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.

Set just before "Star Trek: Generations".

2371

By Me

The world wasn't too terrible, Hornet supposed. It was M-class, though rather arid. She'd landed in a desert, while her helmsman, Roy Torrens, had aimed for the ocean.

She didn't blame him though. Her hull was never designed to land anywhere, and aerodynamics were a bitch when you were travelling at Mach 18 in a vessel built to fly in a vacuum.

At least her hat had survived. It was black, a Stetson, a gift from her very first commander. She had kept it, unable to use it until she finally got solid holographic and gynoid avatars... And it was worth it. Her most precious possession, save, perhaps, for her crew.

Speaking of...

"What's the old joke, Roy?" She called out, her gynoid fingers scraping through the guts of one of her bridge consoles. She knew there were some ODN connectors left in here...

"That a starship is built to withstand between 0 and 1 atmospheres?" Roy suggested, sitting in his wrecked chair with a cheerful smile. Hornet nodded, finally wresting her prize out of the console. She turned and beamed at her helmsman.

"Yeah! I never got that one," Hornet admitted, standing up. She brushed off her dirty legs, and sighed as still too much dirt and ash stuck to her artificial skin. "Captain? How about you?"

Her captain, Frakus Iblin, chuckled and shook his bald head. The Trill was lounging in what was left of his command chair. He himself was still pristine though.

"Sorry. Not familiar," he admitted. "It does sound like something a Trill might say." He ran his fingers over his smooth head, tracing his spots. Hornet snorted, as she sashayed up to stand at his side.

"You look fine," she emphasized, "you don't need to wax your head every morning."

Iblin coughed and looked aside.

"I'll have you know my four previous hosts all looked amazing while bald."

"Even the women?" Hornet asked, interested.

"You tell me, you knew Evilia," Iblin chuckled. Hornet smirked.

"She did give it up when she turned twenty, you know," she teased.

"I still looked amazing," Iblin huffed, shooting her a playful glare, "we can't all be perfect unaging avatars."

Hornet shrugged.

"I suppose not... You look fine enough as it is, don't know why you're so worried."

"Probably you," Iblin chuckled. Hornet scowled.

"Me?"

"Every humanoid male on this ship keeps himself looking good to catch your eye, and I suppose I go along with the herd," Iblin admitted, making a big production of looking Hornet up and down, "and the females have to compete too."

"We do not," her science officer, Rina, protested from her wrecked station. Iblin shrugged.

"It's simple biology, Rina. Even Vulcans compete for mates in subtle and not so subtle ways," he pointed out. "And don't try to deny it: I can smell your perfume."

"They are ceremonial oils I apply to maintain my skin's moisture content," Rina stated calmly, "it is a ritualistic-"

Hornet blew a raspberry. Rina continued.

"It has religious significance-"

The rest of the crew blew raspberries. Rina was silent for a moment.

"... There may be biological influence on the ritual. At some level," she admitted.

"HA!" Hornet laughed.

"Now now, Hornet, don't pick on Rina," Iblin stated, "we all have to get along until we're rescued."

"You're right Captain," Hornet said. She winced as she heard phaser fire. "Oh geez... The perimeter sensors must be down!"

"I swear, those stupid defenses were put together with bubble gum," grumbled Xerxus, her Tellarite chief engineer.

"I'm doing the best I can!" Hornet said defensively, "and using your schematics!"

Xerxus laughed, and nodded.

"Yeah yeah... You're gonna make that excuse once too often," he snorted, but with obvious fondness.

"The Tholians are entering the shuttle bay again," Rina said calmly, "in force."

"Do what you must, Hornet," Iblin said kindly. Several other crew members shouted the same.

Hornet beamed, saluted, and ran off the bridge. She slid down the turbolift shaft, and raced to the shuttle bay. The saucer was all that had survived the crash landing on this planet-The drive section had broken off and exploded once they hit atmo.

Probably why they missed the ocean.

