Literary Challenge 55 - We are the (Mirror) Borg
---
"So, the Captain said, 'In Starfleet, sometime you have to pick the lesser of two Zeebles."
The table of retired Admirals erupted in laughter, much to the annoyance of nearby patrons at the restaurant. Risa's suns had passed the horizon hours ago, but the restaurant was as lively with various groups now as it had during the sunset hours. The Admiral who had told the last tale was still wiping tears with his napkin as the laughter turned to chuckles.
The Klingon at the table placed his drinking glass on the table with a heavy hand, achieving his goal of gathering the group's attention. "Excellent tale Calgar! I think it's time to hear from Admiral Beringer. You were the last of Starfleet's active Captains to fly an Excelsior-class ship before they were decommissioned. Tell us about an interesting mission with her."
Kathryn's mirth faded and she looked into her wine glass. "Him, my ships were always referred in the masculine tense." She turned away and looked toward the view of the deep, silent complete blackness of the ocean. "Solaris was my finest ship and I fought hard to keep him that way for as long as I could." She raised her glass, "if I may, esteemed colleagues, a toast to our ships and crew of the past. May they forever fly among the stars."
The other three Admirals raised their glasses. Admiral Matthew Calgar further added, "until they burn their last lights". He smiled at Kathryn and his grey closely trimmed beard revealed a clean row of white teeth.
Admiral Granon Trex, the Klingon, slurped his glass empty before admonishing Kathryn. "I hope you are not dodging your story telling this evening Admiral."
Having returned Matthew's smile with one of her own, Kathryn looked to Granon. "Patience is a virtue in the rest of the galaxy. If you learned it earlier you may have had your rank bar quicker." Kathryn beamed as the others almost spit up their drinks. Granon grinned as he wiped the corners of his mouth.
"This was in the Mirror Universe -", Kathryn was interrupted by the collective groan from the group. "Oh, be quiet. If you read my report, then nothing I'm about to say is new."
"My crew had just foiled an attempt by the Terran Empire to use the Bajoran Wormhole as a stable gateway between 'Verses. I ordered Solaris to enter the wormhole to conduct various scans and probes, you know, standard protocols -"
"Let me guess," Admiral Tracy Kent interrupted. Her bright red lips a stark contrast to her white-powdered face and long, straight, dark black hair. She looked more Vulcan than Human at her advanced age, and certainly spoke like one. "Your ship mysteriously found it's way into the Mirror Universe by some technical means only your Chief Science officer could explain rationally."
Kathryn feigned surprise, "you knew Omazei too?" Both women chuckled. "Yes, the details escape me now and I don't recall how much I cared to know then. All I knew is the Wormhole not only dropped us off in the Mirror 'Verse, we were also at the approximate coordinates in the Delta Quadrant where the tunnel ends." She shrugged, "or begins depending on your point of view."
"How did you know you were in the Mirror Universe?" Granon refilled his glass as he spoke.
"Easy. There was nothing on the other side. Except a Borg Cube."
Granon coughed into his drink, Matthew's eyes widened, and Tracy crossed her arms with a grin. Kathryn calmly took a sip from her own glass.
Tracy broke the silence. "Well, you are sitting with us, so you clearly survived the encounter."
"Don't spoil it Tracy," chided Matthew.
Kathryn raised a hand to calm Calgar "It's understandable. As you all know, spending time with Omega Force means you get training and equipment. Needless to say, we made it back. Beat up, but we did it."
Granon wasn't satisfied. "How are the 'Mirror Borg'?"
Kathryn frowned as she recalled the event. "We actually considered they would be radically different from our version. You know, being in an alternate Universe. After several minutes in silence, we decided to scan the Cube for anomalies or differences. Then they responded over the comms."
Matthew and Granon were clearly involved. Tracy still had her arms crossed. Kathryn continued, "It was a little disappointing to hear the monotone voice saying, 'Hello Captain. We are the Borg." She opened her eyes wide and twisted her lips to mimic a robot talking.
"Did they really say 'Hello Captain'?" Tracy looked skeptical.
Suddenly looking annoyed, Kathryn said, "of course not." She relaxed. "My senior staff started making suggestions, but once the Borg beams started flashing, there was only one logical course of action."
"Fight?" Matthew grabbed his glass and drank a gulp.
Kathryn shook her head. "Run. We dodged, weaved and rolled as Solaris would allow. My Chief Engineer yelled Andorian curses at every maneuver I ordered. Meanwhile, my Science Chief worked frantically to find a way back home without bringing these Borg with us to DS9."
"Nothing a simple interphasic shift couldn't solve, right Admiral?" Granon finished his glass again.
Tracy chimed in, "indeed. If I recall, align the deflector dish to emit a Tachyon burst and -".
"No, not this time." Kathryn interrupted and continued without pause. "I ordered our entire payload of Nukara web mines deployed and when the Cube was slowed we came about and poured as much firepower available. We probably burned out a few emitters in the process. The Cube fractured and that's when we knew we won. They fought back hard though." Kathryn finished her glass. "When it was done we took our time licking our wounds while also finding our way out. We also reviewed combat logs and scanned the debris field."
Matthew finished his glass and quickly raised his hand at a passing waiter to order more wine for the group. "What did you find?"
Kathryn huffed. "Our scans proved the Borg were not from our Universe."
"But how are the Mirror Borg different from our Borg?" Tracy repeated Granon's earlier question finally showing interest in the tale.
"From the entire experience, I can't say they are different at all. We concluded that Borg are Borg, no matter what 'Verse you're in."
---
Cast:
Kathryn Beringer - Rachel Nichols
Tracy Kent - Monica Bellucci
Matthew Calgar - Conleth Hill
Grannon Trex - Orlando Jones
---
"So, the Captain said, 'In Starfleet, sometime you have to pick the lesser of two Zeebles."
