Ask of me now to describe the heavenly host,
And I will tell you of a choir that numbers trillions. 

Voices that bay in infinite tongues, which stumble and trip;
All chattering fricatives and guttural vowels that clash against the ear.  

What chaos does the multitude bring!
That deluge of voices that would sweep me under. 

Till one voice rises,
Ascends, maternal.

Regal.

To bring unto us, order.

-Exerpt from “The Book of Unimatrix”

Bib’s eyes flashed open with a searing pain. Reaching out from his chiselled temples, it snaked its way through the bulging arteries that stretched across his neck, before darting through his burning lungs towards the pit of his stomach. With a desperate gasp, he pulled in the damp humid air, desperate to quench the fire in his chest. Finding the first breath insufficient, he pulled in more of the fetid air with great heaving gulps, his chest desperately attempting to purge the toxin.

“Give it a moment. The gas has some lingering effects.” The voice is viscous as slime, dragging itself across the floor with long melodic tentacles.

Bib opened his mouth to speak but found only a cruel bile reaching its way up his throat.

“Shhh now.” A thin finger laid itself on Bib’s lips. “Sometimes it’s better just to listen.”

As the slender green finger pulled away, the face of Aspis slid into view. He features sharp and ghoulish, the familiar golden serpent tattoo now emaciated and starved as it cowered at her neck.

“It’s a shame that we must continue our conversation like this but…” Aspis shrugged dismissively. “Things have progressed differently than we expected.”

The air in Bib’s lungs was still a poison, bubbling and brewing as it slipped out his mouth, drawing a single word across his lips. “Where-”

“-are the others? Safe, though perhaps no longer sound.” Aspis tilted her head, indicating the prone forms of Bahir and K’Sal on a nearby table. Dark umbilicals extended from their face and arms, before disappearing into a shadowy cluster of ominously jagged devices, like cruel puppet strings. A flash of metal at Aspis’ ear caught the light for an instant as she turned her head, the low muddy glow suddenly illuminating a blossoming implant behind her ear. Bib blinked quickly, attempting to clear his eyes of the still-streaming tears but the device was gone as she turned back towards him.

“They’ll stay unconscious for now. No point in waking them when we have you.” Aspis finished, taking a few steps around the table where Bib lay, her high-heeled boots clicking on the metallic floor.

“What’s so special about me?” Bib managed to stumble a few words, the pain in his chest was easing, ever so slightly.

Aspis smiled, her gaunt visage accentuated by the sharp edges of her grin.

“You’re special Commander Bib. Lots of interesting secrets hidden away in your big blue brain.” Aspis leant in close again, the heat of her breath against Bib’s skin causing his antenna to shrivel and cower. It carried a scent of putrefaction, of rotten meat that had spent too long in the sun. Bib’s nose crinkled as he attempted to turn his head, only to find it fixed in place by a metallic device.

“About?” Bib choked back his bile once more, the burning air of whatever gas they had used was preferable to the scent of death on her lips.

“Oh, lots of things. Starfleet procedures, important research locations, hidden technology.”

“I think you’re giving me too much credit.”

“Hardly, Commander Th’erhilnon.” Another voice slunk from the dim corner, its speaker wrapped in dark cloths and shadow alike. “You know plenty of interesting things, Rana Sisrex made that much clear.”

The face of the Betazoid science officer danced across Bib’s thoughts, lost so long ago aboard the Exodus sphere. A pang of guilt chewed at his stomach as he watched the memory of his lost comrade give way to the shadows of the room.

The voice continued, a tinny rumble suffused into every breath.

“You worked for Starfleet Security for several years, then Theta Squad. I have no doubt that you know a number of locations for dangerous technology.”

“It doesn’t seem fair to know so much of me when I know nothing of you.” Bib’s lungs felt clearer and speaking was easier, though his chest heaved with anxious energy at his situation.

“You don’t need to know anything to give us what we want.” Aspis spat, her tongue no less venomous for her weakened appearance.

“No Aspis. The prey should know the hunter,” the mysterious voice chided. Aspis was immediately cowed, though demonstrated her continued frustration with a snort of rancid air.

From the corner, a familiar figure emerged. Wrapped in robes and layers of fabric, it shuffled slowly from the shadowed corner towards the table. Curiously, it appeared bigger now than it had in the marketplace, no longer towered over by the Nausiccan guards that had escorted it. Clearly six feet if not more in height it swayed slightly as it slowly crossed the expansive room. As a thin arm emerged to pull back the heavy hood, Bib now caught a glimpse of the creature’s scaly skin, a pale terracotta, like a shard of an earthenware pot bleached in the sun. With slow deliberate movements, the arm reached up and pulled back the thick woven fabric to reveal the sallow face of a Hirogen male.

“Aramook?”

The face of the sole survivor of Exodus’ Unimatrix Zero refugees appeared clearer as he stepped further into the dim light; his cheeks set deep into his skull, spider cracks radiating across his scaled brow. But there was no doubt in Bib’s mind, he held the same cold confidence in the depths of his eyes.

