Paint and Powder

A Star Trek anthology by Andrew Joshua Talon

DISCLAIMER: This is a non-profit fan based work of prose. Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager et al are the property of CBS Television, and creation of Gene Roddenberry. Please support the official release.

Even more Tales of the Dominion War. This one written by jhosmer1.

Gul Jantek glowered at the whorls of plasma on his bridge's viewscreen. He hated the Badlands. He hated having to take the Sharleena through it. He also hated the Sharleena, an antiquated military freighter that the Guard had assigned him.

"Now entering the Badlands," his science officer, Ral, stated. "Sensor and shield efficiency is degrading."

Thank you, Gul Obvious, Jantek thought. Ral had been banished to the Sharleena after the Guard had charged him with possession of contraband books, including The Forbidden Love Poetry of Surak of Vulcan. Jantek suspected him of being obsessed with Vulcan culture.

"Navigator," Jantek snapped, "keep us steady. No distractions!"

"Sir!" Navigator Mirret said, keeping his face as still as stone. Mirret was another punishment detail, demoted for playing a game during duty. An ancient Earther game for that matter!

"My Gul?" came a hesitant female voice. A staticky hologram of a Cardassian female in uniform appeared on the bridge, the avatar of the Sharleena.

Jantel sneered. "Turn off your display. I do not want you wasting processing on an unnecessary image."

The image flickered and vanished. "My apologies, my Gul," the voice continued. "My programming still requires my avatar to announce important messages."

"Erase that programming, already!" Jantek snarled. Why did he have to deal with Federation style shipgirls on a Cardassian ship, no matter how old and run-down?

"I have tried, my Gul, but it appears to be hardwired. I must report that I am receiving a faint message. It appears to be encoded in a Maquis cipher."

"Impossible!" Jantek said. "Our so-called masters have destroyed the Maquis and all their ships."

"It could perhaps be automated," Sharleena said. "It just is a snatch of human music."

"Play it," Jantek said.

With a click, a plaintive and simple tune began playing, and human words came over the speakers.

"And still I dream he'll come to me
That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed."

Jantek paled. He had heard the reports, seen the pictures of the broken hulls and desecrated bodies. "Abyssal! Why didn't you say so immediately?!"

"My apologies, my Gul," Sharleena said, her voice suddenly snarling and changing in pitch and tone. Her avatar returned, but it was frozen, the female Cardassian figure frozen in mid-scream. The lights on the bridge flickered and went out, then the emergency lighting came back up.

"Cascade virus!" Science Officer Ral stated. "It was transmitted through the music. Computers are compromised!" He began working frantically at his console.

The image of the Sharleena's AI flickered, and another avatar appeared beside her, a human female in archaic clothes. The clothes were barely more than rags, but Janket doubted he could recognize them even if they were intact. Her head was shaven bald, and many of her teeth were missing in her crazed smile.

"Naughty, naughty spoonhead," the strange AI said. "Entering my home. Now you pay the price!"

"Controls are dead!" Mirret shouted.

"Life support is being shut down," Ral stated. "I am attempting to over-" His voice, and his life, were cut off when his panel suddenly overloaded.

"Come with me where chains will never bind you. All your grief, at last, at last behind you," sang the strange AI again. She reached a hand to the Sharleena's Avatar, which suddenly could move again. Janket watched in disbelief as his ship's AI took the proffered hand and disappeared.

Outside, the Maquis Raider Fantine opened fire on the Sharleena, opening its crew spaces to vacuum. Small yellow Work Bees flew out to collect the ship's cargo. On her crewless bridge, the Fantine's avatar appeared, humming to herself.

"Nice catch, but not Javert. Not yet. But I'll find you, Javert, I will, and I'll avenge my poor, poor Valjean, my Michael."

Because starship AIs can go bad if they're hurt, scared, isolated, and damaged for long enough...