CHAPTER SIX

  THE BOARDING WAR

  Section 31 — Heather’s Report

  Heather Banks sat alone in a darkened auxiliary control room, the door sealed, the lights dimmed. Her combadge was off. Her tricorder was linked to a secure, encrypted channel that bypassed Camelot’s normal communications grid.

  “Shadow One to Control,” she whispered. “Priority Omega transmission.”

  A cold, emotionless voice answered.

  “Control receiving. Report.”

  Heather exhaled slowly. “We’ve encountered an unknown biomechanical species. They boarded four ships and abducted all command level personnel. They attempted the same on the Camelot.”

  “Purpose of abductions?”

  Heather hesitated. “Not assimition. Not in the traditional Borg sense.”

  A pause.

  “Crify.”

  “They’re extracting memories. Knowledge. Command experience. They’re… consuming minds.”

  Another pause—longer this time.

  “Your assessment?”

  Heather swallowed. “They’re an advanced offshoot of the Borg. A divergent evolution. They abandoned physical assimition. They assimite information directly.”

  “Designation?”

  Heather stared at the dark screen. “They call themselves the Ascended.”

  “Continue observation. Do not reveal your affiliation. Protect the Camelot’s command structure at all costs.”

  The channel cut.

  Heather reactivated her combadge and stepped back into the corridor—just as the ship shook violently.

  The Boarding War had begun.

  The Boarding War Begins

  The Camelot’s corridors erupted in chaos.

  Creatures phased through walls, their bodies shifting between metal and flesh. Tactical teams fired, fell back, regrouped. Holographic crew flickered in and out as power surged and failed.

  Heather sprinted toward Deck 4, phaser drawn.

  “Echo Team, report!” she shouted.

  Lt. Cassie Jones’ voice crackled through the comm. “Multiple hostiles! They’re targeting command level biosigns again!”

  Heather cursed under her breath. “They’re hunting Philip.”

  Bridge — The Siege Tightens

  Acting Captain Philip Banks braced himself as the bridge doors buckled inward.

  “Helm, keep us moving!” he ordered. “Even at twenty percent impulse, don’t let us drift!”

  Kita shouted, “Sir—three hostiles outside the bridge! They’re trying to phase through the bulkhead!”

  Philip raised his phaser. “All hands, prepare to repel boarders!”

  The lights flickered.

  A creature’s arm phased through the wall—long, thin, jointed wrong.

  Philip fired.

  The creature recoiled, its form destabilizing.

  “Sir!” OPS shouted. “They’re adapting to our weapons!”

  Philip gritted his teeth. “Then we adapt faster.”

  Engineering — The Fight to Save Dax

  Foxtrot Team fought desperately around the warp core.

  Lt. Jessica Miller knelt beside Dax, who y unconscious but alive.

  “Chief, stay with me,” Miller whispered.

  A creature phased through the ceiling.

  Miller fired, but the creature ignored the bst and reached toward the warp core.

  “NO!” Miller shouted.

  She grabbed a psma conduit and smmed it into the creature’s chest.

  The creature spasmed violently—its biomechanical tissue reacting to the harmonic feedback.

  It colpsed into a puddle of metallic gel.

  Miller gasped. “Banks—Engineering! The psma coils disrupt them! We can weaponize this!”

  The Rescue Attempt

  Kita’s console beeped.

  “Sir—internal sensors are back online for a moment!”

  Philip rushed to her station.

  “Show me the alien ship.”

  The viewer flickered.

  Inside the alien vessel, suspended in columns of pale light, were dozens of figures:

  ? Captain K’sigh

  ? Commander Fakowerfo

  ? Captain Elwood

  ? Commander Nolok

  ? Gul Relmak

  ? Klingon Captain K’Ganok

  Their eyes were open but unfocused, their minds being siphoned into the alien ship’s core.

  Kita whispered, “Sir… they’re alive. But their neural patterns are being copied.”

  Philip’s voice was low, steady, deadly.

  “We’re getting them back.”

  ? The Alien Ship’s True Purpose

  OPS’ console lit up.

  “Sir—new data from the autopsy. The creatures’ neural matrix contains fragments of Borg nanoprocessors. But they’re… evolved. Organic. Self replicating.”

  Kita added, “Sir… the Ascended aren’t building a Collective. They’re building a library.”

  Philip frowned. “A library?”

  “A library of minds,” Kita said. “Commanders. Strategists. Leaders. They’re absorbing the best of every species.”

  OPS swallowed. “Sir… they’re preparing for something.”

  Philip’s eyes hardened.

  “War.”

  ? The First Counter Strike

  Philip tapped his combadge.

  “Banks to all tactical teams—prepare for coordinated counter strike. We’re taking the fight to them.”

  Heather’s voice came through. “Philip—Heather here. I’ve got a way to amplify the psma harmonic. It’ll destabilize every Ascended unit on the ship.”

  Philip nodded. “Do it.”

  Heather hesitated. “But it’ll also destabilize the alien ship’s neural matrix. The command crews could be harmed.”

  Philip closed his eyes for a moment.

  Then opened them.

  “We don’t have a choice.”

  Heather’s voice softened. “Understood.”

  Philip turned to the bridge crew.

  “Prepare to fire the harmonic pulse.”

  Kita’s hands flew across the console. “Charging.”

  OPS shouted, “Sir—the alien ship is powering up again! They’re preparing another abduction wave!”

  Philip raised his hand.

  “Fire.”

  The Camelot’s deflector dish glowed bright blue.

  A shockwave rippled outward.

  The alien ship convulsed—its hull rippling, its glow flickering.

  Inside, the suspended command crews stirred.

  The Ascended screamed.

  And the Boarding War turned.