“I cannot believe what I am hearing, Lieutenant Nasos!” shouted the man dressed in disguise similar to what Asani was wearing. They both had faces of the Xiezios people. Both had the gear and uniform of what workers wore in one of the many mining facilities. “You are not telling Command what we have learned?!”

“Quiet your voice now, Ensign Byers!” said Asani nearly shouting. His face showed concern that walls have ears. He was seated across from him on the other side of the desk. “Remember why we are here.” Faye or who was now Lieutenant Riker while others were around sat next to Ensign Byers. Her face looked just as angry with a similar disguise.

“I will remember if you will!” shouted the Ensign with a little less octave in his tone. “This is exactly what we should be telling them! This is what they want to know!”

“I am not here about the damn rock they mine,” replied Asani showing he was angry. “I am here to report on these species. Who they are. What they are capable of. Not their business activities.”

“That ‘rock’ they mine is exactly who these species are,” shot back Ensign Byers. His like for the Xiezios was very apparent. “It is death for whoever this mineral is used against. I have never seen anything like it. Anybody that buys it will be able to make weapons that will be lethal to whoever stands in their way. There will be no stopping them.” He sat back hard in his seat and placed his hand on his forehead. A move that Asani has seen many times. It was his way of venting his frustration. “And Starfleet is a consumer of that ‘rock’.” He nodded to Faye, “Ensign Riker was brave enough to get us that information.”

“I agree with Ensign Byers, Lieutenant,” said Faye. The way she said “Lieutenant” made Asani know she was angry. She held up a PADD. “These documents show something is going on and we need to let our contacts know even if the truth harms Starfleet.”

Asani gave a heavy sigh. “First of all,” said Asani calmly to Faye with a slight grin, “obtaining these documents went against orders and there would be hell to pay if we did tell them.” He then turned to Byers, “And second, we do not know that Starfleet is buying the mineral,” Ensign Byers began to shake his head. His face showing anger. “Or if they are…why. There could be a perfectly good explanation—”

“Will you for one moment, stop bleeding Federation red and look at the evidence in front of you!” shouted Ensign Byers while holding up the PADD showing the reports. “We know they are buying it. It is there. Starfleet wants bigger and better weapons like the Klingons, Cardassians and everyone else. There are war mongrels in Starfleet like everywhere else.”

“Plus, we have not seen any weapons made from this mineral,” continued Asani as if Ensign Byers did not say anything. Faye shook her head. “Hell Byers, we do not know if it can be refined. This mineral is so unstable that it will kill anybody that tries.” Another long sigh. “No one will get this mineral to a stable state.”

Ensign Byers leaned forward with his elbows on the desk in front of him. He looked directly at Lieutenant Nasos with his excited face that Asani has seen many times, even when they were in the academy together. “So, let’s find out if we can.” A giant smile appeared across his lips.

Lieutenant Riker smiled showing she liked the idea. “What is the harm of running a few tests? If we discover that it can…Starfleet will have to listen and maybe if we are successful…we use it for our benefit.” She gave Asani that smile that made his knees weak. “Think about all the wars that will be avoided once we show the power that Starfleet has. Plus, not to mention our promotions.”

Asani gave her a smile in return. “Without risk, there is no reward.”

“Asani,” said a hologram in an old English accent. Asani appeared startled from his daydream, but then saw the face of the famous detective. “I have discovered who killed you.” His face appeared like one of the many dramatic scenes from the many movies these holograms had seen. Harry did not move but kept looking at Asani with the same dramatic pose.

“And?” said Asani.

“You are supposed to ask who,” replied Harry with the face of Sherlock. Even with the famous detective’s face, Asani could tell the hologram was disappointed that he did not know the protocol of “revealing the killer”.

“Fine,” said Asani with a sigh. “Who?”

Harry clicked a button on the PADD he was holding, and a large hologram appeared that showed the scary looking species that Asani encountered only a few days ago. Thomas took a moment from his duties of navigating the ship to watch the show as their vessel continued its path towards Starbase Lya Station Alpha. The vortex tunnel that surrounded the ship continued to look stable as they sped through space at the slow pace of Warp two point two.

