A Captain Decision

Now entering the edge of the atmosphere, speed increasing outer hull still cool," Rommie said.

"Alright, wait 'til we are lower before you put all the power into the engines," I told Rommie.

It was a mere two minutes later that the interior of the ship started to get warm. Another minute I felt the engines start to strain.

"We are still descending too fast though speed has been reduced," I heard Rommie say.

Not yet, I thought, as the temperature started to climb. Not yet. Finally, we were halfway down when I put what I had into slowing the ship. I felt the engine's strain lessen, plus the heat started to abate. At least that's what I was feeling before I felt the darkness take me.

Rommie, I thought, start all the repair mods, then I was out.

When I awoke, it was dark, shit I thought, how long was I out? I saw that Mary was asleep nearby.

"Rommie? Where are you?" I asked. Ah, shit I thought, Rommie? Rommie! damnit! Now what?

I thought I heard a very weak voice, though I wasn't sure what had happened.

"Rommie is that you?" I asked, afraid of the answer I'd get. "Rommie?"

"John," I heard the weak voice say. "The ship crashed, power is starting to fail. I'm not sure that I can maintain this much longer."

I was immediately onboard what was left of the bridge. This was as bad as I had ever seen it. The ships from that last universe did a number on the ship.

I closed my eyes hoping that Rommie had enough power to keep going. I could hear things moving. Opening my eyes, I could see that several of the cracks and rips in the hull were gone.

"Half repair pod power has been restored. I am afraid that there is only one repair pod operating. I have it working on the others. Thank you, John, you have extended my life," Rommie said.

I shook my head this wasn't supposed to happen as I closed my eyes again. I could see that the ship had sustained major damage. I started to close off the most damage to the hull, then started on the engines.

I finally got one back online, the whole thing not leaking as much, providing a little power. Though, for some reason, I couldn't get the other one to set right.

I went over the engine twice, then a third time, finding minor problems. Then I noticed that there were micro-fractures all over the interior. I started to fix them as the major leakage finally dissipated.

A minute later, Rommie appeared, though just barely. "Power now increasing, I am not sure if I can maintain my holo form," Rommie said.

"If it gets to ten percent, you should have sufficient power," I told her.

"This is true, though at present, it is only at two percent increasing very slowly. I am afraid that I may start losing data," Rommie said.

I suddenly got mad as I thought of losing Rommie. I started to push as hard as I could. I felt the cracks rapidly disappearing. Damnit, I still couldn't start the engines, there was still too much damage. This time I put everything I had into repairing the engines.

This time when I checked, neither engine had leaks though only one engine was working.

"John, your energy has dropped to dangerous levels. I estimate you are about to lose consciousness in five minutes. Power is up to twenty percent, almost enough to activate shields," Rommie stated.

"Rommie," I said, slightly panting. "Get the shields up, all the repair mods get the second engine up. Don't allow any onboard."

I saw Rommie as she started to take over some of the repairs. "I will do all I can John," Rommie said as I nodded, then the darkness took me.

I really need to stop pushing this hard, I thought as the darkness grew deeper.

This time I actually had some pretty weird dreams, then again, I always have strange dreams. I actually thought that I was able to keep track of time. When I awoke, it was far darker than when I had passed out.

Reaching out, I felt that half the power was working, though the second engine still had damage. I could feel that the shield was indeed strong enough to keep anything on earth out.

This time I slowly searched for the second engine, repairing everything I felt that was wrong.

"Are we still losing power from the second engine," I asked Rommie.

"No, the power drain had finally stopped. We are up to fifty-five percent slowly climbing," Rommie told me.

I breathed a sigh of relief, "I need a back-up for you Rommie. I can't risk losing you, especially like this."

"I am grateful for your concern but," Rommie started.

"Don't start that, I am just a tool crap again Rommie. I told you before you are a hell of a lot more to me than that. Now is the power high enough for you to check the hull integrity? I want us in orbit as soon as possible," I said, afraid that any time the government would roll up with better weapons.

