[ Act One ]

Sina was casually sitting in her chair in the ready room, gladly tapping away at her PADD to write another after action report when suddenly Niko’s voice came through the comm system. “Captain to the bridge.” He hadn’t made it sound urgent, so the Captain put away the tablet, straightened out her uniform, and made her way back to the bridge.

The Romulan stepped through the door onto the Sidereal’s command center. She immediately noticed some unfamiliar astrometric projections in the forward bridge dome, while Niko, Visra, and Tarik were standing next to the upper level’s railings lost in discussion.

“What’s up? Found something interesting?” She quipped as she approached the group.

“Sort of, but you won’t like it.” Her first officer replied, glancing at Tarik.

She furrowed her brows, but before she could inquire more details her companion was already explaining the situation.

“One of our stellar cartography probes encountered an industrial age civilization whose planet is undergoing severe geological instability. We’ve redirected the probe from its original programming to gather more information. Based on currently available data, we can say with certainty that the instability was caused by an asteroid. The impact wiped out a small continent and triggered massive volcanic activity across the whole globe.” The engineer explained.

Junior Lieutenant Arsiv swiftly manipulated the PADD in her hands and changed the holographic projection in front of them. “Captain, this civilization doesn’t possess the means to counteract the instability. Given the current rate of volcanic activity, my calculations predict they will go extinct from collapse of the biosphere in less than half a decade.”

The Captain let out a deep sigh. She knew where this discussion was headed. Already back in the Academy she’d hated Prime Directive problems, and that hasn’t changed much since. “Is there a way we can help them without being detected?”

The XO simply shook his head. “Nope. The damage is far too excessive for us to fix in a covert operation. If we even attempted to help them, they would definitively see us. There’s just no way to hide our ship or our fighters while plugging those volcanoes.”

“How large is their civilization?” Sina asked carefully.

“As of five minutes ago, just above 131 million spread over two continents and four islands but dropping steadily. Only three of their largest settlements haven’t yet been destroyed by floods or fires. Over eighty-nine percent of their current harvest has been ruined by the volcanic ash, which means they are additionally facing an impending famine.” Tarik answered without hesitation. “The Sidereal is currently the closest vessel, but further Synergy ships are already in transit. If we-”

“Wait a minute.” Sina interrupted him, shaking her head. “Why are you looking at me as if I’ve already agreed to do something? You know we can’t simply waltz in and do whatever the hell we want on their planet. Niko, you of all should know we can’t just discard the Prime Directive whenever we feel like it, regardless of how justified we think we are.”

The German glanced at Tarik. “Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about the PD. Quite the contrary. Since Tarik walked in a couple minutes ago and explained what happened, I’ve been thinking about it quite a lot. The current situation is that we have a head start of about four hours on the next closest ship. In those four hours we could supposedly prevent the deaths of millions. But by doing that we would violate Starfleet’s General Order One.”

“Millions…” Sina sighed, the number heavily weighing on her shoulders. She already knew she couldn’t just walk away from this. Back at the Academy, she had always struggled with hearing how highly decorated officers like Picard or Worf could argue and even stand by idly while watching a whole people go extinct. It had really hurt her back then, seeing such words came from officers she otherwise greatly admired and identified with.

The Synergy engineer took a deep breath. “The Synergy is aware of the Federation’s Prime Directive. And while the principles behind it are commendable, its implementation is terribly flawed. We do acknowledge your right to follow your own principles, but the Synergy will intervene here regardless, just like we have done before. But if you act now, we can save many millions from an unnecessary death.”

“Before? You’ve interfered with other civilizations before?” Visra asked as she stared at Tarik in slight disbelief.

“Of course, we have.” The engineer asserted. “Why would we stand aside and let whole species go extinct when it was within our power to save them? How could we ever look away when hundreds of millions were dying? No, we would intervene and save those people.”

“And then integrate them into the Synergy.” Niko remarked sarcastically, more as a statement than a question.

Tarik looked at the XO and the others and let out an exasperated sigh. “I know what you’re thinking, but I will tell you that you’re wrong. We’ve never forced the uplift onto an unwilling civilization. The only thing we ever do is prevent their extinction and offer them our further help. If they refuse, we provide them with enough appropriate material to rebuild on their own and then we leave. We put their solar system under quarantine to ensure their wish for isolation was respected.”

“But if they accept, we not only help them rebuild with our means and capabilities. We also fast-track their cultural development by sequentially exposing them to more and more of the Synergy’s science and information in a specifically planned and controlled way. We would enhance their education and guide them to applying their newfound knowledge on their own.”

“We have successfully uplifted many societies from a pre-industrial or even earlier stage to building their own warp-capable spacecraft in less than 150 years. And our help does not come with a requirement to join the Synergy. We happily welcome every group or individual that makes that decision voluntarily.” Tarik couldn’t prevent his gaze from lingering on Sina for a long moment. “Or those who couldn’t be saved by any other means. We firmly believe that being Synergy is better than being dead, both on a personal and societal level.”

Tarik looked intently at Niko. “Since our lunch break chat two months ago about the sins of our ancestors, I’ve done some reading about Earth history, pre- and post-contact. I refuse to believe that the people who sacrifice so much of themselves for the defense and aid of others would stand by idly watching a whole species go extinct.”

The first officer let out a deep sigh, the engineer’s words hitting closer to home than the German would ever voluntarily admit and glanced at his captain. “Your call.”

Also letting out a sigh, the Romulan leaned against the bridge railing. She furrowed her brow as she looked from one face to the next. “We all know Tarik’s right. We can’t stand here and argue about the most convenient justification to look the other way while millions are dying. We’re supposed to be better than that.”

Sina breathed deeply and slowly walked towards her seat. One step away from the captain’s chair she turned around and raised her voice. “Anyone wishing to object to my intention to violate the Prime Directive and help those people should do so now, it will be noted accordingly in the ship’s log.”

There was a pregnant silence for a couple of seconds, before the CO nodded and gave the order. “Noriko, do we have the coordinates of that planet?”

“Yes, captain.” Immediately came the pilot’s reply, who had been following the discussion on the level above her closely from her station.

“Set a course, maximum possible speed. Engage.”

“Aye, captain. ETA in fifty-seven minutes.” Junior Lieutenant Yamada replied, while the Sidereal came about and plunged into the whirling tunnel of fractal streaks of light and flowing darkness.

With renewed determination Sina stepped away from her chair again, turning towards the observation lounge opposite her ready room. “Rel, you’ve got the bridge. Niko, Visra, Noriko, Tarik, you’ll join me in the observation lounge. We need a plan to help those people and we’ve got less than an hour to come up with one.”

On her way to the lounge the Romulan tapped her combadge. “D’raxis to Co-Yor and Vossler. I need you both in the observation lounge asap.”

Three minutes later everyone was present in the observation lounge, staring at the holographic projection of the sundered planet while Tarik and Visra reported the current situation. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions had devastated whole continents in wide swathes, and the sky had turned dark with hot ash raining for days without end.

“The situation is as following. Octoris, as the inhabitants call their world, was hit by an asteroid less than ninety-six hours ago.” The Synergy engineer explained. “The impactor approached the planet from above its orbital plane. Even if the Octoricai had seen it coming, their technological level offered them no means of defense. Since the impact they’ve already lost over fifteen percent of their total population, primarily to tsunamis, buildings collapsed by earthquakes, and firestorms caused by the hot ash raining planet-wide.”

The projection changed to show a schematic display of the species. Lieutenant Vossler cut a disgusted grimace and Noriko gasped. “Oh my god.”

“Holy shit!” Niko, sitting to Sina’s right, stared at the projection and mumbled to himself.

The Octoricai had obviously evolved from a spider-like ancestor. The image was of a centaur-like being, with a vaguely humanoid torso positioned on top of a uniquely arachnid main body. The creature had one pair of arms with multi-clawed manipulators and three pairs of legs, one of which could be used as a second pair of arms but without fine manipulation. Its abdomen was an almost spider-like bulge with a set of spinnerets at its end. The head was crowned with a circle of eight eyes, two of which were enlarged to provide enhanced forward vision.

“The species is…” Visra paused for a moment before she continued. “…quite unique in its physical appearance, as you can see. Their arachnid physiology makes them both resilient and vulnerable against the consequences of the impact. The natural exoskeleton covering their bodies makes them more resistant to heat and impacts, but the massive amount of volcanic ash in the air is catastrophically effective against their type of lungs. They are more likely to survive the flames of a fire or the collapse of a building, but will quickly suffocate in those situations, even faster than a Human would.”