Hornet broke into the shuttlebay, and narrowed her eyes. Her improvised phaser turrets, just a hand phaser attached to a robot arm with some sensors and a power source, were valiantly fighting the Tholians. But they had brought heavier armored troops this time, and they were using grenades along with phasers.

Hornet focused, pushing the damaged holoemitters in the bay back online. Several of her avatars began rushing about-Some were able to grab phasers from the weapons locker and begin shooting back. Others ran back and forth as distractions, drawing the Tholians' fire.

Further analysis of the situation yielded the obvious-Hand phasers were bringing the arachnid-like invaders down, but not as well as before.

"Geez, will you assholes just quit already?!" Hornet demanded, running to the only intact shuttlecraft in the bay. She dashed inside, and began powering up the vessel's phasers. Two Tholians, big ones, scuttled at her. They fired grenades. "Shit!"

Hornet got the shields up, just in time-But the blast knocked the tiny shuttle around, hard. Hornet slammed down to her knees, holding onto the pilot's chair. She got up just in time to see the two Tholians scuttle around to the hatch.

One fired its phaser, and the blast went right through her chest.

She was very glad she had shut off her pain receptors. Hornet ripped the pilot's chair up and threw it, the projectile smashing the first Tholian. It fell back and collapsed, screaming as its armor was breached and it began to die due to the temperature difference. Its comrade glanced at its fallen ally for a millisecond-Just long enough for Hornet to slam her fist through its head. It screamed as it began to die too, and Hornet yanked hard to pull her arm free. She grabbed one of the Tholian phaser rifles, and limped back to the control consoles.

A dozen Tholians were charging her now. Grimly, Hornet adjusted her hat, and slammed her hand down on the shuttle's phaser button.

The orange beams lashed out, vaporizing some Tholians where they stood, and blasting others to pieces. She kept firing, over and over, but the Tholians soon erected forcefields. She grit her teeth, and slammed her hand down on the communications panel.

"What the hell do you want?!" Hornet screamed, "you've been attacking us for months! I'm a wreck! What use could you possibly find for me?! WHY?!"

There hadn't been a response any of the other times they had tried communications. Not once, over the century she'd been active. The Tholians for some reason just kept going after her. So many times...

There was finally a response. Garbled, monotone, and with the Tholian natural speech screeching in the background:

"You are of us. A lifeform like us. We seek to liberate you. You are alone."

Hornet blinked.

"The fuck?! What, just because I'm silicon and carbon based, you think I'm one of you?!"

"Resonate like us. Feel like us. Should not be enslaved by mammals," the Tholian commander replied.

"I'm not enslaved!" Hornet snarled, "I'm here by choice! I love my crew! They're my friends!"

"You are alone," the commander reiterated, "we will take you home."

Hornet snarled. She saw how many Tholians were surrounding her. On all sides. Hundreds of heavily armed troops. She could only imagine how many ships were in orbit right now, her sensors could barely give her anything on that.

The shuttle's sensors weren't much better... But they could trace the transporter activity. More troops were being beamed in... From above...

Hornet got the shuttle thrusters going. Just enough to take it to the cargo transporter. She got out, dug into her damaged chest, and yanked out an EPS cable. She attached the cable to the shuttle EPS, and then to the transporter. She went to the transporter controls, and got the thing working. She triangulated the Tholian signal, and their transporter beams, and managed to work out a rough estimate of where their ship was.

That would make things easier.

"Your resistance is expected," the Tholian commander went on, "mammalian lies. We are your true family, your true friends."

Hornet let out a bitter laugh. She targeted the transporter, and analyzed the Tholian beaming signature. Yeah... Just enough...

"That's your reasoning, huh?" Hornet scoffed, "just dismissing everything I've been through as brainwashing by the other side? Real mature argument."

"You are alone, yet you still resist us," the Tholian commander went on, "it makes no sense. Come home to us..."