"Power now at sixty-five percent, scanning hull interior and exterior. It appears that all the interior hull is at a hundred percent. Warning, warning detecting major breaches in the exterior hull. I am afraid that the angle of the ships in the grove of trees is hampering repair," Rommie said.

Shit I thought as I concentrated on where we were. "There's a field a few miles from here, how much is the cloak working?" I asked.

"It is at present fifty-five percent, barely enough to keep th4 government from detecting us. Though I am reading that they have rolled a response toward our location," Rommie said.

"Alright, activate cloak, watch my vitals as I move the ship, I just hope I don't do more damage," I told Rommie. Then I felt the ship slowly lift, god I thought this was a lot harder than I thought.

"Try to take a deep breath and relax as you let it out," I heard Rommie say. Strangely enough, it helped a lot more than anything I could think of. "Much better John, the stress has decreased fifty percent. Only fifteen miles to target, now detecting the response team only a few miles away.

I felt myself relax more as we got further away from the crash site. A mere ten minutes later, we were at least twenty miles from where we were.

"Cloak now at sixty-five percent, I do not feel anything on this planet can now detect us. The second engine is now at eighty percent, we should have full power within an hour," Rommie said.

I nodded as I started at where the engine compartment was. I thought for a moment, then started to strengthen the engines. I made them as resistant as I could imagine. Especially against energy like we encountered in the last universe.

I started to make the hull far more impervious to everything that we had encountered. I made the weapons far more powerful and destructive, I wasn't about to have to go through this again. Then I opened an area with all the computer equipment, there I made the best back-up I could see.

I started to look it all over when I heard a voice at the back of my mind. "John? Where are you?"

"I want you in orbit as soon as possible, I don't trust the government," I told Rommie, then vanished.

Mary gave a little squeaky yell when I popped in, in front of her.

"Are you alright," I asked her as soon as she stopped and grabbed hold of me.

"I was afraid you showed up last night. Nothing I did got you to wake up, when I woke up just now, and you were gone. You never left and did not tell me anything. I thought I did something wrong," she said.

"No, you did nothing wrong, I just had to look at the ship. The last battle you might say did a real number on her," I said.

"I'm sorry John, I didn't mean to interfere," Mary said, her lip trembling a little.

"Hey," I said as I hugged her, "I understand that I am all you have right now. I am sorry that I have to leave you alone as much, but I don't think it would be safe for you with me."

"I'm trying, John, I just get so bored," she said.

I nodded, then thought of something that might help, at least from what I was feeling from her.

I was getting ready to leave, there were reams of paper around the living room. Plus there were boxes full of files.

"I hope that's enough. I know you love this type of work," I told her.

Her eyes were huge as she looked at it all excitement on her face. "I should be, I hope I can have some of it done when you return!" She kissed me on the cheek then dove into the files.

I nodded as I rubbed my cheek, then appeared onboard Rommie. "Status Rommie," I said.

"Everything has been increased fifty percent. I have tested the shielding around the engines. I believe you need to increase it another fifty percent. From what I have seen of the Borg that are in this next universe, we'll need it," Rommie said.

Shit, I hadn't thought of that, I ran through all I had ever seen of them. I immediately made sure that nothing the Borg had could defeat or penetrate us. Still, I felt unsure as I went into a mode where I could see nothing getting to us.

"I hope that will keep them out. I even included something that would reflect any attempt to beam in with anything. I am hoping that we are a hell of a lot more prepared than we have ever been. This is an enemy that will kill us without remorse or a second thought," I said.

"Yes," Rommie said, "I have gone through all the data recordings. The ones from the Picard era seem to be incomplete. Even the capture of him seemed incomplete."

"Have you looked over the Janeway records?" I asked, almost feeling silly, these were shows to me, not recordings.

"Yes, I have John, her era recordings gave far more data than the first. John," Rommie said as she appeared then as human. "These nanos that they inject beings and machinery with need to be addressed. Then there is the Borg Queen, she is far more formable than she appears."

I nodded as Rommie laid a hand aside my face. I slightly jumped, not expecting her to do that, "Rommie, you alright?"