“Our probe is detecting highly toxic atmospheric contaminations as a result of the asteroid strike. According to our calculations, Octoris’s environment will start to become too polluted to sustain their population in a few weeks. They have already lost almost ninety percent of the planet-wide harvest. Over the course of the next three years more than ninety-seven percent of their species will die from air pollution and famine.” Tarik continued.

Again, the Alusi scientist took over, her face a mask of worry and concern as she spoke. “The chances of the Octoricai recovering from this event on their own are zero. They are an industrial age civilization. They have adopted a widespread use of steam engines in all settlements to power various industrial processes. Construction of a rail network on the northern continent was underway, as was the expansion of a network of simple electronic communication lines called telegraphs.”

Sina rose from her seat, dismissed the holographic projections above the conference table, and nodded to Tarik and Visra. “Thank you. As you can clearly see these people need our help and they need it fast. The Sidereal will arrive more than three and a half hours before all other incoming ships, and our immediate actions will be decisive in preventing probably millions of deaths down the road. We’ve already discussed the issue of the Prime Directive, and I’ve decided to suspend it because the Synergy will make contact anyway.”

Julia Vossler looked at her commanding officer, quirking a brow. “Captain, we don’t have much personnel, so we can’t be everywhere at once. What are the most pressing issues we should deal with first?”

The CO gestured at Visra and Tarik, and the young Alusi replied. “You’re right, we don’t have the capabilities to engage in individual firefighting or search-and-rescue operations. But those problems are insignificant compared to the ongoing volcanic eruptions as well as the ash concentration in the atmosphere. If we don’t somehow manage to stabilize the geological activity, everything else we could do won’t matter. At least not to the Octoricai.”

The chief engineer nodded and pressed her lips together, thinking hard. After a second she snapped her fingers. “Of course! We can bring the Bussard collectors back online and reconfigure them to gather the ash from the atmosphere. If we focus on the clouds heading towards the larger settlements, we should be able to clean up several hundred thousand tons of material per hour. It’s not much on the global scale, but it might buy the people in those cities valuable time. We compact and seal the collected ash in a storage room and FDS it to the surface as a solid block.”

“You want to take the Sidereal into the atmosphere?” Noriko inquired with a doubtful expression on her face.

But the Lieutenant shrugged her shoulders and assured her position. “Sure, why not? The ship can easily handle it after all the fancy upgrades she got.”

The captain nodded in approval. “We’ll do it. And good thinking, Julia. I guess we can be glad that we kept some of our old stuff around. So, any suggestions regarding the volcanoes?”

Visra cleared her throat. “The normal approach would be to install seismic regulators, at least under the inhabited landmasses, to suppress the geological activity and stabilize the planet’s crust. But the probe’s readings show that there are only few suitable locations left that haven’t already been collapsed by earthquakes or flooded with magma. Those few regulators will not be sufficient.”

“And we’ve only got… four or so of those regulators in storage.” Julia interjected quickly. “We can build more, but don’t forget that those things are huge. We can’t fabricate them in one go, but instead have to put them together piece by piece.”

“Other ideas?” Sina asked.

“Could we use our gravimetric anchors somehow? Maybe we could collapse the vents to cut off the fuel for the eruptions?” Noriko suggested weakly, not wanting to feel completely useless in the discussion.

“That could work.” Tarik confirmed. “But the Sidereal would need to stay close to the ground to have the anchor penetrate the required depth into the crust to reach the primary conduits. It would also take away time from filtering ash from the atmosphere.”

The Asian pilot’s expression changed from proud, that her random idea did have some merit, to sad, that it wouldn’t be of much use anyway, when the engineer continued.

“However, there is another way to deal with those conduits. We can use the ship’s weapons to create artificial vents to release the pressure in a controlled way. This would cause more damage in the short term, but greatly reduce long-term losses by stopping the volatile eruptions as quickly as possible. Synergy geologists and tactical adjuncts are calculating the necessary targeting solutions as we speak.”

“What kind of short-term damage are we talking about?” Niko added.

The Synergy engineer took a deep breath. “The released magma obviously has to go somewhere. While we try to find targeting solutions that will direct the resulting lava flow into uninhabited terrain, that will not be possible in all cases.”

“Then that’s a no.” Sina spoke up with a clear matter-of-fact tone. “There has to be a different way. I will not drown villages and cities in lava.”

“Sina, if we don’t do this then countless more will die.” Tarik replied, visibly not in the mood to have this discussion. “My people are running millions of simulations for different attack coordinates, angles, and depths. But in some locations, there is just no alternative because we lack the fine control necessary for more precise incursions. Our weapons are not mining drills.”

The CO was about to respond, when Noriko cut her off. “Captain! I know what we can do. Do you remember what we planned to do on Szaris III-A?”

Sina nodded and her lips curled into a smile. “Yes, I do. Julia, bring the Peregrines out of mothballs. Tarik, tell your scientists to update their simulation parameters. We’ll use our fighters for the difficult locations. Let’s get it on, we’ve got a planet to save!”

[ Act Two ]

Sina sat in the cockpit of her Peregrine attack fighter, the reinforced tactical flight suit hugging her figure and keeping her tightly secured to the pilot’s chair. She was just running the final preflight checklist and noticed with a satisfied smile that all status displays showed green. The null-space capacitor, which replaced the small vessel’s tiny warp core, was fully charged and brimming deeply with energy.

She had decided to jump into a fighter herself since there were low on pilots certified on that craft, and every Peregrine in the air would help significantly with ‘Operation Bloodletting,’ as Visra had affectionately called it. Aside from her own fighter craft, three more were also fueled and prepared in the retrofitted hangar deck. Sina was piloting Alpha Raptor, the designated wing leader. Noriko had taken over Beta Raptor. Gamma Raptor would be carrying Shori. And Xoth, only after much complaining and posturing, had agreed to fly Delta Raptor.

After Tarik had relayed her decision to use the fighters, the Synergy had quickly adjusted their firing solutions to the smaller, more precise and versatile weapons of the decades old Federation fliers. It turned out that the Romulan’s gut feeling was right. The new strike coordinates all worked without putting any Octoricai settlement in additional danger.

Suddenly the view out of the hangar’s forcefield changed. The fractal chaos of subspace slipstream was replaced with the quiet darkness of space and the sight of a devastated planet. Octoris was straight ahead of them, and the damage caused by the asteroid strike was clearly visible from space.

The comm system chirped, indicating a wing-wide broadcast, and Niko’s voice filtered through the channel loud and clear. “Sidereal to Raptor wing. We’ve dropped out of slipstream and you’re cleared for launch. Good luck and take care everyone!”

“Acknowledged. Raptor wing, prepare for launch.” With a single button tap Sina set her mission transponder to LAUNCH status.

Moments later, after all other fighters in the wing were set to go as well, the tractor beams that had held them steady in the hangar deck propelled them forward. The attack fighters were catapulted out of the Sidereal’s forward hangar doors in two waves, and quickly gathered behind Alpha Raptor in a diamond formation as they sped into Octoris’s upper atmosphere a few kilometers ahead of their carrier.

The Peregrines’ shields were glowing with menacing red streaks, protesting the steep angle at which the fighter craft brute-forced their way through the air at hypersonic velocities. Each attack craft left a cracking shock wave that shook the ground in its wake, while the clouds behind them were flashing in a bright blue light again and again as the Sidereal unleashed its powerful cannons against her pre-calculated targets.

The landscape below Sina, Noriko, Shori, and Xoth was zooming past in a blur, but even then, the pilots could see the devastation inflicted on the surface. Whole swaths of land had been burned to the ground, riverbeds dried out and filled with ash instead of water, deep chasms torn into the hills and valleys. The sight was terrifying. The wing was rapidly approaching the waypoint where they would split up before continuing to their individual objectives.

“Raptor wing, prepare to disengage formation… Go!” Sina sent in another broadcast. A moment later the four fighters peeled off and headed their own ways, racing towards their destinations.

As she changed course, the Captain’s eyes were glued to the massive mushroom cloud rising from somewhere in front of here. She checked the sensor readings, her time to target quickly counting down. Thirty seconds. Twenty seconds. Ten seconds. Five seconds. Her target, a lopsided half exploded caldera, appeared behind a low mountain range.

