"And this one adjusts how much impulse power we use for propulsion,"
Lt. Euge Yee explained.
     "Yeah, but what's this thing do?" asked Counselor Tracy from behind
Euge's shoulder as he pushed a red button on the panel.
     "Not the wed one!" cried Euge.
     "Holy Cow, Captain Chow!" exclaimed Harry suddenly, as red lights flashed
and noisy klaxons roared.  "Jim Essian's been fired and we're at Red Alert!"
     "What what what what WHAT?!?!" shouted Chi An as he dashed out of his
Ready Room.  Realizing where he was, he quickly grabbed the Twins cap off
his head and tried to hide it behind his back.
     "Sorry, Captain," said Euge sheepishly, returning the ship to non-alert
status.  "I was just showing Counselor Tracy my console, when--"
     "Just don't let it happen again," said Chi, turning to return to his
Ready Room and Game Four of the Galactic Series.
     "Hey, what's this thing do?" asked Tracy curiously, pressing another
set of buttons.
     "Oooooo, the Cubs aren't going to like *that* call!" exclaimed Harry
again.  "Please confirm activation of the saucer separation sequence."
     "STOP THAT!" shouted Chow.  Returning to the bridge, he pointed to a
distant corner behind the science stations and said, "John!"
     Tracy lowered his head and walked to the distant corner, where he
stood silently, sulking and pouting.
     "Euge, don't *ever* let him touch your console," said Chow.  Then
louder, so all could hear, he added, "That goes for ALL of you."
     Chow re-entered his Ready Room.  A few seconds later, the turbolift
doors opened for a golden-skinned artificial person in the uniform of a Star
Fleet Vice Admiral.  He began to walk down the ramp toward Captain Chow's
office, then stopped and turned curiously toward Tracy's corner of the
bridge.  He raised a hand and extended a finger, opening his mouth as if to
speak.  Obviously not sure what to say, he closed his mouth again and instead
headed straight toward the sulking Counselor.  Euge watched this spectacle
with detached amusement.
     "Excuse me, Counselor," said Data, waiting for a response.  He got none,
as Tracy continued to sulk.  Data opened his mouth, narrowed his eyes, then
closed his mouth again.  "Perhaps I can be of some assistance?"
     Tracy sighed heavily.
     "You appear to be at an impasse.  Might I remind you that the turbolift
doors," Data said, turning to point to the lift, "are on *that* side of the
bridge?"
     "Admiral," declared Aedoni from a science station.  "We have a major
gravitational disturbance forming ahead of us."
     "Cause?" asked Data.
     "Guess," suggested Janson with a side order of sarcasm.
     "Red alert," ordered Data, moving quickly toward the command center.
While Avenger's stride was one of legend, Data was neither one to dilly-
dally in the face of danger.  Harry started up his sirens again and almost
immediately Captain Chow came flying out of his office in anger.
     "Euge, I thought I told you to keep him--"
     "*I* sounded the red alert, Captain," interjected Data.  Nodding toward
the viewscreen, Chi An could see why.
     "Rod Beck, where are they all coming from?" Chi An asked unbelievingly
as cube after cube popped out of warp in front of them, reminding him more
of an overdone segment of Terry Gilliam cut-out animation than anything else
he could possibly conceive.

FADE TO BLACK
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
               STAR TREK: THE CROUTON GENERATION
                       "The Perfect Game"
                   Part 9:  "The Iron Maiden"

Written by The Admiral

Guest stars
	Gary Hren as qey'rI
	Lalla Ward as T'Kreila
	Michael Ironside as Torbog

