A TANGLED WEB Part 2: WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE ON YOUR CORUSCANT?

Chapter 3

By Charlie Nelson

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"Data to Tuvok. Did you receive the complete readout of the Borg's location?" Data asked through his comm-badge.

"Affirmative," came Tuvok's response.

"Hey, cool. How did you do that?" Buffy was looking over Data to see where the voice was coming from.

Data tilted his head to the side. "It is a form of two-way communication over long distances. I believe you have some similar devices in your time period."

Buffy was not so easily satisfied with that answer. "Yeah, but where I come from, we at least have to put the phone to our head to talk into it. So how do you do it?"

"You have to-" Data did a double tilt of his head before continuing. "I will explain later. Right now, it is imperative that I coordinate our efforts with those of the other teams."

"Oh, okay." Buffy bit her lip. She was used to being the main contributing factor in everything. Here she was just another grunt on the front lines. She looked up to see Data staring at her strangely. Course, she reminded herself, he stares at everybody strangely. "Um, I'll just go see if Rom is getting anywhere with our new robot friend."

Data watched as the young blond girl wandered over by the Ferengi studying the droid from a safe distance. "Sorry for the interruption, Tuvok. Is there any further communication from Vorik."

"None," answered Tuvok. "I'm afraid we must continue without them."

"Agreed. The Borg seems to have established themselves near a failing power generator of some type. Most likely to repair and modify it to suit their needs. I show on the G-14 grid an access from which my group should be able to gain entry to the area the Borg has set up for their hive. Your group could-"

Just then, Data could hear Xander in the background. "Hey, cool. How did you do that?"

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Quark ceased his whimpering as soon as the Stormtroopers left the room. Rising from his corner, he hurriedly moved to the limp form on the bed. Giving the Vulcan a quick once over, taking in his bruises and bandaged neck, he began prodding him awake. "C'mon, c'mon. Wake up already."

After some rather annoying encouragement, the Vulcan gave into the persistent Ferengi and opened his eyes. "I take this to mean…uh, that we are not dead yet."

Quark eyes widened. "What's this? A Vulcan telling jokes? Maybe it is the end of everything."

Vorik reached a tentative hand up to feel the bandage on his throat. "It is one of the habits I have been trying to pick up while on Voyager in order to relate better with my shipmates"

"Yeah, well, everybody needs a hobby. Take better care of yourself and you might get a chance to get good at it."

Sitting up slowly, Vorik took in the room around him. "What is our current situation?"

"What is our situation? We've been captured by the local military goons. And let me tell you they are rough with their prisoners. They must be a cross breed of Klingons and Cardassians. We gotta get outta here!"

Vorik took in Quark's battered appearance. One eye was swollen shut, both ears were covered in bruises and bits of dried blood. The Vulcan also noted that he was cradling his left arm. Looking around him, Vorik could see that they most likely were on the same level as before. The room was in as much disarray and falling apart like all the others he had seen here. In all, the room was almost in better shape than Quark. The authorities had evidently made temporary use of one of the many abandoned rooms on these lower levels to store the prisoners in while they searched for more intruders. That meant they had an opportunity to escape. "Quark, do you know how many guards are watching us?"

"Eh?" The Ferengi took a moment to understand what he meant, before thinking about the question. "There's two of them. About two meters from the door. They're talking about their Emperor being at a place called Endor and something called a Skywalker. Whatever it is, it's got them real nervous. Anyway, they think we're part of some rebel saboteurs group trying to destroy their defense capabilities. When they had me-"

"That will suffice," interrupted Vorik. "Any sign of the others?"

Quark shook his head. "Just you and me."

"What we need to do now is to find a means of escape."

"Oh, is that all? And here I thought you were going to bring up something difficult," Quark answered snidely.

Vorik took a minute to gather his strength. Dealing with such irrational beings like this Ferengi could be tiring on the best of days. And today had not been the best of days. "Quark, it is imperative that we escape and reunite with our teammates."

Quark sighed. "I know. I just didn't want to do it alone."

Vorik nodded. "You are not alone now."

"Fine." The Ferengi limped to one of the corners and began moving some of the junk piled up there. "You can go in first."

"Go in first where?"

"Ventilation system. The guards didn't do a very good job of searching this place before locking us in here or they would have found it."

Vorik was surprised. "You found an escape route and you are still here? Why?"

Quark pulled the last of the objects exposing hole into the ventilation shaft that had had a vent covering at one time. "And go in there alone? Do you have any idea how many things are scurrying around in there? My ears tell me lots!"

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"Q!" Picard stormed into Quark's bar, some ensigns quickly jumping out of his way. People sitting around at the bar or at the table watching the events on the screens Q had provided all turned to see what was going on now. Bypassing a tall ensign, Picard could see Q empathetically gesturing as he tried to explain something to Captain Janeway and Riker. "Q!" he shouted. The bar became silent as everybody pretended not to be eavesdropping.

Q froze like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming semi-truck as Picard walked up to him. Janeway bit her lip and took a step back. Picard turned to Riker. "Is it true?" he asked.

Riker looked down, but nodded.

"Jean-Luc, it wasn't my fault!" Q exclaimed in his defense.

Picard swung hard and connected his fist with Q's nose, thus knocking him down hard.

Q, unhurt by the blow, was struck speechless and stared up at Picard in shock.

The whole room took a breath and held it as they waited to see how the powerful being was going to react.

Janeway interposed herself between the two and took Picard's arm. "It won't bring her back."

Picard looked over this female captain who he had heard of but never really met. "She deserved better." Picard took a deep breath trying to regain his composer before the crew. "She was a doctor… and a friend. One of the few I could confide in." He looked Janeway in the eyes. "I don't take losing someone like that very easily."

Janeway gently gripped his shoulder. "No one ever should."

"Captains." Both looked to see Admiral Paris bearing down on them followed by Admiral McCoy still being aided in walking by Lt. Barclay. "I realize this is a bar, but that is no reason to start a brawl." Seeing that Picard had regained some control and that Q had edged over to the bar away from Picard yet never taking his eyes off of the captain of the Enterprise. Q's look of shock and hurt was beginning to bother the admiral, but he felt he could let it be for now and he hoped someone else would deal with the hurt self-proclaimed omnipotent being. Thinking of what had just occurred brought Admiral Paris's attention to the terrified audience. "Picard. Janeway. I think we should have these people leave the bar. Nothing is being accomplished by having them here and they are probably being exposed to too much sensitive information."

