Dawn of Forever, Part XLVII

Seven's eyes opened and she breathed deeply, as if she'd been hiding underwater for a long while. In the last moment, her thoughts and the Queen's had become one... and she had suddenly learned that she had just made a very serious mistake. She turned and looked at the Oracle with horror. "You- you lied to me."

"Given your counterpart's attitude, it seemed necessary," the Oracle said, without any sign that she cared.

"How can you be a Sith?" Seven said, her expression betraying just how frightened and disgusted she was at the prospect.

"I really don't have time for this," the Oracle said, turning away. Seven marched up and grabbed her shoulder, yanking her around. The Oracle's eyes flared and Seven was thrown across the room into the opposite wall. "I mean it," she said darkly.

"You used me," Seven said, voice trembling in accusation. "The Borg were helping people. Finally, something good had come from them, something benevolent, and you used me to destroy them!"

"This isn't your universe," the Oracle said. "It's none of your concern."

"You made it my concern when you brought me here!" Seven shouted.

"I'm afraid," the Oracle gestured at the monitors, "that you have your own problems to worry about."

Seven got up and looked at the monitors. It was her ship, the Visage, near the anomaly Mara had been telling her about. "What is it?"

"The pandimensional distortion I used to trade your mind with your counterpart's," the Oracle said. "It's still there, still a way back." She turned to Seven. "Unfortunately, it's moving through space, on a heading of 147 mark 2, and it's accelerating. Eventually it will even exceed the light speed barrier itself and be flying across the galaxy."

147 mark 2... oh no! "Kathryn, you can't do this!"

"I can," the Oracle said. "Of course, I can always choose not to."

"When it-"

"I know," the Oracle said. "And so do you. Unfortunately, while you devoted yourself to exploration, well- this universe's Seven actually married Luke. She didn't have all that bottled up sexual energy you had to motivate her." She shook her head. "In a way I'm actually proud of her. Even now, in your universe, she's been only thinking about trying to rekindle her lost relationship, instead of recognizing the real threat that's facing them. So very human, really... Of course, even if she did actually pay attention, she doesn't have your experience. I seriously doubt she'll put it together, and even if she somehow managed it, she can't stop it."

"Please, Kathryn," Seven begged, "don't do this."

"I won't," the Oracle said. "If you'll help me." She walked face to face with Seven, and now the displaced Borg could see the evil that lined that familiar face. "We finish what you've started," she said darkly. "Then you go back, the door closes, and everything is fine. Otherwise..." She just left the implication there.

Seven looked again at the monitors; it somehow made it easier to say the words. "Okay," she said like someone selling their soul. "Okay, I'll help you."

There was a pop and hissing sound, then something like a subsonic hum that cycled away into silence. Several technicians remained on hand, even though it seemed like the device had worked. Annika still stood in that stock-still regeneration pose of hers while Commander Greiss looked on. He had medical personnel and stormtroopers standing by to cover the range of things that could possibly go wrong. Luke and Mara, of course, were on hand as well. "Captain?" Greiss asked. There was no response. "Captain?"

Annika's eyes opened, then swiveled slowly until she was looking at him. She smiled and said, "Nfgha herdigaba. Hyn fun tiyn gree fnbrrrrr-" and she collapsed in place like a marionette whose strings were cut.

Luke and Mara were there in an instant. Luke had passed his knowledge of Vulcan mental techniques on to his wife over the years, so that she knew almost as much as he did by now. Together they reached into her mind to see if they could help. Finally Luke got up and turned to the commander. "She should be fine," he said. "We don't sense any damage, just information overload. Her mind needs time to process it."

Greiss nodded. "Suggestions?"

Luke shrugged. "Let her rest somewhere comfortable. Mara and I can take turns monitoring her, in case things get worse, but I think she'll come out of it on her own."

Greiss nodded grimly. "Hopefully with an answer to whatever the hell is going on," he said, then turned and left, along with the entourage.

