"Sailor Trek: The Next Generation" By Bill Harris

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Standard Questionably Useful Disclaimer:
    Sailor Moon and all related characters were created by Naoko Takeuchi; and are copyright to Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha, Toei, DIC and whoever else.
    Star Trek The Next Generation was created by the late Great Bird of the Galaxy, Gene Roddenberry; and is owned and copyrighted by Paramount Pictures. Based upon Star Trek, also created by Gene Roddenberry.
    This story (such as it is) is MINE!!!
    This fanfic is intended solely for entertainment purposes and no violation of said copyrights is intended or implied. Permission granted to copy this to other web pages as long as this disclaimer is attached, and the text of the story is unmodified.

Prologue:
    The small planet orbited it's sun, the inhabitants blissfully unaware of the menace that threatened their world. This was understandable, as their technology was only just entering the equivalent of Earth in the nineteenth century. So they continued on with their lives, ignorant of the large cube shaped spacecraft approaching their world.
    The ship entered into a high orbit of the world and began its silent probing. It was large enough that the inhabitants could see it silhouetted against the sky. Many of them debated about the nature of the mysterious object and what it portended for their future. As is natural when facing the unknown, debate turned into panic as the residents fled, convinced that this heralded the end of their world.
    Ignorant of the havoc it was causing, the large craft remained up there, silently probing.
    Fortunately for them, their level of technology was too low to be if any real interest to the aliens. It turned and left the system as enigmatically silent as it had entered. Slowly the lives of those below returned to normal as they realized that Armageddon would not come this day.
    Yes, the world was too primitive to be of use. But another reason the ship had left was because it had detected a subspace energy surge several light years away of a type which indicated an unknown, yet advanced, type of spacecraft. 
    Advanced enough for them to use. To assimilate.
    And if they should resist assimilation? Irrelevant. Resistance was futile. They would be assimilated. They would become one with the Borg.
    All would eventually become one with the Borg.

    The spacecraft that drew the interest of the Borg drifted slowly, the facets of its crystalline surfaces blackened and cracked. The lone occupant was in similarly bad shape. He groaned, slowly regaining 
consciousness, then looked dazedly about before asking the obvious questions, "What happened? Where am I?"
    Slowly his memory of recent events returned and he clenched his fists in rage. He had captured the Sailor Scouts. The only one who could still fight him was Sailor Moon, and she was helpless before his power. It would have only been a matter of time before he had defeated her as well. If it hadn't been for that... that... that little, pink haired brat... Somehow she had damaged the main power system, causing a massive power feedback that had damaged virtually every system and ending in that explosion...
    The thought of that sobered him. How was it he was still alive? When the main power blew, the ship should have been utterly destroyed and him along with it.
    No matter. He could answer that question later. First he had to see to repairing his ship, then he could begin plotting his revenge. Against those that had abandoned him. Those that had betrayed him. Against those Sailor Scouts.
    Especially Sailor Moon. And that caped fool as well.
    His brooding was interrupted by the appearance of a figure nearby. It looked very odd to him, seeming to be a strange mixture of man and machine with a whitish pallor to it's skin. It moved about the area, scanning constantly. Yet it seemed to have no interest in him, only in the ship. As it conducted it's examination it moved by him several times and never gave him a second glance, ignoring him utterly. He finally could not tolerate this any longer. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.
    The creature ignored him still, and continued to examine the interior of his ship.
    "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Rubeus!" He hurled a blast of energy at the intruder, creating a large hole in it's chest and it fell limply to the ground.
    Before he could gloat too long, another intruder appeared and picked up where it's predecessor had left off. Rubeus was about to deal with this one in a similar manner when he felt himself being forcibly teleported off his ship. He looked around and discovered that he was in a large open area. From where he was, he could see dozens, hundreds, perhaps thousands of the man-machine aliens.
From nowhere and everywhere a voice resounded, "We have evaluated your ship as technologically inferior and too damaged to resist us. You will remain where you are for assimilation. If you resist, you will be destroyed."
    Rubeus shuddered inwardly. It sounded as if thousands of cold and mechanical voices were speaking as one. Still, he refused to be intimidated. "Assimilation?!? You creatures have a lot to learn about me. I'm more powerful than I appear."
    "Power is irrelevant. You will comply."
    "Who are you?" 
    "We are the Borg. Your existence as you have known it has ended. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile."
    Rubeus grinned in spite of himself. "We'll see about that!"


    Space -- The final frontier.
    These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise.
    It's continuing mission - 
        to explore strange new worlds...
        to seek out new life and new civilizations...
        to boldly go where no one has gone before.


Sailor Trek: The Next Generation "A Borg to Remember..."
By Bill Harris
Chapter 1 - The Sailor Scouts Drop In
PG13

    Serena sat fuming at her desk. Sometimes life was just so totally unfair! She hadn't even been two minutes late that morning, and Ms. H still slapped her with detention. Her boyfriend probably canceled out on a date.
    She glanced eagerly at the clock. Not much longer, and she'd be able to go. If she hurried, she might not be too late for her date with Darien. Oh, wait a minute... She jut remembered that the Scouts were supposed to be meeting at the temple first. She grimaced at the thought of enduring another one of Raye's tirades about punctuality.
    Finally, after waiting for the time to pass all to slowly, Ms Haruna finally gave her permission to leave. "Thanks, Ms. H. I won't be late again, I promise! Bye!" she said as she sped out the door. Suddenly there was a flash of light accompanied by a rippling sound effect and Serena vanished without a trace.
    Haruna got up and looked around then checked the hallway, but Serena wasn't anywhere to be seen. It finally happened, she thought. That girl is starting to give me hallucinations.

    "Huh?" Serena looked wildly around the room. This wasn't the school hallway. As a matter of fact, she had never seen this place before in her life. Most of the furnishings seemed like the type you'd see in a typical hotel suite, but some of the artifacts in here seemed so... alien.
    The statue on the table, for instance. It consisted of two figures wrestling, but the faces didn't seem human.
    And then there were the weapons hanging on the wall. At least she assumed they were weapons. The blades were razor sharp, but curved in a way she had never seen with any sword or other edged weapon she had ever seen. She'd never seen any of the Negacreeps use anything this weird. The same went for those Immortals.
    She prowled around silently for a while, then belatedly decided that she should check if anyone was present. "Hello?" She heard a whooshing sound from behind her, then felt the impact as she collided with someone. "Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't..." Her voice trailed off as she got a good look at the man she had bumped into. He was tall, well over six feet, with very dark skin. He was dressed in a gold and black uniform of some type that seemed oddly familiar to her, with a large heavy looking metallic sash. But that wasn't what gave her pause.
    It was those ridges on his forehead. Just like the statue.
    He scowled at her, apparently just controlling his temper. "What are you doing here?" he demanded in a loud, deep voice. "How did you get into my quarters?"
    "Um... I... um," she stammered, feeling panic slowly rise up in her. "Who are you?" she finally managed to ask.
    "I am Lieutenant Worf. Now, answer my question. What are you doing in my quarters?"
    "I DON'T KNOW!!" Serena exclaimed at the top of her lungs. "WHAT IS THIS PLACE?!? I WANT TO GO HOME!! WAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
    The Klingon officer winced visibly as she let out an ear-splitting wail. Then clamped his hands over his ears.

    Amy looked around the room. There was something oddly familiar about this place, even if she had no idea on how she gotten here. Still, the first step in determining that was establishing her current location. Now if only she could remember why this room was giving her such a sense of deja vu...
    Wait a minute. She had been in this room before... or at least one very much like it. This was similar to the sickbay of the Enterprise, only it seemed much more advanced. She found what looked like a computer terminal in nearby room and sat down in front of it. She pressed what she hoped was the power switch and was rewarded when the screen lit up, but the words on the screen caught her eye before she did anything.
    "USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-D," she read. She sat silently for a moment, digesting this latest bit of information. "This must be a Starfleet vessel, only from a later time than Captain Kirk's Enterprise. But how much later? Computer, what is the current stardate?" she asked.
    "Stardate 45237.4," it responded.
    She idly noted the much smoother voice of the computer, as she did some fast calculations in her head. "Over one hundred years later," she said. That would account for the technological advances she's seen. "But how did I get here?"
    "I could ask you the same question," said a voice from the door. Startled, Amy looked up and saw an attractive red haired woman standing there. She was ,apparently in her late thirties or early forties and dressed in a blue/black uniform similar to what Spock and McCoy had worn, but she also had a blue smock on as well. "I'm not used to having strangers wandering around my sickbay. Who are you?"
    "I'm sorry if I'm intruding, " Amy said in an apologetic manner, "but I really have no idea on how I got here. One moment I was in Tokyo, the next I was here. My name is Amy Mizuno."
    "I'm Beverly Crusher, Chief Medical Officer," she responded. "Let's see if we can figure how you arrived."