The table of retired Admirals erupted in laughter, much to the annoyance of nearby patrons at the restaurant. Risa's suns had passed the horizon hours ago, but the restaurant was as lively with various groups now as it had during the sunset hours. The Admiral who had told the last tale was still wiping tears with his napkin as the laughter turned to chuckles.
The Klingon at the table placed his drinking glass on the table with a heavy hand, achieving his goal of gathering the group's attention. "Excellent tale Calgar! I think it's time to hear from Admiral Beringer. You were the last of Starfleet's active Captains to fly an Excelsior-class ship before they were decommissioned. Tell us about an interesting mission with her."
Kathryn's mirth faded and she looked into her wine glass. "Him, my ships were always referred in the masculine tense." She turned away and looked toward the view of the deep, silent complete blackness of the ocean. "Solaris was my finest ship and I fought hard to keep him that way for as long as I could." She raised her glass, "if I may, esteemed colleagues, a toast to our ships and crew of the past. May they forever fly among the stars."
The other three Admirals raised their glasses. Admiral Matthew Calgar further added, "until they burn their last lights". He smiled at Kathryn and his grey closely trimmed beard revealed a clean row of white teeth.
Admiral Granon Trex, the Klingon, slurped his glass empty before admonishing Kathryn. "I hope you are not dodging your story telling this evening Admiral."
Having returned Matthew's smile with one of her own, Kathryn looked to Granon. "Patience is a virtue in the rest of the galaxy. If you learned it earlier you may have had your rank bar quicker." Kathryn beamed as the others almost spit up their drinks. Granon grinned as he wiped the corners of his mouth.
"This was in the Mirror Universe -", Kathryn was interrupted by the collective groan from the group. "Oh, be quiet. If you read my report, then nothing I'm about to say is new."
"My crew had just foiled an attempt by the Terran Empire to use the Bajoran Wormhole as a stable gateway between 'Verses. I ordered Solaris to enter the wormhole to conduct various scans and probes, you know, standard protocols -"
"Let me guess," Admiral Tracy Kent interrupted. Her bright red lips a stark contrast to her white-powdered face and long, straight, dark black hair. She looked more Vulcan than Human at her advanced age, and certainly spoke like one. "Your ship mysteriously found it's way into the Mirror Universe by some technical means only your Chief Science officer could explain rationally."
Kathryn feigned surprise, "you knew Omazei too?" Both women chuckled. "Yes, the details escape me now and I don't recall how much I cared to know then. All I knew is the Wormhole not only dropped us off in the Mirror 'Verse, we were also at the approximate coordinates in the Delta Quadrant where the tunnel ends." She shrugged, "or begins depending on your point of view."
"How did you know you were in the Mirror Universe?" Granon refilled his glass as he spoke.
"Easy. There was nothing on the other side. Except a Borg Cube."
Granon coughed into his drink, Matthew's eyes widened, and Tracy crossed her arms with a grin. Kathryn calmly took a sip from her own glass.
Tracy broke the silence. "Well, you are sitting with us, so you clearly survived the encounter."
"Don't spoil it Tracy," chided Matthew.
Kathryn raised a hand to calm Calgar "It's understandable. As you all know, spending time with Omega Force means you get training and equipment. Needless to say, we made it back. Beat up, but we did it."
Granon wasn't satisfied. "How are the 'Mirror Borg'?"
Kathryn frowned as she recalled the event. "We actually considered they would be radically different from our version. You know, being in an alternate Universe. After several minutes in silence, we decided to scan the Cube for anomalies or differences. Then they responded over the comms."
Matthew and Granon were clearly involved. Tracy still had her arms crossed. Kathryn continued, "It was a little disappointing to hear the monotone voice saying, 'Hello Captain. We are the Borg." She opened her eyes wide and twisted her lips to mimic a robot talking.
"Did they really say 'Hello Captain'?" Tracy looked skeptical.
Suddenly looking annoyed, Kathryn said, "of course not." She relaxed. "My senior staff started making suggestions, but once the Borg beams started flashing, there was only one logical course of action."
"Fight?" Matthew grabbed his glass and drank a gulp.
Kathryn shook her head. "Run. We dodged, weaved and rolled as Solaris would allow. My Chief Engineer yelled Andorian curses at every maneuver I ordered. Meanwhile, my Science Chief worked frantically to find a way back home without bringing these Borg with us to DS9."
"Nothing a simple interphasic shift couldn't solve, right Admiral?" Granon finished his glass again.
Tracy chimed in, "indeed. If I recall, align the deflector dish to emit a Tachyon burst and -".
"No, not this time." Kathryn interrupted and continued without pause. "I ordered our entire payload of Nukara web mines deployed and when the Cube was slowed we came about and poured as much firepower available. We probably burned out a few emitters in the process. The Cube fractured and that's when we knew we won. They fought back hard though." Kathryn finished her glass. "When it was done we took our time licking our wounds while also finding our way out. We also reviewed combat logs and scanned the debris field."
Matthew finished his glass and quickly raised his hand at a passing waiter to order more wine for the group. "What did you find?"
Kathryn huffed. "Our scans proved the Borg were not from our Universe."
"But how are the Mirror Borg different from our Borg?" Tracy repeated Granon's earlier question finally showing interest in the tale.
"From the entire experience, I can't say they are different at all. We concluded that Borg are Borg, no matter what 'Verse you're in."
---
Cast:
Kathryn Beringer - Rachel Nichols
Tracy Kent - Monica Bellucci
Matthew Calgar - Conleth Hill
Grannon Trex - Orlando Jones
No comments:
Post a Comment