"No. They need to stay." Rembrandt Brown turned from where he sat on his stool at the bar. People on the space station only knew him as the injured man that had suddenly appeared when the Doctor had suddenly arrived in his TARDIS. "They need to get an idea of what to expect if they are chosen to be sent out there on one of these mission trips." He took a sip of his drink. "I've been jumping from alternate world to alternate world for a while now and let me tell you it is good to have an idea of what you can expect." He waved his arm at the pictorial portals that Q had provided as he continued. "These may not be much for getting them ready for what they will experience but trust me, mister, at least they can learn from watching how the others do and see just how unusual it can be." Looking the admiral directly in the eye, Rembrandt stated his main point. "Learning from other people's experiences can be a lot better and safer than to have to learn it for yourself with no experience."

The admiral was rather at a loss for words from this correction by an apparent civilian. It was Janeway who came to his rescue. "This is Rembrandt Brown. One of the 'Sliders' we talked about who were stuck going from alternate reality to alternate reality. He was in Sickbay during our meeting, so we didn't get to meet him."

"I see." Turning to Rembrandt, the admiral could see that the man was hurt, tired, worried, and also for some reason he could tell that he wasn't where he should be. The admiral's own thoughts were still in turmoil over the angry words he had had with his son and future daughter-in-law at dinner. "Maybe you do have a point. However, the senior staff also needs this information. We can't have a private meeting evaluating all of this while the rest of Starfleet sits around us in a bar watching videos."

"Uh, pardon me," came a soft spoken and very hesitant voice. "But, um, the holo-suites here should make a more than adequate location for you to meet." Lt. Barclay stood there next to Admiral Bones and looked like he had regretted saying anything. "Sir," he added almost as if he had forgotten. For a moment it looked like Admiral McCoy was supporting Barclay instead of the other way around.

"Yes, fine," commented Admiral Paris. "We'll do that." Turning to face the crowd he added, "Anyone else have something to add since we seem to be so informal at the moment?"

"I do." The Doctor walked in through the doors of the bar and sat down near Rembrandt and Morn. Sweeping his gaze through the people in the bar he could tell he was right before he even explained himself. "You need to make it mandatory that people use their time to sleep to actually sleep. We don't know when we will be sending the next batch out, but I think it would be best for everyone if they were well rested. Wouldn't you agree, Admiral Paris?"

The admiral frowned. Being an admiral meant that very few people could tell you what to do. However, no one seems to have explained that to this strangely attired man. "The Doctor is right. You all know what shift schedules you have been assigned. If you are cutting a few hours off your sleep time so you can watch events here, then I want you to leave. Get your rest. God knows you may need it tomorrow."

There were groans and more than a few guilty looks as a good third of the crowd slowly rose and began to meander toward the door, quietly chatting to different people as they went.

Riker took the moment to step over by Deanna. She had just said good night to a Bolian woman who she had been sitting with so Riker decided that now may be a good time to try talk to her. "Deanna."

Deanna looked up. Oh, she though, so he is going for the public encounter again. "I'm not ready to talk yet, Will."

"Deanna. Things are pretty dangerous right now. I'd hate to not make peace with you."

Now he goes for the 'this could be the last day of our life' speech, she muttered to herself. Doesn't he know I do counseling for a living. "Not now, Will. Please."

"Deanna…" His eyes turned soft. "I'm sorry."

I will not be manipulated. I am angry. Puppydog eyes do not change what he did. "I'm not convinced." She turned away and marched to the door. And just to make sure she discouraged him, she deviated slightly in her path to walk over to Rembrandt to check on him and see how he was handling everything, and to make sure someone had assigned him quarters.

Q sat watching as the admirals and captains began filing up to the holo-suits to have their impromptu meeting over the death of Doctor Kate Pulaski. He was interested to note that Kai Winn, the Bajoran religious leader who he had had come along, was going up with the other leaders. Maybe to offer some religious condolences, he thought. He doubted it though. The Kai didn't seem to be the type to comfort others. She more of a political maneuvers type of person. The other Starfleet personnel were ignoring him but giving a wide berth from where he sat. Needless to say, the hand on his shoulder surprised him. What surprised him even more was who the hand belonged to. "Guinan?"

"So, where's Q2?"

Q looked around the room. "Oh, probably off laughing somewhere at all this."

Her voice, like her eyes, was soft, kind and to the point. "You figure it out yet?"

Q was confused. "What?"

"What the Continuum is trying to teach you. Have you figured it out yet? Have you learned your lesson?"

"What? To be considerate of lesser lifeforms?"

Guinan shook her head. "I really don't think that is what the Q Continuum was really aiming for, do you?"

"No," he admitted.

"So, what do think they are trying to teach you?" she persisted gently.

Under normal circumstances he would be terrified or at least very ill at ease to have Guinan anywhere near him. But right now, as he watched her sit down next to him, it didn't bother him a bit. If anything, he felt a little reassured. "I don't suppose you could give me a clue?"

"That bad, huh?" Guinan chuckled. "Well, if I was to hazard a guess, I would have to say it had to do with your hazardous pranks and the consequences of them."

"How was it hazardous?" he exploded. "I had everything under control until they interfered. If anyone is to blame it is-"

"Who caused the Borg to be informed about Earth and the Federation?"

"Uh, me. When I brought the Enterprise to a Borg vessel. But I separated them soon after."

"Yes," nodded Guinan. "After the Borg had learned about the Federation and its location. In your own words you warned Picard that he would meet again with the Borg someday. You see, the Borg are always exploring new area. But thanks to you, the Borg knew right away what was here, so they went directly toward it. You are the reason for the Borg coming into Federation space so quickly. You gave them the information and they used it." Leaning closer to Q she whispered the next part. "And now that the Borg have this 'sliding' technology you had better believe that they will use it. Even if you take the technology away from them, the Borg are bound to try other ways to get to parallel universes. It's their nature to spread and assimilate."

Q wasn't having any of it. "So why go to all these extremes? Why limit me like this? Making me pander to the wishes of others. I should be able to make everything alright with a snap of my fingers."

"That's just it." Guinan pointed out. "You didn't care that you were mucking around with the well-being of the multiverse. So, the Continuum chose to use something you had showed you cared for before."

"I don't understand."

Guinan sighed. How do you tell someone who is selfish, egotistical and thoughtless that his weakness is that he cares, she thought. "I think that the Continuum is hoping you will learn your lesson through loss."

"Loss? Loss of what?"

"Over the past couple of years by our timeline you have showed a great interest, and sometimes even appreciation, in some of the crewmembers aboard the Enterprise, Deep Space Nine and I guess Voyager."

"I don't understand what you are saying."

