Origins.

The word was spinning around de Luca’s mind. There was more. Much more. But he couldn’t process any of it. His head was crammed with information. “I need a bigger head…” he mumbled to himself as he tried to calm the storm in his mind.
Impossible. He struggled to think clearly. Whenever he tried to comprehend one thought a hundred more came to the forefront of his mind as if they were spoiled children screaming for attention.

He could sense the nurses in the Warbird’s sickbay giving him patronising looks while they wondered if he’d lost his mind. Maybe he had. He wasn’t sure himself. Then suddenly, he was sure. He knew what was wrong. The terminal. He’d plugged himself into a terminal, then everything went black. Then he was here, in the belly of the Warbird with Romulans and Commander Kirkpatrick paying him visits, talking, shaking their heads.

They were all there earlier. Only an hour or so ago. He felt their presence, he knew they were there but there was too much in his head, he couldn’t even force out a sentence. Unable to get up and shout in their faces that he was still here.

“Origins. Creation gave birth to destruction. The cycle. I’m an unwelcome guest raiding the fridge.” He said aloud, the nurses staring at him blankly as he realised he’d just spoken the sentence. He had no control. He was just blurting out whatever came into his mind. “I don’t like this room.”

Suddenly he snapped up. Sitting upright. Part of him was unsure what he was doing but his unconscious self was on a mission. Working on impulse as it figured out what had to be done.

The nurses rushed towards him as he pushed himself out of bed as they came at him he turned and rushed into one of the medical labs, closing the door behind him.

Right. He was set. He was locked in a room with technology he didn’t know or understand and to make matters worse, his mind was going blank on how to read the Romulan language and he had no idea what the plan was. Brilliant. The day was not going well.

Looking around the room, he started waiting for something to click. Then it did.

If he reconfigured the neural processors into one of the terminals he could transfer the information from his head to the ships database and be free of it. Though when he looked at his hands he realised he was already ripping apart the replicator terminal beside him.

He felt slightly disturbed. He knew he was a genius, he took great pride in being a genius. He’d point it out to people on every occasion, sometimes even signing letters or reports with ‘Dr Marcus de Luca, Anthropologist & Almighty Genius’. But to be doing something highly brilliant without actually knowing what it was, or that he was even doing it.
That was a worry.

As soon as the terminal was stripped down, finding it even harder to concentrate on any one thought with guards and medical staff pounding on the door, as they tried to break the seal, he rushed over to the bulky piece of equipment bolted to the bed in the centre of the room.

Hearing chirps and beeps as the guards were unlocking the door, he had no time to be careful. Using all his strength, he ripped the processor from it’s perch and dragged it to the far side of the room. Without wasting a moment he hooked up the replicator unit and was ready to roll.

Carefully placing the processor around his head, struggling to push his braids out of the way. and clipping in a handful of blunt cabling into his data port at the base of his neck, he pushed the right combination of keys on the replicator system and he was in.

As the door hissed open, the guards realised they were too late. Medical staff, including the Norsferatu’s Dr Landis, surrounded de Luca as he fell to the floor. All the knowledge in the back of his mind did all the work for him. It knew what to do. He wasn’t sure how, but it did.

The knowledge did all the word. It downloaded to the system, isolated itself in a singular data bank and then burnt all the connections so it was alone. Completely alone.

“What did you do?” Landis asked, the blinking lights of his tricorder hovering over the weakened de Luca as he lay in the floor in an untidy slump.

“I have no idea.” He replied before his eyes closed.

Gathered on the bridge of the Nosferatu, Morgan and Kirkpatrick listened carefully to Chel’si as she updated them on the events of Sha Ka Ree.

Morgan was lucky to have heard the call. He had no idea they were passed the range of communication interference. He’d only hidden away on the bridge to take a break from the repairs, leaving his Romulan helpers with Satullo to patch up the holes in his ship, making more noise with their equipment than his headache could stand.
As soon as the call was received though Sakaria One’s relay, a fact that confused him until Chel’si went through the dreary explanation, he called Amy away from de Luca’s bedside so she could join in their little chat with home base.

“So how many did we lose?” Amy asked, the first question on her mind.

“In my count so far, at least thirty-seven percent of the population.” Chel’si answered. Keeping the ethnicity of the taken to herself. For now.

“And how can Lakotda be sure that these invaders are heading towards Earth?” Morgan asked, sceptical.