“I’m glad you remember Commander, I’ll admit I’m somewhat changed.” The Hirogen’s breath was shallow and rasping.

“You’re with the research cluster, with the Vinculum.” Bib coughed slightly, his breath already disbelieving his own words.

“Initially, yes.” The man’s voice was like ice water. “Unfortunately, Starfleet had different ideas for the vinculum and I was…” Aramook’s brow knit together in distaste as he searched for the right words, in the depths of his eyes a sadness lay barely perceivable.

“Tell him Aramook, tell him what his precious Federation did to you.” Aspis was at his side, her long fingers dancing upon the cracked scales of his chin.

“Suffice to say certain parties were more afraid of me than interested. Parties with the power to remove and examine me.”

“They peeled him open looking for secrets,” Aspis interrupted, a tear forming at the edge of her eye. In the gloom, her hand tenderly stroking Aramook’s face, Bib suddenly saw her in a different light, a lover, heartbroken by his pain. “They never intended to help us bring our family back.”

“Our family?” Bib’s mind was finally emerging from the fog of his unconsciousness, he had to keep them talking whilst he formulated a semblance of a plan. Aramook had seemed reasonable before, though the commander doubted he was entirely in his right mind.

Aspis’ wrathful face was quickly upon him again, her slight eyes burrowing into his own.

“We never really met aboard the sphere, but your team knew me as Kayax.” A spark of recognition lit itself within Bib’s memories, the Talaxian woman who had met the team when they first boarded. Dil’s report at the time had mentioned an unusually aggressive woman, but Bib never had the chance to question his predecessor for more information before the loss of the sphere.

“This body’s latent telepathic skills allowed for some transfer of patterns.” Aspis stroked her long forearms with the back of her hand. “That it’s so beautiful is an added bonus.”

“Aspis was attempting to infiltrate the research cluster for the Empire when I… encountered her.” Aramook stumbled slightly, reaching out to steady himself on the table, unsuccessfully attempting to hide his feebleness.

“You transferred the synaptic patterns from the Vinculum?” Bib’s mouth fell open with surprise.

Aramook smiled towards Aspis who continued to hover at the edge of the table, her now ghoulish features accentuated by the cruel smile that spread across her face as she examined her new body.

“The important bits, yes.” The weary Hirogen let out a long sigh. “We had to flee before we could begin with the rest of the Unimatrix. We left everything behind.”

Pieces of the jigsaw began tesselating in Bib’s mind, Aramook had been attempting to re-home the synaptic patterings within the Vinculum. Of course Starfleet had concerns, no doubt a litany of them. He was clearly desperate to complete the reunification of his family by transferring them to new bodies and he was only emboldened by his initial success. Here was Aspis, his proof of concept.

“That’s why you’re collecting the xBs isn’t it?” Another piece of the jigsaw slotted into place.

Aramook gave a weak smile. “You’re as smart as Rana said you would be. Yes, I believe that their implants will improve the transfer’s success.”

Bib’s heart was in his mouth as he attempted to push the final piece of the puzzle into place, only to find it mishapen and reluctant.  “You keep talking about Rana, she was unconscious the whole time we encountered the sphere.”

“We spoke often in the research lab whilst I worked, especially in those last days.”

The final puzzle piece slid into place with a gut-wrenching click.

Bib took a sharp breath of realisation.

“Yes commander, they’re all in there. All your friends are stored in the Vinculum.”

A shiver raced down Bib’s immobile spine, his body suddenly cold despite the damp, humid air. Endless fragments of possibilities played themselves upon the stage in Bib’s mind; the strength of Zaya’s hand on his shoulder, the red glint of Hermira’s lipstick, the ringing echo of Dil’s belly laugh, the warmth of Maine’s kisses. All that was lost was within tenuous reach.

Suddenly the pair tilted their heads in unison, their attention unexpectedly drawn upwards to the roof of the building.

“Helios is overhead, with a Klingon escort. They are actively scanning this location.” Aspis announced, her eyes looking out beyond the orbit of the small planetoid.

Suddenly a red glow filled the room.

“They are attempting to transport in.” Aspis raced across the room towards a console that sprung to life on her approach. “The disruption field-”

“The other two must have broken the encryption.” Aramook sighed, pushing himself back to his feet and shuffling closer to Bib. “It was a risk, though they were quicker than I anticipated.”

“Aramook, we have to go.” Aspis turned from the console, offering a hand to the flimsy Hirogen’s form.

“Bib, we could bring them all back. We just need to find the Vinculum.” Aramook whispered, his face a few inches from the Andorian’s. “You could come with us. Please.”

An unexpected desperation filled Aramook’s face. A loss too great for words; a heart held together with hope and faith.

In the corner of his eye, Bib could see the familiar blue and white fireflies that signalled Helios’ transporter beam. The white angelic figures of its rescue team stuttered in and out of existence as the ship battled the disruption field. There was only a few seconds until they inevitably succeeded.

With a click, Aramook deactivated Bib’s restraints.

“We could save them all.”