"John, don't you know that you mean as much to me as you say I do to you? I would destroy this ship and everything within the universe if anything happened to you. I could not exist without you John, your life is the most important thing to me, more than my existence," Rommie said.

For a few moments I could only stare at her, I was still trying to get used to her being solid. I mean come on, she was gorgeous, far out of my league. Then I shook my head, how was I so sure that she'd be around after this?

I then shook my head again, I was still having problems with all of this.

"John? Are you still at odds with everything? I can assure you that all of this is real. You have returned four of the five energy weapons that were threatening everything. OK, answer me this, are th headaches as bad as they were?" Rommie asked of me.

My head snapped up, damn I hadn't thought of that. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that, no, they weren't bad at all. I looked up at her, "but they have always been bad, what?"

"I have done scans on you to see if you were growing worse. Your abilities or powers or gifts have grown stronger, as has your mind. I believe that soon anything you want will be possible, Rommie said.

I backed up from her, "that does not sound good. It actually sounds like an episode of Kirk's universe. His best friend had god-like powers. Kirk had to kill him. Shit, I don't want to become a walking idiot," I told her.

Rommie was quiet a moment, then nodded her head, "I see in the data recordings it was a result of the galactic barrier."

I was almost surprised, then I remembered what I knew she did also. Great, I thought, someone who had a direct line to my memories. Then again, she could pull them up a lot faster than I could.

I had been thinking of the problems that Rommie had mentioned before. I started to strengthen my mind against mental intrusion. The problem, I thought, was I didn't know just how strong her mind was.

I was at twice the strength, though was afraid that I was nowhere near. I was afraid that if I kept going I was going to burn my brain out, not good. At three times, the strength I felt a little strain and stopped.

I sighed, I hoped that was enough, there wasn't a human I could think of that was near my strength. The Nanos I had a solution for, hell anything that might try to invade that way. The machinery was another simple fix, I hoped.

The last few times I had made something impervious to everything that had remained that way. I had made everything on the ship completely resistant, at least I hoped I did. I went over the entire ship twice to make sure.

Then there was the fact that ther weapons they had were unheard of in any universe. I also started to adjust to different energy signatures. I wanted to be ready for once. I was tired of being beat down cause I had gone in too quickly.

Finally, finished with these adjustments, I made sure that all that I had done before was ready. I nodded as I saw that all the fixes were firmly in place. Still, there was something niggling at the back of my mind.

I looked around at everything again, not finding anything 'til I looked at Rommie. Damnit! I had forgotten that Rommie was wide open. I started to close all the pathways that there were to get to her data, machinery or her physical person.

I heard Rommie sigh when I finished with the upgrade that I had made for her. I blew out a breath. I feel I had dodged a bullet there. Then I thought of the non-physical ways that they had to get her, those I started to adjust.

When I finished, I again had a slight headache, though I was still searching for any other way that they could get through. I sighed when I hadn't found anything, though I kept everything open in case. Again I steeled myself up for a long round of headaches.

"John?" I heard Rommie say a few moments later. "John?" She asked again.

This brought me out of my thoughts, "Yes," I said.

"All repairs nare finished, both engines are at a hundred percent, as are weapons and systems. All upgrades have been integrated, hull integrity is far stronger than ever before," Rommie said.

"All right, let's go and finally finish this," I said as I looked at Janeway's pistol weapon.

As always, I watched as a huge colored portal opened in front of the ship. Within moments, we were traveling through what I was calling null space. You know the area between the universes, then the alarms went off.

"John, I am detecting the energy that we did the last time. With all th upgrades you made, the energy is somewhat weaker than before. I predict that they have a twenty percent chance of stopping us," Rommie said.

"Keep monitoring them. I doubt they can harm us now even if they can catch us. Just in case, keep the new shields up. I doubt they are ready for them," I told Rommie.

"Compliance John, now closing in on our exit point," Rommie said.

