Worlds Without End, Part XV

Seven stood even more stiff and still than usual as Picard attached the pips to her collar. "By order of Starfleet Command," he said, "in recognition for bravery, dedication, and performance in the finest tradition of Starfleet, I hereby bestow on you the rank of lieutenant, senior grade." He stepped back and shook her hand while the small crowd applauded.

Several minutes later, as he stood near the bar nursing some synthehol, the guest of honor walked up. "So, how does it feel to have it be official?"

"I feel no different than I did an hour ago," Seven said. "The ceremony was merely a public spectacle, the order confirming my commission was the only relevant event."

"A little public spectacle is good," Picard said.

"It is inefficient."

"It's all for fun," Picard said.

"It was neither fun nor practical to have you put the pips on my uniform, when it would be more effective to put them on myself."

"Oh what's the harm, Seven?" Picard teased.

"It was uncomfortable."

"Give me one logical," he emphasized the word, "reason for that."

Seven squirmed, slightly embarrassed. She looked left then right and saw that no one was listening. She closed in, unable to make eye contact with Picard. "I am... I am ticklish."

Picard opened his mouth, but the part of the brain that controlled what came out was still struggling to think of a response. "I... suppose that's valid," he conceded.

"Here," she indicated her collarbone, still unable to look at him. "Tactile sensations were something I did not have to experience as a member of the Collective, thus I find such sensory information to sometimes be nearly overwhelming... hence my oversensitivity to pain."

"I see," Picard said. "Well, you held up admirably, in the finest traditions of Starfleet."

"I was not aware Starfleet had such traditions," Seven said.

Picard rubbed his brow. "Let's back the conversation up, shall we?" he said in defeat. "How does it feel to know that you passed and would receive a commission?"

"I am," Seven considered, "relieved. I also find myself experiencing an odd sense of frustration at our continued presence over Earth."

"You want to get out there and get exploring," Picard said with a knowing grin.

"Yes," she admitted. "I spent most of my life traveling from world to world, acquiring information, yet now I wish to do so out of personal desire. Is that rational?"

"Absolutely. I myself often chafe when we're stuck somewhere rather than out there beyond the boundaries. But with the opportunity comes the burden: following orders." He finished the glass. "Speaking of which, how is your analysis of the battle at Utopia Planetia coming along?"

"Commander Data and I have observed two notable events," Seven said. "The Imperials employed an ion-based weapon against the Romulan-Cardassian fleet."

"Ion-based? Why?"

"It is a standard weapon for taking a ship intact," Seven said. "Imperial technology is susceptible to ion weaponry; obviously they were intending to capture the invading ships alive."

"Admirable," Picard said. "I'd been concerned they were a bit too quick to kill, especially in light of Lord Vader's..." he tried to find a word and failed.

"Lord Darth Vader did not actually kill the ambassador," Seven pointed out.

"You still don't know how he did that?"

"No, captain. Our sensors detected no signs of any kind of energy or technology being employed."

Picard shook his head. "Is it possibly we simply couldn't detect it?"

"I would say that is the only possible explanation," Seven said. "To say otherwise would be to assume he did it using some kind of supernatural power."

"A little black magic," Picard said quietly.

"There is no such thing as magic, only science that is not understood."

"Indeed. Getting back to the ion cannon..."

"The weapon had no initial effect," Seven said. "However, sustained bombardment did eventually cause a dangerous build-up in one of the Cardassian starships, causing a reactor failure."

"But for the most part it seems these weapons are ineffective against alpha quadrant technology?" Picard asked.

"Against unmodified technology, yes," Seven said. "However, now that Federation ships are being equipped with Imperial hyperdrives and equipment necessary for adaptation, this may no longer hold true."

"Noted. Anything else?"

"Yes. As you requested, we examined how the Garret was able to detect the cloaked vessels. We've found that the Empire employs very sensitive gravitational sensors. The information was in the data from Admiral Thrawn."

"So we could add it to our own ships," Picard said.

"Yes, but that would not be currently feasible. To do so would take three months."

"That's not that long, really."

"In drydock."

"Never mind."

"The Federation may wish to implement it at a later time," Seven said. "However, the hyperdrive is clearly far more important at this time."

"I agree." Picard finished the glass. "Just so you and I are clear, your current post is secondary science officer under Commander Data, though this is only temporary; you'll be promoted to chief science officer soon enough. I'd prefer if you kept that between us."

"Yes sir," Seven said. She seemed slightly uncomfortable. "Captain, I have a great deal of respect for Commander Data... I hope that this is not going to create any unpleasantness."

"Your compassion is admirable," Picard said. "Don't worry about Data, it's all part of my diabolic plan." Seven looked at him oddly and he suppressed a laugh, then set his empty glass down on the bar. "Well, if you'll excuse me, lieutenant," he said, emphasizing the word, "I've got to return to the bridge."

"I will accompany you," Seven said.

"Oh no no no," Picard said. "This is your party, you have to stay."

Seven looked at the gathered masses, laughing and talking and drinking. "I would prefer not to."

"Well, you're going to have to get used to these," and Picard grinned at her, "ticklish situations."

Picard chuckled quietly at her discomfort, patted her on the shoulder in his fatherly way, and left. As he left Riker came up to the bar and placed an order. "Buy you a drink, lieutenant?" he asked pleasantly.

"I do not drink, and they are free regardless."

Riker's eyes swiveled this way and that. "Right," he said under his breath. "You know, you could just try it."

"No."

"Aw, come on Seven."

"It's my party, and I'll try if I want to."

"Fair enough," Riker said in defeat. "So, Seven of Nine, an actual member of Starfleet. Are you going to switch to a standard uniform now?"

"Is it mandatory?"

"Well, the captain does allow the occasional liberty on that score," Riker said.

"Then I would prefer not to," Seven said.

"May I ask why?"

Seven reached out and pulled on Riker's sleeve. "There's a great deal of space here," she says. "As you know, the Borg do not wear what you would consider clothing, but are covered in synthetic armor. The armor is laid along the skin to minimize the possibilities of contaminants entering between the two. It is a more pleasant sensation than being draped."

Riker slowly chuckled. "So, all this time, you've been wearing something skin tight because that's simply what you're used to?"

"What other possible reason could there be?"

Riker looked all 1.7 meters of voluptuous Borg up and down. "Can't think of a one," he said.

"It seems our little Borg's all grown up," Janeway said with a smile.

"Let's hope the Enterprise can keep her that way," Torres said, with her not so friendly smile.

"Catfight, catfight," Harry said under his breath.

"Now, let's save the remarks for after the meeting," Janeway said. "I just thought everyone could use a little bit of good news, under the circumstances."

"At this point, just finding out you bought a new hat would be good news," Paris said.

"I'm saving that for later," Janeway said, then her face turned more downcast. "In case any of you hadn't heard, a combined Romulan-Cardassian fleet of cloaked ships invaded the Terran System to steal Federation ships from Utopia Planetia."

"And failed," Chakotay added.

"Yeah," Lt. Kim began, "I heard that one star destroyer destroyed the whole fleet."

"Mr. Kim," Tuvok said. "The only thing that amazes me more than your tendency to gossip is your willingness to believe the ludicrous remarks you're told."

"He's not too far off," Paris admitted. "One ship bought them time enough for the cavalry to arrive. That's saying something."

"Along with the Mars defense perimeter," Tuvok pointed out.

Paris snickered. "The Mars defense perimeter couldn't stop a tragordian boar in heat."

"Nevertheless," Janeway interrupted, trying to regain control of the conversation, "it seems clear that the Federation needs to be ready in case of further attacks. Whether the Cardassians and the Romulans merely worked together on the one mission or whether they have actually formed an alliance is unclear at this time. Regardless, we've got to keep a lookout. Our orders are to rendezvous at Deep Space Nine with three other vessels and begin a sweep along the Cardassian border. We'll be making long-range sensor sweeps to try to determine what's going on. Ensign," she turned to Kim, "how are you coming in astrometrics?"

Kim hesitated slightly. "Well, I'm no 'little Borg,' but I think I've got the hang of the new equipment modifications she made."

"Let me know if you need some support personnel," Janeway said.

"Captain," Chakotay said, "I'm wondering what the Empire's going to do. Any hints?"

"No one has officially declared war yet," Janeway said. "Since the Empire has no diplomatic relations with either government yet, things are rather tense there, but so far it looks like they're not going to seek a military answer just yet."

"Pretty impressive restraint, considering they lost a warship in that fight," Paris observed.

"They have asked to increase their military presence, however," Janeway said. "However, the Federation Council rejected it; they were afraid it might provoke a war."

"Excuse me, they attacked Mars," Torres said. "How does that not qualify as provoking a war?"

"I understand, but you have to remember everything we missed while we were trapped in the delta quadrant," Janeway said. "The alpha quadrant has spent years in a vicious war, with the Dominion and with each other. They've only recently found peace... I suppose they feel it's worth overlooking what happened to hold onto it."

"Overlooking an attack on the heart of the Federation?" Torres said with a shake of her head.

"They got off lucky this time," Janeway said, "and I'm sure they both know it. It's unlikely they'll take another risk."

"Nevertheless," Tuvok said, "it would have been prudent to allow some ships from the Empire to come in the event of an attack."

"Then this should please you Tuvok. The Klingons have given a small sparsely populated planet to the Empire to use as a center for coordinating their alpha quadrant military tactics. And it just so happens to be near the Klingon-Romulan border. I'm told they'll be bringing in three hundred ships to defend the region."

Paris whistled. "They'd need to send the entire Romulan fleet just to have a chance."

"Regardless of the Empire and the Romulans," Janeway continued, "our mission is to watch the Cardassians, so be prepared. We have no idea what they might try next."

The chime of the computer awoke Bobby Jerrel from his nap. With a yawn he reached forward to turn it off, irritably wondering what set it off this time. Another meteor shower? He tapped the controls of the planetary sensor system for Halva, trying to narrow down today's foul up. To make matters worse, the damn monitor screen wasn't coming up again. He'd told them that the colony needed to upgrade for some newer components, but no one listened. He sighed, gave it a good rap, and tried again. Finally, the screen came up as he began chewing a darkata leaf.

The leaf slowly fell to the floor as his jaw fell open in stunned silence. No, it wasn't possible. Bobby started panicking; they'd told him what to do when he got this job, but now he couldn't remember! In desperation he turned on the communicator to contact Pralg, the tiny settlement that was technically the capital for the colony. By the time he was able to contact someone he was so fit to burst he just blurted the message out. "The Cardassians! The Cardassian are coming!"

Leia exited the ramp of the Millennium Falcon onto the forested planet of Kaajab. It was amazing how different things felt now than they had just a few months ago; she could feel things change around her as they left the emptiness of space and entered a planet lush with life in all its forms. She'd changed into the Jedi robes she'd fashioned, basing them on the old holos she'd seen. Luke tended to stick with his black combat suit, but he was a bit more of an actual knight than she was... he'd been right about the peace in her, and as her senses grew she was more aware of it. She'd chosen this because in the end she felt the role of the peacemaker was hers.

Following her down the ramp was Threepio and Han, the former visibly agitated while the latter had his eyes glued to the surrounding foliage. It was the perfect place for an ambush, and Leia knew it, but a certain amount of risk was going to be part of her job. Besides, with the Force at her side, she would be aware of any danger that might present itself. Still, she could sense Han's concern. "Where exactly were we to meet them?" she asked quietly.

Han continued watching the forest. "About twenty meters that way," he pointed. He'd been optimistic about this ever since they left, but now that they were here his nervousness would have been obvious even if she couldn't sense it. She was tempted to send Threepio back and bring Luke instead -the instructions had been explicit: no more than three people- but his translation skills might be necessary, and besides, if this was a trap, it'd be better to have Luke outside of it in case they needed rescuing. He and Chewie could come up with a lot better ideas than the panicky protocol droid.

