Chapter 11 The cubic ship floated through space, slowly rotating. The damage had been repaired and the light at its center pulsed blue-green. Having no other purpose, it had continued on its course even after the inferior ship had vanished. Trying to catch it, perhaps. Even the cubic ships occupants didn't know for sure. Connected together via subspace net as they were, they were presently trying to figure out how a ship of inferior design crewed by an inferior species could suddenly exceed all measure of velocities. It had certainly gone faster than its engines were designed for. The current thread of contemplation across the subspace net was why the ship had allowed itself to be damaged, almost destroyed before escaping. Was it to analyze the cubic ships capabilities, or was this species so superior that they can afford to play games with their lives. "Energy reading on course 115.54,320.41," echoed across the interior of the ship. After a due nanosecond of consideration, the ship changed course. "Reading similar to last scan of Enterprise Warp envelope," came the eerie mechanical voice. As a red, gridlike forcefield surrounded the cube, a face appeared on the screen. "I can take you to the Federation starship Enterprise," said the face without preamble. "I was responsible for bringing them here in the first place. Allow me to help you and I'll take you to a place where there are many lifeforms you can convert as well as technology you can absorb." "Identify yourself," they echoed in unison, after probing the forcefield for weakness and finding none. Even they could not escape. "I am from the Q Continuum. To me, you are insignificant. You cannot escape. Follow me or be destroyed." Never having been faced with their destruction before, the semi-organic beings on the cube echoed back "We accept your offer, you of the Q Continuum." "Not you, Q. Oh well, never mind. Prepare for time travel." Q was gone, followed moments later by the disappearance of the cube. The Borg were again hunting the Enterprise. "Geordi, are you alright?" At the sound of the strange, but familiar voice Geordi opened his eyes. Still unable to see, he felt to both sides of himself for his VISOR. "Here," said the voice again and Geordi could feel someone press the VISOR into his left hand. He put it on and immediately wished he hadn't. His head began to throb even more painfully than it had been for the past several seconds since waking. After a great deal of concentration to tune out most of the extraneous information he turned to who he assumed was a doctor. "Where am I and who are you?" he questioned shakily. "You're in Sickbay on the Enterprise, Lieutenant. I'm not surprised you're having trouble remembering. The way I hear it, you had a nasty fall out of a Jeffries tube. Something about an explosion in Engineering..." broke off the gruff voice as someone else, also familiar entered Sickbay. "How is he, Bones? When will I get my Chief Engineer back?" asked the newcomer. "How the hell should I know? I'm a Doctor, not a prophet! Lietenant LaForge here took a nasty fall and hit his head. He's having difficulty remembering." Then, looking thoughtful for a moment and examining the readouts on the diagnostic panel on the wall, "I'd say about 24 hours. IF he can get some rest. You know. No performing minor miracles for a day, doctor's orders." "Good enough, Doctor." And to Geordi, "I'll check in on you later, okay Geordi?" "Fine. Maybe I'll remember something by then," LaForge said as he lay back on the diagnostic bed and closed his eyes. Both Kirk and McCoy left him to rest and entered McCoy's office. As the door closed behind them, Kirk asked anxiously, "What's really wrong with him, Bones? A little fall like that shouldn't have put him in Sickbay." "I don't know, Jim. This just doesn't feel right. I mean, ever since the two of us and Spock beamed aboard that other ship, something has just been out of synch," answered McCoy, taking a seat behind his desk. He leaned back tiredly. "What do you mean: 'that other ship?' We haven't been on another ship for at least two months. I think you need a break, Bones. You've been working too hard," said Kirk with concern. "Touche, Jim? That sounds awfully like what I tell you all the time. But I can't believe you don't remember the Houdini. Your physical yesterday showed no mental abberations, other than a death wish," McCoy responded sarcastically. "Are you sure you don't remember the Houdini?" "Positive, Bones. Maybe you should talk to Spock, see what he has to say." "Thanks, Jim, I'll do that," said