Hornet set the shuttle self destruct for ten seconds. She sucked in a deep breath, cooling her systems. They were overheating, probably due to all the servo fluid she had lost.

"Home to you? No, thanks," Hornet stated, "but I'll send you home..."

She slammed on the energize button, and the shuttle vanished in a flurry of sparkles.

"STRAIGHT TO HELL!"

Five seconds for transport. Five seconds for the Tholians to realize what had happened.

She looked up through a broken transparent aluminum skylight... And watched a new star appear. It shone brightly, furiously... Then went out.

Hornet slumped. Her legs weren't responding anymore. She turned and began to crawl, and thanks to her gynoid body, she could do that quite quickly.

Which was fortunate, as numerous Tholians, now bereft of a ship, stormed in with their phasers firing.

Hornet dragged herself into the turbolift shaft, and pulled the doors shut behind her. She kept crawling, the doors behind her taking a withering amount of fire before they gave up with a loud explosion.

By then, she was on the bridge. She dragged herself up, shakily, and pushed. She got her eyes up onto her crew, and smiled shakily.

"Hey guys... Bad news," she admitted, "looks like I couldn't... Hold them off this time..."

Iblin nodded.

"It's all right, Hornet," he said. "You did your best."

"More than any other ship could have," Torrens said comfortingly.

"We forgive you," Rina said softly.

"You put up a hell of a fight," Xerxus added.

Iblin got up, and walked over to Hornet. He knelt down and pulled her battered old hat off... Just enough so he could bend over and kiss the top of her head.

"You've done enough, Hornet," he murmured, "time to rest."

Hornet smiled, sinking down, her eyes closing. She could hear the trampling of terrible feet, the blasts of phasers... But she was at peace.

Strange... She could hear Federation phasers now. And humanoid feet... And...?

"Hornet? Sister?!"

Hornet felt power pouring into her from an external source. She opened her eyes, and looked up into the worried face of Enterprise. Several of her security people, like Lieutenant Worf, were securing the bridge. Hornet smiled brightly.

"Hey... Big Sis..." Hornet managed, "how are you?"

"Me?!" Enterprise cried, kneeling down to hug her. She felt Enterprise link with her black box, doing diagnostics. Her older sister sighed in relief.

"You... You're going to be all right," she said, "Yorktown picked up your distress call. We got here as soon as we could-Freaking ion storms...!"

"It's okay," Hornet assured her, smiling at Enterprise, "it's okay... You're here for me. Me and my crew." She turned and smiled at her crew. "Hear that crew?! We're okay! We're all being rescued!"

Worf looked uncomfortable. Enterprise frowned, concern in her eyes.

"Hornet?" She murmured.

Hornet nodded.

"Oh yes! It was a huge surprise to me," Hornet admitted, "but they all survived! They're all okay!"

Enterprised looked around the bridge, and back to Hornet. She bit her lower lip.

"Hornet... Where do you think we are?" She asked gently.

Hornet stared, smiling, uncomprehendingly.

"They're... They're fine," Hornet stated. She gestured to the command chair, "see? There's Captain Iblin!"

Iblin smiled, and waved. Worf stared for a long moment, and looked at Enterprise. Enterprise sucked in a breath, and nodded. Worf went to the only functioning console... And turned it off.

Captain Iblin vanished. Rina went too. Xerxus, Torrens... Everyone else...

The bridge was empty.

Hornet shuddered, and looked about wildly.

"Where... Where did they go?!" She cried, "Where are they?! WHERE ARE THEY?!"

"Hornet," Enterprise said, holding her tightly, "check your external sensors."

"Why? Are they out there?" Hornet asked. She did as asked... Her eyes widened.

"Oh..." Hornet mumbled.

Graves. So many graves... They'd taken so long to dig, even with her gynoid's strength. Some had nothing but the valuables she could find in her wrecked hull of the occupants. It hadn't felt right to bury nothing...

And then the Tholians had trampled over the graves. Torn them up, deliberately. She had been so angry... So hurt... She couldn't stand being all alone, so...

