing sounds started to grow louder and more frequent behind them.
"You sparred with a vampire this afternoon," Spiked reminded him.
"Point taken."
Spike pulled a small box at the same time as Benjamin reached for a ruby set in a silver bracket. The box had a note attached by a string. He turned it over.
Leave this for someone who knows what it is
Curiosity piqued, he opened the box. A stone so black that it seemed to suck in the light around it sat cradled in velvet. On the inside of the lid was another note.
Really, Spike. Leave it alone.
He couldn't help but notice that note was in the same handwriting as the one on the sword. Closing the box, he looked over to see what Benjamin had. The young man handed it to Spike with the note facing up.
To stop the endless advance of indestructible foes, point this at the imposter and say "terminus praestigiator rapio veneficus"
"Do you know what language that is?" Benjamin asked, reading the note again over Spike's shoulder.
"Yeah," he answered, "It's Latin. Must be some kind of spell."
"Do you know what it says?"
Spike shook his head, "No, I don't speak Latin."
"Then how do you know it's a spell?" Benjamin asked, raising an eyebrow.
Spike let out an annoyed huff, "I just bloody do, alright."
The young man held up his hands in surrender, "Alright, alright. So, what else have you got in this magick trunk?"
The gigantic, panoramic windows in the halls of Starfleet Command looked out over San Francisco bay. From his vantage point, Picard could see the water churning up around the base of the Golden Gate Bridge, forming white topped waves that stood out in contrast to the storm around it. Rain poured heavily against the windows, pelting them with a tap tap tap in rapid succession. Picard sighed to himself. If it wasn't foggy in San Francisco, then it was raining. He would never understand why Starfleet had chosen this for the site of their central command, especially when the presidential mansion was half a world away in Paris.
Footsteps caught his attention and he turned to see Captain Tuvok marching purposefully toward him. He put on a cordial smile and extended his hand.
"Mister Tuvok," he greeted, "It's good to see you."
The Vulcan grasped Picard's hand and shook it firmly, "And you Admiral. I only wish it were under more pleasant circumstances."
"They called you in for this meeting?" Picard asked, confused.
Tuvok nodded, "Admiral Toke thought my advice might be useful, considering the nature of the possible threat. Though, based on the initial report, I doubt that I will have much to offer. The truth is that Admiral Janeway would have been much more useful."
The Admiral nodded sympathetically, "Yes, she was quite an officer. Her death had to have been especially hard on you."
"Yes," he said, showing nothing of the sadness or anger he no doubt felt, "With the exception of T'Pel, she was the closest person in my life. Her death was…most difficult."
The two men stood quietly for a moment. Picard wondered to himself how Tuvok had dealt with Janeway's death. He had known enough Vulcans to know that the logical exterior they put forth was only microns thick and that just below it was a raging torrent of raw emotions the he as a human would never really understand.
A young clerical officer approached with a hurried step. She stopped in front of the two men and checked her pad before speaking, "Admiral Picard and Captain Tuvok?"
The two men nodded. The young woman returned the nod. "Follow me please," she said, turning.
As she led them through a maze of corridors, Picard followed without thinking about which direction he was going. His thoughts were instead on the tragic death of Admiral Janeway. According to the report that he read, she had died in her sleep shortly after returning from a trip to the crystal caves in California. Her doctor had said that, despite being incredibly healthy for a woman her age, her heart had simply given out. Had that happened on a alien world that Enterprise were visiting, and if Picard were still in charge, he would have ordered the cave quarantined and investigated until the root cause had been found. But it didn't happen on an alien world. Thousands of people visited the crystal caves every year and no one died. And Picard wasn't captain of the Enterprise anymore. Not for the first time, even that day, the Admiral cursed his age.
Out of the corner of his eye, Picard studied Tuvok, thinking again on the rolling sea of emotions that must be flowing just beneath the surface. He knew a little of Voyager's story as they made there way through the Delta Quadrant. As he understood it, Tuvok had been her friend and advisor before the energy array had dragged them out of the badlands and across the galaxy. The vulcan must have respected her a great deal. Picard knew that a vulcan's respect, like a klingon's, is not easily earned.
