Star Trek: "The Mudd Collective..."
Summary: After using illegally...(Sir, knowledge should be free to all!)...Acquired genetic tech to reverse his aging, Harry Mudd sets his sights on bringing... "Mudd"...To the Galaxy through the Federation's deadliest foe. That'll show James T. Kirk. And that Burnham. And he don't like that Picard chap much either, at that, even if he hasn't met him.
2383...Just a bit into the Delta Quadrant, beyond Federation well-charted space...
Part IV...
Several days later, aboard the cube ship...
"I'm so nervous, Harry..." Callia in the green dress she'd worn to dinner but looking a bit less frail standing by Harry Mudd in the central complex of the cube at the Borg.
"My dear, you can handle this. You were born for it. Just think of it as a political rally of your supporters back in the old days on Vergilis." He noted.
"Not all my supporters, I'm afraid." She sighed. "And I understand why. Harry...I know I said I could come but..." she looked around, frightened. "It's terrifying to be here. I'm afraid it'll...Pull me back..."
"Not a chance, my dear girl. Now, if this is too much for you, dear, I'll speak." He noted, reassuringly. "You can return to the Excelsior." He patted her.
"No...I should do this. They know me and I owe these people that much. And I don't want to let you down, Harry." Anxious look to him.
"Never, dearest Callia...Never. But only if you're sure..."
She nodded, wanly and stepped forward...Her image, with Harry and their guard of three Stella Is, behind her, displayed in holographic form throughout the cube now.
"Friends, comrades, fellow victims of the Borg menace...I was once your Queen, a monster..." She began.
...
"So, I'm asking you, all of you who feel capable of it, to assist our gallant captain, Harcourt Fenton Mudd, to lead an attack...No, really, a liberation...Of those poor souls trapped by the Borg. To help us dissolve their bonds, free their worlds. Not just my own, Vergilis, but your homeworlds and, perhaps, even the Borg homeworld if enough desire freedom." Callia, moving to her conclusion. "It will be dangerous, with great risk...But the man who saved our lives is willing to try. And I stand with him, as to do many of us. No one is required to join us. But we need you. Your families, friends, and your people need you. I, once Queen here, commit myself to Harry Mudd's cause, the cause of Galactic liberation...The destruction, not of the Borg people...But their evil Collective. Thank you for listening. Harry?" she turned to him. Mudd stepping forward. The three guard Stellas watching attentively.
"Well, I am a man of few words, generally speaking. But what Miss Callia has said..."
"You are fools." A voice cried...Mudd and Callia...And the Stella guards turning to see a figure standing down one hallway... "Release me!" preemptory tone to a Stella who'd been on duty at work on the cube near the fellow, he, a tall drone, still mostly covered in implants.
"Let him go." Mudd waved a hand. "You've something to say, friend?" stern eyeing.
"I am Four of Ten, assessment team, formerly citizen of Foranx." The drone raised a largely cybernetic arm. "And I say, you are all fools! We Borg, united by the Collective, with the original Borg of Circleus, are a great people, made strong and future masters of the Galaxy by our Collective, like fingers in a fist! The knowledge and power we have acquired as a part of the Whole is immeasurable. All species seek unity for strength, the Borg are the ultimate expression of unity. Even the puny Terran humans and others of the Federation seek unity among the species. Mudd, you may be brave...You may be a great man, for a puny human, but you cannot hope to..." Sneer, pausing as several former drones crowded around him, angrily.
"Collaborator!" one called. "How dare you?!" another shrieked. "No one speaks of our friend Mudd like that!" another cry.
"You are fools to give up the Collective..." Four insisted. "My world accepted the gift of assimilation from the Borg. It was a glorious advance..."
"Liar!" a brunette woman of yellowed skin stepped forward. "He lies!" she cried. "We of Foranx resisted the Collective...The Borg were still limited then, we refused their 'invitation' to join them. They demanded our resources and forced us to surrender them, then they forced us into the Collective. Only a few scum, like him, joined freely. I know him, he was a minor official...A collaborator, a traitor!"
"No..." the drone was nervous now... "I accepted the knowledge, the power the Borg brought us. You can't fight them, even if this man brings new technology. They will adapt, we won't be assimilated, we'll be destroyed!"