    Raye fumed silently as she tended the sacred fire. It was bad enough that Serena was late, but by now that was to be expected of her. But where were the others? It wasn't like them to not be on time, or at least let her know they would be late. Amy especially.
    She closed her eyes to meditate and calm herself. In an instant, the comforting heat of the fire vanished. She opened her eyes and started. She obviously wasn't at the temple. All around her were a wide variety of plants with a dirt pathway weaving amongst them. While she was no botanist, some of the plants had a distinctly alien feel to them. 
    She got up and began to wander around, trying to find a clue to her location. She guessed immediately that she was in some sort of building. After a moment of wandering, she came upon a bank of windows. Hoping for some answers, she approached them and looked outside. Instead, she simply found more questions. Outside she saw only blackness, with thousands of stars visible. And some of them were only visible as streaks of light, as if she was moving at an impossibly fast speed. "I'm on a spaceship," she breathed.
    "Excuse me." Raye turned towards the voice. It was an attractive woman, about thirty, with long black hair about the same length as Lita's. But her eyes...
    Her eyes have no discernable irises, only deep blackness.
    "My name is Deanna Troi, ship's counselor. I'm sensing a great deal of confusion in you. Is something wrong?"
    "You could say that," Raye replied.

    Guinan looked uneasily around Ten Forward. She sensed that something was amiss, something involving him. The distinctive flash she knew too well drew her attention to one of the large windows, 
announcing the appearance of a tall, brown haired girl. Guinan guessed that she was roughly the same age as Wesley Crusher. Of course, appearances could be deceiving where they where 
involved. She watched the girl intently for a moment. No, she was definitely human... but no ordinary human. There was something more about her.
    Guinan shook her head. Just what was that mischievous entity playing at this time?

    Lita looked around in bewilderment. The last thing she remembered, she was just getting to the temple. The next thing she knew she was here... wherever 'here' was. By the looks of it, this was some sort of lounge. Several of the people around her were giving her odd looks. Evidently, her being here was as much a mystery to them as it was to her.
    Now that she thought about it, there was something oddly familiar with their clothing... Obviously uniforms of some type, but where had she seen them before?
    Hoping to find some clue to her current location she peered out the large window nearby and was astonished by the view. Stars, thousands of them all around. Several were streaking by her at a rapid 
pace.
    "You're not from around here, are you?"
    Startled, Lita whirled, ready for a fight. The woman who had come up to her silently was evidently no threat though. She relaxed a bit. "No. No, I'm not. I don't even know where 'here' is."
    She smiled and nodded. "I thought as much. People aren't usually in the habit of appearing out of thin air, even on this ship."
    Lita looked back outside. "This is some sort of spaceship, isn't it?"
    "A starship, but you've got the basic idea. What's your name?"
    "Lita. Lita Kino."
    "Hello, Lita. My name's Guinan. I tend the bar, and generally look after things around here. Can I get you something?"
    Lita gave a short laugh. "How about a trip home?"

    Geordi looked up from the diagnostic panel. He could have sworn he had heard something. He walked into the warp core chamber and couldn't believe what his visor was showing him. Standing there was a young, blonde haired girl, about fifteen or so. She was examining some of the engineering readout panels. "Hey, don't touch that!"
    The girl jumped at the sound of his voice, and her hand brushed against the panel. Geordi rushed over there at the sound of the alarm, and quickly reset the system. He glared at her through his visor. "Who are you?" he asked. "And what are you doing here?"
    "My name's Mina Aino." She looked around engineering. "Um...could you tell me where 'here' is? And who you are?"
    "I'm Chief Engineer Geordi LaForge. And you're in main engineering." The puzzled look on her face only got deeper. He tried something more general. "The starship Enterprise."
    "Enterprise!" She looked around the area again. "But all this looks way more advanced than the last time I was here." To emphasize her point, she pointed at the panels.
    She was a little overzealous in making the point, and she made contact with the controls again. As before, the warning alarm chimed and this time the computer added it's two cents worth. "Warning: Antimatter containment systems failing. A warp core breach will occur in 30 seconds."
    Geordi shoved her roughly aside and began frantically working the controls. Fortunately, they weren't too badly misaligned, and he was able to get things quickly under control.
    He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. What had just happened was impossible, he told himself. There were supposed to be safety interlocks to prevent accidental touches on the control pads from causing system failures like these.
    Nevertheless, he had just witnessed it happen. Twice. "Do me a favor, OK?" he said to her. "Just don't touch anything else in here."
    Mina glared at him, silently fuming.

    Artemis prowled around the room for what seemed like the thousandth time. Other than the one door, there didn't seem to be anyway out. And that way was apparently locked. It didn't help his temperament any that the other occupant here, a female cat, was constantly meowing and rubbing up against him.
    Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. "Oh, great," he muttered. "Just my luck." The other cat was in heat.
    Luna was going to kill him.

    Data entered his quarters, and was taken aback by what he saw. He had taken several precautions against Spot escaping from his quarters, with some degree of success. Yet despite his efforts another cat (apparently a male) had somehow entered his quarters. Spot was avidly attempting to mate with the other feline.
    Given her current condition, this was not surprising.
    What was surprising was that the white male was just as avidly trying to avoid Spot. In fact, it executed a rather astounding leap and perched itself on his shoulders.
    "You should not be in this room when Spot is in her current condition." The white feline cast a flustered eye at him, as if to say 'You're telling me?'
    Data eyed the intruder critically. "There are currently twenty three other felines on board, eleven of them male. I do not recall one matching your description being on board the Enterprise."
    When he said "Enterprise", the cat's eyes bulged out, as if in astonishment. The android frowned. This was a definite indication of a level of intelligence beyond ordinary felines. Of course, it was possible this was a trained response to an audio stimuli, but he deemed that unlikely. Data opened his tricorder and examined the strange cat carefully. It seemed to be in all respects an ordinary feline, except for that strange marking on it's forehead. A crescent moon symbol, with the points facing up. And the expression on it's face almost suggested... intelligence. Could it also denote sentience?
    The android pondered this. He had seen that symbol before, in connotation with sentient felines. He accessed his internal memory and recalled the reference picoseconds later - the ship's logs of the USS Enterprise.
    Could it be that this was one of the two felines encountered? He sat down at his computer terminal. "Computer, access log entries of the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701. Stardate 5046.7. Begin playback, 
maximum speed."
    He stopped the playback after a few minutes, then accessed some of the more appropriate entries. A few manipulations of the controls brought up the picture he required. He examined it carefully, comparing it with the white cat he was holding. Less than 0.005 percent variation.
    "Hello, Artemis. I am Lieutenant Commander Data."

    It's turning out to be one of those shifts, thought Riker. Several reports had been coming in from various parts of the ship of people appearing out of thin air. So far all of them had been female teenagers. At least, he thought Worf had said his encounter was with a girl. He really couldn't be sure over all that noise.
    Nevertheless, it was time to bring the Captain up to date. Thus far the visitors didn't seem to present any threat, but that could change quickly. He was on his way over to the ready room door when he heard a sound he had grown to hate over the years. The sound of a Q teleportation.
    A young man in his early twenties now stood in between the con and ops stations. He didn't look particularly threatening, but Riker had learned by now to not judge by appearances. The cost for that 
particular lesson had very nearly been Geordi's life. "Security to the bridge, intruder alert." He took a couple of steps towards the stranger and demanded, "Who the hell are you?"
    Before he could answer, the turbolift snapped open and two security guards came out, phasers drawn. He put his hands up in a defensive gesture, "Whoa, take it easy. I'm don't know how I got here, but I'm not going to hurt anybody."
    "Glad to hear it," Riker answered. "But I hope you don't mind if we take precautions until we can verify that. Now, who are you?"
    "Darien," he answered. "Darien Chiba. This may sound like a stupid question, but... where am I?"

    Picard stared at his desk. The black cat that had just appeared there stared back at him. "Now, how the devil did you get here?"
    Believe me, I wish I knew, Luna thought. She glanced about the room. It was comfortably furnished, but had an office feel to it. Definitely an area were work was done.
    A chime sounded from the door. "Come," said Picard.
    Riker entered the room, but stopped short when he saw the cat. "A cat, sir? I don't think the fish are going to like that."
    Luna shot him a dirty look. Oh, please!
    "It wasn't my choice, Number One," Picard replied. "She just appeared here out of nowhere."
    Riker looked uneasy. "That's becoming a common occurrence. We just had this young man appear on the bridge." He indicated Darien still standing near the ops station. Two security personnel stood 
nearby, keeping a wary eye on him. Luna jumped off the desk and ran over to Darien, who picked her up.
    "Luna! What are you doing here? How did you get here?"
    "I imagine the same way you did," she whispered, keeping her voice too low for the guards to hear. "Though I haven't a clue where 'here' is."
    Picard walked over to Darien. "She seems to know you, Mr...?"
    "Chiba. Darien Chiba. This is Luna."
    "Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Is she your cat?"
    "No," Darien answered. "She belongs to my girlfriend, Serena."
    Picard decided to put this to one side for the moment and turned to his first officer. "You implied that there have been other appearances, Number One."
    Riker nodded. "Yes sir. We've gotten several reports of others appearing all over the ship. Sickbay, the arboretum, Ten Forward, engineering. And... I think Worf reported one in his quarters."
    "Think?"
    Riker shrugged. "There was something making an incredibly loud noise at the other end. I'm having them taken to Ten Forward for now."
    "Sounds like Serena," Darien said softly.
    Luna sighed in acknowledgement as she looked around the bridge. There was a dedication plaque to the right of the viewscreen that caught her eye. She peered at it and examined it closely. No, it couldn't be...
    Picard asked, "Do we have any idea on how these people have gotten on board the ..."
    "ENTERPRISE!?" shouted Luna.
    "Luna!" said a startled Darien. Picard and Riker also stared in amazement at the cat, though for altogether different reasons.
    "Oh, not again," Luna said in a much softer tone.

