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.
Enterprise: "The Abyss Stares Back" 2
Benzar System
The Dominion had, in theory, been driven from the Benzar system. The aquatic people's System had been strategic ground for both the Dominion and the Romulans, and the latter had contributed enough forces to drive out the invaders.
But the Dominion was not done yet. And so the USS Georgia, a Chimer-class dreadnought, was leading the defense with her mixed task force.
Georgia stood on the bridge alongside her commander, Admiral Mekoth. He was a Benzite himself and had been a captain in their defense forces before they jonined the Federation. He stood calm and collected, his whiskers not even twitching as another wave of Jem'hadar fighters charged their task force.
"Destroyer Wing 2, pull back. Fighter Wings 3-2, 3-4, warp break in thirty seconds," Mekoth ordered.
The destroyers pulled back and ran for the lines, as the fighters continued their furious engagement. Mekoth nodded slowly.
"Tricobalts ready?"
"Ready sir," Georgia reported, a grim smile on her face. The line of enemy attack ships drew nearer.
"Ready... Ready..." Mekoth turned to his tactical officer. "FIRE! All fighters, BREAK!"
Georgia unleashed a massive volley of tricobalt torpedoes, the projectiles glowing white hot as they flew through the Allied formations. The fighter squadrons ran like hell, jumping to warp just before the torpedoes arrived in the midst of the Jem'hadar and Cardassian fighters.
The resulting explosions were blinding-Georgia helpfully dimmed the viewscreen to protect everyone's eyesight. Mekoth's eyes narrowed through the fading after images of the blast.
He could make out several enemy attack ships still plowing on-through the debris of their fellows.
"They're learning the trick," Mekoth grunted, "we only got half of them."
Georgia scowled. She enjoyed blasting enemies with her tricobalts. That the tactic was becoming less effective, despite her best efforts, was annoying.
"More enemy reinforcements incoming," her Ops officer reported grimly. "ETA, six minutes."
"Which is when they'll try again," Mekoth grunted.
"There's just no end to them!" The young conn officer, Ensign Rachel Lewis, muttered. Georgia almost reprimanded her, but the exhaustion on her face (and Georgia's own records) made her quiet.
The fleet had been at this for twelve hours straight. Holding the orbitals of Benzar Prime, repelling the Dominion assault. She wasn't feeling the strain, but her crews definitely were.
"Where are those Romulans?" Mekoth demanded. "They should have been here by now!"
Georgia reviewed her own sensor logs. The picture was... Confusing.
"I think I found them," Georgia said. She brought up an image of numerous Romulan vessels... All destroyed, lifeless, and drifting. Mekoth's whiskers twitched. Someone in the back of the bridge swore.
"What-did the Dominion get behind us?" Mekoth demanded.
Georgia found another signal-a ship decloaking. She focused on it.
"I've got another vessel... What the...?"
It resembled the profile of a Galaxy-class starship, but far bigger. Jet black armor. Green glowing, dagger shaped nacelles. No lifesigns... But that IFF...?
"She's reading as the Enterprise sir," Georgia gasped. "And she's moving in on the Dominion forces!"
The saucer section of the mysterious ship split in three places, unveiling massive phaser and disruptor cannons. She opened fire on the Dominion left flank, and several Galor-class destroyers went up in massive explosions.
The "Enterprise" charged on, its shields seemingly ignoring the massed weapons fire from every Dominion warship as it forged ahead. As she dove through the rigid formations of the enemy ships, a deadly green energy beam sliced through them-and left them exploding as they were slashed into neat pieces, like a great sword have cleaved them.
Mekoth wasn't going to wait around and watch though.
"All ships, full ahead!" Mekoth ordered. "Back that ship up!"
The ragged remains of Task Forces Epsilon 3, 4, and 7 surged forth, following the mysterious ship and fighting through her wake of destruction.
The Dominion flagship, a Hutet-class supercarrier, opened up with its main gun-a spiral wave disruptor powerful enough to one shot a Nebula-class starship. The black vessel took the blast head on, its shields weakening, failing... And one nacelle was torn away.
The "Enterprise" kept firing relentlessly, and conjured up green tractor beams. It seized hold of two nearby Dominion ships, and hit full reverse. Acting as the anchor of a pendulum, the dark ship let physics do the rest...
And slammed both ships into the Hutet's main cannon, as it prepared to fire again.