The screen flickered as Chel’si shrugged. “The Pryor told him.”

Both taking a breath, Amy and Morgan gave each other an odd look before the Lieutenant responded. “And he knows this, how?”

“The Pryor has knowledge beyond our own comprehension.” Chel’si answered, not quite believing it herself. Her tribe were never convinced of his all-seeing mystical knowledge. “It’s the best lead we have, besides, they were only interested in taking Federation ships and citizens.”

“That could explain a lot.” Amy commented. “We’ve had our own ships go off the grid, working on secret projects…”

Morgan frowned. “We’ve been looking for an internal problem, when this could be an external infiltration in our ranks? They take our ships and officers and use them to get inside our fleet? But that would mean Riesman wasn’t really… himself.”

“No.” Chel’si interrupted. “From his interrogation it seemed Riesman was a pawn. He said his family were under threat.”

“So why use him, not replace him?” Amy asked.

“We’ve no idea, as I said he’s missing.” Chel’si responded. “But now we know Navarro’s involved, hopefully we’ll find out more.”

Blinking for a moment, Morgan had to ask. “Who’s Navarro?”

“New Chief of Security.” Amy answered. “Recently transferred from Federation Prime.”

“Right…” Morgan thought to himself. “The captain spoke about this to me, he used the word ‘conspiracy’.”

“The captain suggested that whatever was going on at Sha Ka Ree was a distraction.” Amy added.

Pushing himself out of his chair, Morgan cursed under his breath as he stared out of the window to the walls of the Romulan hanger. “This is all leading to us going to Earth, right?” He asked, his back to the screen.

“You are, Lieutenant.” Chel’si answered. “Commander Kirkpatrick has been ordered to return to Sha Ka Ree with the Romulans.”

Reaching for his flask, Morgan began to wonder if he had enough gin to make his way to his home world. “This ship may be faster than your average vessel, but by what you’ve said those contacts are a hell of a lot faster than us. On the off chance the Pryor isn’t talking out of his arse, how do you expect us to get there in time to do anything constructive?”

“I know a way.” The voice echoed through the bridge as de Luca limped inside, his body drained from the download.

When he’d opened his eyes again he found himself back in the bed he’d broke free from. His thoughts were clear, his mind was settled. There was still some confusion, things rattling around inside his brain, but he could understand them now. He knew what had happened, and as he overheard others chatting away in the doctors office nearby, he realised the others were figuring it out too.

In the half hour he’d slept, he began of what happened. Helping him understand.

When he connected to the abandoned city’s mainframe it began to download into him until he couldn’t take any more. Every unused part of his tiny human brain was filled with information, random facts and it was all shifted over to him with a complex operating system that transferred itself.

Maybe if he was Sakarian and his data-link hardware worked, he could have handled the information swarming his mind but all it did was overwhelm him to the point of insanity.

The operating software that had downloaded info him had tried to leave to find a more suitable host. He wasn’t operating on impulse, his body was being used to free up his own mental hard drive before the collection programs and databases burned up his mind.

Now inside Gretal’s ship, isolating itself from everything else in fear of overwhelming the Warbird, it was feeding information to the Romulan commander. Information they couldn’t understand. Not yet.

When he recovered the doctors gave him a quick check before he was escorted to the Nosferatu, Gretal giving him free reign against his security chief’s suggestion. When he crept up to the bridge he’d skulked in the corridor, eavesdropping on the officers chatting. He’d missed most of the update, but he’d caught enough to know that Morgan was taking his ship to Earth on a theory by the Pryor.

“The captain is right.” He added, sneaking into the office. “I can’t remember all the details, but that was a database in my head, with a huge amount of information. I can‘t remember the detail, but I know they have plans for Earth.” de Luca shrugged as he tied to recall everything. “It contained information, a plan of action to take control of the Federation at the top. They’ve done it before, this time they’ve learned from past mistakes.”

“Who?” Amy asked.

“The people I’ve spent my career trying to find, Commaner.” Smiling at his dear friend, de Luca gave her the answer. “The Iconians.”

Giving de Luca his attention, Morgan smiled. “I remember reading about them at the Academy, they had some kind of advanced technology, a portal that would transport you to any destination you selected.”

“That’s right Lieutenant.” de Luca smiled.