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Sailor Trek: The Next Generation
By Bill Harris
Chapter 2 - A Tale of Two Meetings
PG13

    Riker found his voice first. "Again? I don't recall ever seeing a talking cat before."
    "Not this ship," replied the cat. "Another one of the same name."
    This rang a bell in Picard's mind, but he couldn't quite bring it to the forefront. "Who was commanding officer?" he asked.
    "The captain's name was James Kirk."
    The two officers exchanged glances. "James Kirk," said Picard. He nodded now, the memory surfacing.
    "I remember now," Riker remarked. "From the logs of the original Enterprise. You're that Luna, aren't you?" After Luna nodded in reply, "But that was over a hundred years ago. How could they be here, now?"
    "A good question, Number One."
    Their musings were interrupted by the intercom. "Data to Captain Picard."
    "Picard here. Go ahead Mr. Data."
    "Sir, have there been any reports of people mysteriously appearing on the ship? Specifically teenage females?"
    Picard looked puzzled. "Yes, Mr. Data. How did you know about this?"
    "I have had a discussion with one of our... guests. I believe they are of no threat to the ship."
    "Prepare to brief the senior staff. Picard out." He turned to his first officer. "Number one, assemble the senior staff in ten minutes."
    "Yes sir." Riker gave Luna another look, then moved to comply.
    Picard gestured to the guards. "Escort Mr. Chiba and Luna to Ten Forward."

    "Darien!" Luna barely had time to escape from Darien's arms before the blonde tornado struck. "OneminuteIwasatschoolthenextIwashereandlookingatthiguywithareallyuglyforeheadand--"
    "Whoa, Serena, slow down." He tried to calm her down before she could draw her next breath. "You don't have to give me the whole thing in one blast."
    "Yeah, you might want to at least give him a chance to breathe," Raye remarked.
    Amy interrupted before another Serena could retort. "I've been accessing the ship's computer, as well as talking with Doctor Crusher. I believe I know where we are."
    "Yes, Darien and I got some indication from the captain, also," Luna said. She paused and sniffed at Artemis, then scowled at the white cat. "Is that another cat I smell? A FEMALE cat?!?"
    "Um..." Artemis stammered.
    "Artemis, you rogue!" Mina scolded him.
    "Yeah, shame on you," Serena joined in. "Two-timing on Luna like that!"
    Artemis began sputtering denials, but Luna never gave him the chance to finish. "SERENA!"
    "Ah, Luna, you know it's just a matter of time."

    The Klingon security chief was in a foul mood. Worse than usual, that is.
    On the other hand, Riker seemed to be enjoying himself. "You're kidding." His smile, indicating he found the situation somewhat amusing, only served to make Worf's mood all the more sour. "She 
really said you had an ugly forehead?"
    "From what I could understand." Worf paused, gritting his teeth. "Her wailing was so loud, I'm surprised the entire ship didn't hear her."
    Geordi chuckled. "Don't feel bad, Worf. At least Serena didn't almost blow up the ship." He held up a hand at looks of alarm around the table. "Don't worry, I was able to get things under control quick 
enough... or we wouldn't be here talking about it. But somehow Mina caused the antimatter containment field to begin to deteriorate... and all she did was accidentally hit a couple of controls!"
    Riker looked skeptical, as did the others. "Geordi, that's impossible."
    "I know, Commander. And if I hadn't seen it happen, I'd have just as many doubts as you do. But that's what happened. All I can say is that we shouldn't let Mina near any vital systems. If she could do this to the warp engines, I'd hate to see what would happen if she got near the controls to, say, life support. And I doubt any of them have had any experience with extraterrestrials either."
    "That is not entirely correct, Geordi." 
    "How so, Data?"
    "I have had an extensive conversation with Artemis-"
    "Artemis?" inquired Dr. Crusher. "The white cat?"
    "Once you've seen one talking cat, Doctor, it's not much of a stretch to accept that another one can," said Picard. "Continue, Mr. Data."
    "Yes, sir. The young women in question are a group known in their reality as the Sailor Scouts. They possess extraordinary powers, and are engaged in defending their Earth from extradimensional threat from what they call the Negaverse."
    "I remember," said Riker. "If I recall, they were battling someone named Queen... Boral, was it?"
    "Queen Beryl, sir," Data corrected. "According to Artemis, that situation has been resolved."

    "You mean they're from the same Federation as Kirk, Spock and McCoy?" Serena asked.
    Amy nodded. "Yes. That's correct."
    "I'll have to take your word for it," Darien said. "My memory of that time is a little vague."
    "Well, you were a little bit brainwashed," Lita teased him.
    Mina frowned. "But it's only been little more than a year for us. How can it be more than a hundred years for them?"
    "More importantly," added Raye, "how did we get here?"

    "I am unable to account for the temporal discontinuity, Commander."
    "Assuming they are the same ones encountered by Kirk's Enterprise, then the operative question is: how did they get here?" asked Geordi. "We're nowhere near the quantum flux they encountered."

    "I don't know," said Amy.
    "But Amy, you're supposed to know everything!" Serena whined.
    "Ease off, Serena," said Raye. "Not even a genius can know everything!"
    "Yeah, all right. Sorry Amy."
    "Don't worry about it. Somehow I think the people here are as mystified about it as we are."
    "I'm not sure if this means anything," said Lita, "but I was talking with Guinan before you guys got here, and she seemed to think someone named 'Q' was responsible."
    "Q?" asked Darien. "What's a Q?"
    "A letter of the alphabet?"

    "Q." Worf spat the name out as if the mere mention of it were poisonous. It certainly did nothing to improve his mood.
    "I had a feeling he was involved. I was hoping I was wrong," said Riker. He looked almost as disgusted by the possible involvement of that mischievous entity as Worf. "Life in the continuum must be boring for him again."
    Troi shook her head. "It doesn't make any sense. When Q creates situation, he usually wastes no time in taking credit for it."
    "That's true, Counselor," answered Picard. "However, Guinan was quite sure she sensed his presence just before Lita appeared in Ten Forward."
    "Which leads us back to the same question," said Crusher. "Why are they here? Q doesn't do anything without some sort of reason."
    Riker turned to the security chief. "Mr. Worf, have the sensors detected anything unusual?"

    Amy looked up from her computer. "I've interfaced my computer with the ship's computer system. It's conducting a sensor sweep of the area now."
    "That didn't take long to set up," said Mina.
    "The technology may be more advanced, but the protocols are essentially the same as when Mr. Spock helped me interface with the computer on the other Enterprise." The computer beeped at her and she paused to examine the results. "There are indications of Negaverse energy in the background dechyon field."
    "In plain English, Amy?" Serena asked.
    "I think she means that there are indications that something from the Negaverse entered this universe," Darien answered. Amy nodded in confirmation.
    "Maybe this Q person brought us here to help the Enterprise face it," suggested Mina.
    "I doubt it," said Guinan. She and another hostess began setting down drinks and other items in front of each of them. "Past experience has taught me that he doesn't exactly have a helpful nature."
    Serena's eyes widened as Guinan set a large chocolate sundae in front of her and she immediately dug in. As always ever practical, Amy spoke up, "I'm not sure how we're going to pay for all this."
    Guinan smiled slightly. If she had any doubt about them not being natives of the twenty fourth century, this erased them. "Don't worry about it. We don't use money."
    Darien looked perplexed. "Huh? Not for anything?"
    "Some races, such as the Ferengi, still do. But as a whole, the Federation doesn't."
    Serena was ecstatic. "Free food? I love this place!" She dug into the sundae with renewed vigor.
    Raye stiffened. "I sense something." She got up and walked over to the window. She closed her eyes in deep concentration. All thoughts of free cuisine were suddenly lost for Serena. 
    "Raye?" she asked in a concerned voice. "You OK? What's wrong?"
    "I'm sensing some great evil nearby." She paused for a moment, trying to get a further sense of the threat. Eventually, she opened her eyes and shook her head. "I can't say what it is for sure, but something about it seems familiar."
    Serena tried to show more confidence than she felt. "Don't worry, Raye. We've handled everything the Negaverse has thrown our way so far. We'll handle this too." 
    "I hope you're right."

    Ro's voice came over the comm system, interrupting the meeting. "Bridge to Captain Picard."
    "Picard here."
    "Sir, sensors have detected a vessel moving towards us at high warp, apparently on an intercept course."
    At a nod from Picard, the senior officers got up and headed for the door to the bridge. "We're on our way, Ensign."

