Thinking of Home

Posted on Sat Dec 21st, 2024 @ 1:25am by Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Ashix Zirda & Lieutenant Mila Lynn

2,195 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Chapter VII: Into the Storm
Location: Ourainavassa

Ashix Zirda stood staring out the window as she looked for any traces of home. It hadn't been long since she had been reviled throughout the galaxy for being a full Borg Drone. After the assimilation of the Federation's New Haddonfield Colony, Sphere 618 - where she was assigned - experienced a submatrix collapse and was cutoff from the rest of the Collective to prevent devastation. While most Borg continued executing their last instructions in a repeating loop, she somehow regained her memories and survived on the damaged Sphere for years before escaping.

She just escaped one nightmare for another because her escape came at a price. Ashix had been highly valued to the galactic underworld due to the concentration of nanoprobes and Borg technology that ran throughout her body. She was hunted throughout the galaxy, and feared by all who she came across, and eventually made her way to Romulan territory by way of Noble Isle. Yet, she was never truly safe until her implants had been removed. It had been a while since she escaped, but it still haunted her.

Ashix missed home. Sikaris, her homeworld, was from the Delta Quadrant and a little under 75,000 light-years away. Even if she left today and, somehow, got her hands on a ship capable of traveling nonstop at Warp 9.6 it would be 75 years before she got home. Even now she longed for home as she looked out the window looking for even a trace of something familiar, but it wasn't there. It was just too far, too alien.

She sighed as she looked through the window.

---

It had been a busy day for Lieutenant Mila Lynn, chief science officer of the Independent Romulan Warbird Ourainavassa. Sometimes, she still couldn't believe that was her full title. After all, she was still no more than a teenager, barely an adult by the standard of most governments in the quadrant. And yet here she was, a senior officer in a rag-tag crew of miscreants and misfits, on one of the most advanced ships to ever come out of a Romulan shipyard - and yet, not sworn to the Romulan Star Empire. It wasn't even fully clear who the commander was anymore, whether it was a Romulan or a Terran.

Mila sighed. It was just that Terran that she had just met with, actually - Captain Freya Svanirsdottir Mannerheim, former commanding officer of the Imperial Starship Amelia, which had been destroyed in battle with Ourainavassa only that morning. Who had tasked her with preparing a truth serum, to be used on Ourainavassa's former commanding officer. Truly, this day could not get more bizarre.

With the science lab's computers busy calculating the exact formula needed for Raven's particular biology, which would most likely take the best part of an hour, Mila had decided to stretch her legs and take a walk along the hallways of the warbird. Some technicians were still busy cleaning up the mess left by the Terrans' ill-fated attempt at boarding the vessel, but most of the ship was quiet. As the young scientist rounded the corner towards the mess hall, she spotted one of Ourainvassa's newest crew members, Chief Systems Control Officer Lieutenant Ashix Zirda, staring out of the window, seemingly deep in thought.

Ashix was a curious one, Mila mused to herself. After all, she was a Sikarian, hailing from a world far away in the Delta Quadrant, and a former borg drone - albeit not the only one on board. She was, however, one of very few crew members to wear Terran, rather than Romulan, rank, as it had been Captain Mannerheim who had vouched for her signing on to the crew. Curious to maybe learn a little more about her, Mila approached.

"Yearning for home?"

"Huh?" Ashix said, somewhat shaken by having been interrupted in her thoughts. It was an odd sensation for her after having been on a Borg vessel for so long. Communications were much different in a place where an implant did most of the talking for you and there were thousands of voices in your head at any given time. She had almost forgotten what it had felt like to have someone sneak up on you, let alone not be meaning to do so.

Having processed what was said to her, the alien woman continued, "I guess you could call it that. My world would be in that general direction," she said pointing at the stars beyond, "but nothing looks remotely familiar. Too far away." She paused for a few moments, thinking about the planet Sikaris and the last time she saw it. "I don't even know if they're still there. Three Cubes, one of which I was on after I was assimilated, invaded and assimilated my home planet. I think there were some survivors, but the planet I'm not certain of." She looked down at her feet, "I hope that they're still out there. Our Trajector technology could mean that they are. Somewhere at least."

Mila nodded silently as she listened to Ashix. "You're from Sikaris, right? I read about it briefly in the Voyager files. That technology sounds incredibly powerful. Sort of like an extreme long-range transporter? I know some of the folks at the Sunrider Institute, back home on Cera, have been trying to figure out how it works, but they haven't gotten far with it. Even the fancy future transporters in the Captain's shuttle don't have much more range than the ones we have."

She shook her head. "Sorry, as you may have guessed, I am utterly fascinated by technology. Reverse engineering those Terran badges has been one of the most fun projects I've ever gotten to do. And, according to the Captain, it puts me square as the hook for a temporal loop, would you believe it. According to her, those badges exist because I reverse engineered them."

With a slight smile, she pointed at the bird-of-prey that had brought Raven back. "Now that thing there, the Stamets device as the Terrans call it. The displacement-activated spore hub drive, to use its full title. That can get you anywhere in the galaxy in the blink of an eye. The Terrans have even figured out how to use it for time travel. Like when they went and saved Gunnar. I would love to get my hands on the full schematics for that, and try to figure out how to fit one into this ship."

