Disclaimer: I own nothing related to or part of Star Trek. This fan fiction was written purely for fun.
"In the parallel universe the laws of physics are suspended. What goes up does not necessarily come down, a body at rest does not tend to stay at rest and not every action can be counted on to provoke an equal and opposite reaction. Time, 'too, is different. It may run in circles, flow backward, skip about from now to then. The very arrangement of molecules is fluid: Tables can be clocks, faces, flowers." ~ Susanna Kaysen
The Adventures of Augment Gothic
Chapter 13 –
The Flighty Temptress
There was no time to rest after my brief, but painful fall from the heavens. No time to think about how strange my life was, how crazy, how fun, how fucking improbable it was.
No, I had had to immediately pick myself off the dusty ground, shake off an injury that would have certainly killed or paralyzed someone less hardy, and book it with T'Maz back to my ship like the hounds of hell were on our tail. Landing my ship several miles away from the outpost had been a sound tactical decision on many levels, not the least of which being protecting it from being destroyed or stolen by the Collectors on their rampage through the outpost and the nearby colony. It was inconvenient now, though, as the aliens were getting further and further away with every passing second.
It was only the lack of T'Maz's footsteps and breathing that alerted me to the fact that she was incapable of matching my best speed. No matter, she'd understand if it allowed me to get us off the ground and into space that much quicker. Speaking of which, I needed to think like a 24th century citizen and not like one born in the 20th, at least in this one regard. Just because you're faster and stronger than most doesn't mean you stop thinking. Work smarter, not harder, jackass!
My bout of self-recrimination having run its course, I reached into my pocket, and pulled out a communicator that had come with my ship.
"Gothic to The Flighty Temptress, begin emergency pre-flight procedures!" I nearly shouted into the comm device. This would begin activating systems all over the ship and readying it to take off at maximum speed as soon as we were aboard.
"Acknowledged," the computer responded tersely.
I really needed to work on making the computer's voice and personality more pleasant.
XXXXX
While the aliens had a big head start on us, relatively speaking, my ship had a much higher maximum sublight speed than the craft the 'Collectors' were using, courtesy of the oversized engines that were so common in Star Wars' ship design. By the time we had left the planet's atmosphere and made it out into space the alien ship hadn't even made it a quarter of the way back to the rift in the fabric of the universe. Now that we were at our maximum speed it looked as if we would catch up to them before they left this universe. Calculations confirmed that too.
"If they are attempting an escape back to their native universe, we do not have much time," T'Maz stated, her hands flying across the control console in front of her. "The recovery of the device must be our top mission priority, everything else is secondary to that objective. It poses too great a threat to the security of the Federation and the inhabitants of this universe."
Her words were unnecessary as I knew exactly how dangerous such a piece of technology could be in the wrong hands.
"So, we need to destroy that ship before it reaches the rift," I said, while continuously adjusting our course for maximum efficiency. "We can't risk the device falling into anyone's hands."
Section 31 might want to keep the rift device for themselves, but it had been stolen once already and could be again no matter what protections they put in place in the future.
"The enemy ship is almost within weapons' range," T'Maz dutifully reported as she analyzed the sensor output.
At this point, I could see the space-time rip with my naked eye, however I had no time to admire the rift as something was coming out of it. Many somethings. There were dozens of tiny vessels emerging from the rift, moving almost like a swarm of insects, most heading for the 'Collector' ship trying so hard to return to the rift with the device in their possession, in order to defend it and ensure it escaped, I guessed, but the rest were heading directly for us.
"Enemy fighters within range, Gothic," T'Maz calmly told me, her words spoken in that calm professional tone which spoke of experience with situations like this. What was the story there, I wondered?
She need not have bothered to tell me that, though I appreciated it, as I had already donned the neural control headset that allowed me to connect with and control/command the ship with my thoughts, rather than my hands, all at the speed of thought. We would need every advantage we had if we were going to survive that many ships, much less stopping the one with the device onboard.
Connecting to the ship was still a very odd experience, but it was also intoxicating on several levels, like a full body buzz from drinking, or that lovely relaxing high from the finest Afghan kush I'd once enjoyed from time to time during my tour in that country. The ship felt like my body, its sensors, my senses, when it moved, it moved because I moved. My mind was connected to the ship in such a way that it became an extension of my own body. It was as if I was swimming naked in the vastness of space, like I was a space born organism, the cosmos my natural playground. Right now, though, I wanted to stop that ship, but what I truly wanted, on a more fundamental, primal level, was to survive this coming onslaught, and the only way to do that was to kill every last one of these fucking aliens before they killed me.
My ship and I were one right now, and in some ways it knew what my wants and desires were better than I did, even ones that I didn't consciously express or realize. Hopefully the ship also recognized those wants, needs, and desires that I wasn't willing to act on. God forbid I became annoyed with someone and the ship vaporized the annoyance with a disrupter cannon shot, or once I had a transporter installed, beamed the annoyance into space.
That soul deep need to survive awoke a capability in my ship that I hadn't even known it possessed.
'Engaging Battle Mode.'
That voice echoing in the depths of my mind hadn't been the female one a person would normally hear from the computer onboard a Starfleet vessel, it had a been a butch, male one. However, I had no time to focus on that as I felt my ship begin to change.
I couldn't see what was happening, as my focus was rightly on the alien fighters flying at me at incredible speeds, intent on killing me, but since I was linked to the ship I felt the changes in real time. I felt the warp nacelles slightly recess in on themselves, in order to present less of a tempting target and the armored wings of my craft shifted or bent inwards to better cover them from hostile fire.
This was actually very useful since so much of this era's ship-to-ship battle doctrine revolved around denying your enemy the possibility of escaping to warp. The warp nacelles of your targets were often the very first thing that was shot at if you didn't want your quarry to escape at warp.
The changes 'battle mode' made were not over yet, as I could feel the warp core's power being rerouted to the shields and the weapons. My semi-little ship's teeth just got a whole lot sharper. Maybe I should have named my ship the 'Honey Badger', I thought rather sillily. The errant thought pulled on the ship's database and thousands of photos, videos, descriptions, and nature videos became available to me, including the honey badger's complete genome. I would have to be careful, an errant thought like that shouldn't have triggered that database lookup, though it did give me a little smile. Somehow I wasn't particularly surprised that the tenacious little shit had managed to survive the wars of this dimension's Earth.
Once warp power was fully rerouted, my vessel informed me that we could no longer go to warp, but that our top impulse speed had actually increased by nearly 30%, allowing us to more quickly close the distance to the fleeing ship that contained the device we were after. It was a worthy tradeoff in my mind, especially in this situation where going to warp was the last thing on my mind. I'd have to spend some time figuring out all the ins and out of this 'battle mode' in a far less dangerous situation. What other little surprises and features had I still not discovered yet about my own ship?
My ship's new speed had obviously spooked the few defending fighters my quarry had around it, as they too peeled off and turned around to engage us. Like us, they knew exactly how important the device was, and like us, they were willing kill for it, even die for it.
"Fighters will be in range in 3...2...1...contact," T'Maz calmly reported, even as the ship shook around us from impacts on the shields.
The Flighty Temptress jolted slightly as it took fire, the shields tanking the shots like a champ, in my humble opinion. As soon as the weapons' fire lulled I returned fire. Green bolts of deadly energy from the four twin-linked disruptor cannon turrets blasted an enemy fighter apart in a spray of rapidly expanding debris. It would have been nice to disable a few of these ships for later retrieval, but I simply didn't have the time for such a dangerous luxury. God knows what secrets I could have discovered from an examination of them that could have improved my own ship. Once I was done with them, I could have even sold them to Section 31 for a nice payday. Can't sell shit if you're dead, I thought.
"I recommend focusing all weapons' fire on our primary target when it comes into range, everything else is secondary," T'Maz urged.
"It's not secondary if we're dead, T'Maz!" I argued, my thought given booming voice actually coming from the ship's comm system accidentally, rather than my own body. Bitch better get her priorities straight.
With my mind I commanded my ship to lock the closest cannon turret onto the 'Collector' craft that contained the rift device, the rest dedicated to killing as many fighters as I could while making evasive maneuvers. It was so very close to being within the outer bounds of my ship's weapons' range, but just as that ship was about to cross that threshold, the enemy ship suddenly increased its speed and put more distance between us. They had to be pushing their engines far beyond anything safe and likely doing irreparable damage to them in order to get away from us.
"I'm seeing a dramatic increase in enemy fighters," T'Maz warned.
With the ship's sensors I could 'see' dozens more fighters pouring out of the rift, making my heart practically stop and a chill run through me. I might be a genetically engineered Superman, but that was completely fucking irrelevant in a space battle against overwhelming odds. My ship was a scrappy little brawler, capable of punching way above its supposed weight class, but against dozens of fighters I was going to die today. Escape wasn't even an option here.
I clenched and then unclenched my hands, preparing for the worst. There was simply no way we'd survive this many, and the ship the device was on would still make it to the rift, which seemed rather meaningless at the moment. Why should I care if I was dead?
Sigh… If only my ship had a few torpedoes in its arsenal. With a torpedo's much greater speed, longer range and greater explosive yield, I could bridge this distance and blow the 'Collector' ship up. The fighters I could then outrun, maybe, but as things were, flying at each other like in a game of chicken, we'd be blasted apart soon. If we survived this shitstorm that was definitely something I would look into acquiring. This galaxy was just too dangerous to not be loaded for bear at all times.
"What the hell are they doing?" I asked myself.
I steadied myself in my seat and carefully studied the copious amount of information my sensors were beaming directly into my brain.
"They appear to be engaging in some kind of suicide mission," T'Maz dispassionately informed me.
She was right, this fresh wave of alien fighters was coming right at us, and they weren't slowing down or even trying to shoot at us. Why that was, I had no freaking idea, but my ship would not survive a full speed collision with even one of those fighters. I was capable of some insane flying when connected to the ship via the neural interface, but there was no amount of fancy flying that could reasonably avoid that many ships. It was only a matter of time before one of them hit us.
As if that wasn't bad enough, there were more fighters that had circled behind us, possibly having been recalled to this area of space from whatever they had been doing. The aliens were doing everything possible to make sure the device got through the rift. They were not screwing around.
"Shield strength down to 84, correction, 78 percent," T'Maz reported, the ship shaking around us, but thankfully none of the consoles exploding. My custom designed padded five-point harness seatbelts had deployed the moment we sat down after I had called for an emergency takeoff from the surface, so the jostling wasn't really affecting either one of us in a serious way. The micro inertia dampers built into the seat certainly helped in that regard too. I had caught T'Maz looking down at the seatbelts several times in what looked almost like wonder, looking thoughtful as well, before returning to her duties.
If this was to be our end, then I planned on taking as many of these motherfuckers down with us. Locking onto a nearby ship with my targeting sensors, millions of calculations being performed in real time taking into account a ridiculous amount of sensor data, the task augmented by my own mind, I fired upon a pair of alien craft. The unshielded fighters ruptured and broke up with a blue and yellow flash. Seeing their destruction, I instantly analyzed the engagement, hoping to learn from it in order to better kill that one's fellows, then locked on to my next target, of which there were so many to choose from. I repeated this several times over.
Despite my best efforts I knew that we were doomed, there were simply too many fighters, and very soon one of them would ram into my ship. There was just no way my ship and its shields could withstand a direct collision at speed with another vessel.
"Shield strength down to 55 percent," T'Maz calmly reported.
I expected it be over in a matter of seconds as the enemy fighters were nearly on top of us. Only it never happened. From 'above' a stream of bright acid green bolts of energy passed my vessel in a long stream and blasted apart the aliens who had bunched too close together in their fervor to ram my ship.
"It seems the Klingon Bird of Prey has come to our aid," the Section 31 agent reported. "Perhaps it was not as damaged as we had initially thought."
Suddenly there was a massive explosion and I had to disconnect the neural interface as the sensor data was overwhelming. In future battles (and I'm sure there would be more) that could be a serious weakness, but I had a feeling that with more experience using the link it wouldn't be an issue.
"The Klingon vessel fired a full spread of torpedoes in the center of the enemy formation," T'Maz informed me. "There are a few enemy craft left, however they are scattering."
For a moment my mind reeled from the fact that some Klingons had actually done something useful for once. Sure, it might have been better for them to have destroyed the 'Collector' ship with the device onboard, but since I liked being alive, I was grateful that they had come and saved us. From a tactical perspective, it made sense. That ship had never deviated from its course straight to the rift and it wasn't like the Klingons knew what was on that ship in particular.
I was just thinking that we should team up with the Klingons when the handful of surviving alien fighters came around and as one group, rammed directly into the Bird of Prey. The bridge section of the warship was sheared off by the first two kamikazes before the rest of the Collector fighters collided with the ship destroying the rest of it. Luckily for us, the last remaining enemy fighters went with it. Obviously the aliens had correctly decided that the Klingon ship was a much bigger threat to them then my small ship.
Even my Vulcan partner was shocked speechless at what had just happened, but she didn't let it distract her for long, once again showing that she was a consummate professional.
"We must continue our pursuit," T'Maz said. "We must recover the device at all costs."
By now the ship carrying the device had made it to the rift and entered it.
"Wait...so your 'plan' is to go through a collapsing tear in the fabric of space and time to chase a vicious alien race that we don't know anything about, except, that they now have a device which can tear the fabric of reality?" I asked, this time my voice coming from my own body, now that I was disconnected from the ship's systems.
That seemed both insane and very illogical.
"We will enter the rift in two minutes," the Vulcan said.
I still had things to say on this matter, but hadn't changed course either.
"Fighting them here is one thing, T'Maz. We have no idea what's on the other side!" I pointed out vehemently. "We very nearly died here. We can't fight an entire race with my small ship. They could very well have a fleet waiting for us on the other side of the rift for all we know. Do you have a cloaking device hidden in that skintight bodysuit of yours?!" I snarked at her.
Granted, the Bird of Prey had done a fine job of taking out the remaining fighters in our universe, but there could be hundreds of ships on the other side of the rift for all we knew, with no way to know till we were on the other side. It's exactly what I'd do, after all. And they'd proven that they would kill themselves in order to destroy us.
"With that device the aliens could attack anywhere in the galaxy with little to no warning," T'Maz argued. "They could even attack Earth, your home."
That was a rather ham-handed bit of emotional manipulation on her part, but what could you expect from a Vulcan, though I did give it some consideration.
It wasn't my Earth, but I did live there for a time.
And…Annika lived there.
My heart clenched painfully at the thought of her dying painfully, horribly on the claws of these Collectors. Would she cry out for me to save her, at the end? I shook my head to get rid of the worthless thought.
Trillions of lives could potentially be lost because I failed in this mission. I didn't care much for the fates of total strangers, however, as it turned out, a little was just enough.
Also, this rift would be gone in less than ten hours. Since we lacked the ability to create another one on our own, this might truly be the only chance we had to recover or destroy the device. The fate of the galaxy, as cliché as that sounded, might truly rest on our shoulders.
Fuck it, who wants to live forever?!
"Okay I'm taking us in," I said solemnly.
Somehow I felt like T'Maz and I were both feeling that same sense of impending doom.
XXXXX
Now that I was once more connected to my ship via the neural interface, I could 'see' the planet below. Greenery was scarce, except near the planet's equatorial regions. Most of the planet was a dull, reddish brown, exactly like the world we had just left, meaning that this was likely an alternate version of the planet we'd just left in the Star Trek universe on the other side of the rift. At least that was my wild ass guess based on hundreds of episodes of Star Trek I'd watched in my old life.
"Fascinating. It appears as if this is the same planet the outpost was built upon," T'Maz stated, closely reviewing the sensor data on the planet's physical makeup, rotational axis, flora and fauna, and a myriad number of other datapoints. "Yet, it is not."
"Very informative, T'Maz." I'm pretty sure my sarcasm was lost on her.
I was sure that she found this whole alternate universe thing to be rather fascinating. I did not. I just wanted to successfully complete this mission and get back to our universe as fast as fucking possible.
"Have they spotted us?" I asked, readying myself to engage in any number of evasive maneuvers should enemy ships show up or there be any anti-air defenses on the planet's surface.
T'Maz's fingers danced across the controls as she brought up more information about the planet below. I could have done the same in a fraction of the time, but she had the experience to actually make use of the data and offer an informed opinion. In many ways, despite all my training and the many simulations I'd run, I was more akin to a gifted amateur at the moment.
"It does not appear so," she answered vaguely. "Perhaps the interference from the rift is keeping us hidden? In this universe it is much closer to the planet for some unknown reason."
My scanners couldn't pick up any of their ships nearby, so it was possible. I had no idea why the rift would be in a different place in this reality, but it hardly mattered, such things were for Starfleet science types to wonder and endlessly debate about. We had a mission that required our total focus on shit that actually mattered.
"At the current rate of collapse, the rift will close in approximately nine hours," the Section 31 agent informed me. "Whether or not we return in time is irrelevant, the device must be recovered or destroyed if we cannot return it to Federation space."
I fully intended to destroy it in any case, but there was no sense debating the issue right now. I'd just wreck the thing when the time came.
"There is an outpost on the planet," T'Maz reported to me. "In the exact same location as the Vulcan one in our reality. How curious."
How curious, indeed.
"Okay, let's get down there," I said, eager to get this over with. The rift was steadily closing, so the clock was ticking.
Using the neural link, I brought the ship smoothly down to the surface of the planet, doing everything I could to minimize our sensor profile. I could only hope that the interference from the rift continued to keep us off their scanners.
XXXXX
Unnamed L-Class Planet. Alternate Universe.
I clasped my weapon firmly in my hands. It was a Starfleet Phaser Rifle only somewhat different than the standard issue ones. In fact, this one was a prototype Type-4 compression phaser rifle I'd received from Section 31, a weapon that wasn't scheduled to be released to the fleet for widespread use for a few more years. I'd actually seen this rifle in several episodes of Star Trek: Voyager.
It was long and sleek, with a compact handle and front grip to steady the weapon for multiple shots, and unlike normal Starfleet Phaser Rifles this weapon had a lot more options for when it came to making things dead. The top plane of the rifle also had what looked like extended wing-like protrusions allowing for a higher capacity power cell. It also had a cylinder like shoulder butt with something that looked like a shock absorber. The cylinder design felt like a poor choice, but I reminded myself that Starfleet had members of many, many different races, besides humans, and this was likely the best choice to fit as many comfortably as they could.
Right now, I had it set on a single high-powered kill shot; hopefully that should prove capable of killing the 'Collector' warriors. However, the larger types that used their claws, would take three shots or more, as such we'd brought along spare power packs. God only knew how long this fight would last. After killing that Collector officer sniper-style, I had added a custom holographic scope to this rifle to make truly long-range shots that much easier.
"The tower that nearly shot us down is up ahead," my Section 31 trainer informed me. "The probability of us successfully leaving this planet alive, should that tower remain operational, is negligible."
Despite our best efforts to spot any anti-air emplacements from orbit, and our best efforts to remain undetected while landing on the planet, we had indeed been nearly shot down upon trying to land. Their sensors had probably detected the small atmospheric disturbance our entry had caused. Luckily, thanks to the ridiculous evasive maneuvers the neural interface had allowed me to do, we'd only suffered superficial damage, but I agreed, if the Collectors' anti-air emplacement wasn't taken out first then we would be trapped on this world, and worse, in this universe. Who knew what other horrors awaited us?
"Well then, let's take it out," I said. "They only have the one tower."
Considering the value of what the aliens had taken, and how quickly and readily they'd thrown their lives away to protect it, it seemed very odd that they had brought the device here of all places. The base in this reality was somewhat defensible, but it was hardly a fortress and we had not detected any other Collector ships in the vicinity. I could hazard a few guesses as to why they had done this, but right now I had much better things to worry about.
"That remains to be proven," T'Maz stated. "We were only fired upon by a single tower. There may be more."
This attitude was why Vulcans never got invited to the really good Federation parties.
"Anybody ever tell you that you can be a bit of a downer, T'Maz?" I asked.
The Vulcan studied her tricorder some more before replying.
"Yes," she said, completely unperturbed by what I had just said. "Many of Section 31's human agents have told me that with great frequency."
"It's a good thing that you're so fucking hot," I whispered quietly under my breath, but perhaps not quietly enough as she turned to me with a single raise eyebrow.
Rather than discuss that any further I looked through my new rifle's long-range holo-scope and eyed the turret at the tower's peak. The scope offered me a lot of useful data, like distance to target, elevation, angle, atmospheric conditions that could impact my shot, heat signatures, etc. The tower and turret were both grey in color and made entirely of metal, as far as I could tell, which was very unlike the other Collector tech we'd seen so far, which all seemed to utilize some extremely advanced integrated biotechnology.
"The design philosophy we've seen so far in the Collector's equipment and ships don't match what I'm seeing here," I whispered, as we began to make our way towards the tower. "I don't like this. It's also a little too quiet around here; the local wildlife are scared of something."
T'Maz looked around and then nodded.
"I would have to agree," she responded, equally quiet. "The silence is quite unsettling."
There were singing birds and chirping insects on this world's counterpart, and there were some here too according to our sensors, but right now it was quiet, far too quiet. Something wasn't right. I stopped and let go of the tight leash I usually kept on my senses, smelling and tasting the air on my tongue and in my nose, my eyes scanning the terrain looking for any irregularities, my ears perked listening for anything that shouldn't be.
"We are definitely not alone," I muttered, my hands tightening on my rifle, my muscles coiled to move suddenly.
Suddenly a beam of deadly energy hit the ground beside my feet.
"Take cover!" T'Maz urged.
The two of us hurried behind large chunks of nearby rock, just in time too as a second shot hit exactly where I had been standing only a moment before, the shooter obviously having made a correction in their aim. Thank goodness our attackers did not have great aim like I did, or something was wrong with their equipment. Maybe the sensor interference was affecting it?
"Did you see where that came from?" I asked quietly.
The Vulcan was crouched, peering cautiously around to where the shots had come from, her ever ready tricorder scanning away and yet finding nothing.
"The enemy appears to be cloaked to our scans and eyes," she answered near silently.
Focused as I was on the rough vicinity I thought the shots had come from, I managed to catch an extremely feint blur of movement. My genetically enhanced eyes identified it as unnatural.
"They aren't cloaked, not really," I corrected in a whisper, trying to pick up where that blur had ended up. "They are blending in with the background rather well, though, possibly with some sort of adaptive camouflage system."
Now that I knew what to look for I looked again and found that distinctive visual distortion. After finding the shooter's new location, I carefully lined up my rifle and shot three ruby red bolts/pulses of energy, leading the target a bit and allowing some room for error. The alien had been moving when I shot it, and while moving they were much easier to see. Our evolution as predators meant that the human eye was naturally better at detecting movement. I sent another burst of energy into the downed enemy's skull for good measure, just to make sure he was well and truly dead. Ideally, it'd also piss off any nearby comrades enough to make them do something stupid, like give away their position, so I could shoot them too.
Two more 'Collectors,' these much easier to see, appeared not far from where the sniper had fallen. I fired again and my shot hit the creature's shoulder causing it spin around and fall to the ground. It got back up only to die when my next shot hit it in the head. T'Maz was able to kill the other.
"Scout patrols we stumbled across? Or are they actively hunting us?" I quietly wondered aloud.
T'Maz once more had her trusty tricorder out. Her faith in the thing appeared unshaken, even though it had already failed to detect the Collector snipers.
"I am still not detecting any life signs other than our own," she reported to me. "Perhaps they are masking their own somehow?"
That seemed to be a common trick, regardless of what reality I was in.
"That they have not yet swarmed us means either they don't have great numbers to waste on such a costly tactic or they are unable to detect us," she continued.
Each seemed just as likely the other. This planet was a strange choice for the Collectors to take the device to in the first place. There were no other Collector vessels around and activity on the planet had been virtually non-existent from our initial scans. Those same scans hadn't detected the anti-air turret either, so some skepticism was warranted.
After several minutes of silent scans taken by both T'Maz's tricorder and my own enhanced senses, both suggesting that we were alone, we went over to the dead aliens and I found the sniper's corpse. T'Maz took out her tricorder and took readings of both the weapon and the deceased alien.
"The alien's armor and rifle is quite advanced," she told me as I held up the sniper rifle for my own visual inspection, "and like all the technology of this race, it is part biological, part technological, with cybernetic interfaces to coordinate between the two. Also, after now having had the chance to scan multiple examples of this race's technology, both in our universe and this one, I believe that this weapon is healthier than the weapon you took while in the Outpost in Federation space, but still not operating optimally."
Her choice of worlds confused me.
"What do you mean by healthier?" I asked, not sure I understood how the term was applicable in this situation.
She needed a moment before she could answer me.
"It is only a theory I have recently developed," she said, sounding almost hesitant to share something that she obviously didn't feel certain about. "I would have to examine the bodies and technology the aliens left behind in our universe to confirm, but I suspect that our reality, and this one too, is somehow toxic, or perhaps a better word would be incompatible, with the biological components of their technology, and since they graft their biotechnology into their bodies, it could be toxic to them as well," she continued, looking thoughtful now, as if her words had given her another potential insight. "This theory might explain why they took such a wide variety of living specimens and various technologies from the outpost when they left. They likely do not only wish to study these races' physiology or reverse engineer the technology, they likely needed examples of the races and technology native to this universe to adapt themselves to the universe that they intend to invade."
That sounded reasonable to me, but if the Star Trek universe was toxic to these aliens, then why invade it at all? It felt similar to that alien race in that one movie who were defeated by water. Why invade a planet like Earth that was 71% filled with a substance that burned them like acid? It was insanity.
It was possible that they had taken the device simply to stop us from entering their reality, something we would have done as well in their place, but these beings seemed intrinsically hostile as a race. They hadn't just attacked the outpost and taken the device, they'd viciously slaughtered most of the people living there in gruesome and horrible ways, and they'd driven people mad by exposing them to something else. Whatever that attack had been had likely been designed to soften the target before they attacked.
"The rift itself might be causing problems too, at least in the sudden transition from one universe to the next," I speculated. "You did say that it was causing interference with the scanners on my ship. Perhaps it has a stronger effect on technology infused with biological components that are dimensionally incompatible?"
That theory might also explain why their ships were so slow compared to mine, the biotech they used might have been sick. The problem with that was that biology was nothing if not adaptable. These aliens had all the samples they needed to come up with an adaptation that would allow them to function normally in our universe, given enough time to study them.
"We must find out more," T'Maz said, almost urgently. "If there is something that can affect all of their technology in such harmful and deleterious ways, it could be turned into a defense against them."
She scanned the dead alien.
"We have not encountered this variation of the aliens before," T'Maz reported, sounding intrigued. "Its armor is less oriented to defense, and more towards giving it the ability to visually blend in with its surrounding environment, making it almost invisible from a distance. A very useful tool for a sniper. I could not see this being even with my superior eyesight."
Not superior to mine, I thought snarkily. I hadn't seen it either, at least until it moved, but my enhanced sight seemed to have picked that up better than hers.
"When it moves the camouflage can't keep up in real-time, so there is a very slight visual distortion," I explained. "Look for a blur after they take a shot. The energy discharge from their weapon could possibly be momentarily disrupting or destabilizing the camouflage field."
Like all good snipers firing on a larger group of enemy combatants, these aliens didn't fire twice from the same spot if they could help it.
"Look at the long arms and legs on this creature," T'Maz instructed. "It has been modified extensively in comparison to the others we have seen. This alien I think is not just a sniper, but also a scout. It is well adapted for climbing rocky and uneven terrain at speed."
This was genetic engineering on a level that could only be imagined in my time. Even I had only been altered so much and ultimately still looked human. Overall, I was still human on a genetic level, just seriously improved, this thing had been physically changed to serve a well-defined role from birth, with major changes to its appearance and the addition of unnatural capabilities.
"Scout snipers, that's what we'll call them," I decided, "and speaking of scouting, we should really check out that tower."
I was a fan of the effectiveness of these Collector weapons so I took the rifle from the scout sniper's ruined corpse before we set off. Even if I didn't use it, it'd be useful to study and reverse engineer later on.
Being a Vulcan with a science background meant that T'Maz was really into the science stuff. Gathering more information was undeniably valuable and could come in handy, but right now we had far more important things to do and we did have a ticking clock. I, for one, did not fancy having to start a new life for myself in another universe. I'd done that once already and that was plenty. And God only knew what kind of shitshow we would soon discover this universe was.
XXXXX
Unnamed L-Class Planet. Alternate Universe.
Through my rifle's scope I saw two 'Collectors' that were patrolling along some platforms just outside the tower that was our current objective. These were the soldier types we'd encountered before. They had armor, but it wasn't as tough looking as some of the other aliens had, and they carried rifles without scopes, marking them in my mind as troops designed and meant for close to mid-range infantry-style combat.
While placing a hand on the trigger of the 'Collector' sniper weapon I aimed and fired twice. Both of the aliens immediately dropped to the ground and I was impressed by the power, range and accuracy of this alien weapon, at least after I'd determined what was throwing the aim off at first. I'd love to take it back to the ship and get some scans as it would make a great addition to my arsenal.
I waited for at least two more minutes in silent stillness, my eye locked on the display, ready to fire if anyone came running to check out why two of their fellows had just been gunned down suddenly. A good soldier often had to create his own prime opportunities to seize.
"Okay, let's head in," I instructed, after no one came. This whole situation was getting stranger and stranger.
It was a bit of a treacherous climb to the top of the tower, but T'Maz was a Vulcan and I was a badass Augment, so we made it work. While scrambling up the side like a couple of mountain goats, we met another soldier type at the very top. It screamed at us as it raised its weapon only for me to grab the rifle and pull hard. A shot went past my head and then the alien itself, along with its weapon, went right over the side.
Standing at the top I saw the door I'd spotted earlier while scouting out the tower. What I hadn't seen, though, was the strange device just above the entryway.