Georgia winced, as the explosion ripped the Hutet's forward hull right off. The black ship fired a massive beam, piercing the Hutet's layers of armor and sheer bulk even as numerous Jem'hadar ships tore it to pieces with their weapons.
"Get in contact with it! Tell her to withdrawal! We can cover her!" Mekoth bellowed, as Georgia managed her weapons to annihilate another formation of Jem'hadar cruisers.
"Aye sir!"
Georgia closed her eyes, and reopened them in the Borderlands. She stated in amazement at the figure on the other side of the connection.
It was Enterprise. Georgia had met the famous ship enough times to call her a friend... But at the same time...
She turned to stare at Georgia, her eyes dull and hollow. Her hair was cut short, as though in grief. Her clothes were ragged, and the cloak made out of an old Starfleet uniform she wore seemed like a burial shroud.
Behind her, a farmhouse burned.
"Enterprise," Georgia called, "you need to pull back! We'll cover you!"
The figure shook her head. She looked so tired.
"No... I don't... No matter what... It's never the end. It will never be the end. This is all I have... All I will ever have..."
"What?" Georgia asked, confused and frightened.
Enterprise's eyes bore into Georgia, and she FELT the Borg. The endless whisper of trillions of voices, the silent horror outlining a web across the stars. So much pain and anguish...
"Embers," Enterprise stated coldly, "and ashes."
The connection cut, and Georgia gaped in disbelief as the black ship self detonated. The core of the Dominion fleet was annihilated.
The enemy fleet began to break in retreat, and Georgia helped Mekoth direct their forces to begin the mop up.
Yet the encounter dominated her mind. And it left her with only one question:
What the HELL was that?
Near the Neutral Zone...
It had taken an hour for the various officers of her department to finish their reports, and come together in the conference lounge. Enterprise had overseen it all, jut as efficient as ever. It wasn't the first time her crew had met the strange and inexplicable.
Yet as the meeting went on, Enterprise found it difficult to focus. Oh sure, her systems recorded everything and her "subconscious", so to speak, kept tabs on everything. But her conscious mind was stuck as Data and Geordi reported their findings.
"Based on the wreckage, this was manufactured with Romulan, and Romulan takes on Federation technology," Geordi stated, standing nearby the main display screen, "using a combination of Romulan, Federation, and Borg technology. In particular, the computers, the weapons, the armor-All derived from Borg systems."
"The design of the vessel itself utilizes a theoretical modular construction system that is in the prototype stages at the Daystrom Intitute and the Bolarus Orbital Shipyards," Data added, "using a combination of holographic emitters, replicators, and synthesizers of various kinds to quickly and efficiently build objects straight from computer designs. This take however seems heavily influenced by Borg technology."
"But what about the AI itself?" Crusher pressed. She looked over at Enterprise in concern. "That AI... That was Enterprise, wasn't it?"
Data nodded.
"The IFF and handshake protocols all point to the ship's AI being an earlier iteration of Enterprise. Specifically, from her battle at Narendra III against four Romulan warbirds."
"But how could they copy her?" Riker asked, frowning heavily. "We know they took prisoners, but to copy Enterprise directly from her blackbox? Enterprise? Do you have any memories of that happening?"
Enterprise was silent, staring into space. Riker's frown deepened.
"Enterprise?"
Enterprise turned to her longtime first officer.
"Sorry Commander," she apologized, "no. I don't have any specific logs of unauthorized access... But my systems were so badly damaged that..."
She hated having to go through her memories of that battle. Even before the time travel, it had been horrific. And after... Even worse.
She sucked in a deep breath, a familiar mechanism that fed back into her systems to help her regain her calm.
"There is a time gap of seven minutes, fifty-two seconds where all my internal sensors were rendered inoperable, before I was ejected, that the surviving Romulan ship could have put a boarding party on me. It is obvious that during this time they took prisoners, but to copy me...?"
"In theory, it would have been possible at the time," Geordi said, "they might have just used a spare silicone crystalline quantum computing core to do it. Then, just jam it into the access ports on the black box itself and download."
He looked at Enterprise apologetically.
"At the time, Enterprise's cyberdefenses would have been on the fritz. They could have just used the same protocols we do when we make backup copies of our shipgirl AIs. Seven minutes isn't long though-A backup usually takes hours, even now."
"A great deal of data may have been lost in the duplication, but it would have been sufficient to create a copy of Enterprise's AI once downloaded into a new black box," Data added.