Guinan sighed. Q wasn't making this easy. How can he claim to be so much smarter than us and yet be so dumb, she thought. "Consider this, the Continuum is putting you in the spot of having to send some of those you care about on these missions in hopes of your gaining some respect for the sacrifices they will make in straightening out your problem."

Q froze. "You mean people are supposed to die doing this?"

Guinan nodded. "Going up against the Borg? For beings like us, that is usually what happens."

"Just so I will care?" Q was stunned. "But that's so unfair!"

"Tell me about it." Guinan looked up at the viewscreens Q had created. "Speaking of unfair, looks like they have finally gotten around to facing the Borg as an entire group."

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Bill Maxwell's POV

Bill fired two more shots before ducking down behind his covering. These bozos are really starting to get to me. Entering the Borg infested area had been easy. The Borg had ignored them even as the two teams came together and walked toward the generator. It was when they had passed a number of makeshift assimilation chambers and finally gotten within sight of the generator that the Borg all turned to them and gave them their undivided attention.

Maxwell had counted over fifty Borg drones before he gave up. It was just too difficult to keep count when they kept walking in from other areas or got shot down by someone on his side. The majority of the new drones seem to be made up the fascist soldiers of this world. "Guess it wasn't too much of a changeover for them," he muttered as he shot down a former Stormtrooper who had had his left arm and eye replaced, but retained his white military armor over the rest of his body. Tuvok had explained to him earlier that the Collective would most likely make more major adjustments to the drones once they had established themselves more fully and had adequate assimilation chambers. The thought made Bill sick. There were a few alien races present, but these were all were wearing rags which indicated they had been hiding down below the city for years to keep away from the military government.

Two of the more bizarrely patterned drones had to have been giant rat-like vermin the size of a water buffalo that the Borg had stumbled upon and absorbed. "Geez, these guys'll sign up anybody or anything." One of the behemoth rodents was already scampering his way so Maxwell took careful aim to put it out of its misery. "Oh man!" His shots were stopped by the force field privy to all Borg drones. Reaching to adjust the dial for phaser's energy pattern, the unfamiliar weapon slipped in his hand and fell into a hole in the rubble at his feet. "Fine. Be that way." Maxwell pulled his gun from his holster and shot the giant rat-drone through the skull. "Ah, mother would be proud!"

Noticing the other Borg-rat coming toward him Maxwell smiled. "Go ahead, punk. Make my day." Having said his favorite movie line, he shot the drone in the head as well. At least he tried to. Instead of the rodent being shot the force field flared up and deflected the bullet, thus leaving the drone to continue on to dispatch Bill Maxwell, FBI. Bill fired again and again until he was out of bullets. Left with nothing else, he began scampering backwards away from the awful fate that awaited him. As Bill watched a thin metal shaft with two prongs on it began to protrude from the drone's shoulder. "Ah, a little help here! Anybody!" Bill yelled as he hurried to move away faster.

Tuvok's POV

"Ah, a little help here! Anybody!"

Tuvok looked over his shoulder to see the FBI agent trying to scramble backwards through the ruins of garbage away from the borgified creature approaching him. Having just killed his own opponent, Tuvok turned and fired his phaser at the creature. The creature froze for a second as if stunned, and then turned to approach Tuvok while another device appeared from one of its shoulders. This time it was definitely a weapon. Tuvok quickly moved the setting on his phaser way up and fired. Half of the creature lay where it had fallen, the other half was vaporized. "Resilient creature." Noting Maxwell, Tuvoc made an observation along with a question. "Agent Maxwell, where is your weapon?"

Bill was crunched down next to the wall. "Uh, what? The space gun you gave me? Ah, you see it was like this-" He aimed his handgun and fired off to the side, even though he knew that it would prove to be ineffective against the drones.

Tuvok turned and fired at the two drones that Bill had spotted. Only one went down. The other was wounded and staggered into a wall where Xander managed to finish it off with some heat ray weapon. "We do not have time for a dialog. Where is your weapon?"

"I dropped it down a hole."

Tuvok frowned. "Can you retrieve it?"

"Can I retrieve it? Are you kidding? It's a war zone out here! There may be a lot of metal trash to hide around, but there's a lot of open space here!"

"We have no choice. There are no spare weapons with modulating energy frequencies. I will cover you."

"Oh great," Bill muttered. But he couldn't take a weapon off the Borg since theirs were literally built in, and he wasn't about it wait for one of the others to get shot down.

Tuvok kept a barrage of fire down as he and Maxwell moved over to where Bill had dropped his gun. As Tuvok kept firing at his opposition, he was able to note everyone keeping the Borg spread out by keeping themselves spread out as well. The plan appears to be working so far, thought Tuvok, but anything can go wrong at any moment.

Somewhere during fiasco, Xander had managed to join Tuvok in covering Maxwell. Xander looked down at Bill groping his hand down a hole. "Hey, G-man, did you drop your gun?"

Bill gave the young man a look that would have killed if he had been able. It was Tuvok who distracted them. "Xander, when you are not saving your own life, see if you can take out some of the opposition that our teammates are facing." Saying this Tuvok shot one of the two drones that had been grappling with Jamie Sommers.

Xander frowned. "I'm not as good a shot as you are. I don't think I dare do shooting if it is that close to our guys."

"This is pointless," growled Maxwell getting up from the hole he had been searching. "The hole goes down to the level underneath us. I'll just have to face it, I'm weaponless."

"Here. Take mine." Xander tossed the Federal agent his phaser.

Xander Harris's POV

Xander pulled out two of the weapons he had found earlier from his makeshift duffel bag. Well, I would have had to try them out before I could use them at home anyway. Might as well use them here. In one hand he held a small blaster that fit in the palm of his hand. In the other he held a dart gun of some type.

Moving to where he could use a fallen section of the wall for a shield, he set down his duffel bag made from Stormtrooper armor and began to take aim. Instead of firing, the palmgun made a fizzling sound. Not a good thing, thought Xander as he chucked the weapon into a doorway where Borg drones were still entering. The resulting explosion sealed the doorway but also made the young collector have second thoughts about wanting to use his new-found toys. "Might as well use them. It's not like I got much chance at surviving this if I don't." With a fresh change of heart Xander switched hands with the dart gun. "At least this shouldn't blow up in my face." Letting out his breath he hadn't know he had been holding, Xander leaped up and fired a shot. Then another. And another. After a moment one drone dropped, then another.

It was the 'Hey!' that made him stop shooting. Across the way, Ralph Hinkley held up the offending dart accusingly at Xander and then tagged it in the drone he had been battling, which dropped almost at once. "Watch it, will you!"

"Um, sorry." Glad he's invulnerable. "Keep this up and people will be wondering what side I'm on," he commented to himself. Mentally, he promised himself to take up target shooting if he made it back home. Shoving the dart gun back in the duffel bag, he brought out a different instrument. "Well, if at first you don't succeed; try, try again." Igniting his lightsaber, he stood up to face the Borg. "Time to get up close and personnel." He hesitated. "I forgot. That's what the Borg want." Looking back at the duffel bag then at the lightsaber. "As much as I hate to say it - and my few options leave me no choice - what a way to go!"

Data's POV

The android pulled the extension off the drone's arm. The drone struck with his other arm without hesitation. Instead of staggering, Data reached out and pulled out a handful of necessary components from the drone's chest. Even as the drone fell, Data kicked out at another closing drone, smashing its borgified arm against the wall. Pushing the second drone backwards, Data bent down and retrieved the first drone's disconnected appendage. Kneeling down, Data used the weapon built in the Borg cybernetic prosthetic limb to shoot the second drone.

Taking 1.4567 seconds to gain his bearing in regards to his teammates and their goal, Data theorized that they still had a 36.7359 percent chance of obtaining their objective. A 9.7196 percent chance of succeeding without loss of life to any of his teammates. Though the odds were low, the more drones that they managed to take out and the closer they got, the better the odds became.

A bleep of frustration sound behind him. Data turned to see what the dilemma was. "I'm sorry. Just one moment." Data grabbed one of the drone bodies out of the way of the little droid and threw it twenty-five feet in the air when it collided with a tall, thin, red-speckled drone that had just come into view. "Your path is clear now. Please continue forward. Remember not to draw attention to yourself. That includes not using your welding extension as a weapon, even if you do feel they deserve it."

A series of whistles, toots and bleeps followed after the droid. "Hmm," pondered Data. "That was rather rude. In addition, you should know that I was not built to function that way."

Out of the edge of his vision he noted that Rom was struggling with a drone that had him pinned to the ground. Taking out his phaser from its holster, he fired.

Rom's POV

Rom stared with his mouth agape as he gasped. The drone that had been about to impale him with nano-probes had just suddenly fell over on its side. Then Rom saw the blaster wound in the drone's side. Looking to where the weapon had been fired from, Rom saw Data nod to him from across the room. "Thanks!" he said, happy to still be himself. Picking up his weapon from off the floor, Rom hid behind one of the nonfunctional computer terminals. "I can't believe that Nog joined Starfleet to do this kind of stuff. This is horrible!" He took a shot at one of the drones near, him but only managed to wing it. As the drone began to right itself, Rom took careful aim and shot it down. "That makes six for me." I'm counting how many I've shot now. Why am I counting? Would Nog be counting how many he shot? Is that one of the things they did in Starfleet?

A blast went off over his head. Ducking down, Rom turned and noticed that he was still in this new drone's line of fire. Suddenly, the drone flew into one of the walls and stopped halfway through it. Rom breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the man who had done it. It was one of the people from the other team that he hadn't met yet. The man with one arm. The man wobbled for a moment but then a woman was just as quickly there helping him. Looking at the out-of-service drone stuck in the wall, Rom was flabbergasted. "How did he do that?"

"Rom? Is that you?"

"Quark? Is that you?" Rom glanced around before his ears guided him over to a ventilation grate near the drone in the wall.

"What are you doing up there?"

"What are you doing in there?" Rom responded.

"I asked first!" snarled Rom's brother.

"We're battling the Borg up here."

"Oh," Quark responded in a much quieter tone.

Rom looked around nervously at the battle around him, then back down into the gloomy ventilation shaft. "Are you going to come out?"

"I'm thinking."

The grate began to move so Rom grabbed hold to help. Once he had it out of the way, he was surprised to help a very pale Vulcan out of the shaft. Vorik, though gray about the lips, took immediate stock of the situation around him.

Rom called out to his brother still down in the shaft. "Quark?"

"I'm still thinking!" snapped his brother.

Vorik's POV

Even though weakened from blood loss, Vorik felt his duty to Starfleet should come before his own health and safety. Tom Paris has done stunts like this all the time and manages to survive, he thought to himself. I wonder if I shall be as fortunate.

Coming up behind one of the drones, Vorik noticed the completeness of Borg detail and knew that this was one of the drones that had come from his universe. A Human, he surmised. Reaching out his left hand he pressed it down hard as he gripped the exposed shoulder and neck area of the Borg. To his surprise and delight, the drone dropped like a log. "Never managed to do that right before." After many months of training to use the Vulcan Nerve Pinch, Vorik had come to believe that he would never master the skill. Now…, well, anything was possible now.

Knowing that a nerve pinch wouldn't keep the drone down for more than a few seconds, Vorik picked up a small beam that was heavier than he thought it would be. Noticing the drone starting to stir, Vorik shoved the beam down onto the borgified being's head, crushing it with the blunt force. "I do wish there had been another way, the Vulcan said wearily, as he swayed slightly.

"Now I just need to take one down that has a weapon I can use." Looking at all the fighting he couldn't help asking himself, "I wonder what the plan is?"

Ralph Hinkley's POV

Ralph picked up a drone with a reptilian complexion by its feet. Twirling round and round at super-speed, he used the drone to which he was holding as a makeshift bat to knock down the other drones attacking him. Let's see them adapt to that! he thought while gritting his teeth.

A serious of phaser fire hit him in the chest. The Borg he was twirling went flying while Ralph crashed into a pile of refuse. "Great! I'm not even flying, and I still have crash landings!" Looking up he saw a number of drones closing in on him. "Okay, you asked for it." Taking a deep breath, Ralph used his super-breath to knock the drones over like bowling pins. "Strike!" Getting up from the floor, Ralph dusted off his hands on his cape. "Alright. Distracting the most drones and dealing with them is done." Looking around for his allies, he decided that they were holding their own for now. "Okay, time for the third thing Tuvok scheduled me to do."

Turning invisible, Ralph used the super-speed that the suit he wore provided to move in and out of doorways to make sure all the drones were inside. After taking a moment to disable a few latecomers, Ralph concentrated on sealing all but one exit. Ralph began piling rubble at super-speed in front of the main egress. Some of the building blocks he used were dead drones which bothered him. Some of these guys have no qualms about killing, he thought. "I wonder how they can do it and live with themselves?" Ralph, though a devote liberal, believed in the sanctity of life. The whole issue had been the subject of many arguments for Bill and him. It was his strong belief that it was his stance on not killing that made him a candidate for the suit that the aliens had given him several years ago. On his way over to seal another doorway, Ralph knocked out two more drones.

