“Interesting.”

Normally such a word wasn’t of such great concern, but when uttered by a Vulcan monitoring sensors it could range from ‘that’s odd’ to ‘this will be a noteworthy way of dying and I’m displeased I won’t get to read the scientific papers resulting from it’ and everything in between. So when Tavol said it, Gaeda was turning the centre in his direction pretty quickly.

“We’re sitting in orbit providing overwatch for our boss Tavol. Define interesting,” he said, exasperation evident in his own voice.

They’d seen Sidda’s gunning down of a man early the previous night. Even spoke with her to make sure all was okay. But as the sun had risen on her location and she’d proceeded into the Maze Valley, the Vondem Rose had parked itself directly overhead to watch and if need be provide ‘convincing arguments’. Those without accurate targeting scans those arguments would be generally addressed ‘to whom it may concern’.  And a good portion of their watching had come to settle on Manfred’s now unclaimed small craft. It would have to be dealt with eventually, but right now it was better to let it be and watch it like a hawk.

“I am detecting signs of phaser fire in Landing,” the Vulcan clarified promptly. “A considerable amount of phaser fire.”

“What?” Gaeda said as he launched himself to his feet to join Tavol and his station, a hand on the back of Tavol’s chair as he leaned over to examine the readings for himself, which Tavol kindly pointed out. “What the hell is going on down there?”

“I have insufficient information to make a hypothesis,” Tavol answered. “I suspect however that Ayer’s Rock residents’ predilection towards firearms will result in a resolution to the matter shortly.”

“And a lot of spilled blood too,” Gaeda muttered. He thought for only a moment more before standing straight up again. “It’ll all be over before we can muster a team together and get down there. And it could be a distraction to pull us away from the captain.”

“I find that unlikely,” Tavol said. “But not impossible.”

“Keep monitoring the situation,” Gaeda ordered. “And send Pete a message. Tell him we’re able to render whatever assistance we can and the folks down there want.”

“Understand,” Tavol replied.

“According to the map we’re actually making great time,” Trid said as she consulted the tricorder she’d brought along. Its internal compass had already given up the ghost with the amount of magnesite in the hills around them, but she’d managed to configure it to scan the compass and take readings from it. That and the survey map she’d gotten were giving them the best idea of their current location.

“Good,” Orelia responded. “Sooner we deal with this Gavalore jerk, the sooner we get off this rock and somewhere decent.”

“Actually, I think I like it here,” R’tin chimed in. “Rugged landscape, plenty of open space. Dry climate. Feels like home.”

“Did you grow up on Romulus?” Trid asked.

“Yeah, near the Shalin Plains. Much like this, but we didn’t have creatures like these,” he said as he reached down and petted the neck of the tobiano horse he was riding on. “These horses are interesting, but they don’t seem very…local.”

“They’re from Earth,” Sidda spoke up, adjusting her newly acquired hat once more. “And some horses are fine, some are right demons. We got given very well-tempered beasts.” And much like R’tin, she reached down to give her mount a pet and a scratch, earning a happy huffing from the creature.

“Huh. Should have guessed seeing as this is a human world,” R’tin said before he went quiet.

The four riders continued in silence for some time before their fifth, Deidrick Osterman, rejoined them, bringing his horse back at a decent gallop along the path they were following, looping around and coming alongside them at the more sedate speed they were moving at.

“There’s spotters in the valley,” he said, pointing far up the valley’s sides. “I’ve seen heliographs three times already this morning and each further along than the last.”

“I’m not sure which I should be concerned more about, that Manfred brought others and they’re lying in wait, or Gavalore has done the same,” Sidda said as she scanned the ridge lines. “But we’re here now.”

“Could just be farmers,” Trid said. “Goats or such up in the hills perhaps?”

“What’s a goat?” R’tin asked.

It was a half-hour after Tavol’s first ‘Interesting’ had wafted across the Vondem Rose’s bridge that Gaeda was beaming down to the town of Landing at the behest of the sheriff and the mayor. The street outside the Federation Outreach Office was a nightmare scene of blood and a half-dozen bodies lying in the street. Sheets had been draped over a number of the bodies and a deputy stood near each of them armed with a shotgun.

“Jesus,” grumbled Bones as she stepped past Gaeda, already swinging her medkit around and fetching out a tricorder. Her attention wasn’t on the dead, but on the injured that were being assisted by the local medical professionals. One of the Rose’s many crewmembers was walking behind her with a crate of more supplies and setting them down as ordered by the doctor.

“Ruiz,” Sheriff Jacobs rumbled as he approached. “Your boss still on her fool’s journey?”

“That she is,” Gaeda answered. “What happened here?”

“I was going to ask you that.” Jacobs was armed like his deputies, like everyone on the street on a quick examination. With a flick of his head, he led Gaeda towards the Outreach Office and away from the bodies on the street. “Leave them to Bones, I want your opinion on this since you’re an off-worlder.”

“Sure thing,” he answered and within just a few moments was just as confused as Jacobs clearly was. Inside the office, a totally different decor to the rest of Ayer’s Rock, or even the outside of the building itself, one could almost believe they were anywhere else within the Federation. Slick consoles, comfortable tables and chairs for the workers to do their work and liaise with the locals. But the whole slick office scene was ruined by the five dead bodies spread around the room.

“Santa Maria,” Gaeda muttered as he followed Jacobs on a short loop of the room.

“Mixture of phasers set to kill and blunt force trauma,” Jacobs said, indicating one body covered by a sheet to highlight the latter. “Then those six out there stepped outside. The two with phasers kept firing while the other four assaulted passersby.”

“How many?” Gaeda asked.

“Two dead, six injured. Honestly, I’m glad you folks are here. Bones is going to be a big help.”

Gaeda looked around the room once more and the unfortunate souls who wouldn’t be leaving. Then with a nod followed Jacobs back outside, who led them to the closest of the covered bodies on the street. “Something ain’t right with them,” Jacobs grumbled and with more non-verbal communication the deputy overwatching stepped forward to pull the sheet back.

“Fuck me,” Gaeda grumbled. “Bones!”

“Just a moment,” she shouted back.

“Now!” he returned.

It still took a minute for her to join them as she was attending to one of the injured with the local doctor, leaving her medkit with the man before she stalked over, glaring at Gaeda with deadly intent. Then she looked down at the body and stopped. The glare left her face as her expression blanked, tricorder flicked open once more as she knelt to scan the body as well as conduct her own inspection.

“There are no nanoprobes present, but everything else indicates there should be,” she said shortly after starting. “No cybernetics at all.”

“What happened to them?” Jacobs asked.

“They’re Borg,” Bones announced, waving her tricorder over the street, focusing on the dead bodies. “They’re all Borg.”

“What the hell is going on here?” Gaeda asked. “Why are there Borg on Ayer’s Rock?”

“How are there Borg on Ayer’s Rock?” Jacobs asked. “And what’s a Borg?”

“God, you really are off the grid here aren’t you?” Bones asked in reply. “

“We don’t bother the galaxy, the galaxy don’t bother us,” Jacobs drawled. “But looks like that might have changed today. This something them Federation Outreach folk brought with them?”

“No…this is an attack of some kind,” Bones muttered. “Fucking Borg.”

“Sherrif!” came a shout from someone running down the street. “Sherrif!” it repeated as the young boy ran right up to Jacobs, Gaeda and Bones. “Pete and the Mayor say you need to come quick and bring the offworlders. The Federation President is sending out a distress call.”