“I can’t believe you really believe what you are saying, Captain.” Admiral Ross said with disbelief.

  “I can assure you that I am of sound mind, admiral.” Sisko said back trying his best to not display his exasperation at the admiral ignoring his advice.

  “Even if what you say is true, we can not recall the fleet to defend the borders when we don’t know when and where the Borg will breach. And that's assuming that I believe that these… “orbs'' were able to give you accurate intel at all.” Ross said back.

  “We don’t need to defend the entire federation border, just Deep Space Nine. The Borg are coming for technology aboard the Spear of Adun, which, if I may say so, would doom the entire Alpha Quadrant if they managed to take.”

  “I understand your position Captain, but understand mine. I can not simply reorganize the fleet recalling countless ships on various missions based on a vague hunch. And before you tell me it's not vague, you have no idea when this attack will come do you? For all you know this could be years down the line. We can’t simply cease all our out-of-federation activity just to play defensive. Now's not the time.” Ross said with a sigh.

  “Admiral if you’d just…” Sisko said, trying to persuade the admiral once more.

  “The decision stands, Captain.” Ross said sharply, cutting Sisko off before he could continue. There is a pause as Ross’ gaze slowly softens. “Look Ben, I understand you are worried, and I know your history with the Borg. But we haven’t heard from them in close to a decade, unless you can bring me solid proof of Borg activity I can’t authorize something like this.” He paused again as he looked off to the side.

  “I’ll tell you what, the Ieyasu is going to complete its agricultural scans of the assigned sectors soon, it should be done in a few months. I'll see what I can do about getting it assigned to Deep Space Nine as an attache for a while. I’ll also inform all our border posts to keep a lookout and inform the central command at the first sign of activity. I promise you we won’t leave you out in the cold.” Sisko sighs and straightens himself back up.

  “Thank you admiral.” Sisko said professionally.

  “I know it's not what you are looking for, but it's the best we can do at this time. Keep me up to date with the status of those ships from outside the universe. I expect a comprehensive report when all this is said and done. Ross out.” After saying this Ross tapped a button on a comm panel next to him and the feed cut out. Sisko sighed heavily, it went about as bad as he expected. No reinforcements of any considerable size, no reorganization of Starfleet, and no help. He knew that command was not a fan of prophecies like this but he expected that he would be able to throw a little more weight around.

  However there was one thing that the admiral said that was right, he did have no idea how long it would be until the Borg arrived. If they remained on track with their plans to send the ships home it should be done within a month or two which would mean the Borg would have to arrive before then. But there were still so many unanswered questions. Sisko stared out the window and looked at the spot the wormhole opens.

  “I take it the call didn’t go well?” Dax said as she entered the office noticing Sisko looking rueful.

  “They might as well have said no.” Sisko said, turning around to face Dax. “A single ship will be sent here in a few months and all border outposts will be alerted.” He said with a sigh.

  “Huh, better than I was expecting.” She said with a small laugh. Regaining her professionalism she hands a padd over to Sisko. “I completed the setup of the Buoy, with the chief’s advice. We are set to move to the next stage of the plan.”

  “Alright, contact Kerrigan, it's time we track this wave.”

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  “This is Doctor Julian Bashir on Deep Space Nine. Is there someone aboard the Spear of Adun that is receiving this message?” Bashir said, unsure if he managed to set up the communication equipment correctly. After a moment a female voice responded. Bashir instantly recognized the voice.

  “This is Executor Selendis, Artanis has put me in charge of handling the communication between us and Deep Space Nine. If you need to get in contact with him I can relay a message if you’d like.”

  “No, that is quite alright, I don’t think we need to bother your Hierarch, assuming you have the authority to give me your medical records.” Bashir said with a smile.

  “Medical records?” Selendis said, confused as to what he was talking about.

  “Ah yes, let me start from the beginning, I am investigating the possibility of some sort of infection spreading amongst your people, if I will stand any chance of combating it I will need access to your medical records, and perhaps have a consultation with some of your doctors.”

  “Is this something gleaned from the vision your Captain recently had?” Selendis said delaying her answer until she understood the full picture and scope of the request.

  “Why yes it is actually. According to him your Hierarch mentioned some sort of affliction before he fell to the Borg, now this could mean any number of things but we won’t know for certain until I can begin research.” There is a pause as Selendis seems to think something over.