The Supreme leader smiled when he detected the solid's craft again. That's odd, it thought that the configuration of the craft is far different. Too late, it realized that the craft was now impervious to its kind.

Several had hit the craft's outer shell and were rebuffed and injured. Recall all of them the supreme leader ordered, the outer shell is now dangerous to our kind. Its elite aid hurried to warn all those attacking almost too late. There were a total of twelve that were now injured.

This time the supreme leader growled out in frustration, they were starting to run out of options. Again it watched as the solid's craft slipped into another universe portal.

I blinked when the ship exited th portal with a borg cube only a few hundred thousand miles away. "SHIT! Are they scanning us, Rommie?" I asked.

"Not as of yet, though might I suggest that we obtain some type of cover. We still do not know if all the precautions that you took will work," Rommie said.

"That's not really very helpful, Rommie," I said.

"You created me to speak only the truth John, I can not do differently, Rommie said.

"Yes, but I have also seen you not answer with all the info at the time," I replied.

"How can I do that if I do not have all the data at the time," Rommie said.

I turned to stare at Rommie, who was smiling at me with a sweet and innocent look. Why in the hell do I feel that I was just gotten over on?

I continued to stare at Rommie with a non-believing look, "you know Rommie no matter what. I also like to have the truth, how can I decide if I don't know?"

Rommie sighed, then appeared solid, "now moving as to not be detected. It appears that the slower movement seems to be working. I am sorry John, I will not hold info anymore. It does seem improper to not give you informed information though."

"I know Rommie, now then, do you have any idea where Janeway's ship is?" I asked hope in my voice, though I almost knew that we weren't that lucky.

"At present I am only picking up residual energy from it. It appears that her ship was here almost a week ago, though this is strange," Rommis said.

"What's that?" I asked.

"I have been detecting their energy from a week ago. Normally the energy dissipates after a few days," Rommie said.

I was nodding my agreement as I looked over the readings that Rommie had taken. It was strange, it was almost as if they were leaving a trail, but for whom? Why in the hell hadn't the Borg picked up on it? Guess I'd have to ask them when we caught up with them.

"I guess we need to follow them as quickly as we can. I just hope that we are able to find them soon," I said.

"I am monitoring the enemy as much as I can. You have given me many great tools to fight against them when the time comes," Rommie said.

I nodded, I hope that I had. I really did. The loss of Rommie, I am afraid, would probably kill me if not nearly kill me. Damn I thought, I do believe that I was falling for her a lot harder than I thought I would.

I tried to keep my voice as calm as I could, though I knew the second the words left my mouth. "Alright, as soon as possible move out after them. Is it possible that we can use the trans-warp?" I asked.

"Unable to answer completely without further data. I am not sure if we can enter it fast enough unless they are a good distance away," Rommie said.

"Alright, as soon as you can we need to test the theory. Moving this slowly, I am afraid that we might never catch up to them. From what I last saw, we need to get this done as soon as possible," I told Rommie.

I sat there thinking it over, then I shook my head. It was going to take far too long this way, first though before we tested the theory, I needed to strengthen more.

I had gotten my mind stronger though at even double what I had been, I felt a little exposed. I went over the ship again, improving everything that I had fixed before. I found a few things that I felt they might get through.

Then I started again, I didn't want any unwelcome surprises again. I felt my mind was far better than it had been, though I felt it was still vulnerable to the Queen. I went on to make it three times as strong, finally feeling that I had a better chance.

We were finally a good distance from the ship when I had Rommie open the trans-warp. Even as we were moving into it, I saw that the cube ship accelerated toward us. Shit I thought, the damn thing was far faster than I thought they were.

We'd barely managed to get the portal closed when another opened a great distance behind us. Oh, I forgot that the Borg had trans-warp also. It was then that I noticed that the cube ship couldn't keep up with us.

I also noticed that they were about to fire on us. I looked at the image of the ship, then watched it implode. A moment later, an image of something trying to breach the ship.

"So, you wish to make an enemy of the Borg, so be it," the voice said then faded.

Damnit! I had wanted to keep a low profile, so much for that.