Star Traks: Melting Pot is based on Alan Decker's Star Traks, which in turn is based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry, may he rest in peace. Copyright 2005. Star Traks: Melting Pot "Xenophobia: Part 1" by Paul Cloutier No good deed goes unpunished. Clare Booth Luce, in H. Faber, The Book of Laws, 1980 "M'Dral! Divert all available power to the aft shields and the warp drive!" Thog's desperate scream echoed across the Bridge. Mantron's darting fingers tossed the ship in an ever changing dance of deception, designed to deny their pursuers any stable target to shoot at. Banjo unleashed torpedoes and phaser bursts not to disable their tormentors, but to merely make them hesitate or move away, momentarily. M'Dral's hands moved nearly as fast as Dil's, transferring power and re-aligning circuitry that overloaded after the occasional near miss of their enemies' attacks. They had been fighting this running battle for over two days, now, and the entire crew was exhausted. They only had about six more hours to travel until they could reach the security of the Omega Configuration, however. It was hoped that the ships pursuing them would not be able to follow them into that radiation field. Since there had been no sign of externally mounted barion emitters on any of the pursuit ships, hopes were high that the radiation field hiding the Foreenan system would provide the fugitives with sanctuary. It had been uncanny how the attack had started. They had still been in the Keratinian System, finishing off helping the population of Bouffant with their medical emergency, when the broadcast had come over all Starfleet channels accusing them of high treason and ordering their immediate capture or destruction. They had tried to call Starfleet Command to find out what was happening, but all the comm channels had mysteriously been jammed. As they had exited the system, they had been approached by the USS Desmodus. They had opened a hailing channel to ask what was happening, but their hails had been ignored. Instead, the Desmodus had opened fire on them and only Mantron's quick fingers had saved the ship. Since then, they had been fighting a running battle. More and more ships had joined the chase and it was only Seetamyn's quick decision, early on, to head for the Foreenan System, that had saved them. Had they headed for Earth, they would have run right into the teeth of the opposition and been annihilated. Ustrano had somehow kept the ship functioning at Warp 9.95 the entire time, but the strain was beginning to show. The warp drive had developed a peculiar, high-pitched hum. Captain Seetamyn was down in Engineering, now, seeing what could be done to help. Seetamyn looked over the chaos that was Main Engineering. Crewmen were running everywhere, frantically checking readout panels and gauges throughout the department. Ensign Hirthnole, along with a complement of Ships Services officers, were assisting as best they could. Isolinear chips were strewn about, everywhere, and plasma conduit glowed red as it tried to handle the huge strain. At the heart of it all, like some insane, mutated conductor performing a symphony of the damned, was Ustrano. Its tentacles flipped every which way, seemingly doing the jobs of six men. Using senses not granted to humanoids, the Velvattian seemed to know exactly when and where a conduit would rupture, and as it would, a tentacle was there with a replacement conduit, in place so quickly that there was no loss of operation. Seetamyn watched as it fixed four ruptured conduits, simultaneously. Assured that everything was being handled, and realizing that his saying anything would only divert his officer's attention, he left as quietly as he had come, and entered a Jefferies tube to climb his way back to the Bridge. M'Dral diverted more and more power to the aft shields. Transporters, replicators, holodecks and turbolifts had already been taken offline. She was at the point where she was switching off individual lights in the corridors and living quarters, now. She had to be careful to try to keep the loads balanced through the ship's EPS junctions, since a failure in any single junction could result in a catastrophic cascade failure. The ship's Computer might have been able to handle the job slightly faster, but it had been put in standby mode to conserve even more power. She finally had reached the point where she had to take drastic measures, "Banjo, I have to take your phasers offline. I can leave you the aft quantum torpedoes for the time being, but don't count on having them for too long." So far, she was being kept too busy to hyperventilate, so the Bridge was remarkably free of respirant fumes. "Banjo, while you still can, fire a full spread at 122 mark 14," Mantron shouted out. Banjo quickly complied. Looking at his readout he realized that M'Dral might not have to shut him down. There was a real danger of him running out of torpedoes in the very near future. Mantron changed course, suddenly. The pursuing ships blindly followed his maneuver and swung themselves right into Banjo's torpedo spread. The confusion granted the Menagerie crew a very brief reprieve. Using the time thus gained, Mantron slingshotted around a nearby moon and opened up a little gap between the ship and her pursuers. Hopefully it would be enough. The blanketing radiation field engulfed the fleeing ship like, well, like a blanket. The Menagerie had made it safely into the Omega Configuration. Of course, "safely" was rarely defined as "being chased by members of your own fleet, intent on destroying you", but after the tension of the past few days, it sure felt like safety to the crew. Mantron flew the ship in blindly, without activating the barion emitters or changing the ship's shield frequency. Nobody wanted their attackers following them, and they had excellent scans of the system from their previous visit. Once they were away from the edge of the field, he would activate the radiation neutralizing measures that they had devised and they could keep an eye on any of their pursuers who were foolish enough to try to follow them. Seetamyn called for the ship to come to a halt halfway between the outer edge of the field and its center. He called for damage assessment teams to go over the ship and sent his Senior Staff off to bed. He, for his part, went to have a chat with Admiral Sontak. After ringing the door chime outside the VIP quarters, he entered and greeted the Admiral. Moving quickly to the room's replicator he ordered two glasses of carrot juice. Handing one to Sontak, he sipped from his own glass and then began to speak, "Sir, it appears as though you will be getting your chance to interview the OverMind a bit sooner than we had anticipated." "It appears fortunate that I will be getting such a chance at all," observed Sontak. "You realize that if I had been captain, I would have ordered us directly to Earth to try to straighten this whole thing out." "Yes, Sir," Seetamyn agreed, "that would have been the logical thing to do." "It would also have resulted in us being destroyed," responded Sontak. Seetamyn nodded his head slightly, acknowledging this logical outcome. "So, tell me, why did you decide to have us head this way, not that I am in any way complaining, you understand." "Understood, Sir," Seetamyn agreed. "As you said, the logical thing to do would have been to head back to Earth and resolve the problem. Unfortunately, I knew that whoever we were facing would reach the same conclusion. Therefore, the next, most logical thing