Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile

Episode 28: Through the Looking Glass

(Stardate 48855)

By

Jay P. Hailey

And

Dennnis Washburn

 :

I was having one of my infrequent dinners with the family of Aaron and Elizabeth. They were the leaders of the colony that the Discovery was carrying out into deep space. I tried to stay in frequent touch with them. They were the center piece to our mission. I wanted to be sure that everything was going according to plan.

Elizabeth and Aaron had a fairly large family and dinner was always a very happy, social event. Aaron sternly outlawed certain topics at the dinner table, like politics, religion or work.

I wound up feeling like Seczerade. Every time I went I told a single story of a place that I had been to or an event that I had witnessed. I carefully limited myself. When my 1,001 dinners were over and my stories were all told, then what?

I recounted my recent meeting with the Harmon. It was an interesting story, and I could spin the resulting political reactions for laughs.

The dinner was wonderful despite having been replicated. There were only so many animals and plants on the Discovery. We couldn't just go around eating them. Our life support cycle was designed around the replicator.

Afterwards I played 3-D chess with the youngest child, Woody. He was some sort of prodigy. He had a solid string of wins at flat chess, until I switched to 3-D chess. I started to kill him there when I discovered an interesting thing. Woody was a terrible sport. He would go so far as to have a tantrum or knock the board over if a loss was inevitable. Recently though, Woody had started to make a real game of it. I was afraid that soon I would be loosing consistently again.

After that, Elizabeth, Aaron and I gathered in the main room of their quarters for "Adult Talk". It consisted mostly sipping coffee and discussing the business of running the colony inside the Discovery.

"I understand that you've got your medical teams set up and everything's just fine autonomously, but I'd still like to have some back up in case something went seriously wrong." I said.

"I just don't want my people getting attached to your Starfleet hardware." Aaron said. "They'll have a long time to do without it when we get there."

"That's all fine and good, but why can't my medical staff have records on your people? Aaron, for Christ's sake I'm responsible for them, too." I said. I didn't like the wheedling tone my voice was taking. I was the Captain, dammit. I could insist. I just didn't want to. If I took over administering the colony while it was on the Discovery then the decision making abilities of the colonists might be atrophied by the time we got to Beta Howard 223. I didn't want to have that happen. If I insisted over Aaron's objection, then that's what would happen. Leadership is often an all or nothing thing.

"You met Guinan on Earth before we left, right?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes." I said. Was she trying to change the subject?

"What did you speak with her about?"

"Actually, she talked me into taking this assignment." I said.

"Did she?" Aaron asked.

"Yes. You recall when we first met. I wasn't sure I wanted to take this assignment."

Aaron nodded encouragingly.

"Well. I went back to Earth ready to resign and try to make a public stink to stop this."

Aaron made a sour face. Elizabeth's face was carefully neutral. It was an expression she wore only when she strongly disagreed or was unhappy about something.

"Well think about it. I've told you my objections to this whole mission. A colony a thousand light years away? No help for years if at all? It amounts to suicide. All I have to really show on the other side of the ledger is a couple of vague admonitions to trust that you know what you're doing."

"And what did Guinan have to say?" Aaron asked.

"She reminded me that if I dropped out, then the next candidate for command of the mission would come from Admiral Necheyev and Starfleet Intelligence." I said.

"Does that make a difference?" Elizabeth asked.

"I've met a few of the people from Starfleet Intelligence. I don't have a lot of faith in their command ability or their compassion." I said bluntly.

"But you do have faith in yours?" Aaron said, smiling.

"More than Colonel Flagg's, for example." I said. "If told that it was a matter of national security, Flagg would drive you all out into the hinder lands and then dispose of you all without hesitation. With me here, if you get a sudden burst of sanity, I can try to bring you all home."

"You wanted to make sure we had a back door?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes. Exactly." I said.

"I see that you still don't trust that we know what we're doing." She said, sadly.

"I'm sorry. I haven't seen anything to change my mind." I said.

"We're a little far along with the mission to be waffling about it now, aren't we?" Aaron asked.

"That's exactly the point. We cross the Klingon border in a couple of days. Once that happens then we start the longest leg of this trip. There will be no back up, and no high command to appeal to. Once we cross that line, we're committed. At least turning around will become a much more difficult proposition."

"I don't think there will be any turning around, Captain. If you'll let me, I'll show you why." Aaron said.

"Is that wise?" Elizabeth asked him.

"I don't want a half-hearted Captain, Love. Let's get him solidly on our side and then worry about the consequences. Okay?"

"What consequences are you talking about?" I asked, warily. I had no idea about what they were talking about, but it sounded unhealthy.

"I'm sorry Captain, to know, you'll have to see. After you see, it's too late to go back." Aaron said. "The choice is, of course, yours."

Humans are the most aggressive xenophiles in known space. To risk life and limb exploring space one would either have to have no clear idea of how dangerous it is, or a burning desire to see what was on the other side of the hill. I always identified with Kipling's Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, whose motto was "Run, go see and find out!"