“What do you mean they’ve doe this before?” Chel’si asked, interrupting as de Luca took a seat in the corner.

“2364.” The genius replied. “An unknown alien force took control of Starfleet Command, years later Admiral Rogan investigated another possible infiltration in Starfleet but there wasn‘t enough evidence to continue and it was shut down. From what I saw of their database, we’ve finally found out who it was.”

Amy thought for a moment before asking, “If that was an Iconian settlement we were in, do they have a portal?”

Nodding, de Luca could only smile. The situation was a tragedy and the fate of the Federation may see only doom and gloom. But he was closer to finding the Iconians than he‘d ever been. “Indeed there is, in the centre of their city.”

“Good.” Amy said, taking charge. “Take Morgan back into Dead Space, find that portal and head to Earth before the enemy fleet arrives. Chel…” turning to the screen, the Commander gave her orders. “Send us all the information you have, what ships went off the grid, what ships were taken and the names of every officer and crewman involved and see if you can get us a list of trusted contacts from either Rogan’s personal log’s or the Captain.”

“Aye, sir.” Chel’si answered before getting to work.

“James…” Amy pulled the lieutenant aside as he tapped away at one of the consoles to allow the upload from Sha Ka Ree. “I’m going to need you on the ball here, are you up to this?”

Taken aback, Morgan gave his friend a cold stare. “Why wouldn’t I be?” He answered before taking a mouthful from his flask.

“Just…” She tried to find the most polite way to express her concerns. “Stay reasonably sober. Please.”

Navarro was a strange one. He was professional, efficient. No one had a bad word to say about him. No one had much to say about him at all. In the short time he had worked in the city he was almost a non entity. He barely spoke or voiced an opinion unless it was a vital operational requirement.

He’d arrive for duty in the Epicentre on time. Do any tasks that he needed to. Meet with any staff. Arrange shift patterns. He was the model officer and a tremendous pick for a managerial role. But he was quiet.

In hindsight his colleagues had decided he was too quiet.

As soon as Navarro was named as the saboteur, he finally gained a voice. A loud, angry voice accompanied by phaser fire and running. A lot of running.

MACO’s on hand had given chase as he dashed from the science console, into the captains office, only to run out the other side and around the back hall of the Epicentre before trying to make his escape into the corridor leading to other commend level offices.

Four MACO’s received fatal injuries, a further three were recovering in the hospital wing. Half a dozen passers by had been caught in the cross fire and even Lakotda had a phaser burn on his arm.

But for all his kicking and screaming against the inevitable, his efforts fell flat. Incidentally so did he, on his face as he was caught off guard by one of his own patrolling security officers who’d came to assist from the security lounge.

Siaka rubbed her ridged head in disbelief as Lakotda told her about he chase, Dr. Okarro hovering over him tending to his wounds, grumbling with every movement the captain made.

“Do you think he’ll talk?” Lakotda asked, already well aware chances were slim.

“I doubt it.” Siaka grumbled. “Did you see Paik’s speech?” She asked, changing the subject quickly.

The captain shook his head. “It was passed up to the Command level but I was too busy to watch it. Did you?”

“Yes.” Siaka answered. “The press gave him a grilling. Along with all the complaints that we’re not handling this well and blaming us for not seeing any of this impossible to predict situation coming, they were asking about Riesman, if he had any leads on the disappearance of the Admiralty, called for our heads…”

The captain sighed. “Who’s feeding this to the press?”

Siaka and Okarro stared at each other before the Doctor raised an eyebrow, mildly amused. At least, trying to convey the appearance of being amused. He wasn‘t entirely sure what it looked like. Or what was funny. He had real problems with trying to be funny. “The Sakarian Media has contacts everywhere, captain. I thought, this being your homeworld and all, you‘d know that.”

“They bribe people for information.” Siaka explained. “My forces, Starfleet, politicians, MOD… everyone. Occasionally they hit a wall of morality and find themselves in a whole lot of trouble, but most of the time…”

“They pay well.” Okarro said, finishing her thought. “Too well to ignore them.”

As he acknowledged the information, Lakotda wished he had stayed on the Dauntless. “I don’t suppose you could bribe some of your superiors into telling us the MOD’s reaction to all of this.” He asked the Chief Inspector.

“You have better links than I do, Captain.” Siaka scoffed. “Your own brother is the Chief of Staff.”

