"Status of the Captain's shuttle, Mr. Lavalle," said the bearded commander.
"Shuttle is docking now," he answered.
"As soon as he is onboard, have him come to the bridge. Please hail the Orville," he ordered.
"Onscreen," answered the ensign. Captain Mercer appeared along with Commander Grayson.
"Did you captain make it aboard okay?" asked the Union commanding officer.
"Yes, he should be on the bridge in a minute. I believe that ship out there is Krill? What is the status of relations and the Krill right now. I believe you are in a cease fire?" asked Riker. The door to the bridge turbo lift opened and Captain Picard, Commander Data and Lieutenant Worf walked in and took their posts.
"Well, they have agreed not to fire on us at sight until they figure out how to handle the Kaylon threat. We typically never fired on them without provocation anyway. We are trying to work out a more formal arrangement related to the Kaylon and general co-existence. I guess you can call that a cease fire," explained Ed Mercer.
"I see," interjected Captain Picard who was just trying to come up to speed. "Captain with your permission, I would like to have you answer with us. I propose to speak with candor but your presence may help since you are a known commodity."
"I'll do what I can but be aware they hold to a religious philosophy that tells them they are superior to any other life forms," Ed leaned forward in his seat in anticipation of trouble.
Worf established a three-way channel and on one half of the screen appeared Captain Mercer while Captain Skarg appeared on the other. Picard's immediate reaction was that he appeared almost like a Gorn although he knew the comparison was merely cosmetic. His other reaction was that he seemed "grumpy" despite his diplomatic training telling him to disregard comparisons to human traits with an alien species.
"I am Captain Jon-Luc Picard of the Federation Starship Enterprise. We are not here of our own choosing and have no quarrel with you. We have established an informal accord with Captain Mercer of the Union ship Orville. We also seemed to have inadvertently entered into a conflict with the Kaylon with whom I believe you also have a dispute. I believe it is all of our interest to avoid a conflict with one another," began Captain Picard.
"Captain Skarg, I agree. The Enterprise did assist us in destroying a Kaylon ship which as you know is no small feat for two ships. We can give you details on the Enterprise's origins if you are willing to listen," opined Ed Mercer.
"What by Avis is the Federation?" demanded the Skrill Captain.
"If I may captain," stated Data. "We are from an alternate universe. There was an accident in our universe which opened a temporary conduit between the two. If you scan our quantum signature, you can confirm this for yourself. While the physical composition of this universe appears to be identical to our own, there are significant differences regarding sentient life forms."
"Captain, we are happy to send you the coordinates of our entry point so that you can confirm for yourself what we are saying," offered Picard.
Skrag looked off to the side as if to confer with one of his officers. He looked back to the view screen and said in condescending tone, "we know of your entrance to our realm, Captain. We are superior to you in every way. You claim to come in peace. Then explain this."
The view screen changed to a view of a very different kind of ship. Picard immediately stepped forward at the sight. Every member of the Enterprise bridge crew tensed up. Word reached for the phaser he kept concealed at his work station. On the Orville, the bridge crew looked on in curiosity. They had never seen a ship like this before.
"It looks like a Rubik's cube," said Ensign Mally.
"You mean those puzzles from the 20th century?" asked Captain Mercer. "Aren't they a different color on each side?"
"Yeah, but they have those gag ones that are all one color," he replied.
"Can you solve one of those?" asked Commander Grayson, a bit tongue in cheek.
"What is that, Captain?" asked Captain Mercer. He did note the unease of the Enterprise crew.
"That is a Borg cube," answered Captain Picard. "They are cybernetic life form bent on assimilating other life forms and their technology. I assume that you do not know of them?"
"There is no record of such a species here," answered Isaac. "I did note the reference to the Borg in the information we exchanged with Mr. Data. The region of space in question has been at least partially explored with no sign of any species or vessels as shown here."
"Captain Skarg, may I ask where this scan was taken?" Picard had a pit in his stomach that they may have brought one of the most villainous species in the galaxy to this world.
Skarg hesitated to give an inferior race information but realized that this heretic may have information that could help the Krill completed their Avis given duty. "Three of our ships were on patrol when they encountered this 'cube'. At first, the encounter went well and we appeared to have been victorious. But then, the cube came back to life."
"Let me guess, your weapons became ineffective after that?" assumed Picard.
Captain Skarg growled, "How would you know this!? You are in league with them."
"We have had our own encounters at a great cost to us," answered Picard. "They are extremely able to adapt to technology and tactics. We managed to defeat them in our first battle but at a great loss of life and property," Picard sighed for a moment. "May I ask how your ships faired?"
Skarg looked down for a moment, "One of the ships was destroyed out right. We managed to escape but the third one is missing. My son was onboard."
Picard immediately felt sympathy for the Krill, "Captain there is a good chance that the ship was assimilated. If this was the case, the Borg will learned much about your technology and the crew would have become Borg drones. I am sorry."
"There is another concern," began Data. "An initial assessment of the Quantum drive used by both the Krill and Union suggests that combining Warp drive of the Borg transwarp capabilities may lead to a power source with an order of magnitude far greater than anything we know of today. It would take us years if not decades to mesh them, but the Borg would most likely be far more capable than we are at this adoption."
"I agree with Commander Data," said Isaac. "If what you have reported of the Borg is correct, it represents a true danger."
"So, we must destroy this Borg Cube!" said Skarg. This was a course of action much more to his liking than the "peace" talks the Krill were having with the Union.
"Not that easy," said Riker. "I'm trying to figure out how they got here."
"Captain, most likely the Borg could have monitored our entrance to this universe from a distance outside of our scanning range. If they have the capability to open inter-universal conduits somehow, they may have been curious as to our whereabouts," speculated Data.
"So, we brought them here," said Picard. Memories of his experience with the Borg came streaming back. "There is only one choice. We have to destroy that cube before it can go back home."
