Star Trek - SCE - 03 by Hard cash

Author:Hard cash [cash, Hard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2010-08-07T15:19:40.038000+00:00

"You're pretty quiet," La Forge observed as he and Bart stood in the turbolift.

Bart shrugged. For some strange reason, all he could think about was the unfinished letter to Anthony sitting in his quarters. If this thing was indeed a Borg ship, as was looking more and more likely, who knew what would happen. He wondered if he'd even have a chance to finish the note, let alone see Anthony again.

"Finding a completely new type of Borg threat isn't something that happens every day. Not even in this job," Bart added in a weak stab at humor.

"Listen, I've survived a lot of up close and personal encounters with the Borg," La Forge said, "and while they're definitely to be taken seriously, they're not totally indestructible. Besides, the captain must think there's at least a chance that it's not a Borg ship, or else he wouldn't assign you to this."

Bart brightened at that. "True," he said. If Gold expected the tricorder information to be recorded in standard Borg, the computer would already know how to translate it. The sometimes-archaic skills of a linguist wouldn't be required.

When they began their work in earnest, Bart was heartened by the fact that the language recorded was not Borg. After working with the computer, he narrowed it down to a branch of the Taklathi language with some of the grammatical structure of the Nemar and Olisu thrown into the mix. By cross-referencing with languages as varied as Xlatitigu and Pe, he was able to establish a root structure from which the universal translator could extrapolate. He loved these moments. They were positively exhilarating, and it was a refreshing change to work with someone who, like him, respected and enjoyed language.

Finally, the tricorder was adjusted and linked with their system. After a burst of static and snow, which gave Bart a bad moment when he thought they'd shorted the whole thing out, it began to transmit information on the screen. Their eyes widened in shock at the first image, and the shock did not diminish as they watched. Engrossed, they listened to the entire recording with a growing sense of horror.

At last, it was done. Geordi turned to regard Bart, who felt exhausted and emotionally drained after viewing the information.

"The captain needs to see this. Heck, I think everyone needs to see this." Geordi's voice was heavy and somber.

Bart blinked rapidly and swallowed hard. "It's pretty awful. How much of it do you want to show them?"

"All of it."

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