Jamie Austin-Sommers' POV

Jamie kicked, hit or threw something at anything resembling a Borg near her. She had always hated guns and even in this situation she didn't want to have anything to do with one. She blocked a blow from a drone unit with her arm, then with a little martial arts maneuvering, she twisted the drone around and slammed its head into the wall where it stayed and went limp. Looking down at her arm she grimaced. The plasti-skin that covered her bionic arm was showing gashes from all the wear and tear that she was putting it through. At this rate Steve and I will both be looking for new arms, she thought. Rudy won't be happy with us. She grimaced even more at the thought of having her bionic arm replaced, which was always a grueling, difficult procedure followed by a grueling line of tests to make sure everything is working properly.

Taking a moment, she looked over at Steve where he temporarily sat so he could get of a few good shots with the phaser in his left hand. He had tried shooting while standing at first, however with his right arm missing, his equilibrium was off, plus his body was still in shock from having his artificial arm removed. Right now, his focus was to shoot any Borg drones that looked like they might shoot at Jamie.

Picking up a scrap metal bar, Jamie checked on her allies. Immediately she noticed a drone coming up behind one of her allies she had not even been introduced to yet. The tall, dark-haired man with pointy ears Jamie had immediately discerned to be very disoriented. "Hey, Big Ears, watch your back!" Jamie threw the metal bar across the room using her bionic strength against the drone about to attack Vorik. Instead of hitting the drone as she had intended, the metal bar turned in midair and impaled itself in the drone. "Lord, No! I never meant-"

Though an agent of the Office of Strategic Investigations, Jamie had never killed before. To her, death was an option that should always be avoided, whether it be hers or an enemy's. The result being that even though it was an accident and she did not mean to be the death of any drones, the shock of her actions distracted her enough to be shot unexpectedly by another drone.

Steve Austin's POV

"Jamie!"

Steve leaped the ten feet to where Jamie lay with a drone approaching her. He grabbed the drone with his left hand and swung with his-. He had forgotten about his missing arm. Off balance he let go of the drone and kicked out with one of his bionic legs. The drone crashed into another drone twenty-five feet away putting both units out of order.

Steve groaned in pain. In bracing himself against the wall, he had managed to cut the palm of his hand so that is was a bloody mess. "This just isn't my day," he muttered. He carefully crawled over to Jamie's side. If anything bad happens, at least she knows I love her. Always have. Always will. He was about to check for a pulse when he noticed her breathing. She's only stunned, he thought. This woman, his childhood sweetheart, his wife. Breathing a sigh of relief, Steve looked up to see a drone bending down over them.

"I don't think so, cyber boy." Xander appeared and kicked the Borg in the head knocking it over. As the drone started to right itself, Xander brought down his lightsaber. Xander took a step back. "Aw, now I see why Lucas never showed much of the wounds that were inflicted with these things in his movies. Geez! I've never seen things spill out of a chest cavity like that. Not even after working with Buffy for so long."

Oh God, thought Steve. "He's just a boy," Steve whispered.

Xander, a little pale, turned to Steve. "And he was an old man," Xander paused to look at the corpse, "when it was a man." Xander looked down at his lightsaber again. "Man, now I know why Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan always looked so glum and serious all the time. Still," Xander pondered as he fiddled with the handle of the weapon, "it'll be good to use against the vamps and other creatures of the night."

Steve shook his head. What has this kid been through that has made him so desensitized to such things? Suddenly, he noticed another figure moving. "Behind you!"

Xander turned and again cut down another drone in a style that showed lots of practice at swinging toy swords at imaginary targets. Fortunately, the unforgiving lightsaber would cut through most anything as if it were air.

Steve felt a hand on his shoulder and jumped. He lashed out with his left hand but felt it caught by someone. Flailing desperately, he turned to face-.

"I am a friend. I can help you."

Steve didn't know the dark haired young man, but his features resembled those of Tuvok so he just nodded.

"Can you walk?" asked Vorik.

"I'll have to." Steve took a deep breath. "Help me up, please."

Vorik helped pull him to his feet careful of his missing arm. Then he knelt by Jamie. "I will carry the woman. You walk in front of me. The boy will have to protect us."

"Oh great," complained Xander as he shifted his duffel bag around, so he could pull out what he hoped was another effective weapon.

Quark's POV

"A person could get killed out here," muttered Quark. Looking at one of the drone bodies nearby, he couldn't help but add, "or have something worse done to you."

"It's the only way out, brother." Rom slowly led Quark around the large room trying to avoid the drones and find someone they could join with. Quark's physical appearance had been very disturbing to Rom. The abuse that he had received at Buffy's hands had been compounded by the cruel interrogation tactics of the Stormtroopers and the vicious vermin that inhabited the ventilation shaft. He was covered in dust, cobwebs, filth, blood and one of his ears had actually swollen shut, which was causing him to be nauseous and stumble.

Quark silently growled to the world around him. "I hate this place. I really do."

"It's all right, brother. Soon it will be all over and we'll get you home so Dr. Bashir will fix you up and you'll be back in your-"

Energy discharges passed through the air right between the two Ferengi. Quark spun around and dived – or more like fell – to the side. His head made a thunk noise when he hit something metal, but he was denied unconsciousness. As his eyes cleared he began to make out the shape of what he had hit. "You!?" He hissed and flailed out his arms in a pitifully defensive gesture.

The little droid bleeped and whistled sarcastically at Quark. Then turning away, the droid wheeled ten feet away, pushing through the last bit of rubble and plugged itself into a terminal.

"What?" Quark shook his head. For a second he had wanted to know what the menacing tin can was doing. However, as long as the little droid was not bothering him, then he wouldn't bother it… for now. Quark got to his knees and closed his eyes. Listening to the battles being fought around him with his one good ear, Quark just wanted to crawl under the rubble and wait it out. He would have stayed in the ventilation shaft if his brother hadn't kept begging and the skittering of crawling things in the shaft hadn't begun to grow closer.

Suddenly a sharp cry rang out. Quark's head snapped up. "Rom?" Jumping to his feet as quickly as he was able Quark looked for his brother. Rom, terrified and defenseless, stood between the JC unit and a Borg drone closing in on them. "No!"

Somehow, Quark ran the short distance and tackled the drone from behind. Crashing on top of the drone, Quark began to pull every tube and component he could off of it's body. It was as the drone was attempting to rise that an arc welder came down upon the drone's head, easily piercing it and giving off a gruesome small cloudy of smoke that smelled rather terribly.