    "Mr. Worf, see if can you identify the vessel."
    "Aye, sir," the Klingon officer replied as he resumed his station at tactical. He focused the sensors at the approaching ship, comparing it's configuration to known ship types. "No match found in Federation records. But it is definitely on an intercept course, moving at warp nine point three."
    Riker frowned. "Whoever they are, they're in one hell of a hurry to get here."
    Data's hands moved quickly over the ops station controls. "Captain, based on an analysis of the vessel's power curve, I believe that there is a high degree of probability that it is a Borg ship."
    The captain and first officer exchanged an uncertain look. "Data, how can that be? Borg ships have a very distinctive shape. Worf's scan should have ID'd it right away."
    "I am aware of that, Commander. Nevertheless, that is what my analysis indicates."
    "This may be a new type of Borg ship, Number One."
    Riker looked somewhat apprehensive at this prospect. "I hope not. Their other type is hard enough to deal with." Picard didn't reply, but nodded in grim agreement.
    "Now entering visual range," Worf announced.
    "On screen," ordered the captain. The viewer flickered and the distant form of another ship appeared. "Magnify." Again the screen flickered and the image of the approaching ship filled the screen.
    Riker vocalized the puzzlement they all felt. "What the hell?" 
    All along the ship there were projections of some crystalline substance. But the core of the ship, in the form of a cube, was very distinctive. All present recognized it immediately.
    "The Borg." Picard stared at the screen, a sense of dread filling him. It had been over a year since they had faced one of these ships, but he still had the occasional nightmare about it. Sensing his apprehension, Troi glanced over at him, concern evident on her face. "Highly modified, but it's definitely a Borg ship," he continued, his voice barely above a whisper. He shook himself, trying to shed his doubts and fears over the coming confrontation. No matter what his personal feelings, he was the captain and his crew was counting on him to see them safely through this situation. When next he spoke, his voice had a more assertive tone to it. "Number One, take us to battle stations."
    "Red alert!" Riker cried out. "All hands to battle stations!"

    The Scouts started as the alert klaxons started blaring in Ten Forward. Around them, the crewmembers present got up and headed for the exit, racing for their respective duty stations. "I remember that sound," Mina said. "They've sounded a red alert."
    "I wonder why?" Lita wondered.
    Amy tapped the tiny keyboard of her computer. "I've accessed the main viewscreen," she said. "We should be able to see what's on it." 
    They all crowded around her, including Guinan. She showed no outward reaction to the display, but stared intently at the image. Inwardly she felt a surge of fear... and hate.
    Raye felt Guinan's reaction more than she noticed it. "What's wrong?" she asked.
    "It's a Borg vessel. But it's been modified in some way. It's not like any Borg ship I've ever seen." She fell silent, preferring not to share her previous experience with the Borg with them. They didn't need to know how the Borg had invaded and destroyed her homeworld.
    "You know," said Artemis, "those projections seem familiar."
    Luna nodded. "You're right. They almost look like part of Rubeus' spaceship."
    "Impossible," Lita said sharply, "that blew up!"

    "Captain, we are being hailed," said Worf.
    "On screen." Picard stared patiently at the screen as Worf transferred the signal there.

    The Scout's collective jaws dropped when they saw the image. "Rubeus!"

    Picard frowned at the image on the viewscreen. He had been expecting the typical wide angle view of the interior of a Borg ship or perhaps another individual that the collective had assimilated to use as their spokesman.
    But such was not the case. The individual displayed seemed a fairly typical red haired humanoid male, but with a couple of minor exceptions. The first was that he had a Borg cybernetic device implanted on the left side of his head. This wasn't unusual, since he was on a Borg ship. What made it unusual was that it was the only implant visible and his skin wasn't the pasty white color so typical of the Borg.
    But this wasn't what sent a cold shiver down Picard's spine. 
    That was caused by the second distinguishing mark he had: a crescent moon symbol imprinted on his forehead. It was similar to those that Luna and Artemis had; but whereas theirs were gold colored with the points upwards, his was black as night and was pointing down. Combined with the look of individuality in his eyes, it gave Picard a very bad feeling indeed.
    He cleared his throat. "I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard of -"
    "-the Federation starship Enterprise. Yes, I'm aware of that," he said. His smile only increased Picard's sense of apprehension. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Rubeus... of Borg."

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Sailor Trek: The Next Generation
By Bill Harris
Chapter 3 - Enter... the Borg
PG13

    Those in Ten Forward watched the initial wordplay between Picard and Rubeus in silence. Finally Guinan shook her head, "Something's very wrong here."
    "I'll say there's something wrong!" exclaimed Raye. "This creep should be dead!"
    "Maybe, but that's not what I'm talking about. He's not behaving like a typical Borg. Almost as if he's an individual."
    "That's unusual?" Mina inquired.
    "There are no Borg individuals. Only the collective," Guinan insisted. "They're mindless drones, whose only purpose is absorbing other races and cultures." She paused, "At least that used to be true. I didn't think any being short of a Q could handle the Borg alone, but if he's capable of taking over a Borg ship..." Her voice trailed off.
    "In that case you should all transform and get to the bridge!" Luna said urgently. "They're going to need your help against Rubeus!"
    "Right, Luna!" Serena said emphatically. "MOON CRYSTAL POWER!"
    "MERCURY STAR POWER!"
    "MARS STAR POWER!"
    "JUPITER STAR POWER!"
    "VENUS STAR POWER!"
    Guinan watched with a sense of awe as the girls and Darien all went through their transformations. With a cry of "Let's go!" from Sailor Moon, they and the cats raced out of Ten Forward.
    Guinan smiled ironically as the doors closed behind them. It was good to know that the universe could still the occasional curve her way, even after more than five hundred years. "Good luck." She looked out the large windows mounted in the starship's leading edge, where the altered form of the Borg ship was now plainly visible and her expression sobered. "You're going to need it."

    Rubeus was evidently amused by Picard's pronouncement. "I really don't care if my ship is violating your precious territory, Captain. The Borg have never bothered to respect political boundaries, and I have no use for them either."
    "I? My?" Troi whispered to herself. Leaning over to Picard, "Captain, he's not only behaving as an individual, he feels like one too. Much more than yo-- Locutus did."
    Picard nodded, ignoring the counselor's slight misstep. This was in accord with what he had noticed from Rubeus, based on his firsthand knowledge of the Borg. "What is your purpose in Federation space?"
    "Simple question, meriting a simple answer. I have taken over this ship, and I intend to use it to build up a large force capable of destroying my enemies. Then I will return to my homeworld and exact my revenge on those who have wronged me. Using my new... 'friends', you and your crew will be the first to be assimilated into my army." He paused, then smiled evilly. "Time to join my collective... Locutus."
    "Like hell it is," rasped Picard. At that moment, the deck lurched beneath their feet.
    "The Borg have locked onto us with their tractor beam," reported Worf. "Shields are being drained. Ninety percent... now eighty..."
    "Modulating shield nutation," Geordi said from the engineering station.
    "Close channel, Mr. Worf, and return fire with all weapons," Picard ordered.
    The Klingon didn't reply, but moved rapidly to comply. Rubeus' image disappeared from the screen, replaced with a view of his ship. Several phaser beams and photon torpedoes could be seen impacting on it. 
    "No damage. Shields now at sixty percent... fifty..."
    "Fire at will."
    LaForge shook his head, "Shield modulation isn't having any effect. They'll only last a few more seconds."
    "Data, get that beam off of us!" Riker ordered. The android's hands moved rapidly over his controls, quickly altering the phaser frequency with each burst fired at the tractor beam emitter. They could see the color of the beam alter, shifting around from yellow to red, blue, green, among others. Seconds later, a bright flash announced his success.
    "Borg tractor beam terminated."
    Unfortunately, his success came a few seconds too late. "Shields have failed," Worf announced just as several Borg materialized on the bridge. The security chief reacted first, readying his phaser and firing at a Borg in one smooth motion. It collapsed immediately amid a shower of sparks, it's implants still twitching. The others fired almost immediately afterwards, and the first wave of the Borg were quickly dispatched. But as soon as the last fell, the second wave arrived. 
    Worf and Data fired simultaneously. The beams hit, but did little more than spark a bit. Worf readjusted his phaser and fired twice more with similar results, before saying the obvious: "They've adapted to the random phasers!"
    Speculation on how that feat had been accomplished had to wait as the Borg drones moved on each crewmember and the scene quickly degenerated into hand to hand combat. Using his rather impressive strength, Data was able to dispatch two rather quickly. He was moving to assist his crewmates when he found himself surrounded by a rather powerful forcefield.
    At the tactical station, Worf drew a traditional Klingon melee weapon, a mekh'leth, from beneath his sash and took a powerful swipe at the nearest of the drones. It collapsed and he moved on to attack 
another. It grasped his arm and he found himself locked in a struggle with it. Each of the others found themselves in similar struggles. 
    What the Borg lacked in agility they more than made for in strength and persistence.
    Data was attempting to disrupt the forcefield with his phaser when he saw two talon-like devices emerge from the back of a Borg's hand and inject themselves into Ensign Harris, who had been stationed at Science One. She gasped, then collapsed and the Borg moved on to find another target. He could see other Borg attempt similar moves on the others, but they managed to avoid them for the moment.
    "Hold it right there!" All eyes moved to the now open doors of the turbolift in the front of the bridge. Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask stood there, with the other Scouts flanking them.

