The Carlsbad, under the command of Captain Kirok Skyrunner, was slowly pushing through the galaxy version of pea soup called the Murasaki 312 quasar. Every few seconds, they pass through a very thick patch of nebula gases and space dust. Every patch of thick nebula gases they push through drains the shields faster. Thankfully, Lieutenant Williams has been good at keeping the shields at full power, plus the drain in the shields has been minimal.

Captain Skyrunner sat in his command chair,.staring at the viewscreen full of swirling green and blue hues of nebula gases missing with pockets of space dust that are charged with plasma.

“ETA until we get to those ships Ensign,” Skyrunner inquired with the navigator.

Ensign Lisa Nguyen tapped a few keys on her control board and responded. “ETA is still five hours out sir. We are having to circumnavigate some of these dense clouds that are supercharged.”

“Very well Ensign, carry on.”

Kirok turned the console next to his command chair and accessed the sensor readings from the buoy. It showed the runabout on a direct course for the asteroid. He thought everything looked good, so he shut the screen down and returned his vision to the viewscreen, watching the pot of galactic pea soup stir.

***

Aramis stood next to the biobed that Catersha was laying on. She had a nasty looking bruise on the front right of her forehead. The Carlsbad’s holographic CMO stood next to the biobed, doing a routine scan of her head.

“What is the prognosis doctor,” Aramis asked the holographic CMO.

Putting the tricorder away, he looked at him.

“She just has a minor concussion. It should go away in 24 to 48 hours.”

Catersha opened her eyes, started to sit up and Aramis put a hand on her shoulder.

“Not so fast, Cat. You have a concussion and a nasty bruise on your forehead.”

The holographic doctor scans her again.

“She can go.” Then the CMO looked at her,” if you feel any dizziness, report back immediately, understand?”

“Yes, Doctor.”

The doctor turned and walked to another patient.

Aramis helped Catersha sit up on the edge of the biobed.

“How do you feel,” Aramis asked her.

“Like I got hit by a comet, but I’m ok,” she replied

“That’s good to hear. Up for some dinner?”

She smiled at him. “Sure.”

He helped her off the biobed and they walked out of Sickbay and headed to the ship’s lounge.

***

Captain Sophia Rodriguez sat at the helm controls for the runabout. Aximo sat at the other forward station, running scans of the asteroid. Sorvath was at the science console, trying to establish a link with the Borg technology on the asteroid. Lieutenants Emily Rodgers, Eric Smith, and Ensign Wayne Bradley were doing final checks on their equipment.

“Time to arrive is ten minutes. Suit up everyone. Aximo, you are in charge of the salvage team. No unnecessary risks,” ordered Captain Rodriguez.

Aximo and the Engineering team stood up and got suited up. Sorvath kept working to establish a subspace connection. The console beeped.

“Captain Rodriguez, I’ve established a connection with the dormant Borg technology. I’m overriding the command codes and disabling the primary subspace link,” Sorvath reported.

“Good work Sorvath. Keep me informed please,” Rodriguez said, making final adjustments on her helm controls.

The runabout slowed its approach and gently landed on the asteroid. Sophia kept the thrusters on standby, just in case.

“Ok Salvage team, we landed on the asteroid. Let’s get to work,” Captain Rodriguez said.

Aximo and the three engineers exited out the aft ramp of the runabout, in full spacesuits with cases of engineering equipment. Sorvath continued to access the dormant Borg technology while Sophia kept an eye on the consoles. Sophia had a bad feeling about things, like she could sense something was coming. Captain Rodriguez started a full sensor sweep of the area, as best as she could given the quasar interference.

***

Captain Skyrunner was walking around his ship, trying to clear his mind. He had a ‘sixth sense’ feeling that something was coming and he couldn’t put his finger on it. He was aimlessly wandering the decks, greeting his crew members. His stroll took him to Engineering. Lieutenant Williams was on duty.

“Captain, how can I help you,” Williams asked.

“I am good, Lieutenant. I’m just taking a stroll around the ship. Since I’m here, what’s the ship’s status?”

“Well sir, all systems are fully operational. The quasar is giving off interference with the sensors, but we are doing the best we can to compensate,” Williams reported.

“Very well Lieutenant. Carry on.”

Captain Skyrunner exited Engineering and continued his stroll. He went back to the Bridge. When he exited the turbolift he looked at the viewscreen and saw an eerie sight. The Carlsbad pushed through a gas cloud and found a Borg Cube, a Borg Sphere, two Type IV Assimilator class cruisers, and three Probe class scout ships. Captain Skyrunner whistles as he sees this nightmarish sight.

“Full sensor scans Lieutenant Commander Amara,” Captain Skyrunner requested as he walked to his command chair.

“Wait Captain,” Kaelara said urgently. “The scans would activate the ships defenses and the 5000 tactical drones on status on the Cube.”

“What?!” Captain Skyrunner jumped out of his chair and nearly ran to the science station. Amara froze in place, looking at Kaelara. “What do you mean?”

Kaelara started typing in access codes to the Borg ships. The computer bleeped acknowledgement. Kaelara turned to face Captain Skyrunner.

“The Borg ship’s defenses are offline now, Captain. My apologies.”

“Explain,” Captain Skyrunner demanded.

Kaelara replied, “when Hugh stashed the ships, he programmed the ships to stay in status, unless the ships were scanned. Then the shop defense system would automatically engage and the tactical drones would be activated.”

Captain Skyrunner seemed to stand his tone down a bit after she explained. He slowly nodded as he thought it out.

“Very well then. Thank you Kaelara for your quick thinking. Lieutenant Commander Amara, please conduct full scans.”

“Scanning now sir,” Amara reported, tapping several keys on the console.