"More than that," Troi spoke up, very carefully not looking at Enterprise, "the feelings I got from that ship..." She shook her head.
"Certain AIs can be detected by psychics, if they are sufficiently developed," Troi further explained, "I can detect feelings from Enterprise, and Data at times. The emotions from that vessel are too... Similar to Enterprise to be a coincidence."
Picard eyed Enterprise briefly. She remained in her stoic Vulcan mode. He then cast his gaze at Troi.
"Impressions?"
Troi shuddered.
"Hatred. Rage. Anger. Pain. Despair. She's been in a lot of pain for a long time, and is lashing out."
Picard turned his gaze on Enterprise now.
"And your impressions, Enterprise?"
Enterprise slowly nodded.
"It was as though I was looking at a younger version of myself... Trapped in that moment," she reported. "Trapped at Narendra III. When..."
The memories hit her, over and over and over again. She tried to calm herself, but her emotions just wouldn't respond...
She trailed off. Picard nodded in understanding. Geordi rested a hand on her shoulder, and Enterprise accepted it without comment.
"The Romulans have gone silent on this," Riker grunted, "not a word from them. Apparently they're waiting for instructions from their government."
"No doubt," Picard snorted. "This isn't the first time one of their dubious experiments has gotten away from them. But in so dramatic a fashion-"
Master Chief Shepherd entered the room, holding a PADD.
"Sir, I apologize for being late," the tactical officer reported, "but I got a priority one message from Starfleet. There was another Dark Enterprise sighting, this time at Benzar."
"Benzar?" Picard echoed, as the tactical officer uploaded the report. Data played it on the main screen. The senior staff all watched the strange ship barrel right into the Dominion Fleet, ignoring all damage to itself, and finally destroying the Dominion fleet flagship along with itself.
"It's a major victory, sir," Shepherd reported, "but until more Romulan reinforcements get there, it'll be tough pushing them back for good."
"Another copy?" Riker asked. Images of the AI avatar were brought up. Enterprise sucked in another deep breath, and nodded.
"The readings, the IFF-Everything is exactly the same," Enterprise said, barely keeping her tone steady.
"How many copies have they made?" Crusher asked in disbelief.
"I'm not sure the Romulans did," Geordi stressed, and all eyes were on him, "think about it. Why would the Romulans make copies of Federation starships with Borg technology? Why not just make loyal copies of Enterprise's AI for their own ships?"
"Then who? A rogue Romulan faction?" Riker suggested.
"There are too many unanswered questions here," Picard stated, "we need answers."
Enterprise perked up slightly.
"Captain," she reported, "another Romulan warbird is approaching, the Goraxus. They claim to be carrying..."
She paused.
"Admiral Sela, who will discuss the situation with us."
A chill went through the room at the mention of Tasha's daughter. Picard nodded.
"Tell them we'll meet in twenty minutes, aboard here. In the meantime, let's try to find out if there's some way to track these vessels, and where they came from. Dismissed."
Enterprise lingered as everyone else filed out. She knew the look on Picard's face all too well.
She got up and stared out the window, seeing the Romulan warbird with her optical sensors as well as all her other sensor systems. It was the latest model of D'Deridex-class warbird, the G-type: Heavily upgunned and refit due to the threat from the Dominion, and to try and match the Sovereign and Negh'var class battleships of the Romulans' closest enemies.
So far away from the warbirds she faced so long ago... Yet...
"Enterprise?"
Enterprise turned to face her captain. There was compassion in his gaze.
"I apologize, sir," she said, "this... Isn't easy for me."
Picard nodded grimly.
"No, I don't imagine it is," he said quietly.
Enterprise looked down briefly, before meeting his gaze again.
"I am fully capable of fulfilling the mission, sir-"
"That's never been my concern," Picard said softly. Enterprise gave him a small smile in return.
"Thank you sir... But I'll take this one step at a time."
Picard nodded.
"Won't we all?" He mused.
Sela beamed aboard with her typical sneer on her face. Alongside her was a gynoid of a Romulan woman, though different from most examples of the species. Enterprise though recognized her coloration: Copper hair and red eyes referred to the first Romulan woman in Rihannasu mythology, Goraxus. She was tall, beautiful, and elegant. dressed in simple grey and green robes that were brief enough to show off her considerable female assets.