“Yes, Harry,” said Asani with a confused face. “I know who tried to kill me. I was there. I am the one who took the shot in the chest. Luckily, my body shield held.” Thomas and Harry gave Asani the same sad face. Asani gave another heavy sigh. “Fine.” Asani gave them his dramatic face and screamed, “Oh my! You are amazing Sherlock!”

Harry gave him his disappointed face. “A little over dramatic, but I will take it.” Harry then put himself back into character. “Your killer Mister Nasos is no other than the Cyborg.” Thomas began to hum dramatic music.

“What?” said Asani with his surprised looked interrupting the scene. “He is a Cyborg. How do you know?”

“Asani you are ruining my dramatic performance. I had this all planned out.” Harry was shaking his head, while Asani stood and was giving the hologram of his killer a closer look.

“Yes, Asani,” agreed Thomas. “Harry was rehearsing last night while you slept. It was incredible.”

Harry nodded towards Thomas. “You gave me some great ideas my friend.” They both gave each other a fist bump.

“Harry,” said Asani in a tone that showed he met business. “Please.”

Harry slouched and the face of the detective disappeared showing Harry’s own face. Harry pushed a few buttons and hologram zoomed in to the top of the head. “Here at the top of his head there are definitely features of mechanical work. It appears instruments are attached that help enhance his strength and movements. There are signs of grafting of skin over his entire face which means—”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“He does not want to be recognized,” interrupted Asani as his eyes narrowed. “How do you know the instruments attached are for his strength and movements?”

“These wires attached to the instruments,” explained Harry as he pointed at the wires, “run to his spine, biceps, and forearms. Looking at material found on Cyborgs, this would suggest that these wires are used to feed specialized nanobots to these areas making him stronger and faster.”

Asani sat back into his captain chair with a puzzled face. “So, he is not a part of any collective? He is not Borg? I do not see anything resembling a Borg solider. He did not talk like a Borg.”

“He is definitely not Borg,” said Harry with certainty. “I have never heard of a Borg having a positronic brain.”

“What?!” yelled Asani as he stood up from his captain chair again. “How do you know?”

Harry looked surprised that Asani was so shocked. “Well…it is his eyes. They are not real. They have the certain glow and look that all androids have but these eyes are much more sophisticated. I would not be surprised if they give him the ability to view heat, transporter, life, and other signatures like our scanners. Plus, he probably can see perfectly at night.”

“He is the perfect assassin,” said Asani as he looked into his killer’s eyes.

“I would venture a guess that he is more than an assassin,” said Harry as he pushed more buttons on the PADD. “His brain does show that it has positronic abilities but also has human qualities as well.”

“How can he both have a positronic and human brain?” asked Asani as he gave Harry a puzzled look.

“My guess is that the human brain is encapsulated by the positronic brain, and they function as one.”

Asani sat down in the captain chair in shock. “Why would anyone do this to themselves?”

“First guess is to expands one’s life,” said Thomas. “Looking at the skin grafts, I would guess some are more than two-hundred years old but have been synthesized to age differently.”

“Not only his skin has been grafted,” Harry clicked a few buttons and now the hologram was divided into parts, “all is body parts look to be grafted with machine parts to hold everything together and function. I would easily say that looking at the ageing of these machine parts, he has been around for two-hundred to three-hundred years.”

“There are no records in Starfleet of a Cyborg this advanced. Only the Borg is the closest,” replied Asani as he continued to scan the holograms. “The pain and agony that this must have caused.”

“My guess is he does not feel pain,” said Harry as he pushed a few buttons. “But he does have actual human organs.” The hologram zoomed in on the chest cavity where internal scans indicated outlines of organs. “All of them are connected to machine parts, but they have actual human tissue.”

“I have never seen anything like this creature,” said Asani with a face showing more fascination than shock. “It is like a Frankenstein, Borg and Evil Genius all wrapped up in one.”

