Episode 129: “Hitting the Road, Part I”

Written by “Krenim”

Published March 14, 2006

“Captain’s Log: My crew and I have been summoned to Starfleet Command by the Federation President himself. What this meeting is about, I can only guess...”

Braxton and his senior staff entered the chamber, where the Federation President, Admiral Crusher, and the entirety of Starfleet’s top brass were waiting for them. The President shook Braxton’s hand. “It’s good to see you, Captain. I wish I could say I had good news for you, but I’m afraid I don’t.”

Admiral Crusher punched a few buttons on a nearby console, and a holographic map of the galaxy appeared in the air above them. “One of Starfleet’s scientific probes in intergalactic space has picked up an energy signature that is currently inbound. This energy signature is identical to that of the vessel that attacked Starbase 47 nearly a year ago.”

Braxton, however, was clearly distracted by the twinkling stars floating above his head. Damar jabbed him with his elbow not-so-gently to bring him out of it. “Right. Energy signature. Inbound.”

“You haven’t the slightest idea what I’m talking about, do you?”

“Not a clue, sir.”

“It’s a Progeny vessel, you dimwit!”

“Uh...?”

“The Progeny! The non-corporeal aliens that kidnapped you twice and are bent on restoring the time loop that ultimately results in you becoming Evil Braxton!”

“Oh, those Progeny...”

Crusher rubbed his temples in a futile attempt to stave off the inevitable headache. “The vessel is traveling at transhyperwarp speed, and is projected to enter the Milky Way Galaxy in several hours. It will only take minutes for it to cross the Delta and Beta Quadrants before it ultimately arrives here to find you.”

Ducane stepped forward. “Does Starfleet have a defense planned?”

The Federation President pressed another button, and the hologram above switched to sensor data on the Progeny ship itself. “As you will recall, the previous Progeny vessel was only the size of a runabout, and yet it took down Starbase 47’s shields with only one hit. Conventional weapons had no effect on it, and it took a temporal implosion to even bring down its shields.”

Ducane inferred the rest from the data. “This vessel is over 800 meters long and has an energy signature at least 100 times more powerful than the first! Not even a temporal implosion would begin to dent its shields!”

Crusher pointed to Starfleet’s top brass. “Starfleet Command’s expert opinion is that the situation is hopeless and that we should just let them have Braxton.”

“You disagree?”

“I’m Wesley Crusher! I can find a solution to anything!”

At which point the rest of the admirals began muttering things to themselves, although words like “The Boy” and “know-it-all” could occasionally be heard.

Crusher shot them a death glare, and then turned back to Braxton. “The Progeny cannot undo the time loop if they cannot get their non-corporeal hands on you. Therefore, you are going to run away like little girls.”

It was Dax’s turn to point out the obvious. “I think you’re forgetting one little thing, Admiral. Their transhyperwarp drive beats out our hyperwarp drive any day of the week. If we try to run, they’ll catch us in mere seconds.”

Admiral Crusher smiled. The Relativity crew didn’t know whether to take that as a good sign or a bad sign, until Kes suddenly lit up. “Hold on!”

She whipped out a PADD and began furiously working on it. A few seconds later, she let out a loud “Aha! Here it is! In Episode 114, Admiral Crusher used his Traveler powers to speed up our ship! He’s going to boost our speed to allow us to get away!”

At which point Admiral Crusher turned to the screen. “Didn’t I tell you all that plot point was going to be important? Didn’t I?”

Crusher cleared his throat and turned back to everyone else. “And the plan gets even better from there! Starfleet R&D has modified about a dozen temporal transponders to mimic Braxton’s space-time signature. Each transponder will be placed on a separate ship, which should confuse the Progeny’s sensors momentarily. It should buy the Relativity even more time. You’ll be set to leave as soon as my people complete the necessary upgrade to your inertial dampening system. Otherwise, the extreme speeds will eventually tear the Relativity apart. Dismissed!”

As the upgrade proceeded, the Progeny vessel raced towards the Milky Way Galaxy at unimaginable speeds. Once it reached the outer fringes of the Delta Quadrant, it found its path impeded by...

We are the Borg. Resistance is futile. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own.

Sure enough, the Borg had detected the incoming Progeny and had assembled a fleet of several cubes to intercept and assimilate them.

The Progeny were amused, to say the least. So... You are the Borg. Braxton indicated that you were a force in this galaxy with which to be reckoned. Let us test that opinion.

Opinions are irrelevant.

The Borg fleet opened fire. The Progeny vessel’s shields laughed off the negligible damage. How cute. You’re trying to match our shield modulation. Perhaps we can be of assistance. Our shields operate on a frequency of 47 exahertz.

Were the Borg capable of being impressed, they would have been. Such a shield frequency was well out of their league. Furthermore, were the Borg capable of being confused, they would have been that as well. After all, it wasn’t every day that the Borg were just handed a way to defeat an adversary’s defenses.

Instead, the Borg opted for their default tactic: Beaming a single drone aboard the Progeny vessel. The drone appeared in one of the few areas of the ship that were large enough to hold a humanoid, as the Progeny had no need for such spaces. It surveyed the area, and then attempted to co-opt the ship by plugging itself into the wall via its nanotubules.

Instead of control of the Progeny vessel, the drone got a nasty shock of brilliant gold energy, throwing it across the room violently. A Progeny male phased out of the wall and shook its head at the drone. So, these are the Borg. Cybernetics? How quaint, although I suppose they do impress the locals.

The drone managed to get itself upright and lumbered towards the Progeny. It attempted to grab a hold of the golden alien in order to assimilate it, but to no avail. The Progeny man laughed. Were you trying to do something like this?

With that, he sank one of his arms into the drone’s chest, sending tremendous surges of energy through it. It dropped to the floor seconds later, fried beyond recognition.

The Borg attempted to beam over more drones, but found that the Progeny had already remodulated their shields. As amusing as this has been, we have other matters to which we must attend. So, if there are no further interruptions, we’ll be on our way.

And with that, the Progeny vessel plowed right through the center of the cube immediately in its path, continuing towards the Alpha Quadrant at unparalleled speeds.

Yar continued to track the Progeny vessel onboard the Relativity. “Federation sensor network confirms the Progeny vessel has resumed its course towards Starbase 47. ETA is in 4 minutes, 7 seconds.”

Ducane, who had been coordinating efforts from the bridge, tapped his comm badge. “Damar, we need that upgrade completed in four minutes or we’re all doomed!”

“As a matter of fact, we just finished, sir!”

“Perfect. Ducane to Admiral Crusher. The upgrade is complete. Whenever you’re ready.”

In his office aboard Starbase 47, Admiral Crusher tapped his comm badge. “Understood. Crusher to fleet, you have a go for Operation Long Run.”

And with that, Crusher closed his eyes and began channeling his Traveler powers...

Out in space, the Relativity and the fleet of Federation ships surrounding it powered up their engines and began heading off in different directions.

Seconds later, the Progeny vessel dropped out of transhyperwarp beside Starbase 47. We have to admit, this Starfleet of yours is quite resourceful, given your limited technology. However, we have a complete temporal profile on Captain Braxton. Your temporal transponders cannot fool us, and we will have the Relativity in mere seconds.

“Not if I have anything to say about it!”

However, it was not Crusher’s voice that the Progeny heard.

It was Janeway’s.

The evil Excelsior evilly dropped out of ID space immediately in front of the Progeny vessel.

“It’s payback time!”

UPN Promo:

Season 5 ends with...
Episode 130: “Hitting the Road, Part II”