"All right." I sighed. "Let's go."

"I'll have desert waiting when you return." Elizabeth said.

"I'll have to take you to my ship, Rosinante to have the necessary materials. You may want to log off your ship." Aaron said.

As we left the quarters assigned to Aaron and Elizabeth's family, I called bridge and told them that we were about to go joy riding in Aaron's shuttlecraft. I placed Commander Mendez in command of the Discovery. Aaron and I took the turbolift to the main shuttle bay.

-*-

The main shuttle bay on the Galaxy class starship is right under the bridge, covering the rear portion of the Saucer Section. The Discovery's was bigger than most, since we needed to handle several cargo shuttles and smaller one trip pods that would carry the Colony to the surface of its new world.

-*-

The Rosinante was a small yet comfortable shuttle. The chairs were upholstered with good padding and some sort of durable plastic material. The control panels were the standard flat configurable type.

"I'll need to conduct a small power test." Aaron said. Then he spoke in a language that I couldn't understand. I was shocked. I was wearing my universal translator. It should have either translated what Aaron said or beeped to show that it didn't have enough of a sample to apply meta-language to. It did neither.

"Hmm. I guess my translator's on the blink. What language was that you spoke to the shuttle?" I asked.

"All will become clear shortly." Aaron said.

Several panels lit up and the shuttlecraft hummed quietly to itself for a moment. Then it said in a standard computer voice "All systems check out nominal. Welcome aboard, Aaron. I detect another being with you. Scanning. Welcome Captain Jay P. Hailey of the United Federation of Planets."

"Rosy, override the standard warning and then open the main engineering access panel."

"Yes, Aaron." A big panel slid open on the deck of the shuttle. Inside there was a well-lit work area and several devices. Their function was not immediately clear to me. I didn't like that. I had been a Chief Engineer on a Starship at one time. I was not used to shuttlecraft devices that stumped me. Aaron saw my expression and my almost unconscious leaning forward to get a better view.

"Go ahead. Examine her. Just don't touch anything." Aaron said.

I was annoyed. Was I some wet behind the ears punk who needed... Then I took a better look. The center of the equipment in the panel was an anti-matter integrator no bigger than a meter long and about a quarter that wide.

"Ah, ah." I said. The equivalent machinery on the Discovery took up whole rooms and several tons. "My Ghod." The shuttlecraft I was in was several years ahead of the Discovery in technology. Decades.

"Who in the hell are you?" I hissed. "What is this?"

"Relax, Captain. I knew that the Rosinante would sell you. Now I'll explain." He sat in one of the Rosinate's seats.

"Please. Sit down and make yourself comfortable."

I clambered out of the Engineering panel for the Rosinanate and into a seat next to Aaron.

"I am not, as you assume, a human." Aaron said. "I am an El-Alurian."

"Okay." I said. "What's an El-Alurian?"

"We're a race of humanoids from the Beta Quadrant." We arrived as refugees in your Federation about ninety years ago-"

"The Enterprise-B!" I said "The Ribbon. I knew I'd heard the name somewhere."

"Yes. That was it. Some of us drifted in later. Some of us are still drifting." He said. "You know that our Homeworld was destroyed by the Borg, right?"

"No, I didn't know that. If your world was destroyed by the Borg ninety years ago, then why weren't we warned of the Borg before the Enterprise-D met them?" I asked.

"We had a long and fairly rough debate about that." Aaron said "The debate centered around concerns similar to your own Prime Directive."

"You mean-"

"Yes. You in the Federation would consider us an advanced race." Aaron said.

"How, how advanced?" I looked back at the shuttle's Engineering Panel. "A pretty fair amount, I'd guess."

"Actually, the technology is nothing special. You could eventually figure out and replicate Rosy." Aaron said. "That's part of what's so complicated to explain."

"Try me." I said.

"Okay." Aaron reached around my seat and drew out a wire mesh object. It was curved. "This is a neural input device." Aaron explained. "Think of it as an advanced holodeck system." He set the wire mesh on my head.

"Are you sure that thing will work with my neurons?" I asked nervously.

"Yes. It has been proven safe for Earth humans." Aaron said. He slipped a similar rig on his own head. "Rosy, roll the history presentation."

Things changed.

-*-

We were standing in a field. I could smell vegetation. A fresh breeze swept across me. Almost without will I said "Ah..." Then I gained a little control. "Where are we?"

Aaron took a deep breath of his own. "This is the home world. We're on El-Au."

On the far side of the field there was a clean looking group of buildings. They looked like any lab complex on Earth. The buildings were carefully designed not to conflict too badly with the surrounding environment.

"Come on." Aaron said. We began walking. As we walked I could see that there were administration buildings scattered in and among the trees. We continued around the lab buildings. They were bigger than I thought. I was breaking a sweat in the warm afternoon sun.

"Aaron. You said that this is a neural induction rig, right?" I said a little heavily.

"That's right." He said.

"So why am I sweating and out of breath?" I asked.