  “I promise you, we have taken your Captain’s warnings and vision very seriously over here but I want you to understand my position. In the history of our people there has only been two recorded instances of a disease or similar affecting our population. It seems quite unlikely to us that we would fall to such trivialities.” Selendis said with a short pause. “Furthermore we have not been in need of “doctors” for many eons, those with such knowledge would reserve themselves to the study of the Khala, or what once was the Khala, and those who did not would become Phase-Smiths instead. It has been only recently that we have been granted… freedom to choose our own way of life, though still most prefer to remain as they were before.” There is another pause before Selendis picked back up.

  “I have personally studied the database of information that you sent over to us and as I understand it and can best explain to you, we have no doctors as you would understand simply because we have long ago done away with the need for such things.” It was Bashir’s turn to pause in silence as he thought through what to say.

  “Are you saying you don’t even keep medical records over there?” He said in disbelief.

  “No, that is not correct either, we of course have extensive information about personnel aboard the Spear of Adun, but I have no idea what information you would even consider helpful to discern if something was to affect our bodies.”

  “I suppose then I can just sift through it myself then.” Bashir said with a raised eyebrow. There is a long ten second pause before Selendis spoke up again.

  “We have… never granted outsiders access to our knowledge before. In our history our interactions with other species was either eradication or subjugation, never information sharing. However Artanis has seen to it that the Protoss have entered a new age, one where we no longer see ourselves as the only worthy intelligent life in the universe… or rather any universe.” Bashir could tell that Selendis was not dodging the question but instead working herself up to answer it.

  If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  “I can not… permit you to look through the records of our warriors for fear of what that information may do to them.” Selendis paused for a moment as she thought, but while she did Bashir spoke up.

  “I give you my word as a doctor, no, my word as a man of moral conviction that nothing more than medical research to cure a plague will come from the information. I will promise you that as soon as I finish my work I shall delete all records and traces of my research.” Bashir said, doing his best to assuage her fears.

  “I appreciate your conviction and willingness to sacrifice knowledge to protect my people doctor, however it is as I said, I can not permit you to look at the data from our warriors.” There is another pause but a very brief one before she continues. “That is why I shall be sending you my personal data so you can work off that. I shall also find out if there are other Protoss willing to have their data sent over to you as well.” It was clear, even to Bashir, this was a hard decision for Selendis. To her she must have felt like she was risking her own life for only a slim chance to solve something that may not even be real.

  “Thank you Executor, I promise you I will do everything in my power to help your people through this.” Bashir said softly back, impressed by Selendis’ own conviction.

  “I appreciate your drive doctor but, and forgive me for saying this, I hope your research simply proves that we are indeed not infected with anything at all.”

  “Believe me.” Bashir said as he looked over to his other monitor where he began receiving the information from the Adun. “So do I.”

  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  “Ah so this is where your warriors train themselves for battle.” Talandar said as he stood inside a holosuite looking around at the mechanical walls which were at the moment deactivated.

  “You are not wrong but…” Worf said as he stared past Talandar almost shamefully. “Many of my compatriots do not hear the call of battle like we do. Most of them see this as nothing more than an excuse to relax or play.” Worf turned around to face the open room.

  “Activate Worf Training exercise level 5.” Worf said, causing the room to change into a jungle biome with massive trees and foliage, as well as several ape-like warriors hiding behind several trees nearby. “However, I use this room to ensure I am fit for battle at all times.” Worf said before he walked over to a weapon rack nearby and grabbed a bat’leth, swinging it around a bit to get a feel for its weight.

  “A noble thought, Worf, son of Mogh. I too keep myself ready for battle at all times.” Talandar said as he too walked over to the weapon rack and grabbed a bat’leth, inspecting it over a few times. “Though since my robotic body knows no exhaustion nor wear, I fear I no longer train like I used to.” There is a pause as Talandar rethinks what he just said.

  “Or I suppose I should say, as he used to.” Talandar said a bit woefully. It was still strange to him that he was not Fenix. He had all his downloaded memories and his drive to fight but he was nothing more than a facsimile. Of course he had long ago come to accept this, but it still sometimes struck him as odd. Fenix was his predecessor, without him there would be no Talandar and yet, he was not Fenix, he was someone else. However he was not a thinker, he was a man of action and whenever he had doubts he simply acted to cure any misgiving he might have.

  “There is never a bad time to hone one’s skill with a blade, be it bat’leth or psiblade, skill is forged not given.” Worf said as he fended off a few attackers that came after him. Another jumped out from behind Talandar and tried to stab him but Talandar just spun his upper body around and grabbed the ape creature by the head and crushed it.

  “You are most correct Worf, son of Mogh. One’s skill must be constantly sharpened lest it become dull.” Talandar said as he grabbed the headless ape and threw it hard at another who was sneaking up on Worf.

  “Exactly. Most do not understand that though we live in peaceful times we can not let ourselves fall into a slump, only by keeping up diligence are we able to not let any enemy overcome us.” Worf said as he swept the enemy off his feet planting the bat’leth inside its stomach. He was about to pull it out when another jumped him from behind. He grabbed the mek’leth off his belt and spun around stabbing it in the neck with ease. With the brief respite he bought himself he retrieved both weapons from their fleshy sheathes. “Though I find that even my own people seem to not value the old ways as much any more.” Worf said regretfully as he turned around to look at Talandar who had just finished his handful of enemies as well. It was clear to Worf that Talandar was not really trying and was holding back quite significantly.

  “I suppose this is not hard enough for you?” Worf said with a sly smile.

  “I must admit, I find the challenge of fighting these creatures to be quite low.”

  “Then let us up the difficulty.” Worf said, his smile wide and his eyes excited for the battle to come. “Increase the difficulty to level 20.” He said to the Holosuite before the entire scenery changed and now they were on Qo’noS from thousands of years ago, hundreds of Klingon warriors stormed a burning capital in the hopes of claiming honor for themselves and riches for their houses.

  “Perhaps this will get your heart crying for battle Talandar!” Worf said before he cried into the air charging into a mass of enemy soldiers coming to destroy the capital.

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  “If you are looking for a good view of the promenade, you want the second floor outside of Quarks. Not only does it give you the longest view but you can even see the offloading ports of 2 different entrances.” Garak said to Nova who he found wandering the promenade near his shop. Nova was, to put it simply, a stunning beauty, her long blond hair and shapely body were not hidden by her form fitting gray stealth suit. Even her sniper rifle strapped to her back was less of an eye draw than she was. Obviously she had not disarmed and probably came aboard without being noticed, how the security had yet to find her was worth questioning but Garak assumed that with all the new arrivals the Security forces aboard the station were spread a bit thin at the moment.

  “I don’t remember asking you.” Nova said to him flatly not turning around. It was strange though, this man had not only snuck up on her, but his mind was not readable. Well, it was readable, it just read to her as garbled nonsense, like static coming over a viewscreen, she had no idea if this was an innate skill or practiced talent but she decided that she wanted nothing to do with this man.

  “Of course not, a woman with such a keen sense of fashion like you only has eyes for the most brilliant of prizes. I however just so happen to be a man who knows a thing or two about brilliance, and you my dear are the greatest prize on this station.” Garak said with a practiced smile.

  Nova was a bit taken back by this man. Every word he spoke was caked in lies, she could tell that much through telepathy, but beyond that she could not read him. It was like he had a mind specifically trained to thwart telepathy, it was not the first case of this she encountered but the level of discipline his mind had was astounding.

  However the thing that took her back the most about this man was the way he moved. He was no threat to her of course, she could psi blast him quicker than he could say “help” but the truth was she had a suspicion that if she let her guard down he might be capable of killing her. How, she had no idea, but something about his aura, the way he carried himself was menacing.

  For Garak’s sake he could tell that this woman was an assassin at a glance. It came as no surprise to him that such a talented individual would be able to get aboard the station unnoticed. Even the brash ways she was carrying weapons on the promenade in full view of everyone told him all he needed to know about her skill level. She was not someone he could take if it came to it. However the reason he approached her had a different purpose altogether. He needed information, the kind that the low level grunt terrans that occasionally happen upon his shop can’t tell him. However this woman would have the information he was looking for, and he had a feeling he might have information she was looking for too.

  The two stared at each other as passersby gave a wide berth to the Cardassian shopkeeper and the armed woman. Silence hung in the air as the two waited for either one to strike. However it was Garak who broke the silence.

  “It would seem to me that only the finest threads would suit you and any kind of clothing you might happen upon wandering the promenade would certainly not be enough for you. No, I believe a woman as lovely as you are would need to come to my shop, where we both might benefit from a change of wardrobe for you.” Garak said with his signature smile.

  Nova could tell this man had a glib tongue and every word he spoke was not to be taken seriously, but the truth was she was on the back foot. She generally got by in discussions with either her iconic directness or a little bit of telepathy to turn the tides in her favor. But in this instance she knew neither were working in her favor. She could tell he was after the same thing she was, information. The kind that Raynor’s men wouldn’t know about. However she had no loyalty to Raynor or his crew. Her only goal was getting out of this universe and back to hers, and any plan she could come up with to ensure that happens was worth pursuing.

  “Alright, lead the way… tailor.” Nova said back with a bit of venom and a bit of curiosity as to where this might lead her.

  “It would be my distinct pleasure to do so.” Garak said back with a wide smile. “I think you and I are going to get along just fine.”