Special guest stars
	Brent Spiner
	Arnold Schwarzeneggar as The Emperor

Music by Uncle Bonsai
Directed by Michael Dorn

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
     "There sure are a hell of a lot of them," muttered Euge.
     "Ummm..." Chi stammered.  "Does anybody have any idea why they aren't
attacking us?"
     "May I?" asked Data.  The ensign at Ops relinquished the station to the
senior officer, who now sat down opposite Euge.  Euge smiled quietly at this
rare opportunity.  Data's fingers flew rapidly across the Ops console, page
after page of information scrolling by.
     "It appears that they are dispersing their fleet into this quadrant from
this centralized location.  We appear to have simply been in the right place
at the right time to observe this.  Science Officer Aedoni, will you please
begin tracking the vessels?  Perhaps we can speculate about their eventual
destinations and warn the Fleet."
     "Aye, sir," said Aedoni, staring one last time at the viewscreen before
returning to her station to carry out the command.
     "Admiral?" interjected Euge.
     "Yes, Lieutenant?" replied Data.
     "Begging the Admiral's pardon, but you haven't answered the Captain's
question."
     "Ah, yes.  An oversight on my part."  He continued to scan through the
incoming data.  "Perhaps you have your own view, Lieutenant?"
     Euge looked shocked for a moment, but quickly buried it to put his ideas
forward.  "With so many of them, our task force is certainly no threat.  If
we were stupid enough to attack them first, I'm sure they wouldn't waste any
time removing us.  As it is..."  Euge looked back to the viewscreen and the
dispersing Borg vessels.  "They could be too preoccupied with their own plans
to want to squash three little starships."
     "Besides which," noted Data, "by leaving us alone, we are still ripe for
assimilation when the time comes."
     A low murmur erupted from the bridge crew at those words.
     "Uh, Admiral," whispered Euge.  "Let's not assume that the time WILL come
for our assimilation."
     "My apologies," said Data, turning toward the bridge crew.  "That was
a mistake on my part.  I did not intend to suggest that our assimilation IS
inevitable."  Pausing again, and directing these words more at Chi An and
Euge, he continued.  "When examining the actions of the Borg, I tend to put
myself in their frame of minds."
     "Don't you mean 'frame of mind'?" asked Aedoni.
     "No," explained Data, turning to the young Romulan.  "I did in fact mean
'frame of minds.'  I have had two occasions to touch their minds...a very long
time ago."  Data paused to reflect on incidents past.  "Unfortunately, when I
now attempt to take their frame, I also tend to speak their minds as well."
     "You are forgiven, Admiral," said Chi, slumping into his chair.  He took
another long look at the departing Borg vessels and sighed.  "It's at times
like this that I feel most like a Cub fan."
     "What do you mean, Captain?" asked Euge.
     "Outgunned, our pitching staff in shambles and unable to do ANYTHING but
watch somebody else win the big game.  Oh well, at least I'm not a Mets fan."
     Aedoni scratched the barbed tip of her right ear as the science station
blinked before her.  "Captain, Admiral," she interrupted.  "Harry's starting
to plot those course projections you asked for."
     "On screen, please," requested Data.  A large map filled the main view-
screen.  Three small yellow triangles represented the _Chivalier_ task force.
From their location streamed a variety of red dotted lines toward a variety
of star systems.
     "It doesn't seem to have any rhyme or reason," Chi said.
     "It's as if they're just going after everything," said Aedoni.
     "Perhaps they are," speculated Data.  "Guinan always warned us that the
Borg do nothing piecemeal."
     They continued to take in the view, though it only encouraged depression.
     "It's TOO random," Euge finally concluded.
     "Why do you say that, Lieutenant?" Data queried.
     "The Borg always do things for a reason.  Maybe they're just trying to
split us up?  You know, so that we send a ship to each planet to defend each
world?  Divide and conquer."  Euge paused, reflecting further.  "Our other
option forces us to decide those worlds which are worth defending in force...
and those which we must ignore.  Either way, they know they've got us."
     "Intriguing."
     "Is that all you have to say?" Chi An exploded.  "How many people might
become like THEM because we don't have the manpower to tackle this?"
     "I do not know," admitted Data.
     "Well, you're a big help," Chi muttered.  Disgusted with all of it and
now content to know the Borg weren't going to bother him right for the moment,
he stomped back to his office.
     "Wait a minute," said Aedoni.  She had been thinking hard since Euge had
spoken up.  "Maybe we can apply what Euge said both ways.  Maybe they have
also decided which worlds they really do want."
     "And the others," concluded Euge and Data, stopping to look curiously
at one another, "are merely decoys."
				* * * * *
     Deep, hollow gong-like chimes echoed through the immense, dimly lit
chamber.  At its center sat a gigantic throne of metal, a chair which held
discomforts of no bounds.  In that chair rested a massive Klingon, his heavy
armor darkened by the blood of fallen enemies, dinged and dented and rusting
from the abuses of weather and battle.  He stroked his massive beard and
hungered for more blood, puffing on a short rod of slagweed, not caring who
might inhale the second-hand smoke.
     Around him stood the more powerful members of the Klingon High Council,