"She got lucky," Mara said, looking Annika over. "It was a damn stupid risk; I told her it was a damn stupid risk." She stood up as two crewmen with a hovering gurney came in and returned Annika to her quarters. Mara insisted that she handle things from there; that her friend deserved a little bit of privacy as she was readied for bed. The truth was she couldn't forget what she'd seen during that time of looking in Annika's head. It was Luke and her son, everywhere. All her thoughts were on them... and she hadn't had a chance to see either in a very long time. No wonder she went after my Luke, she thought; it must have been sheer torture to see him again like this.

Mara pulled the covers up over Annika, looked down at her, then crawled onto the bed and embraced her tightly. "I wasn't exaggerating, Seven," she whispered. "You're the sister I always wanted... I'd do anything to make you happy." She screwed her eyes shut. "Anything but that. I love him that much too." She rocked the sleeping woman. "But I wish I could." She laughed a little. "Sometimes I think that's the source of our marriage problems... that deep down, I feel guilty for taking him away from you." She squeezed Annika tight. "You two are the best things that ever happened to me," she said. "So you damn well better not die on me."

Sebastian sat in his office chair. He was still stained with Janet's blood... he didn't care. Romal stood nearby giving his report. "Some kind of virus," he said. "Very, very sophisticated. The Borg are fighting it, but it won't be easy for them. They've got to isolate themselves into smaller groups to manage it... which slows down their own progress."

Sebastian stared at his blood-stained hands. "How did it happen?"

Romal cleared his throat. "It's rather complicated-"

"How did it happen?" Sebastian said in a growl that would terrify a rancor.

Romal fidgeted. "Your mother connected to the Borg again. It was assumed that she was attempting to provide information, but it turns out someone else was inhabiting her body. They used it to upload the virus directly into the Queen, and naturally she unwittingly passed it on to the entire Collective."

Rust. That was the color of his hands. Dried blood turns to rust. "How is that possible?"

"The Queen's thoughts were one with the occupant," Romal said. "The Oracle apparently-"

"The Oracle," he rumbled. It always came back to her. Was there any pain in his life that didn't start with her? Was there any person he'd lost that hadn't in some way fallen because of her?

Don't become attached. Attachment opens the door to loss, and loss means pain. Pain begets anger, sorrow, hate... in time, it overwhelms. The darkness stands over you, waiting, watching, laughing. It hurts you, goads you, and then it tells you to hurt someone else, that maybe you can stop the pain if you spread it around enough, as if it's a zero sum game and your loss is my gain. The only way to avoid it is not to play, so don't make attachments.

Rust...

"Where is she?"

"Janet?" Romal asked.

"The Oracle!"

"We don't know, prefect-"

"Then find her!" he shouted. "We have probe droids looking, do we not?"

"Yes, but the galaxy's a very big place, and the Borg cannot monitor the data any more. Their work on the pod has slowed substantially, and they're barely able to navigate their own ships."

"Then we do whatever we have to," Sebastian said. "But we will find her. I have an Eclipse-class star destroyer with her kriffing name on it!"

Apparently Romal had a cold, because he cleared his throat again. "Respectfully-"

"Don't say 'respectfully,' just get on with it!"

"Your aunt tried that exact same thing," Romal pointed out. "That obviously didn't work."

"This time it will."

"And if it doesn't?" Romal asked.

"It will!"

Romal stared at him. "I am not cut out for this," he said finally. "I'm a medvac chasing lawyer who thought this was a chance for some easy contract law money. Managing an empire, triumphing over evil, and saving the universe are a million light-years away from where my abilities lie. Janet's gone, the Queen's struggling to keep the Collective from falling... if you don't get a grip on yourself so you can hold it together, Bastian, then there's no one else left. The Alliance will fall-"

"Let it," Sebastian grumbled.

"And the Vong will win."

"So what."

"And so will the Oracle."

"I don't care."

Romal nodded. "And Janet will have died for nothing."

...rust...

"I didn't love her," Sebastian said quietly. "Not in that sense, anyway. We were intimate, but... she was a friend, a very dear one to me."

"Love you," she said in his memory. Sebastian covered his eyes and wept for someone who loved him so much she'd die for him... You weren't my lover, he said in his mind, but you have no idea how much I needed you, how much I cared for you, how much I wish that maybe you could have been what you wanted to be.