to do would have been to head for the nearest Federation world and seek asylum. Again, such an action would have been anticipated by our opponent. So I simply decided to do the least logical thing and had us head here. No one would ever think that someone else would want to seek refuge in an unchartable radiation field." "So, what you are saying is that the only logical course of action was to do something completely illogical?" "Exactly, Sir." "Fascinating." "Now about that other matter that we were discussing..." Captain's Log; Stardate 57892.4 - We have reached the relative safety of the Omega Configuration. The nature of the radiation that creates the Configuration has cut us off from the rest of the Alpha Quadrant, so while it is true that our pursuers cannot reach us, neither can we contact anyone else. The damage assessment teams have completed their initial surveys and I have called a briefing to allow us to make further plans. This will be Linnea's first briefing as one of the Senior Staff and I am confident that she will be able to offer us a valuable new point of view. "... six shield generators show signs of internal damage and 24 EPS junctions will have to be completely replaced," Ustrano concluded its damage assessment list. It had been a distressingly long one. "What about crew injuries," Seetamyn asked next, turning to Doctor Pish. "Quite light, Sir," she quickly replied. "Other than a few bumps and bruises, and a few minor burns among the ship's services personnel, we came through pretty much unscathed." "So far," muttered Mantron, darkly. "Yes, that is the problem, isn't it?" Banjo spoke up. "We can hide here forever if need be, but there must be some reason that we have been singled out like this. Who knows what our enemies are up to while we hide in here." "We don't have a lot of choice," Ustrano rumbled. "We can't take on the whole fleet." "Lieutenant Commander," Seetamyn broke in, addressing Ustrano, "what capabilities do we currently have?" "I can give you warp 6 with no problem. We have 75% phaser capability and we will have full phasers in about 14 hours. We have 4 tri-cobalt devices left and 16 quantum torpedoes. Our ablative armor is down a couple of layers in spots, but it is functional. We have shields at about 60%. Give me 3 days and I'll have everything at 100%, except the warp drive and the torpedo stocks." "How long will it take to replenish our torpedoes?" Banjo asked. "I have one of the ship's workshops ready to mass-produce them. What we need is replicator power to produce the parts and personnel to assemble the torpedoes. Once the major ship systems are back in order, I can put twenty people on the assembly line and give you a full complement in just under two days." "What about the warp drive?" Mantron inquired. "That's not so good. We fractured a huge number of dilithium crystals keeping at warp 9.95 for so long. Without a fresh supply, we have warp 6 for, maybe, 4 months and then we're dead in space." "With our shields in their current state can we activate the radiation nullification process?" Seetamyn asked. "Yes, Sir," came the reply. "Very well. Hold off on all repair work and concentrate on replenishing the quantum torpedo stores. See about constructing additional tri-cobalt devices, as well. Activate the barion emitters and tune the shields to frequency 12453. Lieutenant Mantron, take us to Foreena Four." With slightly perplexed looks the crew shuffled out of the Briefing Room. After they had gone, Seetamyn realized that Linnea hadn't said a word. So much for her valuable point of view! "So! They DID find something in the Omega Configuration!" "Not necessarily, Master" "What do you mean? Why else would they head there?" "Master, they had just come from surveying that region. They have the most up-to-the-date scans of the area and they know that no one can detect them within that radiation. It was also considerably closer than Earth. Perhaps they just fled there to hide?" "They had no where else to go... You may be right. Order the ships at the Omega Configuration to surround the radiation field. Once they have fully dispersed around it, order them to proceed into the field and find the Menagerie." "And what should they do once they have found it, Master?" "Do? Do? Why, they should destroy it!" Captain's Log; Stardate 57893.1 - We have engaged our radiation nullification equipment and scans have shown that our pursuers have entered the Omega Configuration. Analysis of their flight paths seems to suggest that they are flying blind. We should be safe as long as we stay out of their way. We have continued on to Foreena Four and made contact with the OverMind, who will be joining us for a new briefing. Admiral Sontak and I have come up with some disturbing speculations about what has been happening. I find myself in the unusual position of hoping that I am wrong. Seetamyn opened the briefing by immediately jumping into a discussion of the current situation, rather than waste time and effort with pleasantries. This was not unexpected and, since the crew was currently being hunted down by those who had been their friends, anyway, there weren't too many pleasantries to share. "I would first like to test the validity of an hypothesis that Admiral Sontak and I have been discussing," he said. "OverMind, I believe that you are familiar with the coordinate system that we use to define points in space." "Yes Captain, I/we learned much when I/we examined your internal systems at the time of our first meeting." "Excellent. In that case, may I ask you if the following coordinates hold any particular significance for you." He then read out two sets of tripartite coordinates. Dil recognized that they referred to points in the Trill and Bracktia systems. "Oh course they are significant to me/us. I/We do not know how you figured them out, but those are the coordinates for the systems where I/we sent the creatures that were the results of the genetic splitting of the Black Queens. One planet in each of those systems got one of the halves." "Oh no!" cried Dil, "you can't mean..." "I appears so, Lieutenant. The symbionts that we rescued... The cross breeding program on Trill. It all adds up. The Black Queens are back. And WE are the ones who made it all possible." "What, what are you talking about? I/We deliberately split those monsters apart into the most repulsive and disgusting forms that I/we could manage. Why would anyone possibly try to combine them?" "Well, the people of Trill and Bracktia have been joining with these symbionts..." "What do you mean 'joining'?" The OverMind asked, obviously disgusted by the idea. "They make a small incision in their abdomens and allow the symbionts to crawl inside and merge with their nervous systems." "They do what??! Why in the name of hope would anyone do such a thing?" "The symbionts live for a very long time. When joined the host has access to the memories gained during previous joinings." "Stupid primitive idiots! You'll stick anything you find in any orifice that you think it will fit in! If you can't find an orifice the right size, you'll make a new one! I/We sacrificed our physical forms - damnation - I/we even sacrificed my/our home world to end the terror of the Black Queens, and now you've revived the greatest threat that the galaxy has ever seen!" Seetamyn regarded the luminescent cloud on Briefing Room viewscreen. Instead of its normal bluish-white coloration, the OverMind now pulsed with a dark scarlet. Based on this and on the tone it had used to address the room, Seetamyn