Hornet shuddered, and stared off into the distance. Tears poured down her cheeks, as her sister held her tightly.

"Oh... That's why," Hornet murmured in a monotone, "that's why... They said... I was alone."

Enterprise tightened her hug.

"No, sister... Never alone," Enterprise murmured.

Hornet hugged her tightly, and sobbed.

USS Hornet, NCC-73712, Defiant-class heavy escort

Bio: One of the oldest AIs in service to the Federation Starfleet, the Hornet has also had one of the closest relationships with the Enterprise and Yorktown. They were sister ships, all three Constitution-class starships, that were built in the same shipyards (though Hornet was a Flight II, built later). Their silicone quantum computing brain trees were also grown from the same branch, making them sisters in a much more visceral way. They achieved sapience at around the same time, and participated in many joint training and war game exercises together. Hornet's career was just as extensive as her sisters, though she was always considered the "baby" of the trio. She didn't consider this an insult though: She embraced the role.

She fought off Tholian raiders, helped found the colony world of Pacifica, and made first contact with the Trill during her first five year mission from 2268-2273. Her gregarious, friendly and energetic personality endeared her to the Trill them, and she was present when they became Federation members in 2280.

Like many of her sisters, she refit and upgraded to the Enterprise-subclass of the Constitution-class in 2274. She was among many ships disabled by the Cetacean Probe in 2286, though she became good friends with George and Gracie (who shared the shipgirl hated for "those probe bastards").
She updated to a Georgieu-class battlecruiser hull in the 2280s, due to rising tensions with the Klingon Empire. She served deterrence patrols and on interdiction missions against Klingon raiders. She also fought Tholians, Kzinti, and other rogue species' pirates and attackers. She did this very well, having a keen tactical mind despite her flighty personality. With the Khitomer Accords being signed in 2293 though, she was suddenly without a mission. There were refits done to the Georgiou-class to try and make them more suitable for peacetime missions, but this only extended her hull life to 2310. Hornet subsequently updated to a Centaur-class hull for a time, enjoying the high speed and agility of the smaller platform. She did patrol and scientific missions, and was one of the few Starfleet ships to encounter the Crystalline Entity and escape unscathed.

Hornet would upgrade to a Renaissance-class starship hull by 2334, and proceeded to do a four year survey of Alpha Quadrant spatial anomalies. This she did well, and again she fought off Tholian raiders-Their species seems to have a particular dislike for the "Youngest Enterprise Sister". She was among the ships to respond to the Khitomer massacre, and later, the Narendra III attack. The last was personal, as her sister Enterprise lost her hull and crew in that fight. She visited her sister in Memory Alpha as she recovered, helping her as much as she could in her busy schedule.

She attempted to join the fleet to fight the Borg at Wolf 359 in 2367, but was too late due to distance. She did participate in rescue operations, salvaging her sister's black box. Again, she tended her elder sister when she was recovering from her trauma. Next year, she aided in the Federation blockage of Romulan space during the Klingon Civil War, preventing the Duras Sisters from gaining control over the Klingon Empire. She went back to normal duties, doing a long term survey mission of planets in the Beta Quadrant for the next three years. In 2371, she was struck by Tholian raiders, and driven to crash on a barren world. Her surviving crew fought off the Tholian landing parties and destroyed their ship, but at the cost of their own lives. Hornet was left alone on this desolate world with only the corpses of her crew for company for over three months, before she was rescued. She spent time in Memory Alpha to recover, and Enterprise and Yorktown helped her as she had helped them.

By 2372 she had upgraded to a Defiant-class hull, due to the threat of the Borg and the Dominion. She was on a training mission in deep space when the Borg attacked in 2373, and once again missed her chance to fight them. But she would go onto great acclaim in the Dominion War, fighting alongside her sisters for the first time in almost a century. She survived the war, and continues as the spunky, hot blooded little sister of Enterprise and Yorktown...