    Rubeus had been watching the battle through the eyes of the drones. His eyes snapped open and his expression shifted from gloating to bewilderment. "It can't be!"

    "I am the champion of love and justice, Sailor Moon! I may not know how we got here, but I've gotten to like this place. Even if that one guy back there has a really ugly forehead!" Despite his struggle Worf glared momentarily at her, while Luna groaned softly. "Anyway, if you half-mechanical creeps work for Rubeus, you must be the bad guys! In the name of the Moon, I'll punish you!"

    Rubeus groaned. "It's her, alright. I'd recognize those insufferable speeches anywhere!" He paused, pondering this development. Maybe it wasn't all bad. In fact... Yes, Sailor Moon's appearance here 
could be a fortuitous event after all. He might not need to spend time developing a base of power.
    He sent a mental signal to the drones on the Enterprise. "There's been a slight change of plans, my friends."

    The Borg grappling with Ro and Troi released them and began moving on the Scouts. For their part, they where rushing to assist the Enterprise crew.
    "VENUS LOVE CHAIN ENCIRCLE!" The golden energy band wrapped itself around the Borg grappling with Geordi, which immediately let go of him and tried to break free. She gave the chain a good yank, throwing the Borg into the one on Worf. It staggered, also releasing it's hold on the Klingon.
    Worf snarled and was about to slash them with his weapon, but Jupiter was faster. "JUPITER THUNDERCLAP ZAP!" The electrical blast slammed into both Borg, and they stopped moving after emitting a shower of sparks. Worf nodded approvingly.
    "Nice shot."
    Mars moved forward to meet the two approaching Borg. She easily evaded their initial attacks, then lashed out with her own power, "MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND!" The bands of fire encircled the Borg, the bright light of the attack hiding them from sight. When it faded, there was little left of the Borg except ashes and melted cybernetic parts.
    "MERCURY ICE STORM BLAST!" A wave of cold energy froze the Borg in its tracks. Beverly gave it a good solid kick she recently learned from Worf's self defense course, and it fell over, shattering upon impact. She said a quick "Thank you" to the blue haired Scout before rushing over to the injured ensign.
    Sailor Moon took aim at the one holding Picard, leveling her scepter at it. "MOON SCEPTER ELIMINATION!" The energy beam lanced out, and exploded the chest of the Borg that had been throttling the captain. 
    Tuxedo Mask followed with a volley of roses that hit the few remaining Borg. "Well, that was easy!"
    "That's what I wanted you to think, Sailor Moon!" came an all to familiar voice from behind her. "My real target is you!" He gestured, sending one of his trademark dark globes into the center of the bridge, stunning all present with the exception of Data.
    And Rubeus, of course.
    Darien looked up shakily and saw Rubeus lifting Sailor Moon's still form off the deck. With a wordless cry, he leapt at him, trying desperately to drive him away from her. Unfortunately, his efforts were in vain, for Rubeus vanished from the bridge, taking Sailor Moon with him. 
    Around the bridge, the Borg corpses disintegrated, leaving behind only slight char markings on the carpet.
    "SERENA!!"
    Worf was one of the first of the crew to recover. He glanced up at the screen and saw that the Borg ship was receding in the distance. The force field around Data faded at that moment. "The Borg ship is disengaging, moving off." Worf quickly checked the tactical board. "Speed: warp nine point three... Accelerating to warp nine point six."
    "They've got Sailor Moon!" cried Tuxedo Mask. The anguish in his voice was clearly evident to all of them. "We have to go after them!"
    Data sat back down at his station and rapidly entered in a series of commands. "Laying in pursuit course, and engaging." The ship accelerated past the speed of light and sped off in pursuit of the Borg ship.
    Picard staggered up to his feet. "Get us to within transporter range, Mr. Data," he said as he painfully sat down in his command chair. "Then match velocities." Without a word, Data entered the commands into his console. "Any casualties, Doctor?"
    "Just Ensign Harris here," she replied while scanning her with a tricorder. "Crusher to transporter room three. Medical emergency. Two to beam directly to sickbay."
    "Energizing," O'Brien's voice answered and they disappeared in a blue haze.
    Riker swung his gaze around the bridge, checking the crew. With the exception of the luckless ensign, there were no casualties and the ship appeared to be in relatively good condition. "All in all, I think we got off lucky, Captain."
    "Fortunately for us, they were here to help," Picard replied, indicating the Scouts. "Thank you." They nodded wordlessly in acknowledgement, each of them too worried about Sailor Moon to say anything. All of them simply watched the image of the Borg ship on the screen, with the exception of Mercury. She was furiously working on her computer.
    "I don't get it," said Riker. "They had us on the ropes then, all of the sudden, they just grab Sailor Moon and run."
    "She has the Silver Crystal," Venus answered him, as if that would explain everything.
    Evidently it didn't. "Silver Crystal?"
    "The Silver Crystal is an artifact from the Moon Kingdom of immense power, Commander," Data replied. "In their previous encounter with Captain Kirk, Sailor Moon used it to destroy a alien spacecraft that was about to destroy the Enterprise. It had proven relatively immune to phaser and photon torpedoes to that point. The Enterprise logs indicate that the forces of Queen Beryl went to great lengths to obtain the Crystal from Sailor Moon. It would seem that Rubeus also places a high 
value on it's acquisition."
    "He does," Mars said.
    Darien was about to explode with worry. "We have to get her off that ship!"
    "I agree," said Picard. "Mr. Data, can you get a sensor lock her location?"
    The android consulted the sensor readouts, then shook his head, frowning, "The Borg are generating substantial sensor interference. I cannot get a fix on her position."
    "Can you locate her, Sailor Mercury?" asked Venus.
    She heaved a frustrated sigh and shook her head. "No. I've been trying to, but somehow they're scrambling my scans as well."
    "When you were on board the original Enterprise, you were able to increase your scanner range and power by interfacing with the main computer," Data suggested. "Perhaps if we tried that-"
    "I'm afraid not. My own scans were proving too limited, so that's what I was doing." She blushed slightly in mild embarrassment at the looks she got from Picard and Riker. "I'm sorry. I should have asked, but there didn't seem to be any time."
    "No harm done," said the captain. "But in the future, at least tell us what you're doing." She nodded in assent.
    "I can find her myself once we're there," said Tuxedo Mask.
    "If that's true, we could send over an away team," Riker suggested.
    "Negative, Commander," said Data. "The Borg EM field is still 
adapted to prevent transporter function."
    "We could try the Sailor Teleport," Luna suggested.
    This got her several puzzled looks from the Enterprise crew. "The what?" said Riker.
    "No," Mercury answered her. "I'm not sure how, but they're also generating an energy pattern that will prevent us from teleporting on board."
    "So there's nothing we can do," Darien said bitterly. Frustrated, he slammed his fist against the bridge wall.
    Picard frowned as he considered the situation. Though he didn't show it, inwardly he was just as frustrated by the situation as Tuxedo Mask. Rubeus and his Borg had effectively cut off all means of them boarding the ship and attempting a rescue. The only other option; namely, using a shuttle to penetrate their EM field as was done at Wolf 359; was out of the question while they were traveling at these speeds. It seemed that they would have to wait until the Borg ship arrived at it's intended destination before they could attempt anything. Speaking of which... "Mr. Worf, what is the course of the Borg ship?"
    The security chief consulted the tactical readout. "Zero two five, mark six."
    Riker frowned, puzzled. He may not have Data's computing power, but if he remembered his astrogation correctly, that wasn't a course for Earth... or for that matter, any other of the major Federation homeworlds. "Ensign Ro, what systems lie along that course?"
    The Bajoran ensign consulted the star maps of the area and extrapolated the course of the Borg ship through it. "No star systems lie along the course of the Borg vessel, Commander."
    "Then where the hell are they going?"
    "I don't know," she answered. "However, it will take us through the Romulan Neutral Zone in about two and a half hours."
    "Two hours, twenty five minutes, three seconds," Data said, supplementing her report.
    "Great." The first officer's expression clearly indicated that he thought otherwise.
    "Maintain pursuit," Picard ordered. "In the meantime, Mr. LaForge, see if you can find a way around the Borg EM field. Work with Chief O'Brien. Data, I want you to analyze the Borg course. See if you can find out where they're going."
    "Yes, sir," the two officers answered.
    Picard stood up and addressed the Scouts. "While we wait, you can tell me everything you know about this Rubeus. Number One, you have the bridge." With that, he and the Scouts entered his ready room. Luna and Artemis exchanged a look, and she followed the Scouts in while the white cat hopped onto the bridge railing. Darien also remained on the bridge, his gaze fixed on the screen.
    "We'll get you back, Serena. I swear it."