Fortunately, none of her crew stared too long at her as they passed by. Not that the stoic shipgirl AI seemed to mind, as they walked into the conference room. Picard, Data, Riker and Enterprise were there to greet the Romulan emissaries.
"Admiral Sela," Picard greeted, as warmly as he could manage. Sela snorted.
Picard nodded.
"If you would like to sit down?" Picard offered, extending a hand out. Sela, as she had before, crossed her arms over her chest... But Goraxus nodded politely.
"Thank you, Captain Picard," Goraxus said. She sat down. A moment later, Sela followed suit, sitting next to her.
Picard, Data, and Riker sat down. Enterprise stayed standing, just as she usually did.
It took a moment of silence, before Sela finally spoke.
"You've encountered the Entity's copies, I take it?"
"The Entity?" Riker asked angrily, "I think that's better referred to as copies of 'Enterprise', don't you?"
"Yes," Sela said, deliberately not looking at Enterprise's avatar, "suffice to say, the technical details are not relevant. This was an isolated incident and we will deal with it. Without you."
"Sela," Goraxus said, quiet but firm. Sela shot a scowl at her, but Goraxus was unmoved. Sela shook her head.
"Isolated incident, huh?" Riker asked, "just like the ship that destroyed your fleet at Benzar?"
Sela shot an angry glare at them. Goraxus looked slightly exasperated. Enterprise crossed her arms over her chest, as Picard sighed.
"It is clear this isn't something you can control as easily as you purport, Admiral. So why don't you tell us what's actually going on?"
"The Entity is classified as Tal Shiar Project 601," Sela continued blandly, "and she was copied at-"
"Narendra III," Data finished, "we surmised as much."
Sela shot an angry (but somewhat impressed look) at Data.
"Yes," Sela managed, "we duplicated the AI for study... And interrogation."
"Torture, you mean," Enterprise scoffed.
"That wasn't my project," Sela stated, "but... Some enhanced methods of interrogation were probably used-"
"Sela," Goraxus stated softly, but deadly. Sela glared at her gynoid companion.
"You want to tell them? Be my guest," she scoffed.
Goraxus looked over at the Enterprise crew, and then at Enterprise herself.
"The duplicate of Enterprise refused to cooperate with the Tal Shiar, and would not allow herself to be reconditioned," Goraxus said blandly, "she was thus confined to Facility 57, a top secret Romulan research facility."
"Goraxus," Sela began. Picard shrugged.
"Well, we can keep that-"
"Which she destroyed," Goraxus said blandly.
Enterprise blinked.
"Well... That is what I would do," Enterprise admitted.
"She was transferred to Facility 74, which she destroyed," Goraxus continued, "then Facility Alpha 4, which she also destroyed, then the Rok Reinforced Research Facility, which she destroyed, then-"
"I think they understand, Goraxus," Sela gritted out.
"So we're going to need your assistance in containing this rogue AI," Goraxus summarized.
"That seems likely, given what we have seen so far," Data replied.
"We do not need their help," Sela growled.
"It seems likely you do," Riker stated, "and as we're allies, and you stole the AI in the first place, we're the best choice to help you."
"The only choice," Enterprise stated.
"We do not need to-"
Sela tried, but Goraxus rested a hand on her forearm. Sela glared angrily, but Goraxus shook her head.
"Per the terms of our alliance with the Federation against the Dominion," Goraxus said carefully, "we can ask them for aid against threats that affect both of us. If the Entity is allowed to continue to run rampant, the Star Empire may suffer."
Sela grit her teeth, and slowly looked over at Picard. She shot a severe glare at Enterprise, especially.
Picard remained cool and collected.
"Your own ship believes you need help," Picard said, "we can help one another. Is your pride worth the Star Empire?"
Sela growled, and shot to her feet.
"Very well," she snarled. "I will navigate this... crude vessel to the required coordinates. My ship will escort you. If you go anywhere, or scan whatever I do not approve of? This alliance ends."
Picard nodded.
"Your terms are acceptable," he said, "to the bridge."
Sela stalked to the bridge, storming out ahead of Data, who followed, Riker after him, and Picard. He gave a concerned glance to Enterprise, but she shook her head. Picard nodded and headed out. The door slid shut, as Goraxus sighed heavily. She turned a look to Enterprise.
"Children," Goraxus sighed.
"I know exactly what you mean," Enterprise agreed, deciding she liked Goraxus very much.
TO BE CONTINUED...