Ranma of BORG by James Barnhill c319remreadaptin@hotmail.com Im BAAaaack. And ive got some new tricks to try on the timelines lets see here....move this one to the left......then zig zag.........now loop it and uh......oops.....this is the timeline we inhabit (sweatdrop), well it cant be that bad. Just see what happens a year from now and.....uh oh......the Teletubies take over the world (grimace). Hmm now that's an odd outcome! Disclaimer: I never owned any of these characters but that wont stop me from changing theyre identities and selling them to someone else. Bwahahahahahahaha (choke, sputter) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 2 She had a son! This thought continued to repeat over and over in Seven of Nine's thought's. A year and a half ago she thought that unit R1127893-098435-H had been killed in fluidic space. Though she had never seen her son she had not stopped keeping tabs on him as he grew in the artificial wombs, sometimes she would take over duty for that entire section to make sure that her son got proper nutrition. Contrary to popular thought Seven of Nine still had emotions when she was only a BORG drone, they just operated on a instinctual level. Thus the drive to know that her son was ok. This also resulted in her pure hatred of species 8472, oh sure she would work with them if the captain told her so. But if given a choice she would rather jettison herself out the nearest airlock. "Seven" But what is he like? Will he hate me? Seven of Nine started to imagine that her son might look like a younger version of her father. As to what he would be like psychologically she couldnt begin to imagine all of the possabilities. She just hoped that her son would not need to be killed. If that happened she did not know what she would do. Maybe if I...... "Seven of Nine!" The face of a slightly flustered Capt. Janeway seemed to materialize in front of Seven of Nine's face, breaking her chain of thought. "Y..Yes captain?" Seven of Nine desperately tried to hide the blush creeping upon her face, but to no avail as she saw the rest of the bridge crew grinning at her. This only made her feel more embarrassed. "Sorry, I was thinking of ways to improve the search algorithms." "Sure you were Seven. As I was asking you a few minutes ago, are we ready to enter fluidic space?" Capt. Janeway tries to hide her smirk. Seeing Seven of Nine so flustered was a rare occurance, but given the circumstances Janeway would let Seven go with only minor embarrassement. This time. After taking a few minutes to look at the displays, and calm herself down. "Yes captain. Anytime your ready." Seven of Nine made a mental note to constrict her other thoughts to off duty hours. "Excellent" Capt. Janeway took her place in the captains chair. "Engage" "Ten seconds before deflector array is fully charged" Harry Kim wasnt that excited, actually he was terrified. It was probably the fact that the last time he had met species 8472 their biological defenses had almost killed him. The oval shaped parabolic dish, otherwise known as the deflector array, began storing energy to create a singularity leading to what is popularly termed fluidic space. The reason for using the deflector array is because its main function is to create a curved forcefield strong enough to protect the ship from micrometeor collisions. Even with advanced alloys that can withstand the temperatures of a sun for short intervals of time a collision with any object be it a atom or a small pebble while traveling faster than light could impart sufficient kinetic energy to annhilate or tear away the outer hull. That and the fact that the deflector array is easier to reconfigure than say the shield generaters. "Five seconds before spatial tear." Seven of Nine checked her calculations for the thirtieth time before clenching her fist's and forcing herself to calm down. Capt. Janeway pretended to study the memopad in her hands while secretly watching Seven of Nine. Maybe she should ask some of the other bridge officers to help Seven through this time by telling her about their families. It could'nt hurt. Power was shunted from warp drive to the deflector array. This would make the singularity more stable. Also because of some physical laws resulting from the way fluidic space formed after it's own Big Bang only impulse drive worked effectively. "Opening singularity!" Seven of Nine called out before a bright flash caused everyone to cover their eyes. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Major Kira here. Hello Captain Picard, we werent expecting you here for another 7 hours." Major Kira hoped Captain Picard picked up on her subtle question. She just hoped it had nothing to do with the Dominion, that war had been hell for everyone involved. "I assure you it has nothing to the with the recent ceasation of hostilities." Capt Picard tried to make his voice sound as relaxed and unworried as possible. "It concerns the recent BORG activity, or should I say lack of activity." No it was worse, why couldnt it be something to do with the Marqui at least then you knew where you stood. Major Kira's face drained of color she took a couple of quick breath's to calm herself down. "Are they going to attack us?" She tried to sound brave, not realising that she had said that in a choked whisper. "Not you, but we think they're up to something that could threaten the entire Federation." Capt. Picard tried very hard to keep the anger out of his voice as he thought over the last encounter with the BORG. "We need all the assistance we can get." "Youll get it." Major Kira looks thoughtful for a moment before continuing. "In fact I believe the Klingons would want to help you. They have a score to settle for all of their brothren being defeated dishonourably. And if you need the Defiants help Im sure we could arrange that." Major Kira's smile is like that of a shark. Capt. Picard acknowledges with his own shark-like smile before continuing. "Thank you Major, that is most kind of you. We'll contact you again when we get a reply from Starfleet Command." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Meanwhile in Nerima night had fallen and Ranma began to dream again. He was sitting in some sort of chair. He quickly looked around, noticing everything had a decidedly organic look and feel to it. Like everything was alive. Now that he thought about it he could feel a vibration coming through the chair he was sitting on. Before he could jump out of the chair restraints locked him down as a alien voice spoke in his mind telling him they were going to be attacked. Moments later the image of a black cube filled his vision, for some reason this terrified Ranma. After some unknown time of watching the black cube catch up to this ship he felt a hard tug as the ship was pulled into one of the larger cubes. After some time he heard a dull drilling sort of sound eminating from the wall to his left, now he saw a red rectangular outline began to form on the wall. It seemed that the wall was trying to resist whatever was trying to drill through, but finally it succumb to the enemy. As Ranma saw the figures slowly walk into the compartment he realized why the dark cube had scared him so much. "RESISTANCE_IS_FUTILE_YOU_WILL_BE_ASSIMILATED" The voice seemed to come from everyone and no one at the same time since none of them moved theyre lips. The humanoid things started moving toward Ranma. "YIIIAAAAAHHHHHH!" The strange battle cry stunned the humanoid things as the pilot (at least that's what Ranma thought it was) started attacking them. She literally tore into them, ripping them appart. Ranma watched fascinated as the humanoid things fell to the alien pilot in two's and three's, but it didnt matter for more of the humanoid things kept coming through the adhoc door. Too soon the pilot started to show signs of fatigue and massive damage as the humanoid things tore into her with strange beam weapons, even if she killed all of these the reinforcements already coming through the new doorway would overwhelm her with weight of numbers. Ranma couldnt do anything, he wanted to help the pilot but his fear of those things stopped him. So he watched in horror as the humanoid things killed the pilot, then they came for Ranma. He backed up against the wall behind the chair but they still came, unconsciously (or so he assumed) he started to try to fend off the things only to find that he was not in his right body. The skin color was all wrong, and the hands were shaped differently, in fact the coloration and the hands were just like the pilots. He fainted, upon coming to he found himself in some sort of restraining device. There were a few of the humanoid things all around him, they seemed to be alternating between studying him with the protrusions on their arms and punching the displays. Ranma tried his hardest to free himself of the restraints to no avail, so he waited. After several hours one of the humanoid things approached him, maybe it was time to eat. Wrong, the humanoid figure raised his left arm and activated the buzz saw attached to the end. Ranma blacked out as the buzz saw started to tear through his mid-section. "AAAAHHHH get away!" Ranma woke up from the nightmare drenched in sweat. He almost began looking around when he noticed that someone was trying to calm him down. "Nabiki?" ----------------------------------------------------------------- During the walk to school Ranma wondered why Nabiki was so freindly with him last night, friendly as in she didnt charge him. But when he saw the commotion at school he bagen concentrating on finding the cause for the disturbance. It only took 3 seconds. "Hey Kuno where's your bokken?" "Silence foul sorcerer, I Tetewaki Kuno have in thy posession a weapon that will not only defeat your dark magics but will also make you my slave." Having said this Kuno starts displaying his gloved hand, all the while laughing like a maniac. The glove seemed to be made of black plastic. Their were wires running along the thingers that terminated at the rounded protrusions above his knuckles, then from the knuckles to other boxy projections finally ending at some cylinder shaped containers situated 1 inch from the back of his wrist. Some parts of the glove emmitted a strange green light that throbed like a heartbeat. Ranma's sick realization of what it was only fueled his fear. ----------------------------------------------------------------- In another dimension. Vagita was mad. After Kakarout had defeated him Vagita started intensive training at a level few Sayans ever dared try. And just now while he was on his way to earth this...this...cube! blocks his path. Well there was a way to take care of that. "We are... " One voice starts to issue from the communications panel in Vagita's capsule. "Dead." Vagita lets loose with a ball of pure chi. Moments later the BORG scout cube was annhilated. The BORG shield breifly flared as it tried to adapt to the ki blast, but the charge of the blast short circuited and in most cases fried the shield generaters. 