"Coward!" the brunette fumed. "Kill him! He'll try to summon the Borg!"
The others near tensed...The drone now backing, whimpering...No!
"No, please!" Callia called anxiously from the central platform. "Harry?" she turned to him.
"Friends...Stop!" Mudd spoke. His voice carried through the cube.
"Friends, we cannot become the Borg. This man does not stand with us, to free his people. Perhaps, he's right to fear the Borg." Reflective look and tone. "To think they will defeat us. Tis true, I stand alone...With my Stellas...But as a man, alone. Even the Federation fears to take on the Borg and liberate its victims, I freely admit that." Pause, taking noble stance. "But I, with the help of the technology my efforts and explorations has uncovered, am willing to try. We must not seek revenge or punishment, my friends. We must keep our just rage in check. We are liberators. Our cause is noble. When we are done, not only the Collective, but all repression in the Galaxy will be ended and all sentient beings will be free. Free, my friends!" he raised hands.
Cheers ringing through the cube...Callia beaming at him.
"We're with you, Harry!" "Captain Mudd, your orders!" "You are the Sacred One, Mudd!" cries.
Drone Four of Ten looking about him in anxiety...But calming as he sensed Mudd had won over the crowd...
"Thank you, thank you all, friends!" Mudd raised a hand. "But as for this man and any others who do not wish to join us...Go in peace, friend, Four." He eyed the cringing drone. "Of course, we cannot let you simply leave and alert the Collective, though I don't say you would, to our coming. But you'll be placed in the central Sphere in this cube, released with a Stella guard set on self-destruct if attacked, and with local communication and warp one drive only. By the time you reach home or the Borg, both will be free. And you may try to persuade them then of the Collective's blessings, if you wish. Stella, dear? Take Mr. Four to the Sphere...Anyone else not willing to break with the Collective or not wishing to aid our fight may join him. Those who simply wish to return home and avoid the risk...For it is indeed not without risk, no good and noble cause is..." firm nod. "...Will be provided a shuttle once we've left. As for those willing to join us..."
Cries, cheers...
"I humbly thank you." Harry smiled. "As will all the victims of the Collective."
...
"That was so kind of you, Harry. To spare that drone...That man." Callia noted, firmly correcting herself, as they stood in the transporter room of the Excelsior.
"Yes...Well, poor fellow, blind to his imprisonment. One hopes he'll find peace." Harry nodded.
Well, he'll find a coma until his Stella guard rules it safe to release him. After all, I am a merciful man by nature. Though when he gets home, I doubt I'd like to be in his shoes on Mudd liberated Foranx.
Knew there'd be one who'd try to hold on to the Borg directives out of cowardice/habit/loyalty, even over my own admittedly subtle new directive...The Stellas did an excellent job locating him. Always good to have a straw man opposing one. Makes for a nice bit of drama, tests the protocol strength. People love to feel their leader is a benevolent, clement type. Just as they love believing they're making a free and fair choice in him.
Bonaparte did it with tugs on his soldiers' ears and fixed plebiscites voting him in with 99.9% of the vote, Hitler and Stalin with terror, Khan Singh with magnetism and brutal authority, Mudd with a little subtle use of his magnetic personality and charm, and a very subtle tweaking of Borg directive programming.
Not like I want to be Borg Queen, after all. I am for independent thought...Supplemented by utter devotion to me.
Hope you enjoyed my speechifying from the Other World, Jamie-boy, I'm modeling my heroic behavior on you. Smiling to himself.
"Come, my dear Callia, you've had a long day. Time you rested." He smiled at her.
"I am tired. Though...I feel I should ask you..." Vague look as she paused as he looked expectantly. "Well, later. But I know we'll win this fight, Harry." She nodded. "I have complete faith in you, my darling."
Yes, I believe you do...He smiled. And best to leave troublesome questions till after the battle.
"And you should get rest, too, Harry." She urged. "Make sure he does, Stella." She turned to the Stella II with them.
"Yes, Miss Callia. I'll see that Harcourt rests."
"Yes, ladies...I will, shortly." Harry agreed.
But I do believe I need to consult with my guiding star, my mentor as it were, before once more leaping onto the breech...
...