guessed that the OverMind was a tad annoyed. One might even go so far as to say it was a bit angry. He couldn't understand why. The Menagerie had only carried out her assigned mission. If anyone was at fault, it was the OverMind. Some sort of warning beacon or something similar should have been placed near Bracktia Prime and Trill. However, this wasn't the time to cast about recriminations. A situation had been created which would have to be corrected. They should spend their time and energy on that rather than on these senseless outbursts. Even the Humans had a saying, "In an emergency, fix the problem, not the blame." Realizing that he would have to say something to mollify their ally, he thought of another Human saying, "Oops," he said. If the OverMind had shown pulses of scarlet, before, it was positively crimson, now. Its voice sounded again, this time loud enough to rattle the PADDs on the Briefing Room table, "'Oops'! You put the entire galaxy at risk, you make a mockery of my/our sacrifice, you, you, ... ... and all you can say is 'Oops'?" "No, I am fully capable of saying any number of things. However, saying any of them really won't help us to rectify this situation. If you have finished your outburst, perhaps we could start on working on a plan to correct this problem," Seetamyn responded, absolutely unphased by the OverMind's tirade. Around the table, the others anxiously waited to see what would happen next. All except Admiral Sontak and Lieutenant Dil Mantron, anyway. The admiral was, like the captain, a Vulcan, so he waited placidly, not anxiously. Dil seemed concerned about something else, as he kept rubbing his hands through his hair. The OverMind seemed to compose itself, its next words were calmer, more reasoned, "Very well, Captain. It is not possible to change the past, I/we suppose. How do you recommend that we proceed?" "First of all, tell us what you know about the Black Queens." "Very well. To start off, you should know that they are not "Queens", per se. They aren't even female. Or male for that matter. They seem to reproduce by laying a 'thought egg' in the mind of one of their Thralls. Then a sort of post-hypnotic suggestion causes that Thrall to go off, all alone, to some remote area. When it senses that it is secure, the 'egg' hatches, transforming the host's DNA into that of a Queen and reforming the body. The host's mind is destroyed and only the new-born Queen is left. Its powers, at this point, are very rudimentary, in fact I/we used to call them 'Black Princesses' at this stage of their life. However, after about six months, they have matured into a full-fledged Queen." "OK, that is a start. What about their physical characteristics?" "In form they are rather difficult to describe. Start with a ten-meter long black and speckled-blue serpent's body. A very thick, call it one meter in diameter, serpent's body. Now add nine pairs of legs. These legs start about one meter from either end and are each one meter long. Each leg is made from a hard, chitinous material and has two "knees". The first "knee" occurs about halfway down each leg and causes the legs to flare out sideways from the body. The leg then continues down to the ground and ends in a three-fingered "foot", suspending the body one half meter above the ground. The fingers are all mutually opposed and about ten centimeters long. They are pointed and can be locked together in a hard, sharp spike. They are also quite dexterous, easily equal to a normal man's fingers. The front two meters of the body are held vertically, with the one pair of legs not used for support, specially adapted as 'arms' this pair is slightly longer and much stronger than the normal legs. Finally, the face of the creature looks like that of a beautiful woman. When one looks closer, however, one sees only evil in its eyes. Below the head, is a collar of bone which flares out twenty centimeters from the body, like some elaborate collar, and protects the head. They move extremely quickly, can climb walls and ceilings and function under water as well as on land." "Sounds nasty," Mantron decided. "How do you kill them?" "With great difficulty. First of all, their highly developed mental powers make them virtually imperious to energy weapons. Projectile weapons and hand held bludgeoning, cutting or stabbing weapons are all effective. Explosives can be used as well, but gases, fire, cold, and radiation all have negligible effects on them. All of this, of course, assumes that you can get past their Thralls." "You have mentioned them, before. What can you tell us about these 'Thralls'." "Thralls are what I/we called those beings under the mental control of the Queens. Almost any humanoid was susceptible to their powers. Fortunately, a being under control of the Queens always exhibits a peculiar physical manifestation of their Thralldom - their eyes glow a bright yellow!" "Wait a minute!" Mantron interrupted, again, "you mean that secretary I was flirting with was a Thrall?" "Certainly," responded Seetamyn, calmly. "All of those new aliens are actually Black Queen Thralls." "But that means that I was right. She was a Betazoid!" "Yes, and probably a very competent telepath, as well. I am sure that her job was to scan each crewman who passed her desk for thoughts about the Foreenans. In fact, the whole trial was nothing but a ruse to get us back to Earth so that we could be examined. Once it was determined that we really hadn't discovered the Foreenans, the Black Queen decided to play it extra safe and sent us out to deliver the Athlete's Foot Fungus medicine. Once we failed in this obviously simple mission we would be discredited throughout Starfleet. We would be sent off to the far reaches of space, disgraced and forgotten. Meanwhile, the lounge singers from Bouffant would be spreading 'thought eggs' throughout the quadrant. By the time anyone realized what was happening, the Black Queen would have taken control of the entire Alpha Quadrant. But things didn't go according to plan. We DID cure that outbreak. We were heroes. We would be in the thick of things and there was too strong of a possibility that we had, in fact, contacted the Foreenans. We had to be eliminated. So the charges of High Treason were brought against us and every ship in the Fleet had us in her sights. It was no mistake that the first ships we encountered belonged to the T.W.I.T.S., they had been sent on ahead so that there would be no accidental reconciliations. "Shoot on sight" is not normal Starfleet operating procedure." "So, a Black Queen has taken control of Admiral Windgarde and infiltrated the T.W.I.T.S.!" Mantron deduced. "Of course," agreed Seetamyn, quietly. "I wouldn't be surprised if all of the T.W.I.T.S. ships after us don't also have a Black Princess on board to make sure that their insane orders are followed without question. Which beggars another question. OverMind - how many Thralls can a Queen or a Princess control?" "In the past, I/we have never known a Princess to be able to control more than six humanoids. Even then, their control was limited to approximately one kilometer. Queens, on the other hand, could control as many as thirty Thralls and their control could extend up to fifty light years. One thing you should be aware of - when you kill a Queen or a Princess, her Thralls will die, too, unless they have been 'impregnated' with a 'thought egg'. However, each Queen can only have one 'thought egg' active at a time. I/We have never known a Princess to lay a 'thought egg'." "OK, so we know what