Sina decelerated sharply and came about, circling the volcano’s maw as it continued to spew smoke and ash. Her first target would be easy, since the mountain’s slope would funnel the released lava into an uninhabited valley. She maneuvered the fighter into position, charged its phaser arrays, and fired. Twin beams of bright orange nadion particles burned their way into the ground at the volcano’s side.

It took the Romulan half a minute of drilling, but eventually she got the expected result. The whole caldera shook and trembled, and a split second later a fountain of lava violently erupted from the hole she had drilled, like pus from an infected pimple. As the magma chamber below the volcano angrily emptied itself through the newfound bypass, the caldera visibly shrank and eventually collapsed.

But Sina didn’t have time to stay and watch, since she was already racing towards her next target. As she approached the geological fissure venting lava and highly toxic gasses, she recharged her Peregrine’s emitter array, preparing for the next incision. A couple seconds later she arrived at her destination, finding the fissure well and active and spewing molten rock and deadly fumes.

Diving into another hard break that made good use of the inertial dampers, the Romulan turned her fighter around and swiftly maneuvered into attack position without wasting any time. Priming the phasers, she began drilling the bypass which would drain the pressure into a nearby now almost-dry lake. Under much protesting and complaining from the fissure, the bypass eventually exploded to life. Before Sina departed, she brought the fighter up high and made a single strafing run across the vent’s length, collapsing the opening and sealing it shut.

The captain was already on her way to the third destination when the comm system chirped with an incoming message. “Sidereal to Alpha Raptor. How are you doing, Sina?”

“Two targets down, couple thousands to go.” She replied slightly sarcastically to her XO. “How’s the rest of the wing holding up?”

Before launch they had agree to keep open channel communications to a minimum to avoid unnecessary distractions. While all four pilots were certified for the Peregrine, only Noriko had any routine in the craft. For the other three, including Sina, it was a rare opportunity to climb into the pilot seat, and the situation was stressful enough without constant chatter.

“So far everything going as planned. We’ve sealed or bypassed a total of twenty-three vents so far, and the runabouts have successfully deployed all four seismic regulators. Gamma and Delta Raptor have confirmed being spotted, but that was to be expected.”

She sighed at Niko’s report, but didn’t dare to feel any kind of relieve yet. “Good to hear. Are the Bussard collectors as effective as we hoped?”

“Sort of. There was an issue with the matter transfer from the collectors to the storage area, but Julia is already working on it. She said it’ll be operational in a few more minutes. We’ve adjusted our course to not waste time waiting on the repairs and keep shutting down those volcanoes.” Niko replied with an audible tension in his voice.

“Just keep worki-” Sina sent back, but before she could finish, she got two sensor alarms on her display. “Stand by…”

The Romulan slowed down her craft and checked the alerts. “Oh no… Are you seeing this, Niko?”

“What is it?” Her XO suddenly sounded even more concerned than five minutes ago.

“I’m reading a group of about 3,000 Octoricai, and a seismic buildup that’s going to rupture the mountain they’re passing by at any minute. Changing course to intercept. I need a targeting solution for that mountain asap!”

“We’re on it!”

The CO pressed her attack fighter into a power dive, swooping towards the unsuspecting refugees. As she got closer, she could see a clearly visible bulge in the mountain’s side and her sensors showed that the pressure was reaching the threshold for a violent eruption any moment now.

“Niko, where’s my…” But before she could finish the sentence, the new volcano erupted. “Shit!” The gigantic explosion sent tens of thousands of tons of stone and dirt flying in all directions, including towards the refugees. Without wasting a second thought, Sina turned the phaser arrays to maximum and opened fire, still in rapid approach, vaporizing many of the huge chunks that were hurtling towards the utterly terrified people.

“Sina? Sina, what happened?” Niko asked through the comm system.

“The mountain just exploded!”

“How bad is it?”

Sina passed over the group with a supersonic boom, before she managed to slow down and hover over the scene. By sheer dumb luck the Octoricai hadn’t been flattened by a chunk of rock. But the Captain’s relief turned to despair when she saw the pyroclastic flow sweeping down the burning flanks of the now gone summit. She glanced at the sensor display. The flow would reach the group in less than three minutes.

“You’ve got 160 seconds to get over here or they’re all dead.”

“On our way!”

With grim determination the Romulan closed the channel and punched the controls of her Peregrine. The craft jumped and shot forward towards the rapidly approaching current of scorching gas and burning rocks. Turning her fighter on a dime, she fired its phasers at the ground in wide sweeping arcs, desperately trying to carve the shape of a crude plow into the ground to deflect the cloud.

While she was disintegrating two curved chasms into the ground with her weapons, the panicked group of Octoricai stared at the display of divine intervention above their heads. Most of them were carrying little more than the clothes on their bodies, with parents clutching their egg cocoons or young tightly as they stared at the white legless spider that had descended from the sky to protect them.

“Niko…”

The pyroclastic cloud was less than thirty seconds from the group, when suddenly a thundering boom echoed over the mountain and the darkened skies flashed in a bright blue light. Blinding bolts shot forth from the darkness and hit the surface to the strange flying creature’s sides, vaporizing giant gorges into the ground. The cloud cover parted, and a giant white-and-black creature with two red claws and a single blue eye descended from above.

“We’re here, Sina! Get behind the chasms!”

“YES!” The Captain shouted relieved, while maneuvering her fighter over the group of refugees. The Sidereal descended further, parking itself sideways above the group. Its starboard nacelle dropped into the carved-out holes and the Akira class hung motionlessly in midair, angled against the slope’s surface. Mere seconds later the full force of the pyroclastic flow crashed against the ship’s tachyon barriers.

The impact’s shock was felt by all on the ground and the Octoricai stared in awe as the burning cloud of ash and embers was deflected away by that giant deity incarnate. Many of them fell to their knees in reverence, gazing at that unimaginable display of power, wondering how a single being could defy the might of the earth.

“Thank you, Niko!” Sina sobbed into her helmet, happy beyond words that the people on the ground had been saved.

“You’re welcome. That will be a five credits cavalry tax.” Her XO quipped wryly. Sina could imagine his grin all too well.

She watched the Sidereal’s silhouette flicker as her tachyon barriers extended, still protecting the group of survivors while allowing the ship to return to a normal flight mode. The Akira class turned to face the mountain, and with a single pulse from her navigational deflector the pyroclastic flow was easily parted up to its origin and then pushed aside. A few more bolts from the ship’s cannons and this volcano was sealed for now, buying the refugees much needed time to get away.

The Sidereal rose into the sky again and gobbled up the largest part of the ash column created by the mountain’s eruption with her Bussard collectors on her way. She turned away from the mountain and disappeared with another cracking sonic boom, heading towards her next target.

Sina hovered for another moment over the group of survivors, running a sensor sweep of the people and the surrounding area to reassure that they would be safe for at least the next couple hours. After she was sure they could make it, she also headed off to her next target.

It was a long and exhausting battle against time. Sina didn’t have any further close encounters, but Xoth found a small city that had been overrun by a lava flow. There was nothing he could have done to save them. Shori had the bad luck of being just a little too close to the drill hole and her Peregrine got doused in lava as a result. The Caitian had to return to the carrier and switch to Epsilon Raptor. Eventually, after over three hours of the Sidereal and her crew fighting against the inevitable, the Synergy reinforcements arrived.

Two cubes and five spheres dropped out of subspace slipstream and immediately began to support the outmatched Starfleet crew. Using seismic regulators which they had fabricated while on the way, they could quickly stabilize the planet’s crust and force any remaining volcanoes into submission.

“Sidereal to Raptor wing. We just received word from Cube 971-Helix-12 that the last volcano has been subdued. We’re currently holding a geostationary position over the southern continent. You’re cleared for docking.” Niko announced, and a moment later the open channel was filled with relieved breaths and even a few cheers.

“Niko, bring in and secure the other Raptors. I have to take care of something.” Sina replied.

The first officer sighed. “Are you going where I think you’re going?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll ask one of the spheres to assist you once they’re done deploying atmospheric control satellites. Take care, Sina. And tell them hello from me.”