Quark jumped off the quivering body to look in astonishment at the retracting arm of the droid and the arc welder attached to it while it still ran through the data of the terminal it was connected to.

"Thanks… I think." Looking over at Rom, Quark saw that his brother was just beginning to gain control of his breathing. "You didn't get injected or anything, did you?"

Rom actually began patting himself down to check. "No," he answered meekly.

"Good. Then get over here and help me up. If another of those mechanical recruiters comes over here, I'd at least like the opportunity to run away from it."

Buffy Summers' POV

Block-parry-block-kick-jump-stab and another drone turned into a heap of dust and mechanical spare parts thanks to the empowering Q had done to Buffy wooden stake. The only real difference between the Borg and vampire, she surmised to herself, is that all drones have to do is stab you to make you one of them. A vampire at least has to wrestle you down, drink a few pints, and then force-feed you some of its blood. She ducked down to avoid a blow from a rather tall drone of some unknown alien species. "Course, vampires are faster." She flipped herself over the drone because it had decided it would be better to shoot her. "But then vamps usually don't go around packing energy blasters," she commented as she slammed home the stake again.

A red blur went speeding by her and began piling up garbage in front of one of the remaining entryways. "What was that?" But then it was gone to another entryway knocking over four drones in its passage. "Guess whatever it is is on our side."

A flash of light caught her eye, but left totally unprepared for what she saw. Xander wielding a lightsaber against a trio of drones while protecting three wounded people. He even managed to catch one of the drones at close range with some type of flare rocket that carried it across the room. "I knew he was always trying to be heroic. Glad to see that he's finally getting it right."

It was the crunch of something being stepped on behind her that made her aware of the danger. Twirling around, she swung out with her stake only to have it knocked out of her hands. She punched out with her other hand only to have it grabbed by the drone. Her eyes widened as she saw the tubules extend from the drone's other arms. "Oh boy."

Spike's POV

Spike grabbed the drone's neck and savagely cracked its neck. As he stood over its body, as his body shook from the tremors of pain he was experiencing, he silently listened hoping that one of the voices in the back of his head would go silent. It didn't.

Buffy couldn't help but stare at her unexpected benefactor. It always came to her as a surprise when Spike would come to her rescue. But this didn't exactly look like the Spike she knew. Grayish metallic veins covered his skin and some of them seemed to be moving. "Spike, what happened to you?"

Spike turned to the foe he admired so well. His insides were crying out to him. Part of him wanted to take Buffy and drain her on the spot so that her blood would help his vampiric body heal itself from the internal damage that the nano-probes had done. Another part of him -the new part of him- wanted him to infect her with what he had, and if failing that, then to kill her, and thus remove her as an obstacle. Spike, however, had different plans. He carefully bent down and retrieved something from the rubbish. "Here. Don't say I… I never gave you anything before."

Buffy took the object and regarded it. It was Mr. Pointy, her wooden stake. "Um, thanks."

Suddenly sirens that had not been used, tested, or even looked after in hundreds of years attempted to come to life. Everyone that had spread out during the beginning of the battle now attempted to come together and rush the one remaining entrance. Data was the last one through the doorway when Tuvok gave the order for Ralph to block this final entrance. Everyone ran down the corridor carrying the wounded or unconscious leaving Ralph to finish his task.

"Hey! Where's JC?" asked Buffy.

"He chose to stay behind," responded Data.

"What's going on anyway? How were you going to defeat all those Borg bodysnatchers? And who's JC?" Quark questioned.

"JC-2B is the name of the little droid we found, brother." Rom panted as he ran half carrying, half dragging his brother along. "While we distracted the Borg, JC tapped into the fusion generator and is making it explode."

Quark's eyes widened. "Are you people insane?!" Suddenly Quark was the one half dragging his brother at a much faster rate.

The explosion knocked everyone off their feet and about a couple yards further down the corridor.

Bill was the first one on his feet. "Ralph?" He looked down the hall where they had just come from. "Come on, Ralphy. Any minute about now will do." Around him everyone was slowly getting back up. "Ralph, the last thing in the world I want to do is go how and explain to your wife why you are not coming home. So you just start coming down that hall."

Oddly enough Ralph did come stumbling down the hall. Coughing and swatting his smoking clothes.

"Ralph! You're alive!" Bill rushed down to greet his friend.

Off to one side Steve and Vorik tended to Jamie. Once it was established that she was only stunned, Vorik looked after Steve's wounds. Rom, spotting the medical treatment being done, brought his groaning brother over to be looked at as well.

Tuvok's first thought was to pull out his tricorder. "Our first course of action should be to check for signs of surviving Borg drones."

"They're all dead, mate. 'Cept the ones in here," commented Spike as he tapped his forehead.

"Hey, when did Mr. Unholier-than-thou arrive?" Xander did a double take. "And what have you done with yourself? You look horrible."

"Cor, I don't need this," muttered Spike. Giving Xander a hard glare, "Listen you life school dropout, that chip in my head ain't working anymore so back the bloody hell off!"

Out of habit, Xander took a step back. Then he remembered the small arsenal he was carrying around on his back. But then Buffy stepped in before Xander could reignite his lightsaber. She gave him her determined glare. "Xander, I need your help."

"You want me to shut up for now, don't you?"

Buffy nodded. "Yep."

Xander looked her in the eye. "If you need anything, like someone to hold him down while you pound the-"

"I'll call for you." Buffy turned to Tuvok who seemed to be consulting with Data. "Excuse me, but do you know what's happening to Spike?"

It was Data that answered first. "At some point Spike came in contact with a drone that implanted him with Borg nano-probes. These nano-probes are the first step used to create drones. They create a network similar to a nervous system throughout the body and prepare it for further artificial implants." Data turned to regard the stricken vampire. "Usually after insemination the subject is rendered in a state of unconsciousness or paralysis leaving the new nervous system able to guide its subject to the assimilation chambers."

"So he's like a living zombie," commented Buffy, putting into words she could understand.

Data tilted his head. "There are some comparisons to the simile you express." Data considered Spike again. "To resist such a force, you must have quite a unique system. At this stage it must be very painful."

Spike stood there shaking. "You have no idea, mate. And I've been tortured by some of the best and the worst."

Tuvok looked up from his tricorder. "It is as I feared."

"What?" asked Buffy.

"If there is a delay in the subject-"

"Victim! I'm a bloody victim, mate!" snarled Spike.

Tuvok continued. "-a delay in the victim reaching the assimilation chambers, them the nano-probes will begin the process by converting the raw genetic material of its host into the material it needs."

"This, uh, just gets better and better." Spike staggered and fell against a wall where he remained leaning. "Any good news? Ouch, bloody hell! This bites!"

Data ignored the question. "How long has it been since the nano-probes were administer to you?"

"I dunno. Hours ago."

"Do you hear voices?" asked Data.

"How'd you know about that?" asked the vampire.

"And how do you know all the other drones are dead?"

"I just know it… somehow. The voices keep getting louder. So many of them."

Buffy looked at Spike staring out into space. Part of her felt that no one should go through such torture, but then she remembered how Spike got his name. "He's becoming one of them, isn't he?" she asked Tuvok and Data. "And he's the last drone."

"Yes," answered Tuvok.

"And there is nothing we can do to help him?"

"Not here."

"I see." Buffy swallowed but something caught in her throat. "Could you two give Spike and me a minute alone?" After the two Starfleet officers moved a short distance away she took in Spike's pitiful form. He's one of my oldest and most determined enemies and yet I feel like crying for him, she thought. "You heard?"

"Yeah, I heard."

"Do you understand?"

Spike looked at her straight in the eyes, sweat pouring off his gray face. "Yeah, I understand, Slayer." He placed special emphasis on her title. He knew exactly what had to be done.

Buffy bit her lip and grabbed hold of her stake tightly.

"Ya know that Xander may not be the sharpest bloke around, but he did a very fair show of himself today in that brawl from what I saw. Since I won't be able to cover your back during your cemetery strolls, you might want to consider taking the lad. Needs more training, but you should be able-" Spike groaned audible as a metallic vein spread through his left eye. Shaking off the pain Spike continued as best he could though his eye was starting to glow red. "And say 'hey' to Red for me." He gasped as the skin on his left side seemed to expand and contract. "Tell her I'd bite her any day. She'd like to hear that." Spike wiped away the bloody tears that he didn't want to admit were there. "Giles…Giles was the man. Always admired him… Sort of. Well, I liked his couch and I admired his way around the books… Yer mum, she's got a bag or two of blood frozen in the back of her freezer. She's defrost some for me for when we'd watch Passions together of the telly. I-I never wanted to turn her. I liked her just the way she was, ya know? Becomin' a vamp changes a person. Well, you know. I think she's the first Human friend I've ever had. Tell Joyce I'll miss her, ya?"

"Slayer." Spike took a step away from the wall trying to stand as still as he could. "Buffy," he began again. "I just want to say that, argh, that you were the most formidable adversary I've met. Ugh, that bloody hurts! And I mean that." He took a moment to orient himself and his last thoughts. "I wish things had worked out differently between us," Spike paused for a moment before verifying, "in a good way."

Buffy was frozen. Tell me he isn't meaning what he clearly is meaning, she thought. Her horror at Spike's predicament had been replaced by shock of Spike admitting he liked her. Why is it always the dead guys that fall for me? she thought with a bit of panic. Is this a Slayer thing no one ever told me about?

"I don't know if it things would have ever worked out for us, but," he smiled, "it would have been interesting to find out. 'Specially to see what your mum would have said. Well," Spike groaned as another wave of pain washed over him, "stake me already, will ya? I'm done for already."

For a second Buffy faltered. Even though she didn't particularly like Spike, she didn't like to take someone down that was defenseless. I'm supposed to deal with Humans that become vampires. It's not in my job description to deal with whatever vampires turn into. But when Spike began spasming from the pain she knew it wouldn't be long now. He's becoming something worse, she thought. As the stake entered his heart the look on Spike's face was not one of pain, but of relief. Buffy just stood there for a moment looking at the dust falling at her feet. "Sometimes I really hate this job."

Q appeared in a flash. "Well, it's about time."

Buffy scowled. "Don't start with me." She went back to check on some of the others.

"What did I say?" Q asked to anyone that might be listening to him. No one was.

Xander was repacking his duffel bag trying to decide what he should give Anya and Willow and what he could keep for himself when Maxwell came up to him. "Hey, kid, just wanted to thank you for letting me borrow that gun of yours. You know, you're pretty good at this save the world stuff."

Xander shrugged. "Been there, done that, got the T-shirt folded up neatly at home in my dresser drawer."

Bill smiled. "Heh, I think we'd get along pretty well, kid. You ever think about becoming a Fed?"

Across the way Jamie opened her eyes to find herself being cradled by Steve. "Hey handsome."

"Hey yourself." He smiled down at her. "You had me worried there for a moment."

She touched her head a grimaced at the thought of her last memory. "Sorry. I take it that since everyone is milling around that we won?"

"Is that your first guess?"

"Well, my second guess is that we lost and that we are all just waiting around for Saint Peter to open the Pearly Gates. The only problem with that theory is that I thought the décor would look a lot better than this."

"Very perceptive. Yeah. We won."

"You know what this means, don't you?"

"Champagne?"

"That, too. I'm talking about Lamaze classes. Remember the wish?"

Steve froze. "Do you think he can actually make it possible?"

"Remember how he brought us here?"

Steve brought his wife a little closer. "Then Lamaze classes it is. But first champagne."

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DEEP SPACE NINE

Orbiting Earth

"At least we've overcome that hurdle."

"Yes, but it was only the first hurdle," pointed out Admiral Paris, looking grim.

"In my book if you try to jump too many hurdles at once, you just end up on your face in the dirt." Admiral McCoy smiled. He liked having something to say. He liked it even more when somebody actually listened to him. For the past 40 years or so he had had to bellyache all the time just to be paid any attention. Now he was firmly in the mix of things if only because they couldn't get any one off the station. It was enough for him. Enough to almost feel young again.

"Can't you see that we have a major threat floating in space just 15 million miles from Earth!" snapped Paris.

Admiral Ryvid Kriing raised his hand to get the others attention. "The Q being has rendered us unable to attack the Borg ship as well as prevented the Borg from invading Earth. With that in mind we should focus our attentions on where we can make a difference."

Admiral Paris knew the Zakdorian was right, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Here was action right on his doorstep and he had to just let it sit there.

The doors to the holosuit opened causing everyone to turn.

Rembrandt Brown came in hobbling with a friendly smile. "Hi. Uh, don't know if you know me, admirals, but, uh, I'm-"

It was Admiral Ryvid Kriing who first spoke up. "You are Mr. Rembrandt Brown, one of those who moves between parallel worlds and instigated the problem we are now trying to resolve."