Go to the Vong planet, Bastian. Do what you have to do there. Then it'll be better. All the pain will finally be gone. Finish it, then you and Jorri and Janet and father and all the others can be together again and you won't have to hurt any more. You won't be alone there... finally, you can just be like everybody else...

Annika opened her eyes, saw Mara, and didn't bother with pleasantries. "Get my clothes, assuming I'm not still in them."

"Seven, how are-"

"No time," Annika said firmly, getting up out of bed. "I have to check the data, but I have the feeling I've figured out what the Oracle's done, and if so then we're running out of time." Mara helped her out, and minutes later Annika was back in her uniform and marching through the halls of the Visage, Mara at her side. Luke quickly caught up.

"Captain's on the-"

"As you were," she said quickly, marching up to Greiss. "The anomaly is accelerating, right?"

"Yes," he said, a little surprised.

"Project it's heading for me." They stepped over to one of the stations while one of the crewmen did so. A diagram of space appeared. "And where's the wormhole."

The image appeared, and Greiss turned to her in surprise. "It's going to intersect the wormhole."

"Exactly."

"I take it that's bad," Mara said.

"You could say that," Annika said with a shake of her head. "It's... complicated."

"Try me," Greiss said.

"There isn't time," Annika said.

"I think there is, captain," Greiss said. His tone made it clear there was no room for argument.

Annika wrung her hands. "Okay, all right, um, look, this is just an analogy, see, but think of it in terms of energy states." She grabbed a datapad. "I put this on the floor, low energy state. I put it on the desk, high energy state. The datapad falls," she pushed it off and it hit the deck, "energy release."

"I take it we're the datapad," Luke said.

"No, the anomaly is the datapad." She picked it up again. "It hits, energy is released. You see, the wormhole is a bridge not just through space-"

"But through time," Greiss finished, starting to grasp it.

"Exactly. Think of them as different energy states in time." She saw Greiss' expression. "It's just an analogy," she reminded him. "If you want I can put some engrams in your brain so you can thoroughly understand it, but for right now you'll just have to accept this. When the anomaly and the wormhole intersect, both ends are going to have a catastrophic release of... temporal energy if you will. The detail's not important, just that it's enough to destroy at least both galaxies, if not more."

"Then we'll need to destroy the anomaly," Greiss said.

"Too dangerous, you could destroy this galaxy and the one in my own universe, and possibly several others along the way."

"What about destroying the wormhole?" Luke asked.

"It's our fallback plan," Annika said. "But even if you do the... residue, for lack of a better term, will still be there. We can save one galaxy that way, but I don't know which it will be... it's sickening, but that is the least damaging scenario so far. Fortunately, there is one other possibility."

"Which is?"

"If this anomaly was made by the Oracle, then she should have the technology to stop it. If you can get me back into my own body, I can try to do that."

"And I take it you have a plan for this?" Greiss asked.

"Yes," Annika said. "I do."

Annika was dressed in one of Mara's combat suits, altered on short notice by the ship's tailor. Hopefully it wouldn't be necessary, but if the initial plan failed, she might need it. She finished the preflight check on the shuttle she'd be taking to the anomaly, hopefully to switch her mind back with the Seven who was currently in her body. She looked down at the body-hugging combat suit. Pity, she thought, I'm going to miss looking this good.

Mara would be coming along for the ride. The transfer would require someone with strong telepathic abilities, and since she had experience passing through multiple universes, she was the most logical choice. Luke didn't like it much, but he agreed to let her go. Mara ran into Annika as the latter was exiting the shuttle. "You're all set? Want to bring any souvenirs back with you?"

"I think I'm good," Annika said.

"Well, just in case, there's something Luke and I both want you to have." Mara shrugged a little. "A little something to remember us by."

"I'm not sure I can actually bring anything with me."

"Won't hurt to try," Mara said. "Oh, I left it with Luke; go get it for me, would you? I need to get my mind prepped for this."