1.75 seconds later the ki blast tore into composite armor, circuitry and drones. 0.25 seconds after that it finally detonated one of the cube's antimatter reserves. The BORG sheild could withstand kinetic and energy based weaponry, but since the BORG have never faught a foe that uses ki based weaponry they were caught off guard. Eleven dimensions down, nine to go. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Federation space, or more exactly the space around DS9. Since the war between the Federation and the Dominion a large military force has been kept at Deep Space 9 in case of any outbreaks of violence from the Cardassions, Breen, or the remaining Dominion jimhadar forces and to curtail any pirate activity. Another reason for the Enterprise to be at DS9 is one of the trophies acquired after wars end. When the crew of DS9 laid a mine field over the wormhole entrance the Dominion forces in conjunction with Cardasia sought to create a wormhole gate leading to the gamma quadrant. The first one was destroyed but the second one was captured by Klingon forces before it could be activated. This gate, according to Q, could be reprogrammed to take whatever forces Captain Picard could muster and stop the BORG. No matter what dimension they had to travel to. Now all they had to do was wait for Starfleet's reply. "Captain, I am recieveing a reply from starfleet command. It is on a secure channel." "Ill take it in my ready room." Several minutes later Capt. Picard is sitting at his desk reading the message. 'Recruite anyone you need to stop the BORG. How is up to your discretion.' At first Capt. Picard couldnt believe his eyes, they actually trusted him? Even after he and his crew had gone back in time to stop the BORG from assimalating pre-warp Earth there had still been resentment toward's him. Something didnt feel right. "Alright Q what did you do to them?" Q suddenly appears out of nowhere with what people who didn't know him would call a hurt expression. "Whatever do you mean, I thought you would be over joyed to get a immediate reply. But if it makes you feel any better I didnt alter their minds or anything I just appealed to their sense of security." ------------------------------------------------------------------- Deep inside the moon, at a base whose existence had been secret for more than 3 centuries. The director of section 31, James T. Kirk, smiled as he thought of the events already in motion. His smile grew wider as he thought of the delicious irony. Soon the BORG will be no more, or at the least they wouldn't harm the Federation for a great while. ------------------------------------------------------------------- "We are in fluidic space." Seven checked her console for several moments before continuing. "I'm reading 3 organic fighter craft." "Shields up! Open a channel to those ships." "Channel open." "This is the starship Voyager, we have no hostile intent toward you. We have come to help you." Capt. Janeway tried in her best diplomatic voice, hoping they would communicate vocally instead of telepathically. It was unnerving. "I said and quote me if you want to 'Don't call us we'll call you' what part of that didn't you understand?" The voice sounds amused and at the same time annoyed. "Grounds keeper Boothby?" Now this was a surprise. "Call me Tamat for now Captain Janeway, what's the problem?" "Some time ago before your war with the BORG a few BORG cubes came into fluidic space and captured a organic ship is that correct?" Tamat is silent for a time and when he replies it is with a sad voice. "Yes that is correct, I had family on that ship." "I'm sorry. But we have come into possession of data that indicates the BORG have found a way to add your genetic material to their children, there is also evidence that the test subject from one of those cubes may still be alive. But I suggest we get under way, I'll transmit the coordinates we are to proceed to." "For your own sake Janeway this information better be right. I'll transport over first before we get under way." The tone of Tamat's voice is enough to inspire thoughts of what will happen if this was for nothing.... "There may be difficulty in that, our warp drive doesn't work here." In reply the organic ships attach themselves to the Voyager in what seems like a random order. A few moments later the starship Voyager and its organic escort enter a transwarp conduite. Later everyone is assembled in the ready room. One somewhat new face is the representative of species 8472 who has taken on the form of grounds keeper Willy, he looked very pissed off.... "You had better have a very good reason..." "I assure you Tamat this mission is very important. Seven if you please?" Capt. Janeway directs everyone's attention to Seven of Nine. Seven of Nine suppreses a shudder as Tamat fixes his gaze on her. "One week ago we destroyed a BORG scout cube. One of the data nodes abaord the cube held encrypted data that I broke 5 hours ago. The information indicates that the BORG research group that originally