they can do and how to kill them. The next question is - how do we make use of this information?" Mantron asked. "Well, Admiral Sontak and I have had a few ideas about that. However, we have more important matters to resolve, first," Seetamyn replied to the surprise of the rest of the group. "First of all, OverMind, what are the activation cylinders on Foreena Four made of?" "They are made of a metal I/we call 'polyiridichromnium'. Why do you ask?" "I ask because this metal is stronger than anything the Federation currently has. Can you share with us the method of creating this metal?" "Certainly, though I/we don't see how that's going to help you much." "Every little bit will help. Secondly, you had mentioned, in the past, that the transport portals could be used to move objects around in this galaxy as well as into and out of the 'pocket dimensions.' Is this still true?" "Yes, of course. But this is the only transport portal still in existence. Wherever you go, it will be a one-way trip." "That's not a problem. Where we're going, if we don't win, we won't be coming back. Now, Lieutenant Mantron, back to your question. I have a little job in mind for you and Commander Banjo..." Security Chief's Log; Stardate 57894.5 - Lieutenant Mantron and I are about to make our first assault against the Black Princesses. Once the OverMind had provided us with detailed scan information on the Black Queens it was a relatively simple matter to determine which of the ships that had pursued us into the Omega Configuration had been infiltrated by the monsters. The Desmodus and five other ships have been confirmed to have these unwanted visitors. Coincidentally enough, these six ships all belong to the Tactical Warfare, Investigations and Testing Sub-Division. Normally, this assault would be impossible, but since these ships' shields are useless in the Configuration, and since they can't even see us coming, this should be a piece of cake - whatever that means. Banjo and Mantron were in the Runabout Maurice Sendak. It had been outfitted with barion emitters and had its shield generators adjusted to allow it to operate within the Omega Configuration's radiation field. Banjo was fondling his modified scythe. The plan was simple, yet brutal. Mantron would maneuver the Maurice Sendak close enough to their target to get a clean sensor sweep. He would then beam Banjo to the spot where the Black Princess was detected. He would materialize, kill the serpentine puppet master and then be beamed back. Hopefully, no one would try to do an internal sensor sweep while he was aboard, since his Changeling DNA would be easily discernable. In fact, that was how his location would be determined for beam out. After disposing of the Black Princess aboard a ship, Mantron and Banjo would proceed to the next target. Before departing, they would tractor the target ship into a new orientation so that they would have no idea which way was out and then they would dump a load of the energy parasites that they had 'discovered' the last time that they had been in the Configuration. Their victims would be lost in un-scannable space, with an unknown lifeform attacking them and, probably, without at least some of their senior staff. There would be far too much for them to worry about for them to even consider trying to find the Menagerie. Besides, Banjo had commented, it would be rude to have all these guests and not have any presents for them! "We've got a lock on the Princess," Mantron announced. "OK, get me over there, then," Banjo responded, hopping on the small transporter pad. "See you soon, Commander. Good luck!" Banjo materialized in a dark, quiet cargo hold, aboard the USS Desmodus. As his eyes slowly adjusted to the lowered light level, his ears detected a slight scratching noise to his left. Risking a blind swipe, he slung his scythe at the sound. The weapon met resistance, briefly, and the scratching noise was replaced by an unearthly howling. As his eyes became better adjusted, he saw that the room was filled with pipes, ladders and platforms at all heights and angles. It looked like some sort of public-works playground project gone horribly wrong. A sharp, tangy smell bit at his nostrils and his, now fully adjusted, eyes saw two quivering sticks on the floor. Examining the sticks he realized that they were, in fact, Black Princess legs! Just as the realization hit him, so did an extremely sharp tail-stinger! Either the Queens had been changed by their recombination, or the OverMind had just forgotten about that little detail. The stinger went all the way through Banjo's chest before lifting his body off of the floor and hurling it into the far wall. Banjo lay there, in a lump. He heard the scratching sound again, this time moving closer and realized that it was the sound of the Princess, walking. Keeping perfectly still, he allowed it to approach. "I don't know who you were, little man," came the soft, sibilant voice of the Princess, "but it really doessssn't matter anymore, doesssss it?" "Oh I don't know about that! yelled Banjo, jumping up and swinging his scythe in a broad loop. It caught the Princess just below its protective neck collar and cleanly swept straight through the monster's body. The tail section writhed violently on the floor as its life drained away. The hate-filled eyes seemed to flare, briefly, and then die away. Banjo allowed his body to flow back and fill in the hole that the Princess's stinger had made in his chest. "Guess you had never met a Changeling, before," he mused. He walked over to the now motionless tail and lopped off the stinger with his scythe, then he settled himself down to wait for Mantron to beam him back to the runabout. The OverMind had assured them that Princesses could not lay the 'thought eggs' by which the species reproduced. They had also been told that the death of a Princess or a Queen would also result in the, nearly simultaneous, death of their Thralls. Mantron would be able to confirm this since he was monitoring the lifesigns sensors back on the Maurice Sendak. Just then, Banjo felt the familiar tingle of a transporter. He rematerialized back on the runabout. Moving forward he found that Mantron had attached a tractor beam to the Desmodus and had already spun the ship around. He was just about to disperse the energy parasites and head the ship for their next target. "When the lifesign for the Princess winked out, I figured that you were done so I beamed you back." "How many human lifesigns winked out with the Princess's," Banjo wanted to know. "Three," sighed Mantron. "Well at least THAT information seems to have been accurate," Banjo responded. "What do you mean?" "That Princess had a quite nasty stinger," he said, holding up the evidence. "EWWWW! Why'd you bring that back?" "I thought Jantoo might like to analyze it. There may be some sort of venom present and it might be a good idea to have an anti-venom on hand." "I guess I can't argue with that. Shall we go back to the Menagerie before hitting the next target?" "I think that would be our best move," agreed Banjo. Mantron quickly changed their course to rendezvous back with the ship. After briefly relaying the new information about the Queens and dropping off the stinger, the pair headed back out to finish their 'hunting'. Ustrano and Hirthnole watched the conduit form in the massive industrial-class replicator in Main Engineering. After the OverMind had described the molecular structure and manufacturing process used to produce the polyiridichromnium, B1 & B2 had spent several