Both Thomas and Harry gave a slight laugh. “That is not the last of it,” said Harry. More buttons were pushed, and the Hologram showed a zoomed in view of the creature’s neck. “This symbol on his neck shows that he is part of a religious cult. Huge fanatics about worshipping the god who lives at the center of the Universe where they believe it all began.” The symbol looked to have a smaller circle surrounded by a larger circle which was surrounded by a triangle with circles at each connection of the triangle. “They called themselves Esoterikian Psychian or Inner Soul worshippers for short. A believe that once you accepted this god, you would live forever as long as you did his work. This god would be your inner soul and would control all your thoughts and actions. You would have no remorse for anything you do.” Harry shook his head in disgust. “You basically give up everything to become immortal. Not my cup of tea.”

“There is nothing in Starfleet records about this cult,” stated Asani. “Where did you find this information?”

“Well…” said Harry with a nervous tone. “You told me to think outside the box and not always trust the Federation. This information came from Borg findings that were intercepted when Romulans, Cardassians, and others found crashed Borg ships. Much of the information has not been verified but the symbol on his neck matches finding from these files.”

“Good job, Harry, I mean Sherlock,” said Asani with a slanted smile. “You are a true detective.” Both Thomas and Harry returned the smile. Harry clicked a few buttons and the entire figure of the hologram appeared. Asani scanned it intensely for a few moments. He then said almost whispering, “So now we know my killer. A religious fanatic technically advanced Cyborg assassin that seems to have been around for two to three human lifetimes. This is a first for me.” Asani scratched his chin, showing he was deep in thought. “How is the Cyborg assassin wrapped up with Xiezios and why is he flying around in a Klingon Bird of Prey?” He sat back in his captain chair continuing to look at the hologram. “Is there any way to track him, Harry?”

“He was designed to be totally invisible,” said Harry. “Like you said, without your contact scanners, we would not have this information.”

“It is a marvel to behold,” said Thomas. “His face is designed so it cannot be scanned. His body is set up not to give off thermal scans. It is like he is a walking around completely cloaked. He can go anywhere without any detection whatsoever.”

“Like I said,” said Asani with his eyes narrowed, “he is the perfect assassin. And they sent him and his posse to kill an ex-Starfleet officer that was thrown out of the Federation. Somebody really wants me dead.”

A few moments passed and then Harry whispered, “Well…you did build them a perfect bomb.” Both Thomas and Asani looked at Harry. “I’m just saying…they want you dead so you cannot talk and…then when they use that perfect bomb, they blame you.” Harry gave a shrug. “It is the perfect plan.” Thomas gave Harry a weird look. Harry gave his nervous face. “Don’t get me wrong, Asani. I am very happy you are alive, but if you would have not…built…built the bomb like we said then you would not be in this mess.” Thomas rolled his eyes and shook his head. Asani rested his chin on his hand gave Harry his slanted smile. “Sorry, Asani. I just had to say how I feel.”

“Thank you, Harry,” said Asani. “You are right. I should listen to you two more.” He then looked back at the hologram. “But I think there is more to this…a lot more to this plan. I have a feeling that I was but a small part of this gigantic design…and we are in for a lot more surprises.”

“How far to Starbase Lya Station Alpha, Ensign Thomas?” asked Asani without taking his eyes of the hologram.

“We should be docking in five hours and thirty-two minutes,” answered Thomas while looking at his console.

“Perfect,” replied Asani. “Next part of our plan is to see if the knowledge of my death has made it to Starfleet and if my contact can shed light on what is truly going on.”

“Are you hoping they gave you a nice funeral? That the President of the Federation gave your eulogy? That they served a nice brunch afterwards?” asked Harry in a serious tone.

Asani looked at Harry with a puzzled face which made Harry nervous. Asani rolled his eyes. “No Harry. I am hoping that news of my death will give way to who is behind this plan. Without me in the way, they might get sloppy.”

“I have always wanted to try sloppy joes,” expressed Harry.

“Me too,” replied Thomas. “We should have that for dinner tonight.”

Asani put his hand through his mop on his head again as the two holograms discussed dinner plans. He could only smile knowing how easily distracted these two were. He then looked back at the face of the hologram still slowly circling in mid-air. He knew they would meet again.