penetrated your space found a way to incorporate your genetic material into BORG infants." "I remember that's how the war got started, unfortunately our fighters arrived at the scene after the BORG had acquired their 'sample'." Tamat frowned as he remembered another bit of information. "The smaller cube of that group survived?" "I disagree. If the smaller cube escaped then it could have effected repairs within a minimum of one year, depending upon the extent of the damage." Tuvok looked at Tamat questionally. "The pilots of the organic fighter's reported extensive damage to the smaller cube before it escaped. How much I really can't tell, but I'm sure that the cube lost about one fifth of its mass." "To get back on topic, the information in that scout cube indicates that the smaller cube was heavily damaged. It also pointed out that more than half the crew of that cube were dead before they escaped." "Than in all likelihood only their test subject survived." Tamat says this as if it put a bad taste in hs mouth. Seven of Nine tried to stop herself from hitting Tamat. "Regardless of who survived we should check this out." Tamat turns his head to look at Capt. Janeway. "So where do I come into all this madness?" "We need your help to find this test subject and protection from the BORG." "I dont know Captain. This is very shaky ground your treading on. If anyone else gets wind of this before we find him it will be a bloodbath. I dont think I have to remind you how much my people hate the BORG. Then imagine how they will all act when they learn of this test subject." "Then you wont help us?" Seven of Nine tries to hide the pain from her voice. "Now hold on just a second, I didnt say I wasnt going to help you. I just said that this situation is very tricky." Tamat collect's his thoughts for several seconds before continuing. "I'll help you, on the condition that you let me see this test subject. Agreed?" He looks around the conference table. "Agreed." Capt. Janeway replies. "Then if you'll excuse me I have to organize the forces under my command." Without further adou Tamat disappears in a transporter beam. "I hope you know what your getting us into?" Chakohtey asks. "So do I." Capt. Janeway replies in her most somber voice before ending this meeting. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Ranma tried to run but he couldnt. Whether it was the fear of that object or something else he didnt know, all he knew was that he couldn't move his legs. Some of the surviving nanoprobes that had initially infected Ranma came out of hiding. During this time they had been hiding in Ranma's brain to evade detection, waiting for a chance to complete they're mission. They sensed a BORG assimilation glove nearby. They transmitted a signal to the glove, causing it to activate. Then they came out of hiding and paralyzed Ranma motor control center. The timing would be very tricky, already the blood cells nearby were beginning to attack them Kuno lunged forward to deliver a vicious uppercut to Ranma's jaw as a small part of his mind noted that Ranma had not tried to dodge. Then as his fist met Ranma's jaw it happened. A surge of electricity went through Kuno, instantly knocking him out. When he fell he knocked Ranma over. The brief contact between them imparted sufficient charge to temporarily disable the nanoprobes in Ranma'a motor control center. But it was too late as the glove began to remove itself from Kuno's hand. Ranma began to crawl away from the glove as it tried to remove itself from Kuno's hand and at the same time head toward him. "Stay away from me!" Still uncoordinated from having his muscles lock up Ranma could only crawl away from the glove. All the while reliving the experience in his first dream, this only terrifies him more... The glove finished removing itself from Kuno's hand and started to dart toward Ranma. Everyone watched the strange scene before them. Still trying to convince themselves that they were not dreaming. It wasnt so much the glove that moved by itself. It was Ranma actually showing fear, never had they seen him so afraid. Never had the fear of another person made them afraid. They began moving back, just in case the glove decided to come after them. Ranma looked around as everyone started to move away from him and the strange glove. He panicked and asked them to help him. Their only response was to move away faster. Then the glove was upon him. The glove seemed to flow around Ranma's left hand and solidify into the glove shape. It then sprouted several wires which promptly buried themselves in Ranma's wrist and forearm. The small cylinders that Ranma had noticed earlier were now shrinking. This caused Ranma to scream out in agony as he felt the inside of his left arm catch on fire. He tried to pull the glove off but only managed to cut his right hand on some of the pointy corners. In a fit of desperation he pleaded with some of his fellow class mates to help him but none of them made a move to do so. Finally he just ran, having exhausted all rational possabilities. Then he ran into the pool. The change, if anything. Seemed to make the pain worse as the fire which had started in his now her left arm spread to the rest of her body. It was like nothing Ranma had ever experienced before. Her body felt like it was being torn up on the inside and incinerated at the