STAR TREK - The Fourth Law

Chapter 18

"They stepped back" said the android, captain of Siegfried, explaining what all tried to see on the small screen of the cell where they were arrested.

Jean-Luc Picard on the one hand, was happy with the attitude of your ship. William had probably noticed the enormous danger that was facing that warship. At least, the Enterprise would be safe far away.

"Why the Borg does not follow them?" Admiral Gregory asked.

"They should consider waste of resources" said the Vulcan. "After all, when the Borg possess the technology of the Reverse Teleportation Shield, they can assimilate any species or breed of the galaxy.

"We turn the head to the Delta Quadrant!" lamented Yoshi. "I think we just lost our last hope..."

Picard looked at the door that was under the onslaught of the plasma torch of the Borg, and he saw that the circle that attackers were trying to open already had 270° or so. When they reached 360°, it would be the end.

***

Aboard the Enterprise, William Riker was furious. All damages and surprises that had brought his ship to a defeat, which very nearly was not fatal, were due to lack of information. In his opinion, Starfleet had not given a mission, but sent him and his crew to an ambush. And at the moment, he wanted to take satisfaction with whom had put he in that highly dangerous situation without the minimum conditions.

He and Worf were in the captain's cabin, and they talked for subspace communicator with Admiral Sophia, one of the officers graduated Starfleet.

"We have so many faults that a single burst phaser would open the hull of the Enterprise in half!" shouted instant, unable to contain his strong personality in the face of an officer of higher rank. "I almost lost a hundred lives here, and you ask me about the mission! I think we do have questions."

Admiral Sophia heard it all calmly, hoping to spend the verbal storm Riker. She had passed the age of being able to feel strong emotions and besides, she knew immediately he was right.

"I understand your position, Mr. Riker" she said in her velvety voice. "Now I ask you to understand mine... The ship you found is a top secret project of the Starfleet. It is equipped with a shield that makes it invulnerable. This ship was designed to target the Collectivity, and its features make it a powerful weapon if it falls into enemy hands, the fate of the galaxy may be compromised."

"Why I was not warned that it is held by Borg?"

"Because we did not know... The last information that Siegfried passes were sent some time after the explosion of Omega-Sat base, and nothing was reported about the Borg. After all, attempts to contact the captain Rast failed. We also knew the casualties with the Klingon scout ships, which increased our apprehension. As we did not know what was going on, we call the best available ship, the Enterprise, to ascertain the situation. Do you understand that it deserved caution?"

"Not all caution prevented the Collectivity to take control of the ship" said Will not be able to go further in your suggestion of incompetence by the high command of the Starfleet.

"You cannot imagine how this constrains us, Mr. Riker. Armed with the new technology, the Collectivity would be many times more dangerous than it is."

"No one realized that the ship could be invaded by the Borg?" he asked immediately.

"This is what most amazes us" said the admiral. "The Siegfried should be immune to any attempted invasion... Something went wrong."

It sounded very badly in the ears of Worf. He felt anger lack of security expertise. He was so excited by a new battle chance that he took the floor.

"Admiral!" asked Worf. "What measures Starfleet plan to take now?"

It allowed them to see all their insecurity. In fact, there wasn't so much to be done at that point, and any action would be an expression of despair.

"We are working with assumptions... If the Collectivity does not have possession of the secret of Reverse Teleportation Shield, then destroy Siegfried would be the right option. The question is: how?"

"If they have already discovered the secret" supposed Riker, "there is nothing to be done."

"Why do they still not know?" asked Worf. "If they assimilated the crew and had access to the computers of the ship, so they already know..."

"Not exactly, Mr. Worf" said Sophia. "Knowledge of technology is so dangerous that is stored in only two places: one is the positronic brain of captain Rast, the other is the memory of the physicist who developed the shield."

"So it is explained because they travel into the Delta Quadrant" Riker said. "We know that androids are only assimilated if they want, so the captain Rast never reveal the secret. They're taking the ship to study it in Borg space."

"The problem, Mr. Riker" said the admiral "is that the physicist who discovered the process was present at the commissioning of Siegfried, and we are sure that he was on board at the time of explosion Sat-Omega base, which means that he was alive until the arrival of Borg."

"So he was assimilated..." muttered Riker.

"It is a chance, Mr. Riker. But based on it, we must ask why the Borg are going to the Delta Quadrant. If they already possessed the knowledge that Dr. Yoshikawa has, the Collectivity would not need the ship."

"Certainly, Admiral Sophia. However, we continue in the field of hypotheses. We have to act in some way because it may be that there is still time to save the galaxy."

"There's something else, Lt. Commander... Losing that ship, its captain or physical, the Federation will be without the shield technology."

Then Riker realized that her concern was the loss of secrecy, which irritated him for a moment. Then he thought better on it and held that she was right, because the Borg would have a huge advantage over if they had the shield, while the Starfleet would remain the same. Recovering the ship, the Federation could fight on equal terms against the Borg, saving thousands of worlds.

"You're right, Admiral. The Enterprise is following the Siegfried at a safe distance, and we can take action when needed, despite the damage. We need to act fast!"

"Let's gather all the ships that we have" Sophia said. "The Klingon Empire will help us, but we do not know how long this could take."

"Good point" he said immediately. "We would like to be Captain Picard with us, but we don't know where he is."

Admiral shifted nervously in his chair, breath taking to say the more slowly as possible.

"There is one more thing you need to know, Mr. Riker... Captain Jean-Luc Picard, you know, participating in a secret activity of Starfleet... He was invited to participate in the commissioning of the USS Siegfried, and we know he was aboard it when the starship was invaded by the Borgs.

William Riker could not put into words what he felt. For a moment it was fear, then anger, and finally the excitement for battle. That made him loses his mind and imagines that desperate measures, such as playing the Enterprise on Siegfried, would solve the problem. But the importance of the case had taken another amplitude from that time, which forced him to think differently to find an answer.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Riker" Sophia murmured seeing the folly of expression on the face of the immediate.

"Don't sorry yet, Admiral" said Riker. "Now I know there is a chance to save the galaxy and some of the crew of that ship. If Picard had been assimilated, Locutus would have contacted us, but it was another Borg who did. Somehow, Captain Picard and probably the scientist who developed the special shield are resisting assimilation. This means that the Enterprise must act fast! I request a full report of the ship class Spiritus so we can know what the characteristics and weaknesses of Siegfried."

"You know it's not safe to stand alone against Siegfried, Mr. Riker. Why do you want to insist?

"Because now it's personal!" and he bared his teeth at her, almost snarling. "And if resistance is futile, to insisting is everything!