Rembrandt smile was gone. "Hey, I didn't start nothin'. I was the one who got-"

"Enough!" Admiral Paris slammed his hand down on the table. "It's late and everyone is tense. What did you come here for?"

Rembrandt paused as the door closed behind him. "I want to go on the next trip."

Admiral Paris looked him over hard. "Why would you want to do that?"

"I have experience going from world to world. I know some of the troubles that can happen. I would be good for the team."

"I would like to remind you of the fact that you are just recovering from your injuries and that we don't get a choice in who goes." The admiral folded him arms but kept his eyes on Rembrandt. "But you already knew that. So why'd you really come up here?"

Rembrandt pulled up a chair and sat down. His throbbing leg didn't care about formalities. "I was watching down in the bar." He paused to gather his thoughts. "It was really something seeing all that. Quite a battle. No holds barred mostly."

"And your point?" asked Admiral Ryvid Kriing.

"That's just it. There was no holds barred. They were killing them left and right. Some of them weren't holding anything back."

"The Borg have killed or enslaved entire planets," snapped Admiral Ryvid Kriing. "They are not something you deal with lightly."

"Two of my friends are among them! For all I know they could be on one of those worlds you are sending your gung-ho commandos!"

Admiral Paris let out a sigh. "There is not much, if anything, that we can do about that, I'm afraid."

"Bull!" spoke Rembrandt vehemently. "I was speaking to a lady down in the bar and she said they brought a Captain Picard back from the Borg. And that there was a lady on one of the other starships floating out there that also came away from the Borg! So don't tell me it can't be done!"

"Mr. Brown." Admiral McCoy spoke with sadness in his eyes. As a doctor he had had to give many friends and family members news they did not want to hear or accept. "Those incidences were rather extraordinary circumstances. Plus, a great deal of medical work and luck. In truth, we are unable, not unwilling, to deal with the de-programming of a large number of drones. We'd be lucky to do five or six at a time. The medical teams are preparing for that task even as we speak."

The Crying Man was just about ready to live up to his stage name. "But, my friends-"

Ambassador McCoy raised a hand to interrupt him. "Do you have pictures of them?"

"Yeah, sure." Rembrandt reached for his wallet when he realized he didn't have it with him. "I guess I left it in my other pants in the medical area."

"Sickbay. Fine. Get those and we will get everyone a copy. Then if they spot them on one of the trips, they can try for a capture."

"Really? You mean they can bring them back?"

McCoy looked grim. "We can try. It would be a long shot if they even land on the same world. It would be an even more of a long shot if they even see one of your friends. The difficult part will be if they can capture your friends without jeopardizing the mission." McCoy looked Rembrandt right in the eye. "The mission will come first. You realize that, don't you?"

"Yeah," Rembrandt nodded. "But it's a chance." He stood up and began limping toward the door.

"Mr. Brown."

"Yes, sir?" Rembrandt answered McCoy.

"Have that lady you were talking to in the bar help you get those copies. Another team will most likely be going out real soon."

"Right. Thanks." Rembrandt smiled as he backed to the door which opened to his presence. And immediately bumped into someone. "Oh, sorry, doc. You alright? Gotta go. See ya."

The Doctor picked up his hat off the floor. "How rude. Must be an American."

Admiral Paris frowned. How are we supposed to get anything done if people keep interrupting us, he thought, pensively. "Can we help you, doctor…?"

"Yes. Thank you. I just came to say that after what I witnessed down on those vids that I most definitely will be one of the members on the next away mission."

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To be continued in… A Tangled Web Part 3: When In Greece…

AUTHOR's NoTeS:

Character roll call in order of appearance or mentioned:

Data, Lt. Cdr. (Brent Spiner) – from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)

Tuvok (Tim Russ) – from the TV series Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001)

Summers, Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) – from the TV series Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)

Rom (Max Grodenchik) – from the TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999)

Vorik, Ensign (Alexander Enberg) – from the TV series Star Trek: Voyager (1997-2001)

Harris, Xander (Nicholas Brendon) – from the TV series Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)

Quark (Armin Shimerman) – from the TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999)

Stormtroopers – from the movie Star Wars (1977)

Palpitine, Emperor (Clive Revill) – from the movie Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1977) (mentioned only)

Skywalker, Luke (Mark Hamill) – from the movie Star Wars (1977) (mentioned only)

Q (John de Lancie) – from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-?), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager

Picard, Capt. Jean-Luc (Patrick Stewart) – from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)

Janeway, Capt. Kathryn (Kate Mulgrew) – from the TV series Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001)

Riker, Cdr. William (Jonathan Frakes) – from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)

Pulaski, Dr. Kate (Diana Muldaur) – from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1988-1989) (mentioned only)

Paris, Adm. Owen (Richard Herd) – from the TV series Star Trek: Voyager (1999-2001)

McCoy, Adm. Leonard 'Bones' (DeForest Kelley) – from the TV series Star Trek (1966-1969)

Barclay III, Lt. Reginald 'Reg' (Dwight Schultz) – from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1990-1994)

Brown, Rembrandt 'Crying Man' (Cleavant Derricks) – from the TV series Sliders (1995-2000)

Paris, Lt. Tom (Robert Duncan McNeill) – from the TV series Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001) (mentioned only)

Torres, B'Elanna (Roxann Dawson) – from the TV series Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001) (mentioned only)

Doctor, The 4th (Tom Baker) – from the TV series Doctor Who (1974-1981)

Morn (Mark Allen Shepherd) – from the TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999)

Troi, Councilor Deanna (Mirina Sirtis) – from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)

Adami, Kai Winn (Louise Fletcher) – from the TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999)

Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) – from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1988-1993)

Maxwell, Bill (Robert Culp) – from the TV series The Greatest American Hero (1981-1983)

Sommers, Jamie (Lindsay Wagner) – from the TV series The Six Million Dollar Man (1975-1976), The Bionic Woman (1976-1978)

Hinkley, Ralph (William Katt) – from the TV series The Greatest American Hero (1981-1983)

Wells, Dr. Rudy (Martin E. Brooks) – from the TV series The Six-Million Dollar Man (1975-1978), The Bionic Woman (1976-1978) (mentioned only)

Jenkins, Anyanka 'Anya' (Emma Caulfield) – from the TV series Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1998-2003) (mentioned only)

Rosenberg, Willow (Alyson Hannigan) – from the TV series Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) (mentioned only)

Kenobi, Ben Obi-Wan (Alec Guinness) – from the movie Star Wars (1977) (mentioned only)

Summers, Joyce (Kristine Sutherland) – from the TV series Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) (mentioned only)