same time. She cried out more, but no one made a move to help her. Finally the welcome sensation of unconsciousnss claimed Ranma. Inside Ranma's body a war is being fought for total control. These new invader's had pushed back the body's natural defenses with they're numbers and speed. The red/white blood cells would not give up so easily as they changed their form again. But now they were drawing upon ancient DNA that had slumbered away for years. Now their plan of action changes. In order to defend the body they must also change the body to meet this new threat. Wasting less then a nanosecond finalizing plans all the blood cells in Ranma-chan's body went into action. ------------------------------------------------------ End of Part 2a Continued from part 2a ------------------------------------------------------ As Ukyou walked into the school yard she noticed all of the students gawking at the pool. She tried to suppress's a laugh as she thought of Akane trying to swim again. She then noticed Akane with her head out of the second story window, she was looking right at the pool. This thought was quickly dispelled however as she heard her Ranchan call out in inhuman pain. She ran to the pool as fast as she could push away the students who were blocking her path. When she got there she noticed Nabiki trying to fish Ranma's unmoving body out of the pool with some of the cleaning gear. Seeing how this was taking too long she was about to jump into the pool until Nabiki stopped her. "Don't jump in there. The pools electrified." Ukyou is about to retort when she notices some students giving CPR to the wet coach. Nabiki then turns her head and Ukyou can see the worry etched into Nabiki's face. "Don't just stand there, help me!" Several minutes later Ranma-chan is out of the pool. She looks extremely pale and her breathing is erratic. No one attempts to remove the glove lest it try to attach to them. Nabiki and Ukyou try to get some sort of response from Ranma-chan. She only shudders. Ukyou then places her hand on Ranma's forehead. "He's burning up, we need to get him to Dr. Tofou's." No body makes a move as Ukyou and Nabiki pick Ranma-chan up and carry her beyond the school gate's. Minutes later Ryouga show's up and tries to get directions from some of the students, but none of them answer. He looks to see what they are staring at and see's the school gate's. Ryouga just scratches his head in confusion before leaving the school grounds. Later at Dr. Tofou's clinic. Nabiki and Ukyou wait in the reception area. While Dr. Tofou examines Ranma-chan while avoiding the glove. The glove itself has changed. Before their was a thick plastic glove covered with wire. Now the glove seems to have shrunk. The thick plastic is gone and the wires look like they are etched right into the skin. The skin around the wires looks all red and puffy, in some area's like the knuckles it is bleeding. The other parts of the glove are now smoother and smaller, almost like they were absorbed into the skin. The wires which originally buried themselves into Ranma's flesh now look to be a natural part of it. Dr. Tofou then proceeds to examine Ranma-chan's eyes and recoils in horror. After taking a few quick breath's to calm his nerves he calls for Nabiki and Ukyou. They take a quick look at Ranma-chan's eyes before having the same reaction as Dr. Tofou. Ukyou begins to cry. Then Shampoo burst's into the clinic. "Aiyah! What happened to airen?" She looks first to Dr. Tofou then Nabiki and Ukyou for an answer before taking a closer look at Ranma-chan. Her reaction is quite different. She pick's Ranma-chan up and slings her over her shoulder. "Hold it right there sugar." Says Ukyou as she levels her battle spatula across Shampoo's exit. "Where are you taking Ranchan." "No time. Great-Grandmother knows what to do. Follow Shampoo if want but get out of Shampoo's way." The irate amazon passed by Ukyou and was out the door before Ukyou and Nabiki caught up to her. In the nekohenton Cologne was preparing some raman for a few of the lunch rush customer's when all of a sudden Shampoo barges into the restaurant. Cologne then noticed Ranma-chan draped over Shampoo's right shoulder. "What happened to son-in-law?" Cologne asked as she followed Shampoo into her room. "Shampoo don't know Great Grandmother, but look's like gray plague." Said Shampoo as she gently placed Ranma-chan's pale form on her bed. She was then pushed away by Cologne who began to examine Ranma-chan. She turned pale as she examined Ranma-chan further. Then she pushed all three girls out of the room and slammed the door shut. Ukyou turned to Shampoo. "Okay sugar now explain what the 'gray plague' is." Her tone of voice indicated that she would not be moved from this topic. Shampoo relented and guided the other two to a vacant table. Then she politely shoved the other customer's out the door before putting up the closed sign. "It is very tragic story. No women of Amazon village know all of what happened." She said as she turned back to them. Her face looked like it had aged a few decades. The twin track's of tears served to reinforce this image. "No one who experience tragic live to tell." The two girls sit idly, waiting for this tragic story. "15 year ago shooting star fall to lands of Amazon women. At first small group of tracker's go out to see what fell. When they