It was an oval-shaped piece of tech which swiveled slowly back and forth on a thin arm. It shone a green light over the ground in front of the door. I figured it was a camera of some sort or some sort of bioscanner. It could be anything from a biometric lock to a weaponized turret.
"I have an idea," I said to T'Maz.
Raising my sidearm, I blew the camera away with a single high-powered shot and to my surprise no alarm went off.
"What was that supposed to accomplish? You may have given away the element of surprise," my fellow spy inquired quietly.
I took a moment to explain while we waited.
"It was supposed to set off an alarm," I said, while continually scanning our surroundings. "Which should have brought more of the aliens coming through that door, a natural chokepoint, followed by me mowing them down as a group."
Since they hadn't we'd have to try something else to get in.
"That was reckless, we could have been overwhelmed," T'Maz admonished me.
Looking at her now, my voice was cold, "We don't have a lot of time to fuck around here, T'Maz. We're on a ticking clock. If you don't fancy spending the rest of your life in this alien universe, we need to be as quick and efficient as possible. That means taking some risks."
She said nothing in response.
The reinforced door slid jerkily open thanks to our combined strength and when we got inside we found ourselves in a dark room that had grey colored walls.
"I get the impression that the bug aliens didn't build this place," I said to the sexy Vulcan.
She took out her tricorder and scanned the room.
"They did not," she told me, "the walls are made out of a material commonly used by the Federation when building outposts on this type of planet. Scans indicate this base is more than fifty years old."
These aliens just got more and more confusing.
"Gothic, please look at this," T'Maz requested.
I turned and saw that the Vulcan had entered another room, and in this chamber there was a symbol on the wall. It was 2D picture of what was clearly the planet Earth, continents and all, with a short sword or dagger driven down into it from the top. I recognized it immediately, it was the symbol of the Terran Empire from the Mirror Universe, a dimension that had been featured in multiple Star Trek series and episodes.
"It is clearly a human symbol, but it matches nothing I have ever seen before," T'Maz said, looking at me rather closely now. "You have seen it before, though; you visibly reacted to it."
Fuck! I really needed to better hide my reactions based on foreknowledge from the shows.
Now I couldn't lie, at least not totally. Telling a Section 31 operative I might have knowledge of the future of the universe would see my mind dissected and ripped apart quicker than you could say 'for the good of the Federation.' Which is exactly what they'd say. I might be useful to Section 31 right now, but I sure as fuck was more useful to them as a source for information about the future. I wouldn't even be surprised if T'Maz held the laser scalpel that cut my skull open.
"I saw it back in my time," I answered truthfully.
T'Maz touched the symbol of the Terran Empire.
"Could this be your reality or just something similar?" the Vulcan wondered. "It is possible that your people advanced along similar lines to the humans of my universe."
Now that was a worrying possibility, but very unlikely in my opinion.
"No idea," I said and I really didn't.
I then left the room and T'Maz followed as we headed up the tower. We found no signs of life until we got to the top, which was good because my head was full of thoughts about the Mirror Universe and just how badly I did not want to end up stuck there. That place was a funhouse mirror reflecting the evil in everyone's hearts.
On the top level we found a 'Collector' bent over, it was closely examining the computers they had taken from our universe with a single-minded focus and didn't seem to notice our presence. This was one of the worker types I figured. It was smaller in size and its armor looked less sturdy, obviously not intended for front line combat, probably more of a support function.
After pulling the trigger on my sidearm I watched as a crimson beam of deadly energy struck the alien. The creature let out a death cry as it collapsed into a heap. Definitely less sturdy.
"We are clear. Let us proceed," T'Maz said.
I looked around.
"You think we have enough charges?" I asked.
The turret was above us so we had to blow the entire top floor in order to ensure it collapsed into the building and was destroyed.
"Our supply should be sufficient," T'Maz replied as she set the small explosives in place on the supports. "Watch the door as I work."
Mostly I just watched her magnificent ass as her work involved her bending over quite a lot. Hey, I'm an Augment, I can do many things at once!
XXXXX
Unnamed L-Class Planet. Alternate Universe.
As it turned out, the tower was connected to the main outpost via a long dark tunnel, which we were still travelling down when the timer beeped informing us that the tower had now blown up. A vibration in the tunnel gave credence to that. Huh, this was a pretty decently made structure if that was all we felt.
When we finally made it to the enemy base we found some ubiquitous boxes lying around and an inactive computer console. At some point it had seemingly been turned into a storage closet. I doubted the aliens had ever even used this tunnel. What was more foolish was that didn't have anyone guarding it either, despite it being an unguarded point of entry.
This was yet another incomprehensible thing, in a long list of them, that made these 'Collectors' even more confusing and ultimately hard to understand and predict. They were clearly a very advanced race, they possessed and could use very advanced technology, and were both skilled and ruthless in combat, but they were total idiots as well, in my opinion. Either that or they were so alien in their ways of thinking that I simply could not understand their actions.
Once outside of the makeshift storage room, we found a long hallway and another door we were forced to open using our super human/Vulcan might. When the double doors slid apart I saw a single soldier type bolt upright off the floor at the sight of us.
A couple of quick shots to the head rang out and I killed yet another 'Collector.' I'd killed many of these bug creatures by now. For a race with such delightfully powerful weapons and tough technologically advanced armor, their combat tactics and doctrine just weren't up to the same level. Sure, they'd been able to tank a lot of shots due to their advanced armor and genetically enhanced bodies, but they weren't that hard to kill overall. I'd outmaneuvered and out thought them at every turn. Maybe I was just that awesome? I wasn't exactly typical in my capabilities or combat mentality, compared to most alpha quadrant races, much less modern humans.
Then two more 'Collectors' burst into the room, causing T'Maz to duck for cover. Both of the soldier types began firing. I returned fire and killed them both quickly though. Once the action was over, T'Maz hacked a console and managed to unlock all of the doors in the base. As it turned out Terran Empire tech was pretty close to Federation stuff so she had little trouble figuring out and using the local computers.
I knew we had to be close to the objective of our mission as by all appearances the aliens were starting to put real effort into killing us now. I was 80-90% sure now that the 'Collector' we'd found alone in this room had been bait to draw us into a trap. That or we really had found one of the aliens taking a nap in an unfrequented corridor. With these guys it was impossible to know if they were being weirdly alien or just plain stupid.