The Romulan smiled. “I will. Alpha Raptor out.” She turned her Peregrine around and headed back to the group of survivors they had rescued from certain death hours ago. As she approached the location her fighter’s sensors told her that the 3,000 Octoricai had moved on, away from the volcano and towards one of the remaining but still heavily damaged forests. The Captain carefully maneuvered her craft towards the ground, closer to the group.

Her approach didn’t go unnoticed. As Sina’s attack fighter floated in slowly and touched down about 100 meters away, she saw the group getting restless. Movement started to pick up, and hundreds came closer to her landing spot, some curious, others fearfully. The Romulan disengaged her suit’s and seat’s safety mechanisms and opened the cockpit hatch. With swift and only a little clumsy steps she climbed off the attack fighter, who now was surrounded by many dozen Octoricai.

Once they clearly saw the Romulan they fell to the ground, dropping low with their heads almost touching the ground. Sina knew that something like this would happen.

“Please, stand. Don’t kneel before me.” She spoke loud enough for the group to hear her.

One of the arachnids spoke with a trembling voice. Sina guessed that individual could just be terribly excited and nervous, or it could be a translation artifact stemming from their unique combination of spoken words and clicks making up their verbal language. She only hoped that the universal translator could handle this. “You’ve saved us from certain doom before, deity incarnate. And now you’ve returned to us. How could we not kneel before you?”

The Romulan slowly walked closer, her arms open. “It will be difficult for you to understand, but I’m not a deity.”

“You and your father have defeated the thundering mountain. You must be gods! Who else could possess such power?” Exclaimed another Octoricai.

Sina quirked her brow for a moment before it dawned her what they meant. They thought that the Sidereal was her father. With a slightly frustrated sigh she walked towards the first speaker. She leaned down and took his clawed manipulators into her hands, gently lifting them from the ground. “I’m not a god. My name is Sina. Please, I don’t want you to kneel before me.”

Slowly the Octoricai rose from his prone position and the others followed suit. Now that they were standing, Sina noticed for the first time how miserable they all truly looked. Their clothes were ripped or in tatters, their colorful carapaces covered in soot and dirt. Many were wounded, limping along with visibly broken or even missing appendages. Parents were desperately clutching their young tightly to sooth their fears. More and more of the others now also approached, trying to catch a glimpse of their savior goddess.

“You really are not like us.” Someone murmured amidst the crowd.

The Captain nodded. “That is right. I’m not Octoricai, neither am I from your world. I’m Romulan and my home is far away from here.” She gestured to the sky. “It will be a long story and it will be challenging for you to accept, but you are not alone. The stars you can see in the night sky are home to thousands of different people. Some are tall, others are small. Some walk on two legs like I do, others have many legs like you.”

As if on cue, the air was filled with the blue white flashes and black spots of dimensional shifts. Dozens of vortexes appeared behind Sina’s Peregrine as Synergy engineers and medics transported to the surface, accompanied by massive crates full of what she suspected were materials for emergency shelters, food and water, and medical supplies. The unexpected arrival caused a short-lived panic, but the Romulan quickly managed to calm the survivors.

“No, wait! They are friends! Stay calm. They are friends, they’re here to help you.”

The group remained calm, and quickly opened a corridor in the circle around the landed attack fighter. The engineers began constructing what would soon be a small city made from temporary housings, the medics approached the group and started working on the wounded. The first speaker watched the scene silently for several moments, before he turned to Sina. “Why are you doing all this for us? You don’t know us, and to you we must be like the worms in the ground.”

She turned her head and smiled tentatively at the confused Octoricai. “Why? Because everyone deserves to be saved.”

[ Act Three ]

“Why do you only have two legs?” Kylra asked wearily. The young Octoricai clung tightly to Tarik, all seven appendages wrapped around the engineer’s arm, and gazed intently at the Human with her enlarged forward facing eyes. Kylra lost his left arm in the cataclysm that had befallen his planet when chunks of a collapsing ceiling crushed his extremity beyond his people’s medical capabilities.

In agreement with the leading diplomatic adjunct the Synergy had decided against liberal use of dimensional shifting to avoid scaring or intimidating the native population even more, and so coincidence willed it that Tarik would return the child to his family. The engineer smiled softly at the boy and gently stroked the child’s fuzzy dark blue back hair that was crossed with thin white stripes.

“My kind evolved from animals with two arms and two legs over the course of many million years. Just like your kind developed from animals with eight legs. I don’t know for certain why my ancestors only developed two legs, but I guess it’s because that was the number of arms and legs that worked best for them. They probably just didn’t need any more.” He explained.

Kylra nodded slowly, still exhausted from the examinations and other treatments. There had been a lingering infection in the stump of his lost arm, and without rapid treatment it could have been disastrous for his open circulatory system. “The strange people in the white clothes didn’t hurt me. Does that mean I can go back home?”

“Yes, for now. But you will soon have to see our doctors again so that they can help you get your arm back.” Tarik explained, just turning the corner towards one of the emergency shelters where Kylra’s parents were waiting. The family had survived, if only barely, and found a temporary home in what had before been the city’s central train station.

“Hey, look!” [email protected] pointed with his free arm. “There’s the train station. You will soon be with your parents again.”

The boy waved his pedipalps and giggled with tired excitement. A few minutes later Tarik stepped through the entrance of the ruined station. Half a dozen adults were busy cleaning away the last pieces of debris and swiping the floor at least somewhat clean of dust, pebbles, and bits of broken glass from the now open ceiling high above the ground. [email protected] quickly crossed the entrance lobby and stepped into the main hall which was bustling with activity.

The wide-open space was filled with emergency beds and makeshift screens providing at least a little privacy. At the far end of the hall a couple of Synergy engineers were just completing the installation of two fabricator stations, already giving instructions and demonstrating the devices’ usage to the curious onlookers. Three of the four platforms had a train next to them, whose wagons had hastily been repurposed as additional sleeping space and socializing areas.

Minding his steps, Tarik made his way through the many rows of provisional beds where tired survivors were slowly recovering from the shock of the last two and a half days, until he found his destination. In a small compartment created by a makeshift screen made from Octoricai silk and the back wall of what used to be a snack booth, Kylra’s parents were waiting for the return of their son. Once the engineer peeked around the screen, the adults inside looked up and then quickly scurried to their feet.

“Tarik! You’ve returned. How is Kylra?” Ylliyk inquired, still limping with two of her legs wrapped in heavy bandages.

“No worries, he’s fine, but tired.” [email protected] explained, consoling the parents. He carefully handed the boy to his father, who wore a dark red patch over one of his eyes. “The stump was infected and could have become a problem, but we were able to treat it without any side effects. He’s well, considering the circumstances, just exhausted from all the stress and the examinations.”

“Thank you.” Ylliyk said while wrapping her arms around her husband and child, holding them tight.

Tarik just smiled gently. “You’re welcome. The medic suggested the follow-up examination to be scheduled soon, once Kylra recovered a bit. He’s still young and we think we have a good chance to regrow his arm without hampering his development. He’ll be able to have a normal set of appendages without requiring a prosthesis.”

Mokral nodded and handed Kylra to his wife, before slowly shuffling closer to the engineer. He nervously produced a golden watch from the pocket of his dirty vest, offering it to Tarik with shaking claws. “Here, please take this. We know it’s not much, but you’ve saved our child.”

[email protected] gently shook his head. “I don’t want any payment. While I appreciate the gesture, it is not necessary. Please keep the watch, it will serve you better than it would me.” He replied, carefully taking the father’s claws into his hands and closing them around the watch.

“How can we ever repay you?” Ylliyk asked with a worried voice.

The Human engineer turned to the female Octoricai and smiled. “You don’t have to. We neither require nor expect any payment, and neither do you owe us anything. But if you insist, there is but one thing I would ask from you.”

“Anything.” The parents answered in unison, gazing at Tarik expectantly as he continued.

“Your world is at a crossroads. In the upcoming months there will be much discussion about what your species will do now. All your worries, troubles, and conflicts until now have become irrelevant. You are not alone anymore, and while some may welcome that change, others might fear it. Please keep an open mind about what my people will tell you. That is all I dare ask.”

“We will.” Mokral nodded reassuringly. “We will.”

A few minutes later Tarik was on his way back to the Synergy encampment just outside the city limits. While he casually but with intent walked through the devastated streets, he managed to let his eyes wander over the buildings framing his path. At least those constructions that haven’t fallen prey to earthquakes or fires displayed an impressive architecture for the Octoricai’s technological level. Their buildings were much taller and wider, with much more open internal space than he would have expected.