    Sailor Moon woke with a start. Her hands and feet were shackled to a table of some sort. Looking around wildly, she asked the obvious question: "Where am I?"
    Rubeus came from around a corner. "Greetings, Sailor Moon. Welcome to my ship."
    "Rubeus!" Memories of recent events came flooding back to her. Appearing on the Enterprise, meeting the others in Ten Forward, the battle on the bridge, a dim memory of Rubeus grabbing her, and finally the sickening lurch of teleporting. "What am I doing here?"
    "I should think the answer to that should be obvious. You know that I've been after the Silver Crystal. And now I have it, and you, in my possession."
    "It won't do you any good. We defeated the Wiseman. Crystal Tokyo is safe."
    Rubeus regarded her dubiously. Could this girl have defeated the Wiseman and the forces of the Black Moon? Well, even if it was true, it didn't matter. He would still have his revenge on those that remained. "That remains to be seen."
    She tried a different approach. "Hey, how come you're still alive? Your ship blew up!"
    "Almost, but not quite. What you thought what my ship exploding, was really an energy discharge from the time warp machinery engaging in an uncontrolled manner. It should have destroyed the ship, but somehow I was transported to this universe. My ship was heavily damaged however." He made a sweeping gesture to the ship and the Borg around him. "This ship found me, and approached with the intent of assimilating it... of making me serve them." He bent over her, looking her in the eye. "Now 
they serve me. As will your crystal."
    "I'll never let you have the crystal."
    "As my Borg servants are known to say: resistance is futile, Sailor Moon. I will control the Silver Crystal. And you."

    Picard motioned to the two chairs and the small sofa in the ready room. "Please, have a seat." Silently, the Scouts did as he requested, Mercury and Mars taking the chairs. Luna, on the other hand, jumped up onto the desk. The captain walked over to the replicator. "Would you like anything?"
    "No, thank you," Mercury replied, the others indicating likewise.
    Picard nodded. "Tea, Earl Grey, hot." There was a slight hum as the requested beverage came into being. Picard took the cup as soon as it finished materializing and sat down at his desk, though he did a double take on seeing Luna once more perched there.
    Mars was glaring at him, obviously impatient. "I thought you wanted to talk about Rubeus, not have a tea social."
    "Please be patient, Raye," Luna said. "I'm sure the captain realizes the seriousness of the situation."
    "You're quite right," he responded evenly. "I realize that you're anxious to help rescue your friend. And let me assure you that I and my crew will do everything in our power to do that. But first, I need to 
know what I'm dealing with. I know the Borg, having had some..." He paused momentarily, memories of the last encounter with the Borg running through his mind. "...dealings with them in the past. However, I have absolutely no idea what to expect from this Rubeus... other than the fact that if he can take over a Borg ship he must be very powerful indeed."
    "So you want us to fill in the gaps, and together we'll figure out a way to kick his butt, right?" Jupiter asked.
    Picard smiled. "I wouldn't quite phrase it so colorfully, but yes... that is essentially the idea."

    Data turned to Commander Riker. "Commander, I believe I have determined the destination of the Borg ship." He touched a few controls on the ops panel, and the image of the Borg ship was replaced by a star chart. The course of the Borg ship was overlaid on it, with Data's estimate of their destination highlighted, a point in space not too far from the Romulan Neutral Zone.
    "Data, are you sure?" After a look from the android, the first officer added, "Never mind."
    Artemis peered at the screen from his vantage point atop the tactical station. "What's so special about that area?"
    "It is the location of the quantum flux connecting our respective universes," the android responded.
    "You mean the way the first Enterprise got to our world?" The cat though this over for a moment. "Uh-oh."
    "Uh-oh is right," Riker replied. "Captain Picard, to the bridge."
    A few seconds later, the door opened and Picard emerged from his ready room, followed by the Scouts and Luna. Seeing Artemis perched atop tactical just behind the command chair brought him up short. Worf obviously didn't find anything amusing about it, though. Every few seconds he glared at the white feline. "Report."
    "Data's figured out where they're going." He gestured towards the plot on the screen.
    "The quantum flux," Picard said softly. The implications hit him right away. "Of course..."
    "Oh, no..." The same thought occurred to Sailor Mercury.
    "What? What is it?" asked Jupiter.
    "The Borg have the ability to assimilate entire worlds. Now, I doubt that even the Borg could assimilate Crystal Tokyo, but if they have the power of the Silver Crystal behind them..." The captain's 
voice trailed off.
    It was beginning to dawn on Sailor Venus. "You don't mean...?"
    "Yes. Rubeus is going to use the Borg to assimilate your Earth. Either before the creation of Crystal Tokyo or by traveling back to his own time." Picard stared at the screen. "Somehow we've got to find a way to prevent that from happening."
    "How do we stop them?" asked Artemis. "As it stands right now, we can't even get on their ship."
    "But there might be a way to prevent them from entering your universe." Picard looked to his operations officer. "Data, is there a way to seal a quantum flux?" 
    Data looked thoughtful for a moment. "Theoretically. If we detonate a photon torpedo inside the flux, it should collapse it. But it would require modifying the torpedo to emit a warp field of the proper frequency to enter the flux, and to generate the proper temporal variance field to collapse it."
    "How long would that take?"
    "Approximately one hour."
    Riker looked doubtful. "That's cutting it a bit close, Data. We're just about an hour away from the flux."
    "I am aware of that, sir."
    "Make it so. With dispatch, Mr. Data." Data rose from his station and headed for the turbolift.
    "Captain, even we can seal the flux, how will we get to it before the Borg do?" Riker asked. "We know from past experience that we can't outrun one of their ships."
    Picard shrugged. "We'll just have to be creative. Make an opportunity to deploy the torpedo."
    "You don't sound too hopeful," Mars observed.
    "We're all too familiar with the Borg," Troi told her. "They can be... formidable adversaries."
    "Yeah, he told us about them," Jupiter said. "They sound nasty."
    Venus smiled ironically. "Well, at least the situation can't get any worse."
    "Captain," said Ro, "we've just entered the Romulan Neutral Zone."
    "You were saying?" quipped Artemis. "OW!" Venus glared at him while he rubbed his now sore nose.
    "What's the 'Romulan Neutral Zone' anyway?" asked Jupiter.
    Mercury answered her, "It's a buffer zone set up between the Federation and the Romulan Empire. Incursions into this area can be considered an act of war by the intruding party." After an inquiring look from Riker, she held up her computer. "I just accessed the appropriate files in your computer."
    "Mr. Worf, are there any signs of Romulan vessels?"
    Worf check the sensors. "I'm picking up several subspace anomalies, which could be cloaked Romulan vessels," he reported. "They are on an parallel course with the Borg ship, but are not approaching."
    "Just keeping an eye on things," Jupiter observed.
    Worf nodded, as that was his assessment as well. His attention was drawn to another alert sounding on his board. "Captain, we're receiving an incoming message from Starfleet Command. Priority One."
    Riker and Picard looked at each other. "Now what?" Riker asked.
    Picard shrugged. There was only one way to find out. "What's the message, Mr. Worf?"
    "It is a sector wide red alert," he answered. "Long range sensors from Deep Space Seven have detected two Borg ships entering Federation space, on course for this region. They are apparently on an intercept course with Rubeus' ship."
    Picard had a sudden sinking feeling. "Ensign Ro, can you confirm that?"
    Ro took a moment to plot out the courses of the ships in question before answering. "Yes, sir. They will intercept this ship in approximately one hour at the coordinates listed for the quantum flux."
    "This just gets better and better," said Riker.
    "Well, you know what they say: It never rains, it just comes down cats and dogs," Venus quipped. Luna glared at her, whereas Artemis merely sighed and shook his head.

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Sailor Trek: The Next Generation
By Bill Harris
Chapter 4 - Q's and Answers
PG13

    Silence reigned on the bridge as Worf's news sank in. Finally Jupiter gave voice to her frustration. "Great! So Serena is going to be in the middle of the crossfire when they attack that thing!"
    Riker took a step closer to Picard. "We could just about handle one Borg ship," he observed quietly. "How are we supposed to take on three of them, close off the quantum flux, AND rescue Sailor Moon at the same time?"
    Picard didn't reply to Riker's question. At the moment, he didn't have a clue as to what he was going to do. "Merde," he said quietly.

