Put Up Your Weapons
| BorgSpace | |
| Episode name | Put Up Your Weapons |
|---|---|
| Season | Assimilations |
| Episode number | Weapons' Story |
| Writer(s) | Maija Meneks |
| Year | 2346 |
| Stardate | XXXXX |
| Chronology | |
| Previous in series | The Doctor Is In |
| Next in series | Sensory Perception |
| Previous in timeline | N/A |
| Next in timeline | N/A |
Summary
Awakening from a vague and unsettling dream, Pilgrim Ghydin leaves his rented sleep coffin and commences his normal day-to-day routine. As a member of the nomadic Order of Koh, Ghydin's purpose in life is to quest for Divine Places, seek out Interesting Things, and offer bargain-basement prices for a wide variety of religious ceremonies. Ghydin is a specialist in technological exorcism.
Kakata Station, of the Ijexian Empire, is only the latest of stops for Ghydin. After a day that includes removing virii from computer systems, a mugging, and finally a blessing that nets a substantial tip, the pilgrim acquires sufficient funds to continue his wanderings. The destination if Pikata Station, and the mode of travel is the freighter StarRat.
Aboard StarRat, Ghydin's odd dreams continue, but all is otherwise boring routine. Then Something happens to disrupt the normal, a Something that is a large, blue ring that chases down StarRat and swallows it. Spat back into the normal universe at the other end of the portal, StarRat, crew, and passengers find themselves in a system recently assimilated by the Borg.
Unfortunately, the general populace of the Ijexian Empire has no clue who or what the Borg are; and with warp engines off-line and confronted with an apparently grumpy and hostile race, StarRat does her best to flee on impulse.
StarRat does not get very far. The decision is made to abandon ship and leave the freighter behind as bait, except the small (and warp-capable) runabout does not have sufficient room to hold everyone. Ghydin magnanimously offers to remain behind, which offends the dream-voice to no end. Finally the first of the Borg cubes catch StarRat. As the runabout casts off, the phenomenon which transported all to the system in the first place reappears. During the confusion which includes the lead cube exploding, Ghydin's dream-voice is revealed to be Micah, member of the Brotherhood of Galactic Love and original owner of Ghydin's body. Micah attempts to reassert control of the body, but Ghydin fights. By the time Micah succeeds, the runabout has vanished through the phenomenon, which itself has vanished again. Seeing defeat, Micah retreats back into the darkness of Ghydin's mind, leaving the pilgrim behind to meet the Borg alone.
Favorite Quote
Some Koh-isms:
- "Cowards survive while heroes die."
- "When you gotta go, you gotta go."
- "If you drive over someone and you fail in your endeavor or if there are witnesses, beware the wrath of lawyers."
Entity of the Week
None
Story Notes
I have always been fascinated by space stations, for it is there that I feel that the "real" culture of the Star Trek universe emerges. Except for Deep Space Nine, the Star Trek canon is focus on a vessel, a military ship with all the limitations thereof. In the case of the Next Generation Enterprise, it doesn't matter that children are aboard...the situation is more the feeling of a mobile base and less a neighborhood community. With this Weapons story, I decided to spend at least part of the story aboard a non-military station and provide a peek into a vibrant, non-Federation culture.
The rest of the story, well, Weapons is a very complicated personality. On the surface he appears to be very one-dimensional, a war looking for a place to happen. He is...but the process that created Weapons is very convoluted and the assimilation of Pilgrim Ghydin is only one facet of a much longer story. It is perhaps less stand-alone than the other Assimilations stories because I refer to circumstances that can only be known if the reader has read Brotherly Love. However, in the end, I consider the Weapons character among the most complex.
As a side note, within the story there are various references to various books or movies I like.
- Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - Ghydin carries a threadworn floral towel
- Gremlins - cameo in the form of a "Moploi", although in this cute and cuddly looking creature is quite addicted to caffeine
Links
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