Annika walked back towards the exit, but Luke ambushed her and pulled her into a storage room. Before she could protest he was kissing her, passionately, like he always did in her memories. She felt his hand slide up her back, along her neck, and to the back of her head, and then... and then, in her mind, she made love to him again. It wasn't real... but it was close enough for someone who had been without her husband for so long.

Luke released her. "It was Mara's idea," he said. "Thanks for helping us."

Annika stared at him, her mouth still slightly parted. "I'm so glad you have someone as wonderful as her, Luke," she said. "Don't ever let her go."

Luke embraced her one last time, and she left and returned to the shuttle. Minutes later they were approaching the entrance to the anomaly. A tractor beam from the Visage held them as they eased into position just outside the mouth. Mara and Annika stared at it as it filled the window. "Well," Mara said, "let's see if this works?" She reached over, put her hands on Annika's head, and concentrated.

Seven gasped, and the Oracle's lab vanished. She looked up and saw... herself. "Seven?" Annika asked.

"Yes?"

"I'm your counterpart-"

"I know. The anomaly-"

"I know." They both paused. "Not the most efficient way of communicating, is it?"

"No," Seven agreed. Hesitantly, they reached out, and information flowed back and forth between them, and with them, ideas were proposed and rejected, new plans emerged, and suddenly-

"That could work," Annika said aloud.

"It'd be dangerous," Seven warned.

"We've no choice, both for your galaxy and mine."

"Just fly safely," Seven said, "that's my body you're in after all." She hesitated. "I envy you," she said. "You lost so much..."

Annika noddded. "But it was only because I had so much in the first place." She breathed heavily. "But you're lucky to have Luke and Mara in your life... they're... very good people."

Annika opened her eyes. "It's what I was afraid of," she said. "We're too far; we're going to have to fly into the anomaly if we're going to pull this switch."

Mara nodded and grabbed the controls while Annika contacted the Visage. The tractor beam vanished and they flew inside, down a tunnel of pure white light. "I have no idea what I'm doing," Mara said.

"At least we're in the same boat," Annika said.

An alarm sounded, and the Oracle looked up with a frown. With a thought the monitors came on, and she observed the Imperial shuttle. "Well well well," she said. "It seems I underestimated you, Seven. You're either very, very smart or very, very stupid." She activated the controls on a sinister looking device. "But I suppose it doesn't really matter." She smiled that frog-like grin and hit the button, and the machine made a sound like lightning.

"Uh-oh," Mara said.

"What?" Annika asked, but then she saw it coming. It was a massive ripple in the light of the tunnel, and it was heading their way very quickly. "Uh-oh," she agreed.

"Better hang on," Mara said, gripping the controls more firmly. The ripple reached the shuttle, and it was tossed about end over end in the wake. Alarms rang out as Mara struggled to regain control of the ship, while Annika watched helplessly as they tumbled. They were approaching the boundary...

"-are a cowardly and superstitious lot-"

"Mara," Annika said, "you've got to keep us away from the edges, or-"

"Hey cool! They got a blimp!"

"-or else we'll get seriously lost!" Annika finished.

"We've done the impossible and that makes us mighty."

Mara struggled. "I'm trying," she said.

"-open the pod bay doors-"

Annika gripped the arms of her chair, her eyes screwed shut.

"-I shall send wave after wave of my own men-"

"Hang on!" Mara said. "Here's comes another one!" The ship was knocked about again-

"-and this, is the longest day of my life-"

"Mara..." Annika said slowly, in warning.

"-can't be bargained with, it can't be reasoned with-"

"I'm trying, Seven," Mara said through her teeth.

"-or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm-"

Annika saw the next pulse coming.

"You called us the Overlords, not knowing the irony of that title."

Mara looked up and saw it too.

"-we're on a satellite, this place is crawling with toothpicks-"

The ripple struck, and the shuttle was knocked aside again, spinning like a top as it did.

"-there ain't no justice-"

And Mara and Annika weren't in the shuttle any more, they were tumbling through the air over a meadow. And the last thing Annika saw before she fell unconscious was an arch across the sky.

Go To Part XLVIII
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