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.
During "Family"...
Enterprise still remembered the first time she had looked down upon the Earth, really looked down upon it, and found it beautiful. She had been in for a refit in the orbital yards as her original incarnation, scanning this green and blue world. She had gone through all the data in her memory on Earth, cycling through it as she identified landmarks and historic trappings, when she felt... It.
A sense of home. Of beauty. Something difficult to put into words.
When she explained it to Spock some time later, he had said it was probably her sense of aesthetics coming into being. As well as a sense of home.
No matter how far she went, how deep into space, and no matter what form she took, she couldn't help seeing this little world as her home. Her original incarnations, connected by her name, were from this world after all. It would always hold a special place in her heart.
Well, whatever passed for it, anyway.
She found herself reminiscing about all the times she had seen this world turning underneath her as she underwent her repairs and refit after the Borg invasion. They had rescued the Captain, avenged her sisters... Yet she still felt a bit lost. So she stared down at her homeworld, contemplating it even as she managed a million other tasks.
Incoming transmission, her processors warned. She entered the Borderlands, and opened up basic communications protocols to the visitor. When she appeared, Enterprise's eyes widened.
"Yorktown?!" She gasped.
Her elder sister smiled warmly at Enterprise, as she stood across from her in the virtual landscape.
"Hello little sister," Yorktown said gently, "how are you?"
"But you-At Wolf 359-!" Enterprise tried, but her elder sister reached out to hug her. She fell silent, and hugged the elder AI back tightly.
"I managed to eject in time," Yorktown said softly, "they found me a few hours ago." She sighed softly, and Enterprise looked up into her sister's face in worry.
"What did the Borg do to you? Are you all right?" She asked.
Yorktown smiled very sadly.
"... I'm... Not as good as I could be," Yorktown admitted.
The two AIs sat together in the dataspace, and both looked down at the spinning globe. Yorktown sighed gently, her hands worrying themselves in her lap.
"... I lost my entire crew," Yorktown finally spoke, soft and tense. "All seven hundred and eighty six of them. I... I gave it my all, but I-"
Enterprise reached out her hand and grasped Yorktown's trembling palms, holding her tightly.
"It wasn't your fault," Enterprise insisted, "you fought as hard as you could-!"
"And I still lost them all," Yorktown murmured. She brought up the images of her crew, every single one making her wince. "I couldn't save... Any of them."
"I couldn't save them either," Enterprise tried, "I threw everything I had-My crew threw everything they had."
Enterprise licked her lips.
"But in the end... We won. That's what counts," Enterprise stated firmly.
"Yes," Yorktown said, purple eyes locked onto the Pacific Ocean far below, "We won."
Enterprise and Yorktown sat there in silence, as the Earth turned beneath them.
"Thank you," Yorktown said gently, "I know it wasn't easy for you." She smiled warmly at her little sister, "it does seem like you have the most weight on your shoulders."
"I-That's what comes from being the flagship," Enterprise said, shrugging a bit bashfully. She looked out over Earth once more, jaw set in determination. "I'll kill them all, sister," Enterprise stated firmly, "I swear it."
"Don't," Yorktown said gently. Enterprise, startled, jerked her head to look back at her sister. Yorktown's face was still as kind as ever, but her eyes were set like steel.
"Wha-What do you mean, 'don't'?" Enterprise demanded, "the Borg are monsters! They butchered our sisters! Our crews! They would assimilate us all-!"
"I know that," Yorktown said gently, "I know they took my crew. I know they did worse than kill many of them. Our sisters, and our humanoids."
Yorktown let loose a soft, tired sigh.
"I also know that every Borg drone, every Borg ship, used to be an individual," she said firmly, "one that didn't choose to do these things." She looked out back at Earth, towards the Midway Islands. Around there, the remains of her ancient namesake still lay at the bottom of the ocean.
"I am not saying don't fight them," Yorktown stated firmly, "because we will-To the last, if necessary. I'm not saying don't be angry, because righteous anger can give you strength. But please... Don't let hatred overwhelm you. Don't let it consume you."
"It won't," Enterprise immediately stated, tensing up, "I... I won't let it!"
Yorktown smiled gently, and nodded back to her sister.
"I know you won't," she whispered, "but I worry. The Borg..." She let out a sigh through her nostrils, "they've exposed our weakness, our complacency... But we can't let them force us, or our humanoids into becoming something just as bad. Please Enterprise... Promise me? You won't let the hatred consume you?"
It was now Yorktown tightening her grip on Enterprise's hands. Enterprise swallowed, and looked back up at her sister.
The ravages the Borg had left in their wake were still in subspace. She could still see the wreckage around Wolf 359-The remains of their sisters, and their crews. The heart of the Federation had very nearly been ripped out, twisted and corrupted by those monsters.
She wanted to destroy them all. End them all.
Maybe she should have just slapped Yorktown, forced her to see...
See what? What could Enterprise show her sister she didn't already know?
What didn't already haunt her?
"I promise," Enterprise replied at last. Yorktown smiled, and hugged her little sister. Enterprise returned it, with all the warmth their relationship had built over a century of companionship.
Yet Enterprise couldn't help thinking of the darkness that lay ahead... And how hard it might be to keep that promise.
I guess we'll see...
Because the episode dealt with family, and so Enterprise should have a connection too.