Not quite Kansas...

Posted on Sat Aug 27th, 2011 @ 4:20pm by Lieutenant Commander Aral Aix & Lieutenant Colonel Anastasia DeVries
Edited on on Wed Aug 31st, 2011 @ 7:15pm

Mission: Tomorrow's Arizona
Location: Deck 03

Aral Aix stood at an intersection of four Jefferies tubes and stretched his back as he looked out on the scene below. Below him three Borg drones were augmenting the Arizona's systems with the efficiency, coordination and industry of insects building a nest. Approximately on deck three, Aix gazed down into the bowels of the ship below him. Patches of dull green light indicated the presence of Borg augmentation in every direction. Aral shook his head, unable to look away and incapable of grasping the full reality of the situation.

"Neat isn't it?" the voice of Stace DeVries interrupted as she brought herself to stand next to him. "I mean... the Borg are well... the Borg... but I suppose you have to hand it to them for being crafty."

Aral, astounded by Stace's sudden apparition within a foot of him, wobbled, nearly falling from his perch. He steadied himself with the assistance of a nearby rung and stammered, "Colonel... you startled me." Having recovered his equilibrium and equanimity he tried again, "Crafty is not the word I'd have used." The Chief Science Officer had visions of his mother, well one of them, making her own pottery.

"Perhaps not... but it is still suitable nonetheless," Stace retorted with a mock frown of disapproval. "Exactly how close are we to being finished here anyways? I'm sorry to report that I've not been... keeping up lately. I was sidetracked by guns."

Aral raised an eyebrow as his sense of humor returned with the repression of a smirk. "As far as I can tell, they're almost done. However." He paused. "What they're doing to this ship..." he shook his head, "I don't understand." After a suitable interval he posed a question, "Were they impressive?"

"Most impressive," Stace nodded solemnly. "I was being prepared... just in case we had to blast the heads off our lovely guests down there. Precautionary measure... you know..."

Aral looked down once again just in time to see a drone inject an ODN relay with a stream of what Aral supposed to be nanoprobes. "That old bastard has made a deal with the devil hasn't he?"

"I think the old bastard is the devil," she announced with an etched brow. "I have a very strong feeling that is only the tip of the iceberg. This whole mess is about to blow wide ass open right over our heads. Tell me... in all your lifetimes... have you ever been a fighter? Yanno... blood, guts, glory?"

Aral turned to face the Colonel. "Never a fighter." He replied, the bitter taste of adrenaline in his mouth. "Just a murderer and a lover."

"Well, I suppose two out of three aren't bad..." the woman offered with a grin. "Though I could offer lessons... in case you'd like an extra talent for your portfolio."

"Lessons?" Aral replied with intrigue. "If you insist, but I had expected to keep our relationship professional."

She paused then, just briefly enough to divert her attention back towards the drones. They both annoyed and soothed her at the same time. "Anyways... were you ordered to stand duty here or were you just mildly curious that they might be up to something shifty?"

"I was here to help." He replied, gesturing with his hands. "However I was categorized as irrelevant and instructed to observe." Aral raised his eyebrows. "I understand resistance is futile."

The marine laughed at his words and felt her lips curl upwards of a smile. "Perhaps it is... but I'm never one to give up easily. And speaking of not giving up... any ideas, oh sciencey one, on how to get home?"

"Other than replicating a pair of ruby slippers... we need to follow the old devil's plan and ride this thing out." He looked down at the drones. "I just hope we survive long enough to get back to Kansas."

Stace's eyes lit up almost magically at his words. "Slippers... those I do have. Suppose we should follow the yellow brick road?"

Aral laughed. "I'd love to see them sometime. Shall we leave the flying monkeys and be off to see the wizard?" He gestured gallantly down one of the horizontal tubes.

"That sounds absolutely lovely! Perhaps we'll meet Tin Man and Scarecrow along the way," she continued with amusement. "I don't suspect the journey will take too long."

The two officers made their way down the Jefferies tube and Aral could be heard singing "We're off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz."