Callum stared as they entered the bridge. He'd never even seen the place before. The room was a crescent shape; each wall hugged tightly by a mass of panels and screens, all bordered by slightly organic looking ridges. Chairs slid backwards and forwards across the floor, their headsetted occupants tapping panels and talking quickly into the mouthpieces that hugged their faces. The air was filled with beeps and the sound of working machinery, coupled with the chatter of the bridge crew themselves. The conversation gradually subsided as the crew noticed them. Callum was increasingly aware that they were the centres of attention. A nearby Shee with the pins of an ensign pointed towards a door on the other side of the bridge. Jay nodded to her.
"Thanks. C'mon you two, let's go see how bad this is gonna be."
He strode towards the door. Callum exchanged a glance with Sillika, and they hurried after him. The door hissed open and they stepped through. The Captain's gaze bored into them the second they entered. Callum watched Jay's expression go wooden. This couldn't be good.
Jay swallowed as Sasch's gaze hit him. His own words of a few minutes ago echoed in his ears. He was seriously for it now. Sasch sighed.
"Right. You're all here because I want to get this supposed 'Albia' sorted out. The crew is getting edgy, and your stories aren't helping. I need to make an official announcement soon, and I want the truth this time." Her gaze shifted from Jay to Callum, and she raised an eyebrow.
"Well?" She said icily. Callum returned the stare.
"You've already got the truth."
Sasch snorted.
"You don't still expect me to believe that. I don't know how you got this far out from NewAlbia..."
"And the fact we've never been there has no relevance to you?" Callum retorted, his glare almost as strong as Sasch's.
"I've studied the evacuation of Albia, and your stories are factually inaccurate," Sasch snapped. Callum glared at her.
"You're damn facts are inaccurate! You've studied the evacuation? I was *part* of it!"
Sasch rose to her feet, anger flooding across her features.
"You dare to talk to me like that..."
"Of course I dare!" Callum yelled back, his face reddening, "I've faced a hell of a lot worse things than you Captain, I'm still here and I'm *not* going to be called a liar simply because you're too narrow minded to believe me. Do you know *why* the Shee left Albia?"
For a moment Sasch rocked slightly on her heels, as if trying to regain mental balance.
"A disaster..." She started, before Callum cut her off again.
"Wrong! They left because they were going to destroy it! The Council decided to poison the world because they couldn't accept that one of their beloved experiments had gone so awry that it had created something capable of destroying them! Now you can't accept that *our* past is real because you can't understand it. *I* don't understand it! It doesn't make me a liar. And it certainly doesn't make it any less true."
There was silence for a second. Jay realised his mouth was hanging open. Even he wouldn't dare to talk to Sasch like that. Callum's face gradually began to return to its normal colour, and he sighed, suddenly looking exhausted.
"Sorry, but I'm not prepared to have our past denied."
Sasch's lips were thin white lines.
"That's an excuse?"
"No. But too many have died to be called a lie." He matched Sasch's glare.
"If you want to call security now, you're welcome. I probably deserve it, but some things have to be said."
Jay looked at Sasch. The Captain turned and walked back to her desk. She sat down and swivelled her chair round so that she was facing the window behind the desk. Jay craned his neck slightly, trying to see the expression on her face. There was utter silence for a few minutes. Jay exchanged a glance with Sillika. She looked slightly shocked. Then Sasch turned back to the room.
"You may go. Commander, a word?"
As Sillika followed Callum out, she flashed Jay a nervous smile.
"Good luck," she mouthed. The door slid shut.
"Well?" Sasch tapped her fingernails on the desk. Jay tried a salute. Sasch sighed.
"As you were Jay, I've had enough of protocol for today."
"Yes ma'am."
Sasch stood up and looked at him. Then she smiled.
"Alright Commander, you've convinced me."
Jay blinked in surprise.
"Pardon?"
"I believe you. And them. No one speaks with that much fire if they've made it up."
Jay felt his shoulders sag slightly in relief, and an ache in his back made him realise he'd been standing too straight, for too long. Sasch sat back down and began typing.
"You're back on duty. Dismissed."
Jay grinned.
"Thank you ma'am."
"Oh, and Jay?" Sasch called after him as he turned to leave. He looked back at her, and she winked.
"Don't spread it around that I gave in please. There is such as thing as an image."
Jay laughed.
"Sure."
Sillika's eyes flicked between the door to the Captain's room and Callum's face. She'd only ever seen him that angry once, before they'd left Albia the first time, when they'd found out that the Norns were being abandoned. She gave him a quick smile.
"Hello in there? Anyone home?"
"Huh?" Callum shook himself, and grinned at her, "Yeah, just thinking."
"I'm sure it'll be fine," she said in what she hoped was a reassuring tone. Callum shook his head.
"It's not that, it's just..." The hiss of the door opening cut him off. Jay grinned at them. Sillika returned the smile.
"Hey, no bits missing, all limbs attached, I take it that it went well?"
Jay nodded.
"Yup. C'mon, I'll fill you in later. Did we ever finish those drinks?"
Callum leaned back in his chair as he watched the dancers spinning across the floor in the Mix. He seemed to be the only one without a dancing partner, but he didn't mind. It was a few days since his heated exchange with the Captain, and it was just beginning to sink in that he'd actually gotten away with it speaking like that to someone even Jay was slightly afraid of. An image of Lraac flashed up in his mind and he shuddered. Nothing was as bad as she was; at least Sasch could only metaphorically rip his head off.
"When you hit reality, let me know."