“He’s also an arrogant, self involved son of a bitch.” Lakotda answered quickly. “To him this is just an opportunity to cling onto power, the harder we fall here at Sha Ka Ree, the more chance we’ll separate from the Federation and his position is free of any threat.”

“Aren’t you glad you took the job?” Okarro mused.

Rolling his eyes, the captain watched as the Doctor put away his tools and began to clear up. “You say it like I had a choice, Doctor.”

“You’ll grow to like this place.” Okarro smiled. “It can be fun. Though I’ll have to leave you both to enjoy the interrogation while I go back to the OR and find out how your staff are doing.”

“Thank you, Doctor.” Lakotda said as the Doctor waved a cheery goodbye. “Siaka…” Turning his attention to the Kazon, he began to think. “How do you want to handle this?”

Leaning on one of the desks behind her, she took a breath as she began to think about the laws regarding the care of prisoners and suspects. “If I’m to follow the rules, with tender love and care.”

“And if you weren’t to follow the rules?”

“Then we’d have to answer to the MOD and to Starfleet.”

“If we don’t get Navarro to talk, there may be no Starfleet to answer to, Chief.” The captain explained. “I don’t need details, but I don’t have time to play nice here. Whatever you need to do, within reason, to get this man to talk. Do it. If anyone kicks up a fuss, I’ll take full responsibility.”

“Are you sure you’re comfortable with that, Captain?”

“Not really.” He answered. “So you better start now before I change my mind.”

With a nod Siaka grabbed one of her detectives and disappeared into the back rooms of her offices. He tried not to think about what he’d just authorised, pushing it to the back of his mind as he strolled out of the DCU and headed for his chief engineer.

With one problem solved, he needed to deal with another.

Tenagra was supposed to be taking a much needed break, an order from the captain himself after the chase for Navarro. Since the lockdown was activated he had been fighting against it without sleep or rest. When he rushed to the Epicentre and named Navarro, he could barely keep his eyelids open despite drowning his insides with caffeine. His body was beginning to rebel against it.

As soon as Lakotda walked out of DCU and saw Tenagra sitting in the coffee shop with yet another massive cup next to him, he could see his orders to relax went ignored. The Helian inventor turned chief engineer was scribbling away on a napkin and he could see half a dozen more scrunched up around his table.

As he got closer to the engineer, close enough to peek over his shoulder, he gave the man a shock, snapping him out of his trance. “What’s all this?”

Downing half the cup of coffee before answering, Tenagra grinned. “Answers.” Putting aside his last collection of scribbles, he unfolded one of the napkins and handed it to him. “This virus in our system is alive, it’s an organic self aware piece of software. It was designed to take control of all of our vital systems, but it needed more.” Pointing to some illegible Helian words, complete with a diagram Lakotda couldn’t figure out, Tenagra continued. “The cities systems are isolated, each one operating on it’s own so as not to interfere with each others vital functions and generally cause us all not to explode. The Lockdown security system covers everything, connects every system…”

“So when Navarro initiated the Lockdown, everything was connected…” Lakotda interrupted, still trying to figure out what the diagram was.

“Yes!” Tenagra jumped to his feet. “It allowed the virus to grow and spread through every major system. My new system is isolated from the Lockdown so it can’t connect, which leaves me two options.”

“Which are?”

“Either I keep working on my own system and re-build this city’s operating systems, which may result in the network overloading risking a chain reaction of intense explosions throughout all the master systems and killing us all… which isn’t good.”

“That goes without saying.”

“Or completely erase the computer core, re-load from basic backup software and re-build from there. Which would be safer. Though it’d take much longer.”

“I’m going to vote for the safe option.” Lakotda smiled. “How long would it take to set that up?”

“I could have us set up and ready to go in a day, as long as Sakaria One is happy with me using their systems to help me.”

“They’ll complain, I won’t care.” Lakotda smiled. “Paik will be fighting in our corner to have them stick around until we‘re back on our feet. So have your teams get to work, you can join them when you‘ve had some sleep.”

Trying to widen his eyes open and give some impression of being ready for duty Tenagra lied. “I’m fine captain.”

“No you’re not.” Lakotda corrected him. “If I find out you’re working through the night I’ll have Siaka drag you into a cell and force you to rest, is that understood?”

With a sigh, Tenagra collected his napkin notes while nodding. “Fine.”