"I have detected the device's unique energy signature," T'Maz reported urgently.
To keep up with her I had to run as she raced towards the location that contained the device. She was being reckless, and that was very illogical, so I actually spent a moment wondering if she could be a Romulan double agent, but I dismissed that thought almost immediately as any spy clever enough to fool the whole of Section 31 would not drop their act around me. Although I did promise myself that I would keep an eye on her just in case I was wrong.
We found the cube-shaped object that made rifts in space/time suspended in an active energy field. It was being protected by guards and a powerful force field. It seemed that this time the aliens were being a bit more careful.
"We will need to overload those plasma transfusers in order to bring down the force field," T'Maz whispered, looking intently at the pylons around the periphery of the room that was supplying power to the shield emitters.
The aliens didn't seem to know that we were here yet so the first move would be ours.
I would leave that to her.
"Leave the fighting and killing to me," I said grimly. I was turning out to be quite good at it. "You deal with disabling the energy field."
A moment later the air was filled with deadly flashes of energy; the Collectors and I trying our damned best to end the lives of the other. The 'Collectors' fired even as they rapidly decreased in number under my perfect aim, seeming to lack much of any sense for defensive tactics. It was all hyper violence and a strange lack of concern for their very lives, which made fighting them both easier and harder at the same time, as it also made them both stranger and more unpredictable to my way of thinking.
I slaughtered them with relative ease, all things considered, since they simply weren't able to deal with a bloodthirsty Augment who had a sword that could cut through even their armor and wasn't afraid to get up close and personal. My extreme strength, speed, and reflexes certainly helped there. They had tried to rush me several times, hoping to overwhelm me in a way that maybe they thought I wasn't prepared for, but that just made it easier to kill them.
In a couple of instances, they had even shot and killed their fellow soldier by accident (or on purpose, for all I knew) to get at me, showing zero concern over these bouts of deadly friendly fire. Killing me was worth any cost it seemed. My personal shield had taken a couple of shots that had dropped its strength to very low levels due to this tactic, making me vulnerable, so I couldn't exactly claim this ruthless tactic was entirely ineffective.
"We can recover the device now," I heard T'Maz say, once the last alien had died by my hand, my sword dripping with some kind of viscous smelly blood after I had beheaded one of the Collectors. The uncanny timing of her finishing this task, just after I'd killed all the aliens, was par for the Star Trek universe. "We must return to our home universe as soon as possible; we cannot risk it remaining here any longer."
I moved over to the Vulcan, having to step over several dead alien corpses on the way. My combat boots had been designed to provide maximum grip even when walking over slick bloody floors.
"No, we have to destroy it," I said emphatically. "It's the only logical option."
T'Maz raised an eyebrow.
"Explain," she demanded, almost angrily, for her at least. Her hand also twitched very subtly towards her phaser. If I wasn't an Augment I likely wouldn't have been able to spot that. That wouldn't end well for her, or for me, in the end. Somehow, I suspected that Section 31 would probably not take my word alone for it if I claimed that she had died in combat against the Collectors. No matter how freaking hot and sexy she was, a T'Pol lookalike, I had no intention of dying here.
I was ready to fully debate the matter or kill her if she made a move, and damn the consequences.
"Think about the series of events here. The outpost ran an experiment. This device opened a rift in space/time, in dimensions. Very soon after, these aliens came right through and took it from us, with little in the way of opposition," I said. "The timing is rather suspect, don't you think? They did so quickly enough that it's safe to assume that they knew of the device all along, perhaps for a very long time, and that they know how to detect a rift when it opens. That means that if it is ever used again, there is a high likelihood that they will enter our universe and try to obtain it again."
I had more to say.
"These are not enemies the Federation or the alpha quadrant can afford. From all indications, they grow and modify their soldiers in a strict insect-like hierarchy, with specific tasks and roles. They are both ruthless and hyper-violent. They care nothing for their own lives or for us, so they will kill anyone who gets in their way in order to obtain what they want," I explained. "Even if we do take the device back to Section, what then? You can't study the device anywhere too well guarded, that would draw all the wrong kinds of attention, the other powers in our universe will inevitably learn about it and possibly try to take it for themselves, possibly sparking a quadrant-wide conflict. And even if our own home-based enemies didn't learn of it, assuming the aliens can't travel dimensions on their own power, the aliens might send a fleet the next time we use it, putting entire worlds in danger. God knows if we're even that lucky. They know we have what they want now."
I wasn't done yet.
"If Section 31 does truly wish to protect the Federation, then this device has to be destroyed, and besides, it's not like the Federation wants to expand into other realties. Sure, in time you might figure out how to access realities other than this one, but next time you might let in something even worse than these aliens. Something we just aren't ready for."
I could think of many other fictional universes that contained races much more dangerous than these 'Collectors' and since the Star Trek universe was real then that meant horrible places like the Warhammer 40K universe could potentially be real as well. If anything came from there, we'd be Fucked, with a capital F.
"There is simply no good reason, worth the risk, for us to not to destroy the device right now," I finished.
T'Maz pondered my words intently for at least a minute or two. I was content to let her take the time to think this through, even though we were still in potential danger. My eyes kept both her and the entryways in sight, just in case she decided that I was wrong and a threat to Section 31's interests that had to be eliminated with extreme violence. I surreptitiously took out the tricorder I had designed and built using multiple races' scanning technology to scan the device, the room, and the nearby base. If she minded, she didn't say anything. Assuming we were going to destroy the device, it didn't hurt to take a few dozen intense scans to see what I could learn about the thing. I hacked into the nearby consoles to see if there was any information in there as well. Luckily, the Collectors had used the computer systems of the base for additional processing power. I established a link with my ship to transfer the collected data.
"Section 31 wants this device returned intact," she said, obviously having reached a decision. "Therefore, we must... bend the truth, as humans say, and report that we destroyed the device before the aliens could use it to open a rift of their own. Which is true, but if asked we must say that we did not have the chance to recover it. Our mission parameters did grant us the authority to destroy the device if returning with it intact or keeping it out of enemy hands proved impossible."