hours in logicspace describing the procedure to the Computer. Hopefully, all the time spent on this project would now prove worth the effort. The conduit fully materialized in the huge replicator's holding bin. Ustrano de-activated the machine and released the protective forcefields. Sliding up, onto the materialization platform, it picked up the piece of metal. It was surprisingly light. The Velvattian took the section of conduit over to a test bed that it had set up specifically for this conduit. After clamping the conduit in place, it activated several containment forcefields and moved to a nearby control panel. Here Ustrano would determine if all of this effort had been worthwhile. Flicking on a switch, with an almost negligent twitch of a tentacle, the Engineer began the stress test. He brought the conduit up to normal operating load and closely observed the various gauges and meters on the control panel. Satisfied with what he saw there, he slowly began to increase the plasma flow through the conduit. When Ustrano reached 150% normal load, it paused again to check the panel's readings. Then, with a violent flick of a tentacle, the Velvattian jumped the load to 500% of normal! Ensign Hirthnole cringed and twisted away with his eyes closed. Long moments stretched out with a decided lack of things happening. This was a good thing, since those things included explosions and flying shrapnel. Hirthnole slowly opened his eyes. The conduit was holding! Next Ustrano selected switch which would send a series of high/low power fluctuations through the conduit. Bypassing the console's safeties Ustrano set the high end of the fluctuations at 800% of normal load! Then the switch was thrown. Again, there was a complete lack of explosions and their associated unpleasantness. Hirthnole couldn't believe it - the new conduit had held under the most ridiculous stress test he had ever witnessed! Ustrano was nearly beside itself with delight, "Hirthnole, take half of the men off of torpedo construction and put them to work replacing all the ship's plasma conduit with this new polyiridichromnium conduit. Get the weapons, shields, impulse and life support systems done first and then move on to warp drive, communications, sensors, structural integrity and internal systems. If you can get everything converted, start on the EPS junction boxes and support beams. I don't know how long Captain Seetamyn will be giving us to effect upgrades, so get right on it. I need to go see the Killer Bs about another little upgrade." Banjo and Mantron were relaxing in The Pirate's Cove. They had finished dispatching the Black Princesses and releasing the energy parasites. The 14 ships which had been pursuing them, now had much more important things to worry about. With their engines offline due to the Omega Configuration's radiation, the ships would have to vent atmosphere from their shuttlebays to escape the Configuration, and, after being turned around by the runabout, they had no idea which way even was out. It was hoped that the deaths of the Princesses had gone unnoticed by the Queen at Starfleet Command. The OverMind had been positive that the Queen's telepathic communication with her Princesses could not reach into the Configuration from the outside, but since the Queens had been destroyed BEFORE the radiation field had been erected, there was no empirical data to back up that, positively. Linnea was in her, now customary, position on Dil's lap. The Betazoid still wasn't sure how he had become romantically involved with the young Orion, but he had decided to just go along for the ride and see where things led. He certainly wasn't about to complain about having an attractive young woman on his lap. The trio was suddenly interrupted by the appearance of an equally unlikely trio as Ustrano and B1 & B2 burst through the doors of the restaurant/lounge. Spotting them, Ustrano and his entourage rushed over. "Dil!" shouted the Engineer, "I've got a special project for you!" "But I just got back from disabling all the other ships!" the Betazoid protested. "What about tireless service to the Federation and all that?" Ustrano grinned. Mantron, Banjo and Linnea just looked at the Velvattian for several long moments before they couldn't hold it in any longer and they burst out laughing. "OK, OK, maybe that was pushing it a little," Ustrano conceded. "But this is important to OUR safety." "Well, why didn't you say so to begin with?" "I don't know. My way just seemed nobler, somehow." Fortunately, there was nothing on the table to throw at their friend, so Ustrano escaped, unharmed. Dil was, once again, piloting the Maurice Sendak. This time, however, he wasn't going far from the Menagerie. In fact, Ustrano's newest project called for the runabout to fly in close proximity to the Prometheus class ship for an extended period. The Velvattian and the Bynars had come up with a way to coat the outside of the ship with polyiridichromnium. The Maurice Sendak would create a magneto-subspace field which would cause the ship's hull to become a giant cathode, allowing the polyiridichromnium to be "electro-plated" onto the ship. The ship's windows, being made of special transparent aluminum instead of duranium, would be left clear. If the process worked as hoped, the ship would gain the estimated equivalent of an additional 50 layers of ablative armor. "How did you guys come up with this idea?" Mantron asked as he eased the Maurice Sendak out of Shuttlebay One. "Well, the conduit worked out so well that I started thinking about protecting the outside of the ship as well as the inside," Ustrano rumbled. "Sounds like a plan to me," Mantron agreed. Positioning the runabout at what had been calculated to be the optimal distance, Ustrano powered up the tiny ship's phasers. Ustrano and the Bynars had already reprogrammed the weapons systems to produce the correct frequency and power output. "Now, if all goes according to plan, we can start 'plating' the ship in just a few minutes," Ustrano observed. "Umm, what if everything DOESN'T go according to plan?" Mantron asked, curious. "Well, if things go really badly, I suppose that we could blow up the ship," Ustrano deadpanned. Mantron was silent while he digested this news. Finally he found his voice, "I guess we should hope that everything goes OK, then. Either way, I'm glad that you asked me to pilot the runabout." "Oh, if we screw up, the explosion will take out the runabout, too," assured Ustrano. Mantron busied himself double-checking his readouts. So intently was he concentrating that he didn't hear Ustrano quietly sliding up behind him. Suddenly, the Velvattian shouted "BOOOOM!" Mantron shrieked like a little girl and fainted dead away! Mantron awoke to the sensation of a tongue caressing his cheek. Smiling he turned toward the sensation and opened his mouth. As he did so, he became aware of a delightfully fruity fragrance. <> he thought, <> At that point something went 'click' in his mind and his eyes shot wide open. The 'tongue' turned out to be a tentacle! Lt. Commander Ustrano was gently slapping his face in an attempt to revive him! Jumping bolt upright, Mantron quickly took stock of his surroundings. He was still in the pilot's seat of the Maurice Sendak. However, a quick look at his readouts told him that the runabout was currently back aboard the Menagerie. He looked quizzically at his friend. "You looked like you needed a rest so I handled the ship while you took a little nap. Linnea must be keeping you up at night!" Mantron, turning bright