Their guide stopped before a door and motioned them inside. Tuvok held his hand out, urging the superior officer through first. Picard obliged and entered the conference room. The conference table had been set up with chairs for each of the ranking admirals as well as an extra seat, for Tuvok apparently. Every chair had been filled save two. Picard took his usual seat near the head, noting with pleasure a steaming cup of earl grey waiting for him.
Admiral Toke, a vulcan and the Senior Admiral, stood to begin the meeting. "Thank you for coming, Tuvok," he said, then he addressed his fellow admiral, "Picard if you would please bring us all up to date?"
Picard, who was sipping his tea, set the cup down and addressed the room, "As I'm sure we are all aware, the Enterprise and the Davenport were dispatched to the neutral zone."
Picard went over the entire report from both captains as well as the data that Torik and the Doctor had gathered about the creatures, indicating their possible borg origin. When he finished, he paused for a moment and mentally braced himself for what he was about to reveal next.
"My report mentions extenuating circumstances, which is the main reason I called this meeting. On its way back to Earth, the Enterprise came across a derelict vessel approximately two hundred years old. Based on the materials and age, Lieutenant Torik, the science officer, deduced that the planet of origin is Earth. On board, an away team discovered what appeared to be a frozen human male."
"Cryogenically frozen?" Admiral Anderson, a human in his sixties, asked incredulously.
"No," Picard answered, "He was found in what appeared to be a giant freezer. It appeared as though whomever built the ship were preserving a corpse, rather than a life. When the crew brought the body aboard, however, it woke up."
Even Toke's eyes widened slightly at that revelation. "He cannot be human, then," he stated with certainty.
He doesn't know the half of it, Picard thought to himself. "You are correct," he said, "Not completely, at least. He is something that most people, even in his time, didn't think existed; A creature of mythology. He is a vampire."
"Forgive me," Tuvok spoke up, "But I am not familiar enough with human mythology to know what a vampire is."
Anderson, who Picard knew to be a bit of an expert on ancient mythology, leaned forward to explain, "The short version is a creature that used to be human that feeds on human blood."
"Yes Admiral," Picard said, drawing everyone's attention again, "The Doctor has been using the medical replicator to feed him blood. But most of this is actually beside the point. What is important is that he claims that the Enterprise finding him was no accident. He presented a two hundred year old prophecy that appears to mention Captain Riker and the Doctor."
"Appears to?" Toke asked.
Picard nodded, "It doesn't mention them by name, but it says 'a reluctant captain and a doctor made of light'. That would seem to indicate those two. The more distressing part comes toward the beginning. It mentions an enemy that would send 'robotic demons' and indicates that it threatens all of reality." Finished with his report, Picard regained his seat.
"Given your report," said Admiral Osborne, speaking for the first time, "I would say 'robotic demon' is an apt description."
"Indeed," Picard answered, "It is my suggestion that we dispatch the Enterprise back to the Neutral Zone to investigate further."
"I agree," Osborne responded, "But I'd like Captain Benjamin and Commander Siegel to accompany them. They are best equipped to deal with certain…sensitive issues."
Why is he dancing around the matter? Picard thought. Suddenly realizing the reason, he glanced at Tuvok. As the only captain in the room, he was also the only one without the proper clearance for such sensitive information.
"You don't think the Enterprise capable of handling that situation?" Picard asked, slightly offended despite himself.
"I don't doubt the abilities of Riker's crew, but no one understands the ins and outs of the situation like those two."
"I believe that can be decided later," said Toke, bringing and end to the argument, "To help us decide our next course of action, I asked Captain Tuvok to be here."
"Thank you, Admiral," Tuvok said, leaning forward and steepling his fingers, "But I do not believe I have enough information to call for a course of action other than to gather more information."
"Any ideas where we might look?" asked Darin, a female bajorian. Picard smiled inwardly. He had come to respect the woman a great deal in a very short time. Despite being the youngest in the room, she was also one of the most outspoken.
Tuvok raised an eyebrow, "Yes, actually. I believe we should ask the one person who would know more about that borg then either myself or Admiral Picard."
Even Picard stared blankly at him, no one jumping to mind. He looked around the room to see everyone else with the same blank look.
Tuvok looked briefly at his hands, a gesture uncharacteristic of vulcans. Looking up again, he said, "I am speaking of Annika Hansen. Most of you in this room know her as Seven of Nine."