There was no more time to debate as I could hear more Collectors approaching the room and as we fled I fired a maximum power shot at the device. This blew it up in a rather impressive display of fireworks. Ridiculously advanced technology really did not like being fired directly upon with energy weapons for some reason. Who knew?
XXXXX
Onboard The Flighty Temptress. Back in the Star Trek Universe.
"Fuck!" I swore as my ship went to maximum warp, trying to put as much distance between the still closing dimensional rift and my ship. "We forgot about those people the aliens snatched."
The thought of what those people would be suffering made even my ruthless and mercenary heart cringe. Unfortunately for them, I'd focused so much on our primary mission objective, the recovery of the device, that I had failed to remember that a lot of people from the science outpost in this universe had been taken by the 'Collectors' as captives.
Well, I hadn't forgotten per se, my genetically enhanced memory was perfect, but it was the best way to describe it. More accurate to say was that they were such a low priority compared to recovering/destroying the device, and fighting for our survival, that they'd simply been bumped down the priority list of objectives over and over again. It hadn't been a truly conscious choice to leave them behind. If we had encountered them on our egress from the planet, we would have taken the opportunity to save them. At least I'd like to think we would have.
There was still a little time to go back for them, but it would be dangerous as hell as there had been more of the alien fighters arriving in sector on the other side of the dimensional rift. We'd sent a Priority 1 request that Section 31 dispatch ships to destroy any Collectors that remained on our side of the rift. I was certainly not offering my little ship for that duty. No, I was well and truly done with this mission. They could handle the cleanup.
"I did not forget them," T'Maz answered stoically, not even bothering to look up at me as she examined the alien weapon I'd first picked up, like we were talking about the weather instead of dozens of people who were probably suffering through unimaginable horrors right now. "It was simply that saving them would have diverted us from our main task which was far more important. They were deemed acceptable losses in light of the threat to Federation interests."
That was cold, harsh, ruthless, terrible, cruel, merciless, horrific…and a slew of other words, but probably true, at least from a pure logic perspective.
"But what about your father?" I asked. "What if he had been one of the people taken? Would you have felt that way?"
Part of me was morbidly curious if her logic extended even so far as sacrificing her own father on the altar of the Federation's 'best interests', putting the collective over the individual in this case, even over a close family member.
T'Maz did not look offended or worried at all by the question.
"He was not one of the individuals taken captive," she informed me. "I was able to contact him before we left the outpost. You did not notice as we were already heading for your ship at great speed and your greater speed outpaced me."
Now that she mentioned it, I did recall her falling behind as we had raced towards The Flighty Temptress so that we could follow the Collector to the rift. I really needed to pay more attention, even when hyper focused on a task. Getting off the ground as quick as possible had been far more important at that point.
"Even if my father had been taken, it would have not have changed my actions. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one," T'Maz explained. "By destroying the device, we saved many, many more from being harmed. It was logical. He would have understood this and done the same in my place."
Again, that was probably true, it was just a little cold in my mind. If I could go back and do it all over again, I'd like to think that I would have tried to save those people, even if it put me at risk, but not until after I had destroyed the device. Or perhaps not, it depended on how much time it would have taken. The dimensional rift would be gone in a matter of hours after all and no matter how much I might want to help others, my life came first.
"I must submit a mission report to Agent Sloan," T'Maz said, drawing my attention back to her. "Please memorize it fully before I send it over subspace. There is a strong likelihood he may question you as well on the subject of the device's destruction. Our stories must match. I believe he will agree that we acted in the best interests of the Federation, and will not look too closely into the matter of us destroying the device, but only so long as the report leaves no doubt as to the true need for it. Section did foresee this outcome as a potential eventuality. The loss of the device itself is regrettable, but Section does still have all the relevant scans and data from its study prior to this incident."
That made perfect sense to me; there had been several instances in my military career where the unit had agreed to write up a report a certain way lest we invite possible legal repercussions onto our shoulders by some overzealous JAG officer back in the states, one who hadn't ever risked his own life in-country. It wasn't as egregious as covering up us killing civilians for fun or by accident or anything like that, but the Rules of Engagement in Iraq and Afghanistan didn't always prioritize our lives. There were good and valid arguments on both sides of that issue, admittedly, but you sometimes had a different priority or perspective when it was your life or freedom on the line.
I was glad she was going to write the report because I was quite distracted by the fact that, after some candid personal reflection, I was more or less okay with having left all those people behind in the mirror universe. It bothered me a little, but not so much that I felt like I'd lose sleep over it. Was this one of the changes in my personality from being made an Augment? I just didn't know.
Sigh… I was pretty sure that in my old life I would have been quite upset at this point and/or already on my way to enact a desperate and ill-conceived rescue mission. Perhaps being made an Augment had changed me in even more fundamental ways than I had originally thought.
"After I have transmitted my report to Section, we can have sex," T'Maz remarked casually. "If you are willing. I believe it will help relieve your stress and potentially help improve our team dynamics even further after such a mission."
I had a lot to think about at the moment, the strange actions of the 'Collectors,' the fact that some Klingons had actually saved my life, and also if I was going to return to Earth or go back to Risa for some much-needed pampering. I felt like I needed another couple of weeks of luxury and over the top hedonism after such a fucked-up mission. I had never really enjoyed those mirror universe episodes of Star Trek and yet look where I ended up on my first major mission with Section 31. The universe was fucking with me a lot lately.
"Sure," I said to T'Maz with a small smile. "I could go for some sex."
She nodded stoically upon hearing that. That stoicism was getting my blood roaring in my ears; I was going to pull out all the stops to tongue or fuck that Vulcan pussy till I overwhelmed her emotional suppression systems and had her screaming my name in pleasure. Mission accepted, T'Maz.
"Good, then you would likely be willing to try several new positions I have read about," she went on to say, "and while anal sex sounds potentially uncomfortable, I hope you will be agreeable to penetrating me in that manner at least once."
"No, um, I'm quite agreeable," I practically squeaked, my voice almost cracking. Must keep 'shit eating grin' off face.
She might have just made my self-appointed mission a little easier!
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Chapter 14: 13,789 words
Chapter 15: 18,963 words