for once mostly in agreement: their petty squabbles, their political aims,
their plots and machinations for power mostly laid aside in favor of a
greater aim for all the Klingon people!  The Councillors whispered amongst
themselves, wondering at the recently announced intrusion and at the Emperor's
decision to encourage it.  Their question of "Who?" was quickly answered, as
a trio of Klingons approached from a shrouded entrance.
     The chamber trapped smells and toxins that she had not experienced in
quite some time.  A human would have forgiven the brief fit of coughing she
experienced upon her entrance, but few humans had ever been welcome here (and
she had met most of them at one time or another).  T'Lilith and her party
marched toward the throne, stopping abruptly at the customary distance a few
meters from the Emperor's feet.  The three simultaneously dropped to their
knees and drew their swords, holding them out for all to see the stains of
enemy blood.  The sword from T'Lilith's belt was mostly ceremonial and what
Lucky Charm blood stained it did little to prevent its shining boldy in the
ill light the room could afford.
     Her sister, in her shame, held no sword and cried out in agony as she
reached toward her leader, as if to say "O, noblest Emperor!  If I could
but have the chance to serve you one last time!"  The tall man between them
held a stained and damaged blade that many of the Council both respected and
feared.  Were it not for his own more worldly ambitions, he might have already
had place on this Council.  He had certainly won the right on more than one
occasion.
     "Commander qey'rI, faithful subject and most honorable warrior of the
Defense Fleet, we honor your request for an audience."  The Emperor scanned
the Councillors for signs of treachery, deceit or dispute.  He was pleased
to see none before this great warrior.
     "I have brought quvwI' [honorable] t'lilit," qey'rI explained finally.
"It is she who seeks your audience, joHwI' [my lord]."
     The Emperor grinned, his teeth bared, as he once again examined the
Council.  They again muttered amongst themselves, these noble men, obviously
bothered by both the presence and tenacity of this woman, but they did not
openly oppose her.  He flicked the smoking remnant of the slagweed rod at one
of more vocal Councillors.
     "'aj DIvI' [Federation Admiral] t'lilit, there is always room in our
ears for the words of a Klingon of Valor."  His exaggerated pause gave him the
satisfaction he sought--the enraged gasps of several older Councillors as they
noted the forged metal badge she displayed on her breast.  He spoke louder.
"Lend us your wisdom, SuvwI' be' [woman warrior]."  Another startled gasp
erupted from his Councillors.
     "I come with news from Star Fleet," T'Lilith proclaimed.  "And an appeal
on behalf of be'nI'HomwI' [my younger sister]."
     "This news from Star Fleet...does it regard the confrontation with the
borgh?"  He spat out the name in disgust, as befit the name of any enemy so
dishonorable as the Borg.
     "That it does, joHwI'."  T'Lilith updated the Emperor on her latest
reports from Star Fleet Command, which came primarily from her husband.  She
also spoke of her personal concerns about the Borg and of their targets.
     "We are left little choice then," concluded the Emperor.  "If it is war
these Borg want, it is war they shall get."  He smiled confidently.  "But
there is no warrior like a cold warrior."
     The various Councillors laughed heartily at that retort, but stopped
cold and quiet upon the interruption of their humor.
     "The Borg are without honor," exclaimed T'Kreila.  "And they are most
definitely the coldest of warriors."
     "Who is this?" cried the Emperor impatiently.  While he himself was not
angered by her outburst, he had to keep up appearances lest the Councillors
perceive him as weak and ripe for...replacement.
     "She is T'Kreila," spoke T'Lilith.  "be'nI'HomwI'.  She knows the borgh
better than any of us."
     "How is this possible?" asked one of the Councillors.
     "I myself fought bravely at Vulcan!" another proclaimed loudly.
     "But none of you," stated T'Kreila, pronouncing each word carefullly.
"NONE OF YOU!!!" she accused, scanning the crowd with a sharply extended
finger, not even sparing the Emperor.
     "None of you," she repeated, "has been ONE with the borgh."  Sharply
turning her finger upon herself, she continued.  "I WAS one of them!  I was
a borgh..."  Her head slumped.  "And I assure you that *I* was the coldest
of warriors."  
				* * * * * 
     "That group there," said Chi An, tracing several lines across Aedoni's
screen.  "They're headed into the Klingon Empire."
     "But none are yet assigned to Romulan space," said Aedoni, happy that
her people might be spared.  "Why is that?"
     "Could be a lot of reasons."
     "Could be dandruff," mumbled Janson.
     "Simple one, Captain," said Euge from over Chi An's shoulder while a
random bridge officer examined his own scalp curiously.
     "How long have you been standing there?" asked Chow.
     "Long enough."  Euge sat down at the science station next to Aedoni's
and tapped some commands into the system.  "The Borg have already done a
little exploration in the Romulan star systems, right?"  He spoke up, to
include the distant android.  "Admiral Data uncovered some of the evidence
himself."
     "Hmm?" said Data in an all-too-human tone.  He approached from the
corner of the bridge that had been his haven for meditation.  "Yes, we did
discover evidence of Borg intrusions along both sides of the Neutral Zone
over a year before our first actual encounter with