"The aim was an extremely realistic simulation." Aaron said.

"Is this a recording or a simulation?" I asked.

"It's a simulation based on surviving recordings." He said.

"Thank you for clearing that up."

-*-

Around the buildings we could see a primitive landing field. Flat grassy swatches spread out before us. In the middle of the field were a gantry and a slim silver rocket shape.

"What that?" I asked Aaron.

"That is our first warp drive prototype." Aaron said proudly.

"Cool." I said. It looked like a sweet set up. There was a hangar and a pretty large staff. It looked like a small university's research project. Deep inside I felt a little superior. Zephram Cochrane had to scrape and struggle heroically to get his prototype off the ground. The ship itself didn't look nearly as primitive as Earth's first warp drive prototype.

We watched the crew working on it, and then they all pulled back. Aaron said "Come along." He began to walk towards the hangar with everyone else.

"It's just a simulation, isn't it?" I asked.

"Well, the fidelity of the experience means that we can't put in any safeties like you use on your holodecks."

"Oh."

We stopped just outside the hangar. There was a crowd. I said to a happy young man nearby. "Today's the day, Huh?"

He was dressed in a set of light gray cover-alls with big pockets. Tools were stuffed willy nilly into the pockets. His hair was semi-long and stuck out like a frizzy halo. "Yep! Finally! Isn't it great!"

"Wonderful." I said. Despite my short dalliance with bias, I was really happy for them. It was a great moment every time someone joined the club of star faring races. Sort of like watching a friend graduate, but more momentous, and usually without the long speeches.

An amplified voice counted down. "Eight...Seven...Six..."

I turned to Aaron and asked "When was this?"

"Four...Three...Two...One..."

The silvery rocket leapt off the pad like it had business somewhere. In a few moments it was gone from sight. We all watched the line along its path.

"Telemetry's good!" One of the technicians shouted. Everyone was generally happy about that.

"Test in Five...Four...Three..." Despite the fact that it was a historical simulation, I held my breath along with the rest of them.

"Go for test!" A voice yelled. Then there was a rainbow streak in the sky as the rocket broke the speed of light.

We all cheered and jumped up and down. It was that kind of moment.

The Aaron grabbed me and we walked away from the celebration.

"That was wonderful!" I said "Thank you! I feel like I was really there."

"You asked when this all happened." Aaron asked.

"Uh-huh."

"On Earth, right now, Egypt is just swinging into its fifth dynasty. In a couple of thousand years, someone there will get the bright idea of a Pyramid."

My jaw dropped "That was five thousand years ago!"

Aaron said "Uh huh."

Things changed.

-*-

We were standing on the bridge of a starship. It looked almost familiar. The crew members were all well adjusted, healthy looking El-Aurians. They had uniforms of soft chamois like material, done in light pastel colors.

The Captain's chair was in the right place, in the middle of the bridge where she could watch over all the rest of the action. There was the Engineering Station. I'd recognize it anywhere. I could spot a few of the others by position or function, but there were a couple that were mysterious to me.

"What's this?" I asked.

"This is a starship of the First Empire." Aaron told me. "She was one of a fleet that explored space and enforced the enlightened rule of the El-Alurian Empire."

"The El-Aurian Empire?" I asked.

"Finding a stable interstellar government type took a while. Our version was a little more direct than your Federation, but it served basically the same purpose."

"And that is?"

"To provide a sort of common cultural bond across different planets and different cultures." Aaron explained.

"How many planets are in this Empire?" I asked.

"About a hundred and fifty. I chose to show you this time because it mirrors the Federation in many ways."

"And what ship is this?" I asked looking around at the sleek expression of El-Alurian technology.

"This one was used as the model. The Flagship as it were. Her name was passed along to ships in subsequent generations. You might call her the Enterprise." He grinned.

An officer turned to the Captain. "I have a sensor contact, Captain."

"On screen." The Captain said. She was a handsome woman who radiated calm and authority.

The screen lit up to show a standard Orion Raider. "What?" I said, shocked.

"Yes, The Orion Empire was much larger in this time period than you are used to. They are the chief rivals for power in the region with us." Aaron said.

"Damn them." The Captain said coldly. "Our claim to this area was confirmed by the treaty."

"How long ago was this?" I asked Aaron.

"He's seen us. He's running." I guessed the man was the Tactical Officer.

"Helm, plot course to intercept." The Captain ordered.

"Aye, Sir." The "Enterprise" swung around and sped after her Orion prey.

"A few hundred years later. It doesn't take great Empires long to reach this size." Aaron said.

"The Orions haven't changed their ship designs in five thousand years?!" I was stunned.

"If it works, then why change it? We'll be seeing more of that kind of thought process in a moment."

"How could they keep the same design for five thousand years?" I asked. The longest any starship design had been used in the Federation was about 90 years.

"The Orions have had many periods of expansion and contraction. They use the same designs and procedures as a sort of tradition. I don't think they even recall how big they've been or long they've been going." Aaron explained. "But we're not here to talk about the Orions."