McCoy as Kirk got up to leave. He called Spock on the Bridge, but he knew nothing of any Houdini except for 'a minor conjuror of little note from Earth's early 20th century.' McCoy began to doubt his own sanity when both the computer and Captain's Logs showed nothing of the Houdini. In fact, all they listed were routine patrol missions along the Federation-Klingon border. McCoy poured himself a large glass of Saurian brandy and vowed to find out what was going on. "Captain, who was that?" Data had turned in his chair to stare inquiringly at Picard. "That was Chief Engineer Scott, Commander. Who did you think it was," answered the Captain. Data considered for a moment, his gaze seeming to turn inward as he searched his internal memory banks. "I know of no one calling themselves Scott who is also a Chief Engineer currently serving in Starfleet. I thought that Geordi LaForge would be in Engineering, as he has always been." "Who?" asked Riker, entering the Bridge from the Turbolift. "Computer...search records for any mention of a 'Geordi LaForge' serving on this ship at any time." The computer beeped in acknowledgement and after a few seconds, its female voice answered: "No record of any person by the name of 'Geordi LaForge' known to have served on the Enterprise at any time." "Check for any reference to a 'Geordi LaForge' anywhere in the Enterprise memory banks," ordered Picard. Another pause, longer this time, as the computer sifted through every piece of information in its possession, working backwards from the most recent records. "There is record of someone named 'Geordi LaForge.' He served aboard the original Enterprise, NCC-1701, from stardate 1510.3 to stardate 8130.3 when it was destroyed. He is listed as the ship's Chief Engineer." "Thank you, Computer," acknowledged Picard. "There, you see Mister Data, I think that the stress of this situation has been too much for you. Some of your positronic pathways may have been fused together so that you're confusing events from this time with events from our time." "Impossible, sir. My brain is protected from surges of the magnitude required to cause the damage you suggest," responded the android calmly. "Still, at least report to Sickbay and have Doctor Pulaski examine you," said Riker. "Aye, sir, but may I first stop in to see Worf in the Brig?" inquired Data. "Of course, Data. Just be sure you have yourself checked out," said Picard. As Data left the Bridge, everyone left exchanged worried glances. To think that someone with such strength, such knowledge, had for all intents and purposes lost their mind...The fact that Data was a construct made it no easier to accept. As Data entered the Brig, he noticed that the force field covering the doorway to Worf's cell was not in place. Yet Worf still sat in the cell. He looked up upon Data's entrance. "What happened, sir?" he grumbled. "We have captured one of the creatures, mostly through the good work of Chief Engineer Scott. The Captain is preparing to return to our own time with it," replied Data. "Who did you say? What happened to Geordi?" asked Worf. Data could see his curiosity straining alongside his concern for his friend. "You mean you never heard of anyone named 'Scott' serving aboard the Enterprise, either. The Captain says that no one named Geordi LaForge has ever served on this ship." "We must DO something. Geordi may be in danger. What does the computer say about Geordi?" queried the Klingon. "Computer records show a Geordi LaForge serving aboard the original Enterprise in this time period. It is my belief that Q somehow caused Geordi and Scott to change places, modifying all computer records and people's memories. I was not affected for some reason. You were not either. Perhaps it was Q's disdain for your race, or some peculiar physiological trait of the Klingons." "It does not matter 'why.' What we must do is recover Geordi and return Scott to his proper place," rumbled the warrior. "Do you have any plans for doing this, Lieutenant?" asked the android. "If we separated the Stardrive section and followed the other Enterprise, the saucer would have to follow us. Perhaps, when everyone is back in their proper place, every thing will return to normal," said Worf. "An interesting theory, but how could we get everyone except Scott out of the Stardrive section long enough for us to separate?" "Leave that to me," said the Klingon, coming as close to smiling as he ever had. "You secure the Battle Bridge. I will signal you when I am ready to separate the saucer." "Agreed." Worf and Data walked side-by-side to