The trio stepped out of the trees and into the clearing, where three individuals awaited them. The one in the middle looked somewhat similar to humans, but she had some strange shapes on the side of his head, almost like vents. She was flanked on either side by some rather intimidating aliens. They had no hair, just a series of horns, and their skin looked reptilian. They were armed with large projectile weapons, which were sheathed for the moment.

The middle one stepped forward. "I am the Vorta, Kilana," she announced. "I speak for the Dominion."

Leia nodded. "I am Leia Organa; I speak for the Alliance."

"Mr. Solo here," Kilana said, pointing to Han, "said you had several things to discuss with us."

Leia nodded, and the verbal posturing began. Eventually Leia turned it in the direction of the Federation. Kilana didn't seem to like the topic. "The Federation is no longer any concern of ours," she said plainly. "We have seen to that."

"Then you have fought with them before," Leia asked.

"Yes, we have battled. What of it?"

"And who was the victor?"

"The Dominion is always the victor!" Kilana declared. "Whatever may happen, the Dominion will always triumph!"

"Of course," Leia said, trying to work at this particular point. "The Dominion may experience a setback, but never defeat."

"Yes," Kilana said icily.

"We're looking for information about this Federation," Leia said finally, filling the silence. "If they are the evil we think they are, perhaps we and the Dominion could work together... we could rid the galaxy of their tyranny."

Kilana's eyes narrowed. "The Dominion needs no one."

"Of course," Leia replied. "We are merely offering our services to the Dominion to help stop the Federation."

"I tire of these games!" Kilana said stepping forward. "Your fancy wordplay does not work on me! The Dominion needs no one, especially not a bunch of small weak solids!"

Leia wondered what kind of an insult "solid" was, but figured it was time to play her trump card. "If we're ending the games," Leia said slowly, "then perhaps we should stop hiding things... like soldiers."

"Are you accusing us of something, Leia Organa?" Kilana said darkly.

"The game continues then," Leia said.

"We are alone," Kilana said. "Scan the area if it will end your paranoia."

"Oh," Leia said with a smile, "but I already am." She held her arm out, and a rock floated up from the forest floor into her hand. Kilana's eyes were glued to it; Leia began tossing it in the air. "You have eight soldiers here, Kilana," she said. "Are you really going to make me point them out?" She tossed the rock through the air, and it bounced off something that wasn't there.

Instantly eight shapes shimmered into being, weapons at the ready. Han went for his blaster, but Leia grabbed his hand to stop him. Kilana stared at her as if she'd just been conned in an alley but didn't know how it had been done. "Amusing trick, Leia Organa," Kilana said gravely. "It's fortunate that they didn't decide to open fire."

"Yes," Leia said. "There's a chance they could have accidentally hit that bush."

The tension now seemed near the breaking point, but then the bush began to change shape until a humanoid appeared. Leia nodded to her. "You are the leader of the Dominion," Leia remarked.

"And you are very perceptive," the shape-shifter said. "I am one of the Founders."

"I'm pleased to formally make your acquaintance," Leia said.

"I'm afraid you'll find no pleasure in what I say, human," the Founder said. "Our involvement in Federation affairs has ended. We will not become involved in any further conflicts amongst the solids."

"If that is your wish-"

"It is," the Founder said. "Leave this world, leave our space, and forget you ever heard of us. Your Alliance can wage this war on your own."

"We shall honor your wishes," Leia said. "If you would but point the way, we would head towards the Federation instead of accidentally blundering back into your space in the future."

"They lie through the anomaly," the Founder said. "We will transmit its co-ordinates to you when you leave orbit. Now go."

"But I think you should tell me now," Leia said with a slight wave of her hand.

"What you think is not my concern," the Founder said. "Go."

Leia nodded, slightly disappointed. "Let's go," she said, and the trio departed.

The Dominion members watched until the ship began to lift off. "Kilana 3," the Founder said. "Instruct the fleet to destroy that ship. This Leia Organa is too dangerous to be allowed to live."

Go To Part XVI
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