red, quickly stammered out denials, all of which were cheerfully ignored by his Velvattian companion. "Come on and wake up. The ship has been coated with the polyiridichromnium but it looks like our preparation time has expired. Captain Seetamyn has called for another briefing." Captain's Log; Stardate 57906.5 - We have disabled the ships that have pursued us into the Omega Configuration. More importantly, we have destroyed the Black Princesses controlling those ships. While there is good reason to believe that the Black Queen is, as yet, unaware of the deaths of her 'children' we have not the luxury of time. We have made as many repairs as we could and have, in fact, upgraded numerous systems with the polyiridichromnium that the OverMind has given us the formula for. Our torpedo stores are back to acceptable levels and our phasers fully charged. I have called a new briefing to lay out the plan of action that I and Admiral Sontak have decided upon. "First of all, let me open this briefing by thanking each and every one of you. Please convey my thanks to all of your staffs as well. Your efforts in getting us here and in then repairing the ship have been nothing short of Herculean. In fact, in recognition of one particular crewmember's efforts Admiral Sontak and I have decided that Lieutenant Commander Ustrano is hereby granted the rank of full Commander with all the benefits and responsibilities inherent therein." Seetamyn held out a solid pip to the Velvattian, who quickly removed its hollow one and replaced it with the new one. "Obviously, this won't be official with Starfleet until we can clear up this little mess with the Black Queen, but aboard this ship, it is official enough. Commander, after this briefing, you may celebrate your new rank in any way that you would like." "In that case, Sir, tonight is Dil, Banjo and my's movie night. I would like to invite everyone here to join us." "Very well, Commander. What is playing, this evening?" "Tonight I have selected a Tsui Hark triple feature, Sir! We are going to be starting with "The Butterfly Murders" and then watching "We are Going to Eat You!" and then finishing up with "Time and Tide". Since that last is one of the 'heroic bloodshed' genre, we generally end the evening with a shootout and everyone is welcome to join that as well!" Enthusiastic comments filled the Briefing Room. Everyone was eagerly looking forward to this evening's activities. Even the OverMind, who had been included in the briefing, sounded excited. "That sounds excellent, Commander. Let me proceed with the briefing so that we can all be ready for the festivities. This is what Admiral Sontak and I have planned - the OverMind will shoot us into Earth orbit with the transport portal. Once there, a strike team consisting of Commander Thog, Commander Banjo, Lieutenant Mantron and myself will beam down to Starfleet headquarters before they have a chance to raise the planetary shields or activate the defensive systems. After we are gone, Commander Ustrano will assume command of the ship and pilot it to Vulcan. Admiral Sontak will alert the Vulcan authorities and they should be able to provide protective custody for everyone. If the strike team succeeds in destroying the Black Queen on Earth, there will be nothing to worry about, if it fails, if will fall to Admiral Sontak and the Menagerie to convince the authorities of the danger and to act accordingly." Around the table, everyone looked at each other in dismay. How can you tell your captain and an admiral that their plan is, possibly, the worst you have ever heard? Ustrano had no problems doing so, "Sir, with all respect, that's a horrible plan. What if you are taken over by the Black Queen? What if the Queen and her T.W.I.T.S. anticipate such a move and have a task force ready to intercept the Menagerie? Your plan calls for three of the top four ship's officers to be put in danger with no support! Furthermore, the ship can't go faster than Warp 6. The number of ships that could be brought to bear on us before we could reach Vulcan is substantial." "Very well, Commander, what alternative do you suggest?" "Actually, my plan is rather similar to yours, Sir. Again, the OverMind transports the ship to Earth. However, instead of beaming you down and then fleeing, the ship starts to broadcast a message from Admiral Sontak saying that, rather than being kidnapped, he was rescued by the ship. He will tell everyone of the danger that they face and ask for an open hearing. Whatever forces the Black Queen has available at Earth will converge and try to stop the broadcast. Seeing a ship who is only asking for a hearing being fired upon will lend credence to the Admiral's story and whatever unaffected captains that are in the area will come to our aid. Meanwhile, your strike team will beam down to Starfleet HQ and deal with the Queen, herself." "I see several flaws in your plan, Commander. First, as soon as we appear, the planetary shields will be activated and the strike team will be unable to beam down. Second, if the Black Queen has suborned any of the personnel in charge of the defensive grid, you will be targeted by both renegade ships and the Earth's satellite defenses. You wouldn't last ten minutes under such a barrage." "Actually, Sir, those two facts are what I'm counting on to pull this off. You see, we have two men on board who helped develop the algorithms that control the planetary shield frequencies. By programming that algorithm into our transporter, we should be able to transport right through the shields. Secondly, those same two, also helped develop the recognition protocols that are used by the defense grid satellites. We will be able to hack into them and make it so that they target enemy ships instead of us." Everyone at the table turned to look at B1 &B2. The two had huge 'oh yeah, we bad' grins on their faces. "I see that you have given this a great deal of thought, Commander," Seetamyn acknowledged, "but one of your arguments still remains - what if the strike team is taken over by the Black Queen?" "Actually, Captain," the OverMind broke in, "The Black Queens always had a very difficult time taking anyone over who was aware of them and who could resist them. They generally used willing or unaware victims as their Thralls. As long as you actively resist their mental assault you are safe from being taken over." "There we go, then," Mantron piped up. "The strike team will remain unThralled, the ship will have the defensive grid as a backup and Admiral Sontak's message will be heard by everyone. With a three-pronged attack, we can't lose!" The Betazoid's enthusiasm was contagious and soon the briefing broke up, everyone hurrying away to finish last-minute projects quickly so that they wouldn't miss any of the movie marathon that Ustrano had promised. Linnea had promised to cater the event so Banjo and Mantron decided to reprogram the holodeck to provide a dinner- theater atmosphere. Ustrano stayed behind as the rest of the officers filed out. When only the Engineer and the Captain remained, Ustrano took Seetamyn down to Main Engineering for a private meeting. The dinner-theater was a huge success. Ustrano had carefully orchestrated the films to provide increasingly action-oriented entertainment and, when the last movie was over, everyone was ready for the promised shoot-out. The holodeck was reset to simulate several city blocks on old Earth and the guns became non-lethal. After a brief training period, which got everyone else up to speed, Mantron, Ustrano and Banjo