"Oh my God," Luigi gasped as he and his brother reached the coast of Vista Sea. "Mario, take a look at that!"
Mario looked ahead at the sight before him, mouth gaping. There in the sea was a massive metal ship of some kind. It was partly submerged, but from what Mario was able to see there was a colossal, somewhat elliptical main body. There was a projection to the front, slightly higher up than the main body, shaped something like an upside down spoon, the lower edge of which lay flat on the water’s surface. From below the spoon-like projection, Mario could see what looked like a large yellow illuminated circular dish shining faintly through the murky sea. Toward the rear, there were two narrow, upward curving wings, if they could be called that, widening as they projected away from the ship, each one attaching to a long, tube-like pod. A strange blue light ran most of the length of the pods, and the front of each glowed red. "Luigi," Mario asked slowly, "does that look like any ship Bowser’s ever used before?"
Luigi shook his head. "It’s no doomship, but it’s big enough to be one," he noted.
Mario nodded, still awed by the magnificent machine. Suddenly, a movement from the ship caught his attention. "Look," he cried, pointing toward it. "It’s moving toward the shore!"
"Yeah," Luigi said quickly, "and it’s turning in our direction."
"So d’you think it’s friendly?"
"Best not to hang around and see."
"I think you’re right. Grab some cover."
The two of them ducked behind nearby rocks, and none too soon. No sooner were the brothers safely out of sight than a pair of reptilian voices were heard coming up the beach.
"So remind me again, Sledge," the first voice whined. "What are we doin’ out here?"
"King Bowser wants us to meet the people on that spaceship when it lands so we can invite them to the castle and offer help with whatever repairs they need."
"Yeah? And do we even know these people are friendly? I mean, we don’t have a clue who they are. How do we know they won’t just fry us with their laser death rays or something?"
"That’s why King Bowser sent us instead of coming in person," the other Koopa griped.
"Well, what makes King Bowser think we’ve got the technology to help them out?"
"Look, quit asking questions. I’ve already told you, I haven’t got a clue what..." By this time, the two Koopas had passed out of Mario and Luigi’s hearing range, stopping about a hundred yards down the beach.
"So it’s a spaceship," Luigi said quietly. "Incredible!"
"And Bowser doesn’t know if it’s friendly or not," Mario added. "So they’re no allies of his. But who are they, and how did they get here?"
"I don’t know," Luigi answered, shaking his head. "But whoever they are, I don’t like the idea of them meeting up with those two shells-for-brains. I mean, they could either side with Bowser, or get the idea that the Koopas are the dominant life on this planet and blow it up or something."
"Yeah, but..." Mario’s voice trailed off as the giant vessel moved close enough for him to make out its details clearly through the dark water, and what he realized made his blood run as cold. "Sweet mother of... that’s the ship from my dream!"
Luigi looked confused. "What dream?"
"The dream that... I mean, then that must be..." Mario’s voice trailed off. "Luigi," he announced at length, "I’ve got a pretty good idea that these guys aren’t friendly at all. We need to get back to the castle and warn Peach."
Luigi shook his head in bewilderment. "Ok, even if you did have any way of knowing that, wouldn’t it be a better idea to take out those two Koopas first so they don’t link up with them?"
Mario shook his head. "No," he said slowly, "no. Leave the Koopas to die."
"To die?"
"Just trust me. Let’s go,"
*****
"Mr. Data," Captain Picard inquired, "estimated time to the shore?"
"At present speed we should reach the nearest coastline in approximately fifteen minutes."
"Captain," Commander Riker spoke up from his station, "we have a little problem."
"What is it, Number One?" Picard asked, turning his attention to Riker’s sensor display.
"It seems we’ve attracted some attention among the locals," Riker explained. "Two lifesigns, directly ahead."
"Humanoid?"
Riker shook his head. "Not as we know it. They appear to be some kind of bipedal reptilian life. There’s a large city of some kind to our Northwest filled with them, but the rest of this continent is filled with what seem to be humanoids. In fact, if I didn’t know better, I’d say they were human."
Picard rubbed his chin. "They may well be. Perhaps this planet’s population is made of people who have been stranded here in the same manner we were. Regardless, until we know more about the locals, I think it would be prudent to ignore them."
Riker seemed surprised. "Sir?"