come back they bring the gray plague. Their skin turned gray and their voices didn't sound right. As they stood at the entrance to village a elder started to examine them. They grab elder and stab her with spikes that come out of hand's. When elder start to look like other's all of the other worriers attack, sick one's die quickly. Sick elder is taken to healer, healer try many many herbs but no work. Then send a party of 30 warriors and tracker's to destroy whatever make Amazon's sick. The one's that come back speak of living dead and moving darkness. After they tell story they beg for death, but were no killed. Next day five bodie's found. They killed themselves." Shampoo stares at the table, trying to suppress her shuddering. "So Ranma looks like those Amazon's that had the gray plague." Nabiki is then rewarded with a weak nod from Shampoo. She must feel awful, but so do I. Ukyou then thinks of something. "Hey Shampoo, did those infected Amazon's have eyes like Ranchan's?" Shampoo looks up with a hopeful expression on her face. "No. Shampoo hope this means airen not have gray plague. But if so then what make airen sick?" All the girls are deep in thought when Cologne comes out of Shampoo's room with a confused expression on her face. "Shampoo could you please get me a kettle of hot water, I need to test something." She then turns to the other girls who are looking at her hopefully. "Come with me, you might as well bear witness to this." They all enter Shampoo's room. Ranma-chan looks a bit healthier or at least not as pale. Cologne then turns they're attention to Ranma-chan's left hand. They stare at where a black plastic glove had been now there is Ranma's left hand covered with some protrusions and silvery marking's on the skin. "Now look here girls, this is what I wanted to test out." Cologne motions for Shampoo to open Ranma-chan's eyes. Then making sure that all of the girls were watching she pours the kettle of hot water over Ranma-chan now Ranma's head. The change causes a few gasps of surprise from the girls. For Cologne this is what she hoped for. Cologne starts to smile. "Just as I hoped. Somehow son-in-law is building up a resistance to the gray plague. Unfortunately this immunity will change son-in-law's appearance. As you can see his eyes are now oval shaped with a slit iris, rather like a cat. But when son-in-law was female the eyes were round and the iris had three extensions from the center. Like the three points of a triangle." "What can we do to help." Nabiki replied as she looked at Ranma's pale form. "There is nothing we can do now child, we can only wait. You should move him to the guest room of your house. Here before you leave, I want you to add these herbs to his tea. These herbs slowed the progress of the grey plague, hopefully they will help son-in-law overcome the gray plague quicker." "What about that strange glove thing covering Ranchan's hand." Ukyou start's to fiddle with a throwing spatula, trying to think of the least painful way to cut the glove off. Cologne sighed, she could tell exactly what Ukyou was talking about. "I wouldn't suggest it, in fact any action against that glove might not only harm son-in-law but you as well. We should wait to see if the glove has any other adverse effect's upon son-in-law." All of the girls nod their heads. They didn't like the answer but since none of them knew anything about surgery they wouldn't try anything. Ukyou and Shampoo carried Ranma out of the room while Nabiki asked a few more questions about the gray plague. --------------------------------------------------------------------- In fluidic space the starship Voyager and it's organic escort emerged from the transwarp conduit. Right in the middle of a graveyard. All around the ships were the remains of countless BORG cubes and organic fighter craft. Mixed in with these derelict's were hundred's of complete organic craft, some of them were obviously fighter's though some of the larger one's looked like they might be troop transports. The bridge crew stood speechless as they gazed at all the destruction. Then a voice suddenly cut through their shocked minds. "Welcome to the frontline Captain Janeway." Tamat might have meant that as a joke but it was nard to tell since his voice seemed to have lost all emotion. "If you'll send the search algorithm's to me I'll have my ship's start searching for a match." Capt. Janeway nods as she stares at one of the larger organic ships. It wasn't a troop transport. She could clearly see it was eating the remains of BORG cubes. She shuddered and tried not to think of anything else except finding the test subject. Several hours later. The combined effort's of the Voyager and Tamat's forces uncover the trail, albeit weak, of the escaped BORG cube. "Are you sure about his Seven." Janway ask's as she tries to hide her exhaustion from the rest of the bridge crew. "Positive." Seven of Nine on the other hand is trying to keep the hostility she feels for her captain out of her voice. "The probability of this dimension being the escape dimension is 98.5%. That is the highest match in this sector." "Then prepare to create another singularity. Open a channel to Tamat's ship." "Quit wasting time and get over they're!" Comes the angry reply from Tamat before all communication is severed. Capt. Janeway looks as surprised as the rest of