He mused that it probably had something to do with their unique physiology. With their spinnerets and inborn ability to produce a variety of weaves and ropes, every member of their species is a natural climber. [email protected] could easily imagine Octoricai construction workers moving in unfinished buildings like spiders would move in their webs, creating truly masterful works of bricklaying and construction. Without the risk of easily falling to their deaths, their people could create more intricate and web-like decorations that not only were pleasant to behold, but also payed homage to their heritage.

Tarik felt an all-encompassing presence in his thoughts.

[You look good with a child in your arms. Are you sure you’re not already training for something particular?]

The engineer sighed and mentally rolled his eyes at the obvious innuendo, eliciting a playful giggle from Chiaxi.

[Matriarch. What can I do for you?] He replied after collecting his thoughts, pushing aside the distracting image her comment had planted into his mind.

[I’m curious how you would rate the Sidereal’s performance in this first contact situation. I’m aware of their actions, but what can you say about their motivations and intentions? Do you think they are ready?]

[email protected] thought about the question for a moment. [I would say they are almost ready, Matriarch. The Prime Directive is a delicate topic for the Federation and its crews. As you are aware, the history of their organization is riddled with examples of even well-meant intervention leading to disaster. For most situations I’d consider the principles of the Prime Directive prudent, it only fails catastrophically when confronted with extinction events.]

[Please continue.] Chiaxi hummed softly.

[I’m confident Sina decided to intervene so quickly only because our ships were already approaching. On their own they would have hesitated for presumably significantly longer. But eventually my brief explanation of our intervention and uplift policies appeared to have had the desired effect - convince them of the absolute necessity of intervening while at the same time reassure them Octoris would not be occupied or conquered by the Synergy.] The engineer concluded his report.

The Matriarch contemplated her next question for a long moment. [Do you think they would have acted without us encouraging them?]

Now it was the engineer who needed some time to think on an answer. [Eventually, I think they would have. They most likely would have waited for more detailed sensor data, or until Visra had calculated more accurate projections how the situation would develop. But in the end, I’m certain Sina would have acted in favor of intervening on Octoris. I’ve spent much time getting to know her better, and I don’t think she would refuse to render aid in such a situation.]

[Excellent. I’m positive they will eventually come around and see things our way. But for now, please invite Sina, Niko, and the other Raptor wing pilots to the first tentative meeting with Octoricai representatives scheduled in four days. The presence of the people who recklessly went to battle volcanoes in hopelessly outdated attack fighters to help and protect a species they had never seen before will set a beneficial mood for the meeting from the start.] Chiaxi’s melodic voice still echoed in his thoughts, even after her immediate presence began to fade.

[As you wish, Matriarch.]

Four days later, Tarik led Sina, Niko, Noriko, Shori, and Xoth - all wearing their gray-white dress uniforms - along a simple path to the place of the official first contact meeting between Synergy and Octoricai. The location was the peak of a hill, nested in a rolling countryside that miraculously, and thanks to the efforts of the Sidereal’s crew, survived the apocalypse relatively unscathed. The webbed dome-like town hall of a small city in a nearby valley shimmered with a rich purple in the warm morning sun, and even the sky had begun to clear. In the distance, a single pure white Synergy sphere crossed over the horizon.

“How many ships are here now in total?” Shori inquired curiously from Tarik.

The engineer answered without missing a beat. “Twelve cubes and thirty-six spheres. More than 560,000 engineering and science adjuncts, 290,000 medical adjuncts, and over two million support personnel are deployed planet-side to help stabilize the Octoricai societies.”

“Almost three million… that’s not too bad.” Xoth grumbled to himself. While his voice tried to convey him not being impressed, his expression betrayed his awe as he realized how quickly and decisively the Synergy was able to mount this whole operation. Everyone in the small group knew that Starfleet would struggle for weeks or even months to muster such numbers.

“Thank you. We take that as a compliment.” [email protected] cast the Tellarite a smile, before turning his attention back to the meeting place ahead of them. “We’re almost there. Please allow Vadrik to open and lead the meeting. He is experienced with first contact encounters and has even successfully negotiated half a dozen uplifts in the last fifteen years. When addressed or asked something, please always answer truthfully. Our negotiation policies in uplift situations are based on indiscriminate honesty, since the other party would find out the truth anyway if they decided to join the Synergy. Dishonesty or lies by omission only create more problems in the long term.”

“Understood.” Sina and Niko replied in unison, both glancing at the other officers who quickly nodded in agreement.

After a few more minutes they small group finally reached the peak of the hill, already hearing several voices from ahead. The place had been decorated with a large round table, including holographic projectors, and enough hammocks to accommodate all participants. A single fabricator terminal was provided for refreshments and other necessities. The use of the Octoricai’s traditional seating furniture was a gesture of respect towards their culture and would help signal the Synergy’s peaceful intentions, at least everyone hoped so.

Most of the hammocks were already occupied with eight Octoricai and a single male of species 478 casually lounging in them. The arachnid representatives displayed a wild mix of carapace colors, fur patterns, and clothing styles, while the Hirogen was dressed in a formal suit embroidered with intricate decorations.

“Tarik! Captain D’raxis!” The Hirogen called out with a pleasant smile on his lips and gestured to the six free hammocks to his left. “Please join us.”

“Thank you, Vadrik.” [email protected] replied and nodded towards the other guests. He and the Starfleet officers quickly moved to the free places and carefully sank into the hammocks, which gently swayed back and forth. The Octoricai curiously mustered the engineer and his companions, muttering to themselves as their gaze fell on Shori.

“Now that our gathering is complete, I would like to formally introduce ourselves.” The Hirogen rose from his hammock and addressed the Octoricai. “I am Vadrik, Primary Diplomatic Adjunct, and I speak for the Synergy. We are an interstellar empire encompassing over 300,000 inhabited planets, which are home to over 100,000 different species. Our goals are peaceful exploration and scientific progress, and our motivations are founded in cooperation and mutual support.”

Vadrik’s voice sounded strong and firm over the hilltop. “When we learned of the cataclysm that had befallen your world, we not only immediately dispatched our own people to help you. We also asked one of our allies, the crew of the Federation Starfleet vessel USS Sidereal, to render aid.” He gestured at Sina and her officers with an expression of pride on his face. “And we are glad they heeded the call and responded as quickly as they did.”

“Your world and your people are no longer in danger. The volcanoes have been silenced, and soon the air will be free of ash again. And if you should allow it, we will offer our help in rebuilding and advancing your civilization. Before I continue, I want you all to be aware of one thing. The Synergy will not force itself upon your world. If you decide to ask us to leave, we will do so. But before you make any such decision, I implore you to listen to what we have to say.”

One of the Octoricai, an apparently elderly male, with a dark brown carapace and a dark yellow fur, spoke once Vadrik had finished. “But why would you stay? I’ve seen the flying machines you command. What could we possibly offer you as payment for your help?”

“We’re not asking for any payment.” The diplomatic adjunct responded kindly.

“Then what else do you want?” A young female retorted, her body a dangerous black shell with fiery red hairs. “Will you conquer us, and exploit our natural resources? Or enslave us?”

“We will also do neither of those things.” Vadrik explained calmly. “I know it is challenging for you to understand how we could invest all that effort and ask nothing in return. The Synergy is not interested in exploiting you. We come in peace, offering our help, support, and guidance.”

The female representative crossed her four arms in front of her chest. “That sounds suspiciously like what the Northern Pact said forty cycles ago.”

“Arekja, please…” The elderly Octoricai groaned. “…what would you know about the Pact?”

She snapped her head at him. “I know that my grandfather died defending our home against your nation, Praxxu. Everyone knows that the Pact’s leader was nothing but a well-spoken but bloodthirsty warmonger. You always speak of peace and support, but only on your terms. And anyone who dares oppose or reject you is brutally subjugated or slaughtered to make an example.”

Now it was Praxxu who snapped back. “How dare you. The Pact sent hundreds of convoys to the south during the great drought, helping your people with food and water without asking anything back. And how did you thank us? By sending spies to poison our rivers! Your people started that war, and you know that all too well. So please spare us all your feigned outrage and faked indignation.”