“Sir, I’m reading seven total Borg ships, all offline, but appear to be intact. One Cube, one Sphere, two Type IV Assimilator class, and three Probe class scouts,” Amara reported.

Captain Skyrunner looked at Kaelara for confirmation. Kaelara nodded. Kirok whistled.

“Wow. That is a small fleet in itself. Kaelara, how long will it take to power up the Cube,” Kirok inquired.

Suddenly, the tactical sensors went off at the tactical station. Lieutenant Bradley looked at his board, confirming what he saw. His head snapped up and looked at the Captain, a worried look on his face. Captain Skyrunner saw his look.

“What is it, Lieutenant?”

“Sir, it’s a Vaadwaur patrol ship just appeared from an Underspace aperture about five hundred thousand kilometers from the quasar perimeter,” reported Bradley.

“Shit! Red Alert!! Can we send a message to the runabout,” demanded Kirok.

“Negative, sir. Not without giving us and the runabout’s locations away,” answered Bradley.

Kirok sat in his command. “Damn it!” Then he looked at Kaelara, “how long do you need to power the Cube up?” Kaelara seemed to be lost in thought for a minute. “Kaelara?”

Kaelara came to. She snapped her head to look at Kirok.

“Sorry Captain, I was in contact with Aximo, alerting him to the Vaadwaur ship and with Sorvath about the Cube. It should take a couple hours, especially if we reactivate the tactical drones onboard it.”

Aramis, sitting in the First Officer’s seat, since Sophia is with the runabout, had a sour look on his face.

“Captain, I don’t like the idea of reactivating tactical drones,” Commander Lionel stated.

“I agree Aramis, but given the situation we just got into now, we have no choice.” Kirok looked at Kaelara. “Permission granted Kaelara. I’ll send an engineering team as well.”

Just then, Chief Engineer Catersha stepped out of the turbolift. Kirok spotted her first.

“Catersha?”

Aramis jumped out of his chair and looked to the turbolift.

“Cat, what are you doing here,” Commander Lionel asked.

“Request permission to return to duty Captain?” She winked at Aramis, her way of letting him know she is good.

Captain Skyrunner smiled. “Permission granted Chief. Assemble an engineering team and accompany Kaelara’s team to the Borg Cube. You have two hours to reactivate the drones there and the ship itself. A Vaadwaur patrol ship just emerged outside the quasar and has not spotted us or the runabout yet. I want to keep it that way. Aramis, you lead the team. Dismissed.”

Catersha nodded. “Yes, sir.” Kaelara, Aramis, and Catersha both walked in the turbolift, heading for Main Engineering.

“Lieutenant Bradley, continuously monitor that Vaadwaur ship. If it sneezes, I want to know. Understood? What is the Vaadwaur ship’s position and course,” Captain Skyrunner ordered.

Lieutenant Bradley tapped a few keys on his console, then reported the enemy ship’s position.

“Sir, the Vaadwaur ship is currently holding its position five hundred thousand kilometers from the quasar perimeter. It is conducting a routine scan of the area. The quasar’s interference will shield us from their scanners but the runabout could be detected.”

“Let’s hope not,” Kirok said, sitting in his command chair, deep in thought.

***

Captain Rodriguez was walking in circles in the command section of the runabout, trying to stretch her legs. It’s been a few hours already since they landed on the asteroid and started to salvage any available Borg technology.

Suddenly, the runabouts scanners bleeped like crazy for her attention. She walked over, sat in the pilot’s seat and looked at the display. What she saw she couldn’t believe.

“Damn it!” Sophia tapped her comm badge as she started shutting down all main systems, to reduce their power signature. “Rodriguez to Aximo, come in please. Urgent!”

Seconds later, Aximo replied.

“What is it Captain? We are almost done here,” replied Aximo.

“We got a Vaadwaur patrol ship in the area. It just appeared from an Underspace aperture moments ago. Gran what you have and report back to the runabout immediately.”

“Understood Captain. We are on route to the runabout now.”

“Copy that, Rodriguez out.”

She tapped her comm badge again, cutting the channel. She knew that she couldn’t signal the Carlsbad without giving their position away and alerting the Vaadwaur to the Carlsbad presence and the possibility of them finding the Borg ships. All she and the runabout could do was sit and wait. She say in the pilot’s seat, staring out the viewport, concerned about the Carlsbad, but more importantly, her husband.

***

The Underspace aperture shimmered, its distorted energy signature pulsating like a heartbeat. The space around it rippled and distorted, as if reality itself was being stretched to accommodate the emerging vessel. The Vaadwaur patrol ship, the Khral’Shak, burst forth from the aperture, its sleek, angular hull gleaming with a dark, iridescent sheen. Commander Makra’s voice echoed through the ship’s command center.

“Report, Sensor Chief.”

“Emergence successful, Commander,” the sensor chief replied. “We’re clear of the Underspace aperture and entering standard space.”

Makra nodded, her eyes fixed on the viewscreen as the stars snapped into focus.

“Plot a course along the outer rim of the quasar. We have a reported transwarp anomaly to investigate.”

“Aye, Commander,” the helmsman responded, fingers flying across the control panel. “Course plotted and engaged.”

As the Khral’Shak accelerated towards the quasar, its crew busied themselves with post-emergence checks and preparations for the upcoming investigation.

The ship’s sensors officer chimed in, “Commander, I’m detecting faint energy signatures emanating from within the quasar. It’s possible the transwarp anomaly our command station detected is related to the unknown energy signatures inside the quasar.”

Makra’s expression turned thoughtful.

“Keep monitoring, K’rhon. We’ll need all the data we can gather to understand what’s happening out here.”

The Khral’Shak sliced through space, its crew vigilant and busy scanning the surrounding area.