the Brig doors and then parted company, each going their own way. Data had gone to Sickbay, per the Captain's orders, but Pulaski had been unable to find anything physically wrong with the android. She reported her findings, such as they were to the Captain. Data had been on his way to the Battle Bridge on Deck 8 when Picard paged him. "You are hereby removed from duty until some solution to your problem presents itself" was all Picard had said. Data wondered if whoever or whatever had changed everyone's memories hadn't also put everyone's personalities ever so slightly off-kilter as well. By now, Data had entered the Battle Bridge and set about all possible preperations for saucer separation that wouldn't be readily detected on the Main Bridge. All he had to do now was sit back and wait for Worf's signal. Data sat in the command chair, with a slightly less than straight posture, his form of physical relaxation. Fortunately for Worf, it was near the middle of the night shift when he entered Engineering. He waited until there was no one in sight, then he stealthily crept over to the main engineering console. He punched in his special security codes in order to gain access to the collection of disaster simulations that were normally used to train his security force on the Holodeck. "Computer, run program 'Security8Alpha'," he whispered, just loud enough for the computer's audio pickup to hear. "Proper clearance provided. Running program 'Security8Alpha'," responded the computer, much too loudly for Worf's liking. On the Bridge, Wesley turned anxiously to Picard as the Red Alert klaxons went off yet again. "Captain, the magnetic containment fields around the ship's matter/anti- matter core have begun to dissipate. Approximately 45 seconds until uncontrolled matter/anti-matter collision." "Thank you, Ensign. Picard to Engineering, is there any chance of you getting the problem under control?" "Scott here, Cap'n. There IS no problem...well, at least no' a one I kin find, sir. I recommend entering Warp and separating the saucer. That way, if she does blow, most o' ye'll not be in any danger," reported the Chief Engineer. "Prepare for emergency saucer separation. All hands to emergency stations," ordered Picard. "Ensign, how long?" "Twenty seconds, Captain." "Warp 8, Ensign. Any heading. Engage!" shouted Picard. Wesley hurriedly punched in a course that would take the Enterprise into deep space, away from any possibly inhabited planets. "Moving to course 90 mark 136. Speed currently Warp 4 and increasing. Fifteen seconds to detonation," said the Ensign, somehow finding enough self-control to remain calm. "Seperate saucer...NOW!" ordered Picard. On the Bridge viewscreen, the saucer appeared to lift up and away as the larger, faster Stardrive section shot out from under them. Wesley counted down the time to detonation. "12 seconds...10...9...8...7...6...5 seconds...4...3 ...2...1...detonation!" Everyone present covered their eyes in preparation for the blinding flash they knew would soon follow. It never did. "Captain, I don't understand," began Troi. "The Stardrive section never was in any danger, fools." "Q, what do you have to do with this," asked Picard, rather more loudly than he would have liked. "Tut, tut, Jean-Luc. I had nothing to do with the false alarm on the Stardrive section. You owe that to Microbrain and the Incredible Toaster Man." The voice came out of nowhere, Q not deigning himself to become solid. "Worf and Data? Impossible," said Picard. "Computer, location of Lieutenant Worf and Commander Data." "Lieutenant Worf and Commander Data are not on the saucer at this time. Last known positions were in Main Engineering and the Battle Bridge, respectively," answered the feminine voice. "You see, Jean-Luc. If I was one to say 'I told you so'," he trailed off. "But you are, Q," muttered Riker, irritated with the whole situation. "Quite right, William. Quite right. So I'll say it. I told you so. There much, much better," said Q smugly. "Get out of here, Q. Unless you're going to help us." "An ultimatum, Picard. So unbecoming. I'm not going to help you. Not yet, anyway. There's nothing in it for me. Bye now." Since Q was not visible, there was no indication that he had left, other than a slight whoosh of air and the sound like someone snapping there fingers. "Ensign," said Picard. "Trail the saucer at maximum impulse power. I want to know what's going on." "But we'll never catch them," protested Wesley. "Just do it, Ensign!" Picard glowered at the boy. Meekly, Wesley obeyed. Worf entered the Battle Bridge, carrying