    The two Borg ships were waiting for them when they dropped out of warp. Picard shuddered inwardly at the sight on the viewscreen.
    As Riker had observed, a single Borg ship had been hard enough to handle. Starfleet had thrown a fleet of forty starships at one at Wolf 359... and lost thirty nine of them. It was only by sheer luck that 
the Enterprise had been able to stop them at Earth.
    But three? This was the stuff that nightmares were made of.
    The two unblemished cubes took flanking positions of Rubeus' ship. The three large vessels came to a halt, seemingly staring each other down. "Keep us out of the line of fire, Ensign," he ordered.
    "Aye, sir."
    "The Borg are signaling Rubeus," Worf reported.
    "Let's listen in, Mr. Worf," said Picard.
    The Klingon touched a control, and the Borg signal sounded over the speakers. Picard noted sympathetically that the Scouts shuddered at hearing that cold, mechanical voice. He had a similar reaction when he had first heard it, nearly three years previously.
    And he still heard it in his nightmares.
    "We are the Borg. Your attempt to break with the collective will not succeed. You are to be reassimilated immediately. Your biological and technological distinctiveness will once more be added to our own. Failure to comply will result in your destruction. Resistance is futile."
    Silence fell over the bridge as they all awaited Rubeus' reply. 
    "I think not."
    Immediately, the two Borg ships began to fire upon the renegade, the energy discharge of the Borg weaponry playing out along it's hull. Several of their tractor beam weapons could be seen trying to latch themselves to the surface of the renegade.
    "Here's where it gets interesting," commented Riker. Several cutting beams lanced out, gouging long swaths in the hull.
    "Why aren't they doing something?" Jupiter asked. Rubeus' ship seemed to ignoring it's attackers, despite the damage it was taking. Then it began to glow... faintly at first, then a bright white. 
    "Energy readings are going off the scale," reported Lieutenant Ramirez, who had taken Data's place at ops. The glow became intense, causing all on the bridge to shield their eyes from the glare. When it seemed it couldn't get any brighter, a blinding beam of energy came from Rubeus' ship and struck a Borg ship dead center. An even brighter flash temporarily overloaded the viewscreen. When it cleared, all that was remained of the Borg ship was an expanding cloud of debris.
    "My God!" Troi said.
    "What the hell was that?" asked Riker.
    Worf checked the sensors. "They are employing an energy weapon of immense power. Type unknown." The remaining ship continued to fire, but with greater intensity. "I am reading extensive damage to the outer hull of Rubeus' ship, but not enough to disable it."
    "A weapon that could destroy a Borg ship with one blast. It's almost beyond belief," Picard observed in a low voice. Rubeus' ship again began to glow, evidently preparing to fire another blast. "Picard to Data. Is the modified torpedo ready?"
    "Very nearly, sir. I estimate another five minutes."
    "We may not have that long, Mr. Data. Time is of the essence."
    "Understood," came the android's calm reply.
    The light from the screen began building to a blinding intensity again. Outside, the remaining Borg ship started, incredibly, to withdraw, only to be seized by a tractor beam from the renegade Borg ship.
    "I don't believe it," Mercury gasped when her analysis of the new weapon was complete. "That energy pulse!" she exclaimed. "It's from the Silver Crystal! Somehow they've managed to use it as a weapon!"
    "Impossible!" Luna stated firmly. "They can't be able to use it while..." her voice trailed off.
    "She's alive, Luna," Darien told her, no doubt whatsoever present in his voice. Still, his expression was one of deep concern. How was Rubeus able to use the Silver Crystal as a weapon? Serena would never give it to him, not as long as she lived. And as long as she lived, he would never be able to control it. So how was he doing it?
    He had a feeling he wouldn't like the answer.
    The screen flared white again, and the other Borg vessel was reduced to a cloud of gas and debris. Moving away from the wreckage, the renegade Borg ship began to approach the Enterprise, a white glow surrounding it and building in intensity.
    "I think we're in trouble," Venus decidedly understated.
    "Captain," Worf exclaimed, "they're locking weapons on us!"
    "Yep, we're definitely in trouble."
    Picard was about to order evasive maneuvers when Data's voice came over the comm system, "Sir, the torpedo is loaded and ready."
    A wild idea came to Picard, as desperation fueled his need. "Get a sensor bearing on the quantum flux," he ordered.
    "Bearing two four seven mark five," Ro answered. "Distance, one hundred thousand kilometers."
    "Set course two four seven, mark five, speed at warp nine. I want us to come out of warp at point blank range to the flux."
    Riker looked at his captain. "The Picard Maneuver?"
    "A variation of it, Number One," the captain acknowledged.
    Ro nodded. "Ready, sir." On the screen, the Borg ship was glowing brightly.
    Picard brought his left hand forward. "Stand by torpedo. Engage."
    An outside observer would have been impressed. The warp engines propelled the ship forward rapidly, so fast it seemed to vanish for a brief second. At the same moment, the Borg ship unleashed it's weapon at where the Enterprise had been. Then, impossibly, it curved, following and striking the starship just as it came out of warp. There was a massive burst of light, and the Enterprise was gone.

    "Excellent." Rubeus watched with satisfaction. Unlike the Borg ships, it seemed that the destruction of the Enterprise hadn't even left the smallest bit of debris. His new weapon had utterly removed it from existence.
    Pity. He would have liked to have had a trophy from it, to remind himself of his triumph over the Scouts. Tuxedo Mask's hat, for instance.
    After a few moments more of gloating, he got back to the business at hand. First he had to traverse the quantum flux to his native universe. Then it was on to Crystal Tokyo.
    No one, not even Queen Serenity herself, was going to stand in his way this time.

    On some unknown plane of existence, a watching, omnipotent entity was chuckling. Rubeus was such an arrogant fool. Even Worf had more sense than him.