the bridge crew. "Tamat's right, we better make this quick. There is no telling how long it will be until the next BORG assault arrives. Seven open the singularity. We've got to make this fast in case this is the wrong dimension." Again the deflector array is charged up and soon the starship Voyager disappears in a ring of light. Not a moment too soon as several dozen BORG cubes and scout cubes emerge from the transwarp conduits of BORG sphere's and engage species 8472's forces. Tractor beams, powerful phaser's and nanoprobe filled photon torpedos were used against the organic ship's. This was met with beams of coherent organic energy while the photon torpedos and tractor beams were shrugged off by adaptive armor. They didn't stand a chance against the might of species 8472. But that didn't matter, they only had to buy some time for four of the BORG scout cubes to reach their designated areas and use there spatial drives. Fifteen down, five to go. --------------------------------------------------------------- Again Ranma was at the living room table trying to puzzle out his most recent dream, or was it nightmare? All he could remember accurately was some red haired gaijen woman who seemed so familiar. Or so he thought. Then that long corridor filled with those humanoid thing's. Vaguely he could hear the TV set. "Astronomers from around the globe are still debating the cause of the strange flash of light from the dark side of the moon. Some amateur astronomer's have also reported a strange craft that briefly flew past the moon shortly after the flash of light. At this time there is no com.." Nabiki turns off the TV since it was disturbing Ranma. Nabiki turns back to Ranma. Ever since yesterday he seemed more distant. She couldn't blame him, at least there was no school today. He looked like a wreck. Strange thing's happened all the time but this was way beyond the usual. What really terrified her was the look of horror in his expression yesterday as that glove attached to his hand, it looked like he expected to die right there. He didn't look any better today, except for skin color. He seemed to be making it a habit not to look at his left hand at all, but when he did he would just stare in morbid fascination. Like he was expecting it to start moving on it's own again. Then he looked up and caught her staring at him. "Is something wrong?" Nabiki just blushed and turned her attention back to breakfast. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Captain's log. "Voyager had taken up a high orbit over the north pole. Harry Kim has informed me that quite a few of the radar installations located on the North Pole are inactive, but just to be sure I ordered shield harmonics be changed to better absorb any radar pulses that come our way. Now my thoughts turn to the test subject, and what I might have to do to him." "Mr. Kim report." Janeway ordered as she stepped off the turbolift. "Pre-warp civilization. Population, less then 3 billion. Technology is consistent with 20th century Earth, without using active sensors." "Well that should help us avoid avoid unwanted detection, what about the satellites?" The display switches from a picture of the North Pole to a sensor chart showing all of the satellites orbits. "Less than half of them are functioning. Less than 1/16 of those working satellites have any sort of optical instruments and those are either pointed at the planet or at some star." "Keep your eye's on them, just in case. We don't want any nasty surprises." Capt. Janeway rises from her command chair and proceeds to Seven of Nine's station. "Yes Mam." Harry Kim acknowledges with a nod of his head as he starts to refine the new sensor data coming from the passive sensors. So far he hasn't found any weapons platforms. Or at least none he recognizes "Have you found anything?" Seven of Nine looks up from her duty station as if just noticing Capt. Janeway's presence. "I have found two sources of BORG energy. They are both located on the island of Japan. Their signatures are unfamiliar, nor can I tell which one is the test subject." "Then lets go have a look shall we?" Capt. Janeway doesn't wait for an answer as she heads for the turbolift. ---------------------------------------------------------- The satellites orbited Earth. Their official function was to broadcast GPS signal's to military and civilian subscribers. And this is just what they have been doing for the past five years. A few short, encrypted commands from area 57 ended that function and at the same time began other concealed functions. Control computers began computing for best firing position, then coordinated their efforts with the other satellites. The satellites subtly realigned their orbits to have maximum coverage of the alien vehicle orbiting above the North Pole. While small fission reactors began to warm up. Passive sensors locked onto the alien vehicle, then aimed the particle cannons that had been concealed for all this time. Finally a reply was sent to Area 57. >Target locked. Awaiting firing commands.