Arekja was about to leap from the hammock, when suddenly Vadrik’s shout thundered over the meeting place. “SILENCE!” The Octoricai jumped in their seats, and a dangerous silence fell upon the hill’s peak for a long moment, before the Hirogen continued with a softer tone. “Your species is at a crossroads, and yet you keep bickering over past conflicts. Can’t you see that none of that matters any longer? How can you fight over what happened decades ago, when a possible future for all of you lies ahead, waiting to be discovered?”

“Yes, if we wanted, we could easily conquer you. We could easily enslave you or take all your ores and minerals and gemstones. But we have no interest in doing that. And if you doubt everything I say, I implore you, at least believe this one thing.”

Tarik cast a knowing glance at Sina and let out a slightly frustrated sigh. This negotiation was going to take a long time.

[ Act Four ]

“When was the transmission supposed to start?” Captain K’Torr asked, his fingers impatiently drumming on the table. Nadya glanced at her CO, curiously observing the Klingon. It was a rare moment when anything shook his usually unwavering confidence and calm. Seeing her Captain visibly anxious from something trivial like this was almost making the Russian smile.

Lieutenant Commander Kedik responded to the question without hesitation. “2330 hours, Sir. I have no explanation for the delay. Our comm system is working at peak efficiency, I’ve personally run a level three diagnostic less than an hour ago. Do you wish me to rerun the diagnostic?”

“Maybe they simply experienced an issue on their end?” Commander Chanar suggested as she turned her chair away from the dark display on the lounge’s wall. The Bolian woman looked around, meeting everyone’s slightly worried gaze. “I don’t think Captain D’raxis would keep us waiting if there wasn’t a good reason.”

“We shouldn’t jump to conclusions.” The Augment finally said. “Starfleet Command said this was the first attempt to reroute the communication channel to individual destinations. It’s probably just some stream fragmenta-”

As if on cue, the wall display suddenly turned on with a chirp, and showed the strange and complexly intertwined seal representing the impossibly powerful empire of the Synergy, directly followed by the much simpler but familiar starship patch of the USS Sidereal. A moment later the screen flickered briefly and changed to present a view into another observation lounge that was occupied by three people: Sina the center seat, flanked by Niko and Rel.

Nadya’s thoughts immediately went back to that terrible day four and half months ago when they performed the experiment to pierce the quantum barrier and glance at the other side. The Augment clearly remembered the shock when they saw what seemed to be a Borg sphere towing a heavily damaged Akira class away. It had been difficult for everyone on board, but worse for her. She had needed two weeks of counseling and much empathy from Shannara before she could return to active duty.

She had barely finally accepted that she’d never see her friends again when suddenly and out of the blue two weeks after their experiment the news dropped that Starfleet Command had received an authentic message from the Sidereal. The news spread like wildfire through Starfleet’s admiralty and quickly also across the Federation. The lost Akira class was again the hot topic for weeks without end. Nadya clearly remember how she’d been crying tears of joy and happiness while watching Sina’s personal message together with her girlfriend.

And now, in an unbelievable twist of fate, they were really talking to each other. Before the Augment’s thoughts could drift further, her thoughts were brought back to the present by Captain K’Torr clearing his throat.

“Captain D’raxis.” The Klingon began. “I’m glad to hear your voice. It’s a great honor, and for many of us personal relieve, to see you all alive and well. I hope things are fine in your universe?”

Sina’s lips curled into a smile. “Captain K’Torr. The honor is ours. Yes, we’re doing great, thank you. I’m sorry I kept you waiting, but a certain Rear Admiral was getting quite emotional while saying goodbye.”

The Klingon let out a rumbling laughter, obviously picking up Sina’s innuendo. Nadya smiled softly as she imagined how emotional Rear Admiral Gallagher would be with her daughter. It was only understandable, and the Augment couldn’t even begin to imagine what a rollercoaster ride this whole ordeal must have been for the elderly woman.

“We understand, Captain.” The Enterprise’s first officer quickly added. “No need to apologize. It’s an exceptional situation for everyone involved.”

“It really is.” Niko nodded and glanced at his CO. “We’re also all really impressed by what you guys have done. It’s incredible you managed to find a way to see what happened shortly after our accident.”

Nadya briefly met Sina’s look and saw a glimmer of remorse in the Captain’s gaze before the Romulan spoke up. “I’m sorry that of all possible events you had to see that particular one. It must have been terrible to think we’d been assimilated.”

“It wasn’t your fault.” The Augment quickly replied before anyone else, her lips slowly curling into a tentative, almost shy smile. “You didn’t have any way to influence our experiment, and we couldn’t possibly know the truth until much later. I guess we have to mark that one down as bad luck.”

Lieutenant Commander Kedik raised an eyebrow and nodded at his colleague. “I agree with this assessment. These parameters were outside of both our control. We shouldn’t spend any more time dwelling on an event that, while having an unfortunate emotional tax on many people, eventually led to a positive result.”

The Romulan nodded at the Vulcan. “I agree. Speaking of positive results, how are professor Van der Meer and professor Ishikawa doing? I hope they are not too overwhelmed by their research?”

“It’s actually the opposite.” Commander Chanar said, her blue face lighting up with a chuckle. “It appears the scientific discoveries made by our esteemed chief engineer kicked off a flurry of fundamental research in subspace engineering, quantum mechanics, and high-energy physics. Last we heard of the professors was that they were both swimming in work. Especially Muuri appears to be quite busy since he was directly involved in the later stages of the experiment.”

Sina pouted slightly. “Aw, what a shame. I’d really like to say thank you in person at some point.” She paused for a moment and drew a deep breath. “Which is also the reason why I requested a direct call with you rather than just sending a message. I want to say thank you in person to all of you. We’ve all here read your reports and logs that SC relayed to us. You went above and beyond the call in your endeavor to find us.”

The Romulan’s eyes focused on the Enterprise’s chief engineer and smiled warmly. “Especially you, Nadya. Stubborn as ever you refused to accept our disappearance and even risked your career in Starfleet for us. You faced off against your Captain and managed to change his mind. You went all the way and only let go when there was nothing more to do. Thank you, Nadya, for everything.”

Hearing these words from her former secret love turned the Russian all teary-eyed, and she sniffled softly as she breathed her response. “You’re welcome, Sina. You know that I don’t believe in giving up early. But this time I couldn’t have done it without the help of my colleagues and the support of my CO. Even though it took a while until we understood what each of us wanted out of the situation.”

“Oh, I know. But I’m glad to hear that things worked out onboard the Enterprise again.”

Captain K’Torr nodded and replied with his powerful deep voice. “No worries, Captain D’raxis. The Lieutenant Commander is completely correct. She didn’t know what I expected, and I didn’t realize what she wanted. Since we’re both quite…”

“Stubborn?” Sina suggested with a playful smirk.

The Klingon’s lips twitched into a quick grin before he continued with extra emphasis. “…determined, some conflict was probably inevitable. I’m personally contented that we managed to resolve our problem in a timely and professional manner. This situation has been a valuable lesson to all of us, and especially me. I think we’ve become a better and stronger crew for it.”

“We’re happy to hear that things did work out for you.” Niko added while giving the screen a quick double thumbs-up.

After her XO’s remark, the Romulan continued. “I think you’ll all be pleased to hear that your discoveries are well received here as well. You all have really impressed several hundred million people in the Synergy’s scientific community, which is taking a full dive off the deep end with your results. They’ve already squeezed several improvements to the installation enabling our communication from your work. In a few days they’ll take Primaris Station offline and begin a ten-week-long maintenance cycle that will significantly improve fuel efficiency, transfer bandwidth, and spin up time.”

Lieutenant Neirrek quickly looked at his CO before adding more information to the conversation. “During that period, we will not be able to perform any communication with your quantum reality, but our abilities afterward will be improved significantly. We will be able to communicate more regularly without straining the available fuel supply, and the transmissions will allow multiple simultaneous channels with enhanced bandwidth compared to the single channel we have available right now.”

“You can see your efforts were not only academic, but really are making a difference for us. Once again the crew of the Enterprise has done something exceptional.” Sina concluded. “You can all be proud of yourself.”

“Thank you, Captain D’raxis.” K’Torr replied, failing to hide a thin smile of pride under his thick beard.

A sudden chirp interrupted the mood. Rel picked up a PADD from outside the camera’s field of view and quickly checked its display. “We have about five minutes left before the micro-fissure will collapse.”