    There was a blinding flash of light on the bridge, followed by the deck pitching violently. Ro and Ramirez clung to their station for dear life while the others were tossed about like rag dolls as the artificial gravity went wild. All over the bridge, panels exploded and the lights fluctuated, then dimmed to emergency levels.
    Finally, as suddenly as it started, it stopped.
    Picard heard several groans on the darkened bridge, as he picked himself off the deck. He winced at the various bruises he himself had received, but tried instead to concentrate on the status of his crew first. "Is everyone alright?"
    "More or less," Mars answered him, holding her left shoulder. She flexed the limb experimentally. It hurt, but seemed more or less functional. Whatever injury she had, it could wait.
    Mercury activated her visor and began a sweep of the bridge. On her visor, each individual was highlighted in turn and a quick diagnosis of their conditions was made. "Bumps and bruises for the most part, though Commander Riker has a broken wrist. And-"
    Venus' anguished voice interrupted her, "Artemis!" She carefully picked up the white cat.
    "It's... just a broken leg, Mina," he painfully reassured her. "Nothing too serious."
    "Fortunately it's a clean beak," Mercury said, doing a detailed scan. "It should heal naturally once it's been set."
    "We can do better than that," Picard answered her. "Bridge to Sickbay." Silence answered him. "Bridge to Engineering." After waiting a few moments, "The comm system must be down. Ensign Ro, head for Engineering. Get me a damage report."
    "Aye, sir," the Bajoran replied, already heading for the Jeffries tubes. Anticipating the captain's next order, Ramirez was already breaking out the emergency med kit stored in the forward part of the bridge.
    Picard nodded approvingly. The next step was ascertaining the condition of the ship. It would take Ro a while to make her way to Engineering, but fortunately he had an alternative to waiting. Not that he was any position to do anything with the information, but it was better than doing nothing. "Mercury, can you get a detailed scan of the rest of the ship?"
    "I think so," she replied and set out to do so. She reset the focus of her scan, looking beyond the bridge and checking out the other parts of the ship.
    While she was doing so, Ramirez did what he could to tend to the injured. In short order, he used the bone knitters in the medkit to mend Riker's broken wrist and Artemis' leg (after having Worf set the injured limb).
    "Your main power is offline, as are the auxiliary systems," Mercury reported. "Life support is drawing off emergency power. But the structure seems intact, and I'm getting life readings all through it."
    "What about the Borg?"
    She shook her head. "I'm not detecting them." Then she frowned, "As a matter of fact, I'm not detecting anything outside the ship."
    "Mr. Worf, can we get the main viewscreen back online?"
    Worf went over to the ops console and tried to work the controls. "Negative, sir. We only have emergency power available. All the bridge consoles are offline."
    "There's one way we can check what's outside," Riker said, going into the conference room. As the others followed him in, they heard him say, "What the hell?"
    The assemblage of Sailor Scouts and Starfleet personnel stared out the conference room windows. Outside they saw not the star speckled blackness of space but only a formless, gray haze. It was as if the Enterprise was encompassed in a massive fogbank.
    Venus was the first to find her voice. "What happened? Are we dead?"
    "I don't feel dead," replied Sailor Mars.
    "Well, then how come we weren't destroyed?" Jupiter asked. "I thought those Borg cubes were supposed to be a lot tougher than this ship."
    "Don't look a gift horse in the eye."
    Riker gave Venus an uncertain look, then whispered to Mercury, "Is she always doing that?" Slightly embarrassed, she nodded while Artemis sighed.
    Worf brought out a tricorder. "The tricorder is not registering anything outside of the ship. It is as if the universe outside the Enterprise does not exist."
    "I'm not detecting anything either," Mercury put in. She still had her visor deployed and was supplementing it with her computer. "All my space-time readings show zero."
    "Are you saying we're nowhere, Mercury?" asked Tuxedo Mask.
    "An appropriate choice of words" said an invisible voice. Riker groaned, for it was all too familiar to the crew. Amid a flash of light, Q appeared in the conference room, lounging in Picard's usual seat at the head of the table. "Let's just say you're outside the normal bounds of space and time. At least as far as your limited minds can understand them." The Scouts stared at him, unsure who or what he 
was.
    Picard knew exactly who he was dealing with. "Q. It's about time you showed your face."
    The entity got up and approached the captain, looking somewhat aggrieved. "I would have expected a little more gratitude from you, Jean-Luc. After all, I just saved your precious ship and crew from a rather ignominious fate by plucking it out of space and time just before it exploded."
    "But not before the ship was badly damaged and many of my crew were injured."
    "Oh, posh," Q shrugged it off. "There's no damage that can't be fixed and be rest assured that none of your little trained minions were badly hurt."
    "You set up this entire situation, didn't you?" Riker accused.
    The mischievous entity shrugged. "If by that you mean, did I bring Sailor Wailing Moon and her fellow Scouts, along with the caped crusader and their talkative feline companions here, then the answer would be yes." He glanced over at the security chief. "Oh, by the way, has your hearing recovered yet, Microbrain?" Showing remarkable restraint, Worf stared stoically at him, his anger only visible in his eyes. After chuckling for a second, Q looked at Picard with a more serious expression. "However, I had nothing to do with Rubeus getting here. He did that strictly on his own."
    "So why'd you bring us here?" demanded Jupiter.
    "I thought that would have been obvious, even to someone of your limited intellect," Q quipped. Jupiter glared at him, and took a threatening step in his direction.
    Venus put a restraining hold on her friend. "Easy, Jupiter. He's just trying to bait you."
    "It's not very difficult either," Q smirked. "Really Worf, you should get to know her better. She's just perfect for you. And vice versa. After all, to her every male looks like her old boyfriend."
    That did it. This creep had definitely crossed the line. Lita gathered up her power, intent on blasting Q into next week. "JUPITER THUNDERCLAP..."
    "Lita, no!" cried out Luna.
    It was like watching an old fashioned gunfight. The enraged Scout stood at one end of the conference table, ready to hurl her attack, while Q merely stood there at the other end with a huge grin on his face.
    "ZAP!"
    The disk of electrical energy flew over the table and struck Q dead center with the stereotypical sound of an electrical discharge. Picard could swear that he saw a skeleton figure where Q was standing amid the storm of electricity. When it cleared, Q was still standing there grinning, his hair comically standing on end. "Shocking!" He snapped his fingers and his hair resumed its normal state. He held his hand palm upward and a little ball of electricity danced over it. Tossing it idly about as if it were a baseball he asked, "Think you can take the same?"
    The captain interposed himself between Jupiter and malicious entity. "Q."
    "Oh, don't worry Picard. I'm willing to let her vent her emotions." Q made a waving motion with his hand and the lightning ball vanished. Looking at Jupiter, his voice took on a harder edge. "This time."
    The tall Scout wasn't about to back down, though. "Why you..."
    Mars and Venus both moved to restrain their friend. "Not now, Jupiter. We can't help Sailor Moon if we let this creep zap us," the blonde reminded her.
    "Creep?" Q sniffed. "That's a fine thing coming from someone who can't even get a boyfriend." Venus glared at him, and Mars found herself in the somewhat unusual position of trying to calm someone else down. Usually she was the one with the raging temper.
    Artemis leapt onto the table. "You know, Guinan is absolutely right about you. You're absolutely contemptible, with no redeeming features whatsoever."
    The entity must have been feeling decidedly petulant. "And for a small cat, you certainly have a big mouth... not to mention a surly attitude. Maybe this will help you relax," Q said and snapped his fingers. The white cat vanished.
    "ARTEMIS!!" Luna exclaimed.
    Venus barged past Mars (who didn't even try to stop her) and stormed up to Q. "What have you done with him?!? Bring him back!" she demanded, leveling a finger at his face.
    "You know, it's really cute the way your nostrils flare when you're angry."
    "Where is he?" Luna demanded.
    "Oh, he's quite safe," he reassured her. "And he's still on the ship, too. Deck five, room three four seven to be exact."
    Riker looked puzzled. "Data's quarters? But why-"
    "Oh, no," Troi interrupted him. "It's Spot. She's in heat."
    An uneasy silence descended on the room. Finally Darien asked, "Who's Spot?"
    "She's... Data's cat," Riker answered. An unrepentant Q smirked under their glares, while Luna and Venus each looked mad enough to kill. "Bring him back, or I'll-"
    "Or you'll what? Bind me with that gold chain of yours?" Q was obviously enjoying himself. "That I'd like to see."
    Picard could see that the situation was rapidly spiraling out of control and stepped in before Q pushed the Scouts too far. "We're through playing your games, Q," h said. "If you came here for a reason, I suggest you get to the point. And bring Artemis back here at once!"
    "Oh, very well," he said with a sigh and snapped his fingers. A slightly disheveled Artemis reappeared on the table.
    Amy tried to get the conversation back on track. "You brought us here to help the Enterprise face Rubeus, didn't you?"
    "Yes!" He walked over to Mercury, a smile beaming on his face. "It's so nice to have someone of high intellect around here." Glancing at Riker and Worf he added, "It makes for a nice change."
    Mercury frowned at him. She had only been around Q for a few minutes, but already she could see why Guinan and the other Enterprise crewmembers thought so little of him. "I'm not sure that's a 
compliment, coming from you."
    An expression of shock crossed his face. "How rude! Well, to answer your question, yes, that's why I transported the lot of you here. I knew that Picard and his merry band really didn't have any chance 
against a group of Borg reinforced by Rubeus' power. However, I didn't count on Sailor Moon being taken prisoner... or on Picard almost letting his precious ship get blown to smithereens. Really, Jean-Luc, that was very sloppy of you."
    "Why save us at all, Q?" asked Picard.
    "A weakness on my part, Jean-Luc. I found that I couldn't bear the thought of a universe without Worf to antagonize." The Klingon officer didn't deign to comment. After all, there was no honor in allowing Q to antagonize him.
    "Okay, but why bring the ship here?" Tuxedo Masked asked, indicating the formless void outside. "Why didn't you simply protect the ship and leave us where we were." 
    "The answer to that, cape boy, is that I could see that you simply weren't ready handle Rubeus and his merry band. You need time to plan, to prepare. So you're getting it, courtesy of little moi. When you're ready, I'll transport you to the site of the battle." Picard watched Q carefully. Something about his reply didn't quite ring true, but he wasn't about to question it at the moment. There would be time enough for that later.
    "And if the Borg use the Silver Crystal on us again?" asked Troi.
    Q made a dismissive gesture. "They will try, but it will be ineffective."
    "What do you mean by that?" asked Mars.
    "Simple, firebug," Mars glared at that, "If I could protect you once, I can do it again. And again if necessary. But I'm afraid, aside from some helpful tidbits of information, that this is the limit of my aid. Others," he glared momentarily at the ceiling, "have placed... restrictions on my actions."
    "You're going to help us?" asked a disbelieving Tuxedo Mask.
    "Believe it or not, yes!" Q snapped. "And here's my first tidbit of advice: When the Borg ship emerges from the flux, their power systems will be temporarily depleted from the passage. You won't be under that handicap. It will be possible to beam over, and rescue your beloved. Though why you would want to is beyond me."
    Picard ignored Q's sarcastic commentary and focused on the essential information he had given them. "Depleted?" A possible strategy came to mind, and he turned to Riker. "The main deflector 
dish."
    The first officer looked uncertain. "It didn't work too well last time."
    "But that ship was prepared for it, and at nearly full power as well. This ship will have it's power reserves drained." If we can believe Q, he added silently. "It may well work this time around. We should have LaForge begin work on it immediately after repairs to ship's systems are completed." As if on cue, the main lighting came back on, accompanied by the chime of the comm system.
    "LaForge to Captain Picard."
    "Picard here. What's our status, Commander?"
    "We just got auxiliary power back online, sir, and main power should be available soon. I'm not sure how, but whatever hit us, all it did was blow circuit breakers all over the ship. We've been busy resetting them. That's it, other than some minor hull damage."
    Q smirked. "I told you so."
    Picard glared momentarily at him. "Geordi, once you've completed that, I want to begin modifying the main deflector dish just as you did against the Borg the last time. Commander Riker will give you the details."
    LaForge's voice sounded uncertain. "Aye, sir."
    "What should we do in the meantime?" asked Venus.
    "You could go shopping on the holodeck," Q suggested, earning him a glare from all the Scouts. Picard briefly raised his eye heavenward. It seemed Q was in rare form on this particular visit. Once again Picard wished he would make himself rarer still. Go away and never return, for instance.
    "I hate to say it, but the holodeck might not be such a bad idea. We could program a series of simulations," Riker suggested. "Get them used to working with us, and with what they'll see on a Borg ship."
    Picard nodded approvingly. "A good idea, Number One. Worf, Data and I will work with them, while you plan the tactics for the ship to ship part of the confrontation." He started to walk to the door, ignoring the look of surprise on Riker's and Troi's faces.
    "Sir?" Riker asked uncertainly.
    Picard stopped and looked back at the first officer. "I'll be leading the away team, Number One."
    Q beamed with delight. "Oh, this should be fun."

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