< ------------------------------------------------------------ It was a quiet Saturday morning in Nerima. The new's of Ranma's run in with a possessed glove was still fresh in peoples minds. Some of the more militant people started to watch any sci-fi shows relating to body snatcher's, while most of the martial artist's in the area kept a look out for any other inanimate object's that started moving on it's own. This is why no one was at Furikahn High to witness the sudden materialization of several people. "Tuvok report." Capt. Janeway asked as she tried to get used to the business suite she was wearing. The collar was annoying the hell out of her. The only plus of this style of clothing would be the reaction from some of these people. Tuvok probably would have also complained if he weren't a Vulcan. As it was he showed no signs of discomfort as he checked his tricorder. "There are two main sources of BORG energy emissions. The closest one is located in the residential sector, I have an exact lock. The second source is located somewhere in what appears to be a abandoned factory, it's on again off again energy pattern is making it harder to get an exact fix." The Vulcan seemed to frown as he tried to get a better fix on the second source. Capt. Janeway tried to pull herself away from gazing at the sky. Being confined in a starship was depressing at times. Chances to walk on a honest planet instead of a hologram, should be taken advantage of. But not now. "We'll split into two groups, Tuvok you come with me. We will check out the first source. Seven, you and the Doctor will check out the second source." They went they're separate ways, while the small spy robot recorded their course and heading. --------------------------------------------------------------------- "Did you hear what happened to Ranma?" One of the children in a crowd ask's everyone else. Tuvok listened to the conversations of other people as he and his captain passed them. It was luck on his part that he heard about the glove and stopped his captain. "Excuse me, but I couldn't help overhearing your conversation. What's this about a cursed glove?" Tuvok inquired from behind the student. The student turned around to look at who had snuck up on him. But seeing that it was only a strangely dressed gaijen he answered the mans question. "Yesterday Ranma was attacked by some sort of cursed glove. He didn't move fast enough, in fact he looked like he was going to soil his pants. The glove crawled over to his left hand and just merged with it. When it grew spikes into Ranma's arm he ran into the pool." "What happened to Ranma." "Last I saw she was being carried out by some other girls." The student waits for a few moments before turning back to his friends. Tuvok mulled over the information while a part of his mind kept wondering why the student had used he then she when referring to Ranma, eventually it came to the conclusion that the student had merely said the wrong word. "Could you tell me where Ranma lives?" "Go down that street and take the third right, then look for a sign saying Tendo Dojo." "Thank you." Tuvok rejoins Capt. Janeway. After walking out of earshot Tuvok begins to speak. "Apparently some child was attacked by a 'cursed glove'." Tuvok waits a few seconds before continuing. "The glove grew spikes into the students arm, thus causing him to faint." "The test subject." "It would appear so. And from the directions that student gave me I am sure he is the first source of BORG energy. This information leads to the conclusion that he is already assimilated." "No Tuvok, if the test subject was assimilated then the BORG would already be here. I'd like to meet him first before I decide his fate." Tuvok could hear the heavy undercurrents in his captains voice. Deciding the fate of another living being is never easy. "Very well. I will contact Seven of Nine and the Doctor and tell them our position. While you talk with Ranma I will look around the area and see if I can find any hidden BORG devices." Tuvok looked up into the sky. Was that thunder? ------------------------------------------------------------------ "Hello, can I help you." Kasumi asked the two strangers. She took note of how they were dressed, which on them looked a bit strange. The red haired woman was wearing a light blue kimono that set her eyes off well but the expression on her face told Kasumi that she was unaccustomed to this sort of dress. And the blond haired woman looked stranger in the business suite, though the smirk on her face told Kasumi that she was enjoying her reaction. "Yes, I'm Katherine Janeway and this is Seven of Nine, were here to see Ranma." "Oh my, your not here to challenge him are you?" Kasumi was relieved to see a confused glance pass between the two women. "No, we heard about what happened yesterday. My friend here has some experience with cursed gloves, she might be able to help." "In that case please come in." Kasumi motioned them into the house. After they removed their shoes Kasumi guided them to the family room. The one introduced as Seven of Nine stopped before entering the family room. She was staring at Ranma who was also staring at her. Both had a look of surprise on their faces. Kasumi looked from Ranma to Seven of Nine with a look of worry. She turned her head as she heard the word 'son' from Seven of Nine. ------------------------------------ Authors notes: As always all C+C, Q+C, even $ appreciated, and yes if you must flame then do so just remember that such actions will only serve to make me more evil and twisted then I already am (evil grin). Chapter 3 will be out whenever the rewrite is complete, until then Ja Ne.