“Unless you have any pressing questions that weren’t answered by our messages, I think that’s about it then.” Sina commented. Both commanding officers glanced at their colleagues to see if there were any open topics, but even after several long moments no one spoke up. Finally, the Sidereal’s CO continued. “Captain, may I make a last personal request? Could I please talk with Nadya alone?”

“Yes, of course.” The Klingon officer rose from his seat. “Captain D’raxis, I hope we’ll talk again some time. Until then, Godspeed.”

Commander Chanar and Lieutenant Commander Kedik stood as well and offered their goodbyes before leaving the Enterprise’s observation lounge. Commander Heisenberg and Lieutenant Neirrek did the same, and moments later Sina was alone in the Sidereal’s observation lounge.

The Romulan took a deep breath. “How are you, Nadya?”

“I’m fine, Sina.” The Augment replied while wiping the wetness from her eyes. “I really wasn’t fine for some time after our experiment… wait, who am I kidding? That’s one hell of an understatement. I was a complete mess, and I don’t know what I would have done without Shannara. That silly girl…”

Nadya let out a soft sigh and smiled as she recalled her past experiences. “During that time, I said some pretty mean things to her, but she still stayed with me and helped me put myself back together. I always imagined I would be the tower of strength in a relationship. But in reality, I helplessly crumbled in her arms like a sandcastle in the waves. It’s quite funny. Back when I left the Sidereal, I expected it would take me a few years to get over you. But then I stumbled into that feisty redhead xenobiologist and all my expectations just went straight out the airlock.”

Both women giggled at the Russian’s remark for a second, before Sina added her perspective. “Don’t worry, I know exactly what you mean. It was the same with me and Tarik. When we first met, I was seconds away from vaporizing him, and now I just love the feeling of him holding me his arms. If you had told me back then that I’d fall for a middle-aged transhuman cyborg engineer, I’d have laughed you off the ship. But now… I guess I can say we both found not the partners we wanted, but the partners we needed.”

“I think that is a surprisingly apt description.” The chief engineer responded.

The CO smiled softly. “I’m just glad you’re happy with your girlfriend. I know you told me not to worry about it, but I couldn’t help but feel bad for you after you transferred away. The thought that you gave up on your position and your friends because you felt you couldn’t talk about your feelings with me…”

“And I’ll still tell you not to worry about it now. Besides, would it have ever worked between you and me even if I had told you?” Nadya quirked a brow, teasing her friend for an answer.

The Romulan hesitated for a moment, unconsciously licking her lips thinking about the answer. While the Augment was a close friend and undeniably gorgeous, Sina just didn’t feel the same kind of attraction to her as she felt with [email protected] “I… I think it would have been difficult.”

“See, no need to feel bad then. Trying to enforce the unenforceable would just have caused unnecessary tension and drama. It would have left us both worse for wear and not served any attainable goal. In the end, I still think my decision was the best possible outcome for everyone involved. And…”

The Romulan woman raised an eyebrow in an almost Vulcan gesture. “And?”

“And I think I can live with it. While I’m sorry I couldn’t have been completely honest with you and caused you some headaches, I wouldn’t want to trade Shannara for anything in the universe. I think I found what you’d call ‘a soulmate.’ Despite our differences, we seem to… complement each other in a way I’d never have thought possible.”

Sina beamed a happy smile hearing those words from her friend, just as Nadya smiled while uttering them. The Augment was truly happy. Not only had she found comfort and love despite all the troubles and difficulties that had riddled her life in the recent path, she also knew that her friends and former colleagues were safe as well. This reassurance, and especially this short personal talk, gave her the peace she finally needed to put her past to rest.

Another chirp sounded. “Less than one minute… I think we should wrap it up before we’re getting cut off.”

“Yes. It’s been good talking to you again, Sina. Don’t worry about me, you’ve got more than enough on your own plate to handle. But we’ll stay in contact, okay?”

“We’ll stay in contact. Once the Synergy is done upgrading Primaris Station I’ll call again. Please take care and give my regards to Shannara. Tell her a big thank you from me for being so good to you.

The Augment laughed. “I will. Goodbye, Sina.”

“Goodbye, Nadya.”

A moment later the channel terminated. Nadya took a deep breath before she stood from her seat and turned to leave the observation lounge.

[ Act Five ]

Sina’s face and body were covered in sweat and she breathed heavily. The exertion was clearly visible in her strained expression, but it was a good exertion. She felt every muscle in her body as she moved in a steady rhythm. She happily and breathlessly smiled at Tarik as she wiped the sweat from her brow. “Almost there, just a little more.” The Romulan tightened her grip on the shaft and let out a soft groan.

She raised the heavy hammer in her right hand only to bring it down on the anvil with a thundering clang, again and again and again. Her body shuddered under each impact, and she leaned against the engineer to keep her balance. But with each additional strike she coerced the brightly glowing piece of metal further into shape. The ringing sound of the impacts echoed loudly in the otherwise currently unused workshop.

Tarik held the raw mek’leth blade with a pair of tongs, moving it around as requested, while Sina kept raining blow after blow onto the metal to bring it in shape. The workshop’s forge was burning bright and hot behind the working couple, and Sina repeatedly placed the raw blade in the heat before she continued hammering it. After another ten minutes of working the metal with arduous zeal, Sina finally put down the hammer and took the tongs from Tarik to closely examine their piece of work.

“Done!” She exclaimed, returning the tongs to her companion so that he could also look at the result. “We’ve gotten close enough to the final shape. Now we anneal the blade to soften the metal, which will allow us to grind it into its final form and put an edge to it later.”

Sina placed the blade in the searing forge again, quickly heating the metal to a bright glow before pulling it out again. With tongs in hand she turned to the engineer. “Can you do me a favor and put it in WIP-chamber six for it to cool down? I’ll start cleaning up here.”

“Of course, my dear.” Tarik nodded and released the menacingly glimmering blade from the tongs. Without hesitation he took it into his cybernetic hand, feeling the piece’s weight and temperature, while he held it close to examine its shape and structure as well. It was gleaming hot, but his artificial hand easily withstood the heat.

Sina had already taken off the safety glasses and heavy apron protecting her from the heat and the sparks working the mek’leth set loose, and just stared at the hot metal in her partner’s hand. She quickly shook her head and laughed at the sight. “Doesn’t that, you know, hurt you? Why are you not clutching your hand and screaming in agony?”

“I’ve deactivated the extended sensory interface before picking up the piece. My arm provides me with the raw sensory information about the object’s temperature, but that data is not translated into sensory input that could cause a pain reaction.” The engineer replied calmly while placing the glowing piece in its designated resting container.

The Romulan mused. “Now that’s certainly a handy ability to have. Does it work like that with all your implants?”

“Not with all.” Tarik replied on his way back from across the workshop. “Only implants that interact with the perception of one’s own body. I can mute the sensory input from my arm and could turn down input from an ocular visor. But I couldn’t limit the data from, for example, my chronometric node in the same way, since that implant doesn’t change the way I feel about my body.”

“I see…” Sina had put away the apron and glasses and turned to switch off the forge. With a few taps on the massive device’s holographic interface she shut it down, making the furious roar of the furnace quickly die down.

“But you’re right, it’s extremely practical to be able to do this. And if it’s only to impress one’s girlfriend.” Tarik added with a wide smirk on his lips while he moved to put back all the tools they had used.

“You’re impossible.” The Commander quipped back with a soft laugh.

The engineer effortlessly picked up the various tongs and hammers, and swiftly and efficiently returned them to their intended places. The automatic cleanup system would soon take care of all the chips and fragments on the ground.

Once everything was back in its place, Sina stepped closer to Tarik. Her face was still flushed, her hair was a wet, tousled mess, and her clothes were soaked with sweat. She not only looked exhausted, she also felt that way. Leaning against her boyfriend, she breathed heavily. “I’m so done for. I really need a hot shower now.”

“Should I carry you back to your quarters?” He offered, the teasing but loving grin on his lips audible in the tone of his voice.

“Oh, I’m sure you’d like doing tha-” But before she could finish her statement of playful protest, he had already swept her up in his arms.

He smiled and nodded. “Yes, I do.” Carefully he maneuvered through the workshop’s door, gently carrying Sina towards her little home away from home.

“You can put me down now.” She teased him with her arms slung around his neck, holding on to him.

“But I like having you in my arms. You’re letting me do this far too rarely.” He teased back and placed a tender kiss on her forehead, eliciting a soft giggle from his companion.