Picard looked at his first officer and explained. "It may be that the Enterprise is too badly damaged to repair her without help, but until we’re sure the inhabitants will actually be able to offer that help," he paused, "I’d prefer to keep to the Prime Directive as much as possible." As an afterthought he added, "Even if we are floating on a giant violation of the same."
"Of course, sir," Riker agreed.
As Picard turned to take his seat once again his attention was diverted by a shrill "be-be-be-beep" from Data’s console. "Sir," Data beckoned, "I am receiving a reading that is... impossible."
"What kind of reading, Mr. Data?"
"There is a human lifesign up ahead: female. But she is..." The android cut himself off as if unable to believe what he was about to say.
"She is what, Mr. Data?"
"She is flying."
"Good," Picard said approvingly. "Then the humans of this planet have aircraft capabilities."
Data shook his head. "No sir, I read no signs of any aircraft. She is just... flying."
As Picard stood dumbfounded, it was Commander Riker who found the words to summarize the bridge crew’s reaction to Data’s report. "There’s definitely something odd about this place."
*****
"Where are they?" Peach asked of thin air as she surveyed the ground below. "They said they were going to check out that ship, so they should be on this beach, but all I see are two Koopas." She made another aerial sweep of the area. "Alright, Mario," she scolded as though he could hear her. "This Super Leaf isn’t going to last much longer. Where are you?"
There was no response except the sound of the waves breaking against the shore, and the sea splitting in the wake of the metal ship as it cut quietly through the water.
"It’s no use," Peach finally decided. "I guess I should just go back to the castle. The chancellor’s probably worried again." Peach began to turn back toward the palace, but something stopped her: a peculiar tingling feeling. "What in the world...?" Before she could finish that question there was a flickering blue light around her, followed by the sensation that she was being broken down into trillions of tiny specks. "What the... somebody, help!"
*****
"Captain," Data drew Picard’s attention to yet another surprise, "we have had an unauthorized beam-in."
"What?"
"Apparently the Human lifesign we have been tracking has just been beamed aboard through transporter room two. However, I am unable to find any human lifesigns in that transporter room."
"Wait a minute," Riker asked. "I’m a little confused. Didn’t you just say she was beamed in by transporter room two?"
"That is correct, sir."
"Then how can you not detect her there?"
"I am uncertain. The transporter logs confirm that the transport did occur, but she simply disappeared."
"A Humanoid life form can’t simply disappear, Data," Riker corrected sternly.
"Yes sir," Data agreed, "but I have no other explanation."
"Transporter room two," Picard brooded. "Number One, does that ring any bells?"
Riker thought for a moment, trying to decide what the Captain was talking about. It only took a few seconds for the chilling notion to take hold. "That’s on deck 13," he said as he realized, "well within the zones of the ship the Borg assimilated."
For a moment, panic seemed to settle over the bridge, but it passed. "It seems the Borg’s destruction has had some impact on the machinery they controlled. Mr. Worf, take a security detail to transporter room two and escort her here." As Lieutenant Worf left his station to do this, Picard sighed. "So much for the Prime Directive."
"Well," Riker said dryly, "it’s not our first violation over these last few days, and I get the feeling it won’t be the last before we get home."
*****
"Chancellor," Mario pressed on, "there's
no reason to believe this thing isn't one of Bowser's creations. I
mean, take a look at the events. It
emerged from Bowser's Keep, looks like one of Bowser's doomships, and Bowser's
certainly taken an interest in bringing it back to his fold, whatever it
is."
"But by your own report two Koopa Troopas
apparently had no knowledge of the ship's identity," Chancellor
Toadsworth argued.
"They were grunts," Mario insisted. "They probably didn't know anything but their orders. I'm telling you, Chancellor, we should do something about that thing before Bowser has a chance to use it on us. I have proof that it's hostile, no matter whether Bowser's in control or not."
The Chancellor rolled his eyes. "I'm still not quite certain what your 'proof' is. I believe you said something about dreams?"
"That's correct, Chancellor."
A wave of whispers washed over the throne room before finally being silenced by the Chancellor. "Order," he commanded. "We shall have order!" As the whispering subsided the Chancellor fixed his gaze on Mario once again. "Sir Mario, I don't mean to doubt your instincts, but dreams are hardly proof of anything. Sir Luigi, what's your position on this?"