an unconscious Montgomery Scott over his shoulder. Data looked up as he entered. "Were you successful, Lieutenant?" asked the android. "Yes. People began evacuating the Stardrive section as soon as I implemented my simulation. Only Scott and a few others were present. Everyone except us has been rendered unconscious by my phaser set on stun." "Good. I have laid in a course that will parallel that of the original Enterprise's back to Earth. We should catch up with them within the next forty-eight hours." On the saucer section, Pulaski was furious. It seemed that whenever she really needed the ship to hold steady so that she could work on a patient, was the time that the Bridge Crew decided to run the ship as rough as possible. The power drain, momentary though it was, when the ship separated, almost proved deadly to Aures. The operation had been at a critical stage when the ship separated and Pulaski had almost lost her. She wasted no time bringing this to the attention of the Bridge Crew. Picard said, however, that if Aures was still alive to stop worrying about it and get back to work. This only made Pulaski madder. She was now in the process of removing the stasis field from Aures' body. Most bodily functions had returned to normal, the only major problem being the heart, which beat almost tentatively in her chest. Pulaski's prognosis was that she'd almost fully recover, if she ever regained consciousness. "Selar," she said, removing the last stasis field. "Watch her. I'm going up to the Bridge to find out exactly what's going on. I'll be back shortly." "Of course, Doctor," the Vulcan said to Pulaski's back as the physician left Sickbay. 'Humans,' Selar thought to herself. 'Sometimes I don't understand their desire to become involved in thing they can't change.' The Vulcan continued on about her work, occasionally glancing up at Aures' readouts. "Alright, Captain," said Pulaski, stepping out of the Turbolift onto the Bridge. "What's so important that you feel you must constantly endanger the safety of my patients?" It had taken her only a few seconds to realize that Picard was not at his customary place in the center of the Bridge activity, but that didn't stop her from asking the question. "He's in the Ready Room. He doesn't want to be disturbed," answered Riker, turning in his seat to face her. "Well, that's too damn bad, because I'm going to disturb him," Pulaski said resolutely as she headed for the Ready Room door. The door chimed, but Picard just ignored it. It chimed a few more times, but he didn't look up, concentrating on the information on his desk computer terminal. Finally, exasperated, Pulaski told the computer: "Emergency medical overide. Authorization: Pulaski-Alpha." The door slid open immediately. "What the hell--," Picard started, but Pulaski cut him off. "Captain, what is going on up here? I've got a lot of injured people in Sickbay, three of them critical. Why do you keep knocking the ship around, cutting power to Sickbay, and otherwise trying to kill us?" "Please, Doctor. This doesn't concern you," he answered. "Yes it does! I'm the one who has to put everyone back together again," Pulaski said. "Very well. Data and Worf are missing. They took control of the Stardrive section after simulating a Warp core breech. They took Scotty with them." "Who?" Pulaski asked. "Not you, too, Doctor," said Picard resignedly. "Data told me that he didn't know this Scotty, either. At the time, it seemed that he was wrong. Now, though, I have no memory at all of this Scotty. What happened to Geordi?" "I don't know what you're talking about, Doctor. Data was ranting about this Geordi, also. Give yourself a psych exam. Compare your brainwave profile now with the one on record. Let's see if we can't get to the bottom of this." Picard turned back to his terminal screen, signaling that this meeting was at an end. Pulaski left, her mood hardly having improved since finding out the reason for the problems in Sickbay. On the rotating viewscreen, a white ship was just becoming visible. It was traveling at Warp 1. Slowly, its image increased in size. "Analysis of structure and registry indicate that this is the Enterprise," the mechanical voice echoed. "Error! This ship is extremely primitive compared to the Enterprise," another voice echoed back. "Confirm that this is the Enterprise," echoed yet another voice. "Initiating individual Borg sub-processes," echoed the first voice. Slowly, the Borg stepped from their cubicles, full powered, with only one thought on their group mind. The capture of the Enterprise.