showed off their abilities. Everyone was suitably impressed and it was decided that they would be teamed up against everyone else. To give the others an additional edge, Banjo decided to give the other team a ten minute head start so that they could set up ambushes or at least lanes of fire. As the three waited outside the holodeck for the ten minutes to pass, they discussed strategy. They decided that their prowess with their weapons would give them enough of an advantage so they would split up and attempt to find and flank their opponents. When the time had elapsed, they opened the holodeck doors and leapt into the scenario - straight into a hail of simulated gunfire which, had it been real, would have cut them to ribbons! The trio stood, just inside the doorway, with shocked and chagrinned expressions on their faces. Seeing their disappointment, Linnea came over and took Dil's hand, "I'm sorry, hon, but Seetamyn convinced us that your skills would eventually overwhelm us, so our best bet was to hit you hard, fast and early. It sure seems to have worked!" The rueful three had to concede that it had, in no uncertain terms, worked remarkably well. With a command, Banjo ordered the holodeck to convert itself into a bar and ordered up everyone's favorite drinks. The rest of the night saw the crew forgetting about what they were to try to do the next day. As the night continued, the crew dispersed, first Thog and Sperr left, then Mantron and Linnea. Banjo and Jantoo left with Hirthnole and M'Dral who had actually brought their unicycles to the party. Jantoo thought it would be a good idea to accompany each of the cyclists home, considering that each of them had consumed a considerable amount of synthehol. B1 & B2 left to spend a few hours in logic space with the Computer. It would have a great deal to do in the coming hours and they wanted to make sure that their friend was up to the challenge. Zamtra had left before the gun battle, as he was going to be performing an elaborate Tamarian religious ceremony asking his deities for their blessings upon the crew's efforts. Ustrano, Seetamyn and Sontak, none of who actually required sleep, spent long hours discussing strategy and various contingency plans. The long night finally ended and morning came to the ship. The air was thick with nervousness, anticipation and, most importantly, resolution. This might be a ship of 'rejects' who were unwanted amongst the humans, but they took their Starfleet oaths as seriously as anybody and more so than most. Their Federation was in danger and they were the only ones who could save her. So, save her they would, or die trying. Commander Ustrano, although technically in charge of the ship with Seetamyn, Thog and Banjo on the Away Team, had decided that it would stay in Engineering, so the Bridge's center seat was currently empty. It would be occupied by Admiral Sontak as soon as he had finished his broadcast from the privacy of the Ready Room. Lieutenant Aceed Sperr was at Helm and Ensign H'uee was manning the Security Console. Ensign Diftur and Ensign Hirthnole had teams of engineers and ship's services personnel ready to deal with any damage that the ship was almost certainly sure to take. Captain Seetamyn, Commander Thog, Commander Banjo and Lieutenant Mantron were on their way to Transporter Room One. They each looked decidedly archaic. Seetamyn carried a sword in place of the mace that he had used during their Quest of the Sixth Sphere of Power in a scabbard strapped to his side. Mantron had his Betazoid katana and Banjo his custom scythe. Thog carried a traditional Klingon bat'leth. Since energy weapons were known to be next to worthless against the Black Queens, it had been decided that these edged weapons would have to be utilized. Of course, they also carried phaser rifles with them. They would not be facing a Black Queen alone. Nobody knew how many Thralls they might also have to overcome. On their way, Banjo and Mantron were met in the corridor outside Transporter Room One by Commander Ustrano. Ustrano pulled out two boxes from behind its back. It presented one to Banjo and the other to Mantron. Curious, the two opened their presents. In each box, resting in a formed, velvet depression, was one of the pistols that they had been using for some time on the holodeck. There was one minor, but important difference, however. These guns were real. In amazement, they each gripped their new weapons and hefted them. Yep, the weight was right. In wonder they looked at their Velvattian friend. "I had been meaning to present these two at a special occasion. I guess this qualifies." "But, how?" Mantron managed to ask. "Well, I had the Computer dig up the blueprints for the original weapons and then replicate the parts. I got Ensign Hirthnole and Ship's Services to assemble everything. We actually set up a little gunsmithing shop in one of the workshops. I've made a few, minor improvements, by the way." "Leave it to an Engineer..." Mantron grinned. "I think you'll like these," Ustrano assured them. "First, I have created all the parts out of polyiridichromnium. You could use one of these to hammer all day on a duranium sheet and not distort the barrels one micron. They are also genetically keyed to each of you. No one else will be able to fire one of these. I've also made a few improvements to the ammunition. The bullets are also made of polyiridichromnium and the propellent I've used is cabrodine. You should get a muzzle velocity of nearly 1000 meters per second. That is about three times what you are used to, but with the modifications I've made to the guns, there shouldn't be any additional kick. These are a bit more powerful than what you are used too, however. I calculate that they should be able to punch through a one centimeter sheet of duranium with enough velocity to kill anything on the other side." "Wow! and we didn't get you anything," Dil quipped. "I just wish that I could have come up with a way to conceal them," Ustrano apologized. "As it is, they are kind of conspicuous." "I think I can solve that problem," Banjo said. He reached his free hand into the giftbox where ten clips of ammunition lay, secured in another depression. Then, with his gun in one hand and the ammo in the other, he simply shoved both hands into his chest! He pulled his empty hands out of his chest and there was no sign that anything was any different. "Oh, that was really gross," complained Dil. Ustrano just chuckled. "Oh, grow up," laughed Banjo and reached out for the Betazoid's weaponry. Somewhat reluctantly, Dil handed over his gun and ammo and watched as Banjo 'concealed' it. He had to admit, it was unlikely that anyone would think to look INSIDE any of them for weapons. Wishing its friends good luck, Ustrano retreated back to Main Engineering. While Ustrano could hope that all would go according to plan, it knew better than to trust to hope or luck. No, it was far more likely that things were going to get messy and if they did, there was no place better for it to be than in Engineering. Seetamyn stood on the transporter pad as Banjo and Mantron entered Transporter Room One. At his signal, Ensign Zamtra patched in the ship's allcall so that the Vulcan could address the ship. "As I am sure most of you know," Seetamyn began, "we have uncovered a plot against the Federation in the form of mind-controlling aliens. These aliens have penetrated at least one division of Starfleet and have several ships at their disposal. They also know, or at least suspect, that we are aware of them and are a threat to their plans. They believe that they have us trapped here, in the Omega Configuration, but we have decided to do the, hopefully, unexpected and take the battle to them. To that end we are about to use the Foreenan transport portal to travel to Earth and confront this enemy. That is all." On the Bridge, the main viewscreen showed the activation of the transport portal, its swirling energy event horizon seeming to appear as if by magic in front of the ship. Sperr activated the ship's impulse drives and sent the ship through the portal. For a moment, and only a moment, there was a dazzling bright whiteness that seemed to engulf and overwhelm the ship, and then, there was the Earth rotating, obliviously 'beneath' the ship. M'Dral opened up all communications channels and Admiral Sontak, monitoring the situation from the Ready Room, began his speech. Almost immediately, sensors indicated that defensive shields had activated around Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco, Federation Headquarters in Paris and around a multitude of sensitive and/or military facilities across the globe. "Transport the away team and raise shields," ordered M'Dral so that Sontak would not have to interrupt his message. "Ensign Zamtra reports away team successfully transported," H'uee announced, moments later. "Well, at least that much is working, so far," said Sperr. Currently, 'that much' was inside a conference room in the Tactical Warfare, Investigations and Testing Sub-Division section of Starfleet Headquarters. The room was dark which wasn't particularly surprising since it was currently just after 22:00 hours in San Francisco. Seetamyn had picked late night intentionally so that innocent, legitimate employees would not be present during the assault. Banjo quickly whipped out a tricorder which had been programmed with the lifesigns of the Black Queen and, almost immediately, got a reading. "Seems like we really DID take them by surprise," he announced, surprised, himself. "What do you see?" asked Mantron. "According to the blueprints for this section, the Black Queen and maybe twelve Thralls are in some sort of training hall, not too far from here." "OK, that is where we will head, " decided Seetamyn. The four headed off with Banjo taking point, Thog and Seetamyn in the center and Mantron bringing up the rear. It didn't take the quartet too long to reach the double doors which led into the training hall. Banjo consulted his tricorder and announced that all their targets were at the far end of the hall. At a nod from Seetamyn, he cautiously eased the doors open. Visually, confirming that the area in front of the doors was clear, he motioned for the others to come forward. They did so and paused for a moment to regroup. Mantron let the doors swing shut behind him. As he did so, the four were flattened by the concealed concussion grenade that had been triggered by the opening and closing of the doors! As they fought, unsuccessfully to hold onto consciousness, the group was surrounded by ten figures with glowing, yellow eyes. Those eyes were the last things that they saw as they all blacked-out! Mantron awoke feeling extremely uncomfortable. Some of that may have been caused by the fact that he was hanging by his wrists suspended a meter off the floor of what was, apparently, the training hall. As he regained full control of his faculties, he became even more uncomfortable as he realized that his companions were similarly restrained. Banjo was encased in a transparent aluminum sphere, and Seetamyn and Thog were chained just like him. Even more disconcerting was the fact that all off their equipment had been piled up in a pile several meters away from where they were hung up. Mantron couldn't see his or Banjo's pistols, so there was some hope that these hadn't been discovered. Mantron spent some time trying to focus on a intricately designed banner which seemed to be moving along the back of the hall, until he realized that the 'banner' was actually the Black Queen. An evil smile played along her lips as she moved out of the shadows and came closer to the helpless captives. "Ssssso, my little wormsssss took the bait, did they?" her sibilant voice sent shivers down the Betazoid's back. "What do you want from us?" Seetamyn chose that moment to speak up. "It'sssss quite sssssimple, really. Your presssssenccccce here demonssssstratesssss that the cursssssed Foreenansssss yet live. I want inssssstructions on how to penetrate their radiation field ssssso that I can ensssssure that they can't interfere with my plansssss, thisssss time!" "You will receive no such information from us," vowed the defiant Vulcan. "Really?" the Queen asked. She must have sent a mental signal out to her Thralls at that point because six of them stepped forward and leveled phaser rifles at Mantron. "You will provide me the information that I require, or I will exxxxxecute thisssss pitiful underling of yoursssss. Your choiccccce." "There is no choice," Seetamyn avowed. "I will not provide you with any information." "Very well." replied the Queen, as emotionless as the Captain. "Kill him!" As one, the six Thralls fired their rifles directly at the helpless Helmsman. "Earth satellite defense system activating!" H'uee reported. "Computer insinuation complete," came the sing-song response from the Bynars 'manning' the Science Console. "Complete satellite control achieved!" M'Dral and Sperr shared a glance of relief. Having those satellites under their control was a huge advantage. "Satellites self-destructing!" screamed H'uee as he switched the main viewscreen to show the destructing satellites. "We are sorry," came the Bynars' voices. "Apparently a self-destruct module was added to the system after our part of the programming was complete." "Well, at least they can't be used against us," M'Dral reasoned. At nearly the same time as this news was being digested, blips, indicating oncoming ships, showed up on the Security Console. "Six incoming ships!" announced Ensign H'uee. Sontak came onto the Bridge. He had finished his speech and set the communications system to automatically repeat the message, although, as of yet, no response to it had been forthcoming. "Keep weapons offline, Ensign," he ordered. "Enemy ships now in firing range!" yelled H'uee switching the viewscreen again to show this new threat. Six, smooth silhouettes swooped onto the viewscreen. The ships had their shields raised and their weapons hot. Worse still, their registries showed that four of the ships belonged to the T.W.I.T.S.! One of the non-T.W.I.T.S. ships opened a hailing channel, "This is Captain Adrian Thorne of the USS Aikido. You have been charged with high treason. I am placing you under arrest. You will immediately lower your shields and make ready to receive a security detail." "Captain Thorne, I am Admiral Sontak. As you can see, I have in no way been kidnapped. The charges against this ship and her crew are completely specious. As you can see, we do not have our weapons active and, in the interests of straightening this whole mess out, we would gladly lower our shields and surrender to your security team. However, I must insist that before we do so, the four ships attached to the Tactical Warfare, Investigations and Testing Sub-Division remove themselves from the vicinity. After they have done so, we will gladly comply with your requests." "That seems reasonable, Sir..." Thorne's reply was cut off as the four T.W.I.T.S. ships chose that moment to open fire on the Menagerie! TO BE CONTINUED...