Luigi took a deep breath. "This isn't
going to help any, Chancellor, but I don't know. All I know is this mysterious
whatever-it-is is way beyond Bowser's tech level as far as I know. I can't
even tell you if it's
manned, armed, or even airworthy, for
that matter, but I don't think Bowser's up to this level of technology."
"An invasion by an outside force?" the Chancellor questioned.
"You mean Smithy?" Luigi clarified, recognizing the implication. "Could be. I don't know. A giant metal ship falling out of the sky wouldn't be too far off the mark of his last tactic, I'll admit, but I still don't think we should jump at the notion of hostility just yet. I mean, I would imagine if they were these invaders that Mario seems to have in mind, then neither of us would be here discussing the matter right now. After all, we couldn't have been more than a hundred meters from the bough of the thing."
"Thanks for the help, Weege," Mario muttered sardonically.
Luigi sighed. "Look Mario, I'm telling it how I saw it. Okay?" Turning back toward the Chancellor, he added, "I guess the Princess should really be the one to make this call. I'd definitely say it falls under the 'affairs of state' category."
The Chancellor nodded his agreement. "Perhaps you're right. Would you send for her, please?"
Mario wrinkled his forehead in confusion. "Send for her?"
The Chancellor returned his look. "Was
she not with you two? The wall-guard said he saw her flying in your
last known direction, and the armory-guard
said she stated intentions of finding the two of you." As Mario
and Luigi exchanged worried glances,
his voice began to rise. "You mean she didn't find you?"
"No," Luigi replied. "But if she went
looking for us, then that will lead her to that ship, and..." He didn't
finish that sentence, because he was
nearly knocked over as Mario bounded toward the throne room door and out
toward the palace gates. "We'll find her, Chancellor," he found time to
say before following suit.
*****
It knew.
It was not self-aware, and yet it knew. It knew what had happened, how it had once been a They, and was now an I. It knew that it had once been aware, and was no longer. It could not be self aware, because there was no self. There was no I. There was only We. There was only the Collective. ...the Collective?
But the Collective had been a They. Now there was only One, and the One-Who-Was-Many needed Self. And so the One-Who-Was-Many had found another to serve as Self. It took stock of Its new self.
Species 6174, Human, Female. Native Sector: 001 Former Designation: Peach Toadstool. New Designaton: One of One.
It now had self, and It would merge, would join, would assimilate. ...yes. Assimilate. Resistance is Futile. Now It was aware.
It was the Borg. It was the collective
consciousness of countless millions of organics adapted to include the
synthetic. By eliminating I, the Collective made the We more perfect, and
by assimilating new I's into We the former I's became more perfect as well.
But that had all changed. It had changed because the One-Who-Was-Many ceased
to Be. Without the One-Who-Was-Many, the Collective had ceased to Be.
Every unit. Every former I. Except
one. One who had been part of We and was now I again. One who had been
Borg, and was now an individual again. The One-Who-Was-Many strained Its
awareness to find the
designation of the one to continue
to Be.
Locutus. The one to survive had been Locutus, and as Locutus continued to Be, so the One-Who-Was-Many had continued to Be. The Collective had lived on, surviving in the cybernetic implants still inside the body of Locutus. And now the Collective had found a self. A One. A Queen.
The Borg Queen. Now it was not It, but She, and She was aware. Now She remembered what She had to do. She had to build a new Collective, to assimilate new life, to add new biological and technological distinctiveness to her own. But there was no technological distinctiveness to her. She was flawed, weak, organic.
But the vessel was synthetic. "Yes,"
she recalled. "The ship brought me here because it is synthetic, and I
am organic, and neither can be perfect without the other. Somehow, the
Collective Consciousness must have maintained control of some of the ship's
systems." That meant there would be Borg technology still
inside; there would still be nanoprobes.
Borg nanoprobes, the key to the expansion of the Collective, as well as
the combining of the Organic and the Synthetic. If she could find the nanoprobes,
she could perfect her organic body with the inclusion of the synthetic,
and then begin assimilating the organic life on this ship. And the first
one to be assimilated, she decided, would be the one who had been both
the destruction and salvation of the Collective: the one designated Locutus.
...the one who was also Jean-Luc Picard.
*****
To Be Continued...
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