"I'm afraid I don't know much about the Stamets device that you mentioned. Sounds like an interesting way to get around though," the Sikarian answered as she thought of the implications. It may have been not too dissimilar to the Trajector technology that her people used. Although the Trajector was more akin to a transporter than a form of propulsion. "Odd that I can't recall it from the Borg, but they did keep things from us if it wasn't related to what we did. I'd hate to think of the repercussions of a Borg ship that could travel in the wink of an eye anywhere. Their transwarp is frightening enough."

Ashix leaned against the window, "I bet a lot of people would love to know about the Trajector technology though. Voyager certainly did. They're the ones that led to my people getting assimilated," the Sikarian informed. "I never should've let Jaret get me drug into all that with them."

Mila shrugged. "It would be difficult for the Borg to get their hands on a technology that doesn't really exist in this universe," she explained. "From what I learned, the Stamets device, as the Terrans call it, was originally developed by a team of Federation scientists in the mid 23rd century, and prototyped on U.S.S. Discovery, but all data about it has been classified and the public record wiped. The ship did end up in the Terran universe for a while, though, based on the records the Captain gave me from Amelia, and the Terrans reverse-engineered the tech."

She stared out of the window in silence for a moment. "I do wonder, if the Borg assimilated your people, how come they aren't using this Trajector technology?"

"I wasn't much of a scientist back then, actually I was a merchant, but I had been told it was because Sikaris' mantle of tetrahedral quartz could focus and amplify the trajector field. Without it, the trajector matrix wouldn't work as a folded space transporter," the alien answered, "or so I heard."

As a former drone she realized the horror that the Borg could inflict, should they have the trajector matrix on a more wide scale use. While she knew that the Borg had managed to create a small scale version of the device for use by the Queen to evacuate a ship in an emergency, that was something that could scare even the hardest heart. She knew it scared her at least and she feared the Borg more now than ever.

Mila contemplated Ashix' words for a moment, then nodded. "It would make sense if the technology was dependent on external factors, such as the structure of the planet it was used on. That way, even if the Borg had the full blueprints, they'd struggle to make it work." She sighed. "Let's just be glad that, whatever the reason, they don't have access to it. So, what was your world like, before the Borg showed up?"

She tried not to think much of Sikaris since she had been released from the Borg and for good reason. She looked at the stars for a second, "It was beautiful. Sikaris is a temperate world, a peaceful world of relaxation and leisure. I lived in the capital city, L'hur, and I was right off of our central ocean. On a clear morning it was like you could see forever." She looked down at her feet for a moment, "I wish I knew what happened to them. I guess that I probably never will get to know I suppose. What about your world? Where are you from?"

"It sounds like a beautiful place," Mila replied. "Myself, I am from Cera, an independent colony world. Probably the best-known institution on the planet is the Sunrider Institute, a huge centre of research and learning. My parents both taught and worked there. My mother pioneered the bioengineering techniques used by farmers all over the planet, and my father develops medical equipment. You say your world was one of leisure, mine is a world of science."

"It would seem your family's history definitely influenced you and your choice of career. About becoming a Science Officer, I mean," Ashix said. "Family is important." There was a twinge of regret in her voice as she said it, having realized this conversation had become a bit sadder than she had initially intended.

"So," she resumed, "What can I do to help out more around here? I feel a bit like a third nacelle."

Mila shrugged. "I was genetically engineered to become 'the perfect scientist'. My brother had his piloting skills enhanced. But it backfired, so I am deaf, and my brother has extremely fragile bones. I've got implants that allow me to hear, his skeleton is reinforced with a titanium mesh." She shook her head. "The things people will do in pursuit of perfection."

She looked out of the window for a moment. "I think you are doing just fine, Lieutenant. You're the Systems Control Officer, and that is exactly what you do, making sure everything is running fine when we are out on operations. But do you think that there are areas where you can be of assistance?"

"I think it's just my desire to feel useful," the Lieutenant answered. "When I was on the Borg Sphere I felt like I had a purpose, a responsibility, here I'm still feeling like I'm learning my place. I know that the Borg are not the most well liked species in the galaxy, and none of us are prepared for the challenges of being pulled from the Collective." She had a tear on her cheek that she did not even realize had formed as she said it, thinking about the challenges that she had faced since her escape from the Sphere.

Mila simply nodded. "I cannot imagine how difficult the adjustment would be. But remember this, any new position, new home, whatever it may be, comes with a learning phase. You are doing well. And if you need any sort of assistance, just ask."

"I'll try to remember that," she answered. "I try not to be a bother, more a support for the crew."

"And you are doing just that," the young scientist replied. "I remember how hard it was for me and my brother to settle in here, to actually have a place to call home. Even if it is with probably the most chaotic crew you'll ever find. Just give it some time."

"I'll do that," she said with a gracious nod as she looked back at the window, "It's probably the only family I have left."

 

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