Things changed.

-*-

We were standing in a sort of atrium or courtyard. I say sort of because it was about half a kilometer wide. All around I could see fabulous buildings. At the head of the large open space, there was a brilliantly lit ziggurat of glass and steel. Above us, the sky was littered with ships and stations.

Around us, there were people dressed in flashy, baroque fashions. They stood in small groups and spoke with quiet, self confident voices.

"Wow." I said.

"This is El-Au again." Aaron said. "This is the palace of the Emperor."

"How far does this extend?" I asked.

"You would consider the Palace and administration complex here a good sized city." Aaron said.

"When are we?" I asked.

"This is a couple of thousand years later." Aaron said. "On Earth, the Great Pyramid of Khufu is nearing completion."

"Wow!"

"This is the Second El-Aurian Empire." Aaron said. "That's a historian's conceit. There was continuity between the two phases. The naming of the two phases was poetic but appropriate." Aaron said.

"How so?"

"The two phases are completely different in mind set." Aaron said. "About the time the first Empire hit five hundred worlds under its domination, expansion in terms of territory and technology was deliberately stopped."

"Why?" I asked.

"The job of administering planets in a multi-planet nation becomes geometrically more difficult as the number of planets grows." Aaron explained. "Changing technology simply exacerbates the problem."

"But to just stop..." I couldn't picture it.

"Remember that we have just crossed two thousand years of our history in a single jump. Later historians have spent their whole lives studying the change between the First and Second Empires." Aaron looked at me " And we live longer than Humans. I'm just summarizing here."

"Haven't they met anyone more technologically advanced?" I asked.

"Has the Federation?" Aaron asked.

"Until you, only the Borg." I said.

"Not true. Look above." Aaron reached out caged a piece of the crowded sky with his hands. "Magnify."

I saw the view expand to focus on one of the ships in orbit. It was a large egg shape with sails draped from complicated struts. "My God!" It was a Bajoran star-sailor. It was bigger than any account I'd ever heard of.

Aaron dropped his hands "The Bajorans are more advanced. To advanced races, technology isn't a serious issue."

"Really?" I couldn't see that either.

Aaron said "On an absolute scale, The Federation is about as advanced as any humanoid civilization gets before starting to move in a different direction. On a relative scale, you've got a long way to go, but it's all just detail. There won't be anything in a thousand years in the Federation that you couldn't eventually figure out yourself."

"You think so?" I asked.

"Yes, but that was part of the debate about the Borg. Bear with me." Aaron continued. "The Second Empire is in a consolidation phase, securing what it holds, before it reaches out its grasp for more."

"Uh huh." I said.

Things changed.

-*-

We were back on the original El-Au. I was standing in a wooded grass land. A small ship, about the size of a runabout stood in a clearing, while a few El-Aurians stood outside it, discussing things. I turned to take in the sights. I could see a huge tower in the distance. I was reminded of something I had seen before.

"Is that an arcology?" I asked. Arcologies are self contained buildings they grow and recycle all the food water, materials and things that they need. They are expensive, but very friendly to the environments of the planets they are on.

"Yes. This is the third phase of El-Au." Aaron said.

"Not the Third Empire?" I asked.

"No. At this time, everything became open to thoughtful philosophical re-evaluation. Our philosophy turned away from ruling others and more towards listening to others." Aaron said.

"That's an interesting development." I said. "Did your people turn away from their empire?"

"Yes. Our lives began to lengthen at this time. A few of our oldest people were born during the Second Empire and took part in the change to a smaller, less intrusive race."

"What happened to all the people?" I asked.

"To put it simply, we stopped breeding as much." Aaron said. "The reproduction rate of most humanoid races tends to decline as the standard of living rises. Earth in the Federation is actually experiencing negative population growth now. Enough people move to Earth to easily make up the difference, but there are less people being born on Earth now than there were one hundred years ago."

"That's a good thing. Unrestricted population growth nearly destroyed us in the Twenty-First Century." I said.

"I know. I was there." Aaron said.

"Really. I found records on you going back thirty and forty years but I didn't know..."

"Our people have been visiting your planet since just before the time period you call the Renaissance." Aaron said.

"How old are you? How long to your people live?" I asked.

"I am about six hundred Earth years old." Aaron said. "I don't know what the upper limit of our age is anymore."

"The Old Timers." I said.

"What?"

"An old rumor I picked up. It's an urban legend that there is a race of ancient humanoids who move among us, still." I stopped and looked at Aaron. "That's you guys, isn't it?"

"It could be. As we lived longer our population dropped. There were a number of independent worlds who stayed inhabited by us or other races. Your archaeologists have discovered some remains of the third phase transition. By the time it was over, El-Au was the home to about two billion philosophers. Few traces of our earlier arrogance were left. We were proud of ourselves for turning away from our earlier, forceful selves. We had reached a higher stage."

"Well good for you." I said.