On the way to the Commander’s quarters the couple encountered a small mixed group of junior ranks, standing in one of the gateway hubs having a quiet conversation. Once they noticed Tarik carrying their CO in his arms, they immediately rushed towards them.

“Captain! What happened? Do you need help?” One Junior Lieutenant immediately asked, visibly worried.

“No. No, I’m fine. Really.” Sina replied with a smile as she quickly blushed to a highly embarrassed shade of red. “I’m just tired and Tarik is being the ever-overbearing gentleman that he is.”

“Oh… okay.” The junior officer replied with a knowing smile, ushering the others aside to make way. “Good night then, captain. Tarik.”

They arrived on deck four in front of Sina’s quarters just a few minutes later. The Romulan was still blushing from their previous encounter when Tarik set her back on her own feet.

“There you are. Back home, save and sound.” The engineer quipped, his teasing drawing a soft smile to Sina’s face.

“Tarik? Would you mind coming in? I’ve got something to tell you.” Sina asked carefully.

[email protected] quirked a brow before he replied. “Of course, Sina.”

The couple entered the quarters together and stopped in the spacious living room, facing each other in front of one of the large panorama windows.

“So, what did you want to talk about?”

Sina reached for her companion’s hands, squeezing them gently as she spoke.

“I… I’ve been thinking a lot about us. About our relationship, where we came from and where we can take it. The past five and a half months have been amazing. I’ve come to know and love you in a way I would never have expected, and the second linking last month gave me even more confidence to stay with you than I ever had before.”

She took a deep breath, holding Tarik’s hands firmly now as if to steady herself for her next words.

“I guess what I want to say is… I’ve made my choice. I want to join you, Tarik. I want to be with you, and I want you to be with me.”

The engineer’s eyes lightened up as he heard her words. “Are you really sure about this? You know I would never pressure you into the decision, since there is no going back from it.”

“I know. And yes, I am sure.”

Tarik smiled warmly at Sina. “You don’t know how happy you make me. I promise I’ll alwa-”

Before he could finish his promise, the Romulan let go of his hands and flung her arms around his shoulders, pressing herself against him and crushing his lips with a passionate, hungry kiss. He quickly returned the kiss, feeling his companion’s body melting against his own, and welcomed her in a close embrace. After a long moment Sina reluctantly broke the kiss, breathing heavily, and gazed up into Tarik’s eyes.

“You talk too much.” With a mischievous smirk on her lips she slowly tugged him towards the bathroom and whispered. “Mind joining me for a shower?”

With a flushed smile on his lips, [email protected] nodded, but then hesitated. “I… I should change my arm. This one is too-”

“Tarik…” Sina interrupted him, gently stroking his cheeks with her hands. “I don’t care about your arm. I care about you. I want and accept you the way you are, just as I can only hope you can accept me the way I am. You don’t have to change your extension for me. It’s fine, really.”

The engineer gazed into his companion’s eyes for a long moment before his lips curled into a happy smile, and together they made their way towards the shower, shedding their sweaty and grimy clothes on the way.

An hour later, Sina snuggled up closely to Tarik, resting her head on his naked chest. She could hear and feel his even heartbeat, the gentle thumping of the muscle just a few centimeters away from her ear. She let out a soft and exhausted sigh. “Will it hurt?”

“No.” Her lover replied, embracing her just a little bit tighter. His fingers gently traced the curve of her hip as he lazily explored her tender skin. Marveling at the sensation of their bodies pressed against each other so intimately, he breathed her scent and whispered. “You’ll simply fall asleep, and when you wake up again you will be one of us.”

“Then you’ll never get rid of me again.” She smiled and let out a happy murmur, before sleep overtook her. “I love you, baby…”

“And I love you, my dear.”

Sina suddenly found herself standing on a dark, infinite plane. High above her hang an impossible intricate galaxy of trillions of stars. A long white flowing dress covered her body, shimmering under an eternal blue and green twilight. She recognized the dress and the vista. She was inside the hive-mind again. As she wondered why she was here, she felt a presence behind her. She knew it was her mate before she turned to face him.

[Welcome back, Sina.]

She blinked, confused. [Tarik? Why am I here again? I thought I would sleep through the change?]

He stepped closer, his youthful avatar’s simple gray robe gently swaying with his steps, close enough to reach for and hold her hands. [And you will. There’s only one thing you must do.]

[Which is?]

Gently [email protected] turned her shoulders, pointing her at a smooth black pedestal that hadn’t been there a moment ago. On its top, Sina saw an… egg. It was a large ovoid, about half a meter tall. It shimmered in a fascinating blue and green hue, reflecting the countless tiny lights far above.

[Is that… an egg? What am I supposed to do with it?] She inquired, quirking her brows. Then she added with a teasing giggle. [Want me to cook you an omelet?]

Tarik chuckled softly. [No. It is the trigger of your transformation. You must activate it to start the process in its whole.]

[And how do I do that?]

[You’ll know when you touch it.]

The Romulan mustered the engineer at her side curiously, then turned and slowly walked towards the pedestal. The closer she got to the egg, the more details she could make out. Quickly she could tell the individual tiny scintillating scales apart that made up the shell, and once she was within arm’s reach, she could see a faint trace of movement traveling slowly over the scaly surface.

Glancing back at her partner, the Commander took a deep breath. With shaking hands, she slowly, almost reluctantly reached for the egg. Half a meter, ten centimeters, five centimeters… she hesitated. Sina swallowed and pressed her lips together, her eyes focused on the shell just ahead. She wanted this. This was her choice. Her life. Her love. She took another deep breath to calm her nerves and leaned forward, finally touching the dragon egg.

The world around her exploded into a billion shards of blinding light and a moment later Sina found herself inside a round chamber, floated weightlessly. She felt her body change rapidly. Her fingertips grew into vicious claws. Her skin hardened and turned into armored scales shimmering in dark, almost black, hues of blue. Her eyes turned to orbs of running quicksilver. Her hair twisted and knotted itself into fierce horns. From her back grew a pair of feathered wings, with beautiful long green and blue feathers that were as sturdy as duranium and as sharp as a razor’s edge.

While Sina’s body grew more and more into the proportions of a dragon, the chamber seemed to shrink with every passing moment. The walls came closer and closer, and she felt as if she was about to be crushed. Her body touched the walls and suddenly she realized that she was inside the egg. With a scream she dug her claws into the inner shell, tearing at the delicate scales until she broke through.

The shell exploded outward, releasing the newborn Twilight Dragon. Stretching her wings wide open, Sina took to the air with powerful strokes, racing through the void between the ground below and the stars above. She didn’t think about how she knew how to move her wings, instead she completely trusted her instincts to guide her.

[To the stars, Sina.]

She glanced at her lover, who waved at her from below, and let out a thundering roar. With mighty strokes she rose higher and higher, and moments later she dove into the sea of stars ahead. The tiny specks of light followed her, gathering around her. More and more of them surrounded her, and Sina could hear the whispering of the hive-mind. Trillions of voice gently welcoming her in their warm embrace. And finally, she became one with the swarm of light, her mind opening and embracing the Synergy in return.

The Romulan felt an all-encompassing presence surround her. She looked up, and through the haze of light saw three bright blue stars descend slowly upon her. The Matriarch’s avatar manifested, and the majestic beast’s wings enclosed the Twilight Dragon completely in a gentle embrace. The Star Dragon smiled at Sina and its melodic voice echoed across the void around them.

[Welcome home, [email protected]]

The Romulan woke with a gasp, her heart racing a mile a minute. She sat up, blinking her eyes open as she looked around. Something felt off, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. She knew it was early morning, but why was the room so bright? Tarik was sound asleep next to her, his chest peacefully rising and falling. She looked closer at her lover, and suddenly noticed that the shadows on his body were all wrong. It was then that it dawned to her. It wasn’t the room that was bright, it were her eyes that could see in the dark.

She sneaked out of bed and into the bathroom to find the full-sized mirror, set into one of the wall tiles. When she saw herself, she stopped for a moment as suddenly a wave of new sensations came flooding into her mind. Her arms and legs were covered with thin platinum-colored fibers forming a delicate exoskeletal mesh. And her heterochromatic irises were encircled by a frame seemingly made from shifting quicksilver, giving off a pale silvery glow.

Sina slowly smiled at her reflection.

“I am Synergy.”