Callum blinked away his thoughts and grinned at Sillika as she dropped down next to him.
"Hi."
"Hi."
"Are you gonna dance?"
Callum laughed.
"You're kidding me! Dancing is one of the only things I'm worse at than using technology."
"Aw, I'll get you a rock."
"Got one."
"Sarcasm Callum."
"You don't say?"
Sillika punched him playfully in the arm.
"Watch it," she warned, and laughed. Her eyes flicked left and Callum turned to see Jay heading towards them. Sillika shot him a warning glance, then smiled at Jay. Before she could say anything, the music suddenly stopped. Callum glanced up.
"What on...?"
"Attention all personnel," a computerised voice announced into void of silence left by the music, "This is a code red situation. Combat stations."
Callum turned to Jay who was staring at his callband. He looked up.
"Callum, Sillika, with me. Don't ask why, because I don't know," he added and strode towards the door. Callum glanced at Sillika, who shrugged, then they hurried after him.
The corridors were filled with crew, and it hit Callum how quiet it was. The normal chatter had subsided, and Callum was aware of a sense of determination in the air. They crammed into a lift, already very full, and Callum's stomach lurched as they headed towards the bridge.
Jay stepped out of the lift and hurried over to his station in the middle of the bridge, directly opposite a large, oval-shaped viewscreen. The Captain nodded to him, then to Callum and Sillika. Jay blinked, then stared at the screen. It was fuzzed with static.
"What's happening?"
Crystal looked up at him.
"We picked up a distress signal, a very weak one. It was coming from a nearby Albian-class planet. When we got close enough to verify, this happened."
Jay scanned the panel infront of him.
"Some sort of jammer?"
"Apparently, but it's not like anything we've ever seen before," Sasch butted in. She turned to Callum.
"Do you have any idea what this could be? You've been in this sector a lot longer than us."
Callum shrugged.
"Sorry, no idea. We only left the surface of Albia once, and we were in stasis for most of that journey."
Sasch blinked.
"Stasis? But..." She was cut off as one of the ensigns nearby gave a cry of alarm. Jay's eyes flicked towards the screen. His jaw dropped. The static had cleared now, being replaced by a massive grey cube. It had to be over a hundred times larger than the Discovery, with a strangely raw appearance, like it had been stripped of it's outside coverings. It looked like a mass of dark grey scaffolding, as if the designer had taken function over form to the extremes and had removed absolutely everything except the essential systems. Beside him, Callum swallowed hard. Sasch turned to Crystal.
"Scans?"
The ensign shook her head.
"Can't get any, something's jamming our scanners."
"Put up the shields," Callum said slowly. Sasch turned towards him.
"We don't yet know if it's hostile..."
"Just put up the damn shields!"
Callum held Sasch's gaze, wondering inwardly why he found the new ship such a threat. There was something about it, something that... Well, reminded him of Lraac. Maybe he'd spent too much time around the Amulets, maybe he'd developed a sort of sixth sense for these things, maybe it was just old-fashioned bone-level instinct, but whatever it was something inside him knew that cube was Trouble. Sasch's eyes narrowed.
"If you think..." She began when suddenly a shaft of green light lanced out from the cube, hitting the ship with such force that the floor rocked violently. Callum lost his footing and clutched at a chair for support. There was a small explosion of sparks from one panel.
"Hull breach, deck twelve, losing atmosphere!" Someone yelled.
"Get it sealed, and put up the shields!" Sasch yelled. Jay swivelled towards the navigators.
"Get us the hell out of here!"
"Can't sir, we're using all out power just to stay put!"
The ship rocked again, less violently this time, but still noticeable. Callum glanced at Sillika and saw the fear in her eyes.
"Open communications, try and talk to them!" Jay yelled. Suddenly the room was filled with what could only be described as a multitude of voices, all speaking at once. It grated and scraped across the ears, and Callum was sure it made his eyeballs itch.
"We Are The Borg. You Will Be Assimilated. Your Biological And Technological Distinctiveness Will Be Added To Our Own. Resistance Is Futile."
"Get us out of here!" Jay yelled again, over the horrible voices, "Re-route all available power! Turn off life support if you have to, we'll be okay for a while."
An idea hit Callum, and he grabbed Jay's arm.
"You got any projectiles on this thing?"
"Missiles, yeah. Why?"
"Can't we send one of them up this beam? Does it work like that?"
Jay stared at him, then a grin spread across his face.
"Arm one series of missiles!" He shouted to someone. Sasch raised an eyebrow.
"Good plan, let's see if it works. Fire!"
Callum's gaze switched to the viewscreen, and watched the faintly glowing specks shoot towards the dark shape of the cube. There was a depressingly small looking explosion, and the ship shuddered again.
"Done it! We're loose."
"Then get moving. Hyperwarp nine, let's get as far away from that thing as we can!"
The view stretched and twisted then returned to normal as the engines started. Callum watched Jay's grim face, lips pressed tight as he stared at the screen. Suddenly, the cube seemed to stretch out away from them, and for an instant it flickered green. Then it was gone. Jay blinked.
"Where is it?"
"Dunno sir, it's moving too fast to track. Away from us."
Sasch sighed.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes Captain."
There was silence for a few seconds.
"Turn round, head for that distress signal," Sasch said at last, "They might have some idea of what is going on."
She turned to Jay.
"You're to take a team down there Jay. Take... Take Callum and Sillika with you. They're probably more than qualified, according to your report."
Jay nodded.
"Okay. C'mon you two, let's get kitted up."