"In small ships like the one you see over there, a few souls went exploring, but it was never for the purpose of expanding our territory. We were just curious. We walked lightly upon the face of the Galaxy and learned what it had to say to us." Aaron said.

"That sounds pretty utopian. Was it really that easy?" I asked.

Aaron turned and looked me in the eye. "No. Of course not. As I said before, I'm only summarizing."

"Uh-huh."

"Actually. In and of itself it might have been just another development of arrogance on our part. We were so certain the we had reached a plateau of humanoid development. We were so certain that our next evolutionary step led beyond the physical. We might have assumed that the physical world was not relevant anymore." Aaron said sadly.

The El Aurians got into their small ship and it quietly took off, heading for who knows where.

"When was this?" I asked.

"A mere thousand years ago. El-Au looked the same from now until it's end." Aaron said.

"How did that happen?" I asked.

"Here we go." Aaron said ruefully.

Things changed.

-*-

We were in a little ship not unlike the one that I had seen earlier. It was a simply a more luxurious run about, but it had some things about it that were never standard on a Federation runabout. There were cold sleep tubes in the main cargo area. If the Autopilot was complex enough, one could travel for years in this El Alurian ship.

The crew was in the nose of the ship on its flight deck.

I leaned over their shoulders and watched.

"I've never heard of anything like it." The pilot said.

"Try to hail it." Another suggested.

"Opening hailing frequencies." The Pilot said.

"This is the scout ship Gau. We are on a peaceful mission. Will you communicate with us?" An older looking man said.

We waited for a moment. I started to puzzle out the controls of the little ship. The basic flight controls were very similar to a Federation ship. I could see the scanner readout. They were scanning a big ship.

"This is taking place about one hundred and ten of your years ago." Aaron said.

"That got its attention, anyway. It's turning towards us." The Pilot said.

"Well, let's just see what happens." The older man said.

The ship moved into closer range and they put it up on the screen. It was a Borg cube ship. I almost screamed when I saw it.

"I have the same reaction myself," Aaron said. "Every time."

The Borg cube came right up to the Gau and stopped. After a few moments it began scanning the little ship.

"That's a little rude." The older man said. "But to each his own. I'm sure they'll tell us what they are about in a few moments."

After the Borg cube ship scanned them, it spoke to them.

"We are the Borg. Surrender immediately. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile."

"No thank you." The Pilot said quickly. The older man spoke back. "We'd really rather just be friends. Are you sure you don't want to discuss this?"

"Friendship is irrelevant." The Borg said. I got chills listening to their voice. A million voices speaking one thought. "Discussion is irrelevant. You will be assimilated."

The Gau put up a brave and inventive fight, but in the end it was chopped up and assimilated. There wasn't enough material or technology in the Gau itself to make a difference to the cube ship, but the computers and the crew knew where a technological planet was. The Borg assimilated them in order to find El-Au.

Things changed

-*-

We were back on El-Au. I knelt down on the ground for a moment and tried to collect myself. I felt the grass and the fresh breeze on my cheek. I realized that I was crying.

"Ghod damn it." I said to no one in particular. I hated the fact that the Borg could exist. It said unpleasant things about the way the universe worked.

"Interesting." Aaron said. "Not too many people have such a strong reaction to that."

"Have you ever seen a Born cube ship?" I asked. "There was one at Earth a few years ago. We could see it in the air over us." I shuddered at the thought.

"No. I wasn't on Earth at that time. I was also away from El-Au during the events we will witness here." Aaron said quietly.

I stood up. "I really don't need to see this. Can we just agree that your point here was made and move on?" I didn't want to see a happy calm planetary utopia eaten by the Borg.

"There is a point that must be made." Aaron said. "I'll show you now."

He held up his hands and waved a screen into existence.

I saw the Borg cube ship advancing towards the planet. Once I had explored the intact wreck of a cube ship. I knew things about the internal structure of them. The only variance seemed to be in the way that assimilated equipment was added to the cube. If you had an eye for the proper detail you could recognize individual cubes, even if the Borg said that the concept was irrelevant. I could recognize the cube that ate the scout ship Gau.

As the cube advanced, I could see small pods approach it. "Approach" is a relative term. They swooped up to it. The pods were all engine and gun. They danced through space with great grace and skill. "What are those?" I asked.

"Those are the planetary defenses of El-Au. They are automated weapons pods. They are piloted with complex AIs designed for the task. They are as if the minds of the best El-Alurian combat pilots were crossed with birds of prey and then adjusted to fly battle pods." Aaron said.

"How did they do?" I asked.

"Watch and see." Aaron said.

The pods tore into the Borg cube. The cube didn't enjoy the experience. The pods shot the Borg cube and damaged it. The cube returned fire and missed. This happened for a few passes until it looked like the cube was in serious trouble. Then the weapons of the pods stopped having as much effect.

"The Borg have adapted to the weapons." I said. Even though I knew that it was a recording, I was rooting for the pods.

"Uh-huh."

The pods backed off a little and then began to attack again. Their weapons were different, but not quite as effective as before.

The Borg cube finally tagged one of the pods with a tractor beam. The pod shuddered and fought, but the Borg cube relentlessly drew it in.

"If we had known exactly what we were dealing with, we would have had the pods destroy the captured one." Aaron said. "As it was, they weren't programmed to. It would have felt like murder to them."

The Borg cube was getting better at shooting pods. The pods' adjusted weapons were having less effect.

After a while the Borg ship began to nail the pods with every shot and the weapons of the pods were not effective at all.

"The Borg analyzed the pods and then they were irrelevant." Aaron said.

"Did your world have any other defenses?" I asked.

"Not so you'd notice." Aaron said. "Those pods were very advanced on your scale. That group could have held off the entire Klingon battle fleet. We didn't think anyone was advanced enough to defeat them."

"They did better than our fleet at Wolf 359." I said.

"Yes, but not quite good enough." Aaron said.

People started to pour out of the arcologies and into the woods. They carried equipment and sometimes even weapons.

"Evacuating the arcologies?" I asked.

"Yes. The Borg told us that they were only interested in technology. They were in a macroscopic sense." Aaron said. "We thought that if you were standing away from your technology that the Borg would ignore you as irrelevant."

The Borg cube appeared in orbit over El-Au. From the ground it looked just like the one that menaced Earth. Several of the small ships rose in to sky. Some tried to fight the Borg, but they didn't last long. Some tried to flee. The Borg shot them anyway. A few made it.

The cube quickly tractored the big arcology buildings into orbit and consumed them.

I couldn't help it. I raged and shouted at the Borg. I looked for a weapon. I found someone's blaster, dropped on the ground during their flight. I grabbed it and emptied it into the sky at the Borg. I was completely hysterical.

Then El-Au was stripped of all technology. Most of the population was standing around in the woods in various states of shock or mourning or even rage. Then the Borg cube started firing on the people. We all ran or hid or tried to find some way to fight, but it was useless

-*-

The Borg cube was well on the way to scouring El-Au of all life forms when I found myself in Rosinante, screaming.

It took me a few moments to calm down. As I came down, I could feel accumulated sweat and tears. I was exhausted. I felt a little sick and my head hurt.

"What happened?" I asked Aaron. He didn't look much better.

"What do you mean?" He replied.

"The Borg are said to take technology but ignore life forms. Individuals are irrelevant to the Borg."

"We're not sure. We guess that the Borg were, for lack of better word impressed at how well our minimal defenses performed. They had also just assimilated many of us. Our half made plans for recovery and revenge may have been open to them. They elected not to leave us intact behind them."

"I don't understand." I said.

"Individual El-Aurians were irrelevant to the Borg. The El-Alurian race as a whole was not."

"Gaah." Part of what made the Borg scary to me was that they didn't care. All of human history and culture were useless clutter to them. No matter what we did, we were just another race to assimilate. The El-Aurians had frightened the Borg into an act of unimaginable violence. Was frightened even the right word?

I tried to relax. The nauseous feeling was going away, slowly.

Aaron said. "That was a long trip in a short time. You're feeling the effects of a neuro-transmitter overload. It'll go away in a while."

"I know. I've had it done to me before." I said. "What does all this have to do with this colony?"

"I would have shown that to you if I could have, but there are no surviving records. The Federation absorbed more than it's fair share of El-Alurian survivors. About thirty percent of us have wound up here."

"Okay. Keep going."

"Before the Borg destroyed our home world, we had installed some of our people on your worlds under false identities. This gave us a certain amount of resources. Money, access to officials and knowledge of what your Federation was up to. After the invasion, these were turned to finding homes and safe havens for our fellow survivors. That's when the debate began."

"You mentioned this debate. What was the question?" I asked.

"The debate was whether we'd use our knowledge to upgrade the Federation's technology. The recording and simulation you've just experienced showed that for the Borg, absorbing our world was a challenge. Our studies indicate that a battle fleet armed with the technology of the battle pods might have destroyed the Borg cube. The idea was that if properly armed, the Federation could resist the Borg."

I was shocked. That would be the grossest kind of interference in our development. "But we weren't ready for that technology. You have no way of knowing the results of that kind of interference. You might have twisted the Federation beyond recognition."

"These were all arguments on behalf of what you might call the pro-Prime Directive stance." Aaron said. "Many of the arguments made by what you might call the pro-interference stance were confirmed by the Borg at Wolf 359."

I stopped. Eleven thousand Starfleet officers had died there. I knew some of them. Starfleet was decimated and Earth was left defenseless. "Could you have prevented that?" I asked.

Aaron shrugged. "Maybe. The Borg arrived well ahead of our predictions."

I shook my head. "As often as I've debated the Prime Directive, I've never seen it from this angle. Now we're the primitives."

"What do you think of it now?" Aaron asked.

I thought of all of the Federation's history. Zefram Cochrane, The first big exploration and colonization push. The Great Awakening period led by starships like the original Enterprise. The long histories of the other worlds in the Federation. We learned more every day from the people right under noses than we ever thought possible. I looked out the Rosinante's ports at the Discovery. I was reminded of the Constitution. Not the first of the starships, but the ancient one. Six hundred years old. The first United States Navy ship. Wooden hull, sails for catching the winds. Big iron reaction cannons. Ropes everywhere. A testament to the genius of men working with only natural elements available to them by their bare hands. They were as proud of the Constitution as I was of the Discovery. Each of them represented their cultures. Each was now hopelessly primitive in its way.

Now take those ancient Americans and introduce them to the Federation. The might recognize and approve some of the basic structures. They might be awed by the new technology. However, to make the thirteen colonies members of the Federation would be to take something away from them. They might eventually catch up with the general level of technology, but would the world have seemed as open to Ben Franklin or Tom Paine? Would they just assume that whatever they could think of must have been invented before?

Now the Federation. Would we try as hard to understand the universe if we knew that there were El-Aurians around who had been there and done that well before us? No. Maybe the Federation left to its own devices could one day match or exceed the old Empires of El-Au. If the Federation was made a colony of those old empires then we would never top them. Our spirit would be gone.

We had managed with a great deal of luck to survive the Borg. I had faith that somehow, we would make it through without El-Alurian technical assistance.

"I think that you survivors should butt out, frankly." I said.

Aaron grinned. "That was the general suggestion when we included the Federation in on these discussions."

"What?" I was shocked again.

"A few years ago, some one, either Guinan or Boothby brought up the point that we were once again being arrogant to debate the question without all the participants. The President, the Commander-in-Chief and few of the highest staff members were appraised of the question and asked to voice an opinion on the matter. They were almost unanimous on their opinion. They asked the organized survivors to leave."

"Boothby? You mean like the gardener at Starfleet Academy?" I asked.

"Yes. He enjoys watching the new classes of young people get educated and prepared to go out and explore space. He drops the right word here and there to keep them on course. To him it's an extension of his gardening." Aaron explained. He seemed bemused. At least that explained why Boothby hadn't dropped dead of old age by now. He looked old when he started at the Academy some time in the 2310s.

"Okay, so this colony is composed of El-Aurians?" I asked.

"Yes. We are the individuals who are going to found a new El-Au if possible." Aaron said. "That's why we're being taken out to a point a thousand light years away. It's hoped that the Federation will be able to handle a relationship with El-Alurian culture if it ever expands that far."

"Is one thousand light years far enough? What about Guinan and Boothby and the El-Aurians left behind?" I asked.

Aaron laughed. "I knew you'd see reason eventually, Captain. Do you agree with the mission now?"

"Yes. What about the others?" It was important. Once a Federation undercover mission to a less developed culture was exposed, they were always evacuated completely. The primitive natives often searched obsessively for further evidence of alien invasions. I was afraid that people like Guinan and Boothby represented contamination that would grow with time.

"They were the champions of the pro-Prime Directive faction. Neither one of them was a technician back home, anyway." Aaron explained.

"But, but..." I said. Did dropping words of wisdom count as interference? They lived only with the technology available to us. Were they in fact a contamination, or were they part of the growing culture of the Federation? That was an interesting question.

"The people on this colonization mission are the core of the pro-interference faction. With them out of the way, the interference question has been resolved." Aaron said.

We slowly and painfully climbed down out of the Rosinante. I told Commander Mendez that I was back, and then I went to my quarters to shower and to take a nap. I wasn't even tempted by Elizabeth's desert. Well, maybe a little.

-*-

I briefed my command crew on what I had learned about the colonization mission. Admiral Necheyev probably wouldn't approve of spreading it that far, but I wanted the people in charge of making decisions on the Discovery to be fully aware of what they were dealing with.

I also made Aaron give me complete medical and personnel records. He didn't want to but I offered to place them under command overrides and he relented. His information gave me even more incentive to assure that we could complete the mission.

-*-

"I am General Kalak. You have been assigned to the fleet of Chancellor Gowron. You will follow my orders explicitly and instantly." The Klingon fleet commander was big man with gray hair and fine scars on his body attesting to his prowess as a warrior.

The fleet was similar to the one that had escorted the Harrier through Klingon territory about a year earlier. One of the big Vor'cha class cruiser and two of the K'Vort class bird-of-prey cruisers.

"Aye, Sir." I said

"Good. We will set out in two of your hours. When we do, assume your cruise mode and fall into formation as indicated."

"Aye, Sir." I said.

The channel was cut. "Okay, everyone. Compile all reports, and all letters for home. After we're inside, we'll be running under subspace radio silence." I said. The Discovery prepared to enter the next phase of our mission.

-*-

The Discovery slipped into Klingon territory. We were as quiet as six hundred meter multi-thousand ton mice could be. Gowron agreed to let the us pass through Klingon territory, but he wasn't happy about it. He was under a lot of pressure from Klingon factions that felt he was too soft on the Federation. The worst of the critics called him a lap-dog of the humans and challenged him to start a war with us. If the general knowledge was let out that he Federation scouting ships pass through Klingon territory then his reputation would suffer accordingly.

I don't know what the Federation offered in exchange, but I wanted us not to be any sort of trouble for the Klingon leader. The Klingon solution for a problem like us would be fairly direct.

-*-

"Captain. I have a sensor contact." Kamaline said. She was the Discovery's Chief Science Officer. She was substituting for Lt. Commander McCoy on the bridge watch for the day.

"Identify it, Lieutenant." I said. I was pretty sure that Kamaline wouldn't have brought it to my attention if she didn't feel that it was important.

"I can't positively identify it, but It seems to be a piece of metallic debris." Kamaline said.

Ordinarily I would have ordered the Discovery to alter course to take a look at it. Now we were part of General Kalak's fleet.

"Any details?" I asked.

"It weighs about three million metric tons." Kamaline said.

"That's big." I said. It was about the size of Earth's Space Dock. "Probably just an iron-nickel asteroid." I speculated.

"Possibly, sir." Kamaline said. I could tell that she didn't like that assumption. Whatever it was needed to be looked at rather than dismissed out of hand.

"Keep an eye on it. If we get more details then maybe we can take it to General Kalak. I don't want to push the issue until we know more." I said.

-*-

Later, we made our closest pass. Kamaline directed a low powered scan at the object for a long time and then combined the results of the long scan for better resolution.

The object gave every appearance of being artificial. We only had the basic blurry visual scan, and a little data about its composition.

"Hail the General." I said.

Eventually General Kalak appeared on our screen. "What is it, Captain?" He said patiently.

"General, we have scanned an object." I gave him the range and bearing. "It appears to be artificial. I would like permission to detour briefly and investigate it a little."

He sighed. "My own crew has scanned this object. It has no power readings and no weapons showing. It poses no threat. I see no reason to investigate it."

"We have no way of knowing what it might reveal until we check it out, Sir." I wheedled.

"We are on an important mission, Captain. Is it worth delaying to check out some derelict?" Kalak said with a little irritation.

"Again, I don't know, Sir. There's a small chance that it is. We won't know until we take the actions necessary to find out." I said.

"I see now why you Starfleet types get into so much trouble. Are there any corners you won't poke you nose into?" General Kalak asked.

"No, Sir. It's my job." I said.

"Hold on." Kalak said.

The channel went dark.

-*-

Gowron appeared on my screen ten minutes later. "What is the meaning of this?" He said. His eyes were bugging out like a frog's and he snarled.

"We have detected an object adrift in space, Chancellor. We are seeking permission to investigate it." I said.

"Where is it?" He asked.

I gave him the coordinates. "That's inside Klingon space, isn't it?" He asked.

"Yes, Sir."

"Then it's a Klingon problem, Captain." He said.

"I beg your pardon Chancellor. I remind you that the Discovery was built originally as an explorer. We may be better equipped to give you information on this object than a Klingon unit." I said carefully.

"Are you implying that your ship is better at this sort investigation than a Klingon ship?!" Gowron said dangerously.

"Yes, Sir. No one fights better than the Klingons. You're respected and feared throughout the quadrant for your skills in battle. That doesn't mean that you're the best at everything. Earth people are not as good at fighting, but we do have our uses." I said.

Gowron thought about it. "I agree, conditionally. One you will report all of your findings to General Kalak. Secondly you will not trouble me in this way again."

"Yes, Sir."

"Very good, Captain. Proceed with your mission."

-*-

The object was a sub-light colony ship. It had been adrift for approximately three million years. Everything even remotely vulnerable had aged away in three million years. We found the ruins of cold sleep tube. The life forms in them had faded away to dust. It had an extensive computer library. The information in it had long since degraded into randomness. A few pictures and books survived. It had some sort of silicon based plastic in many of the fittings and furniture. The furniture was still sturdy and usable. The silicon based plastic had simply degraded to rock. The seals on the airlocks and cargo bays had long since degraded to rock and let the atmosphere out. Tricorder readings said that the atmosphere was hydrogen and a few other elements. The exact make up as random gas floating in space. That wasn't what the original owners of the derelict breathed. The random space gasses had been invading the derelict for long enough to obscure the traces of what the atmosphere really was.

We were able to uncover only the most tantalizing and frustrating of hints about the people who built the thing.

The one thing that made us sit up and take notice was the material that the hull was constructed of. A weird metal existed partially in an energy state. It absorbed radiation and kinetic energy and fed it into batteries on the derelict. Some of it was still intact. It looked like some sort of memory metal that used energy to rebuild itself. The technology was really incredible.

After a few days, we completed a preliminary scan and data gathering. General Kalak said that we had enough for Gowron to make a decision about what to do next. We buttoned up and left.

A few days later, I received a strongly worded message from Admiral Necheyev about what a bad idea it was to rock Gowron's boat.

It looked like a long boring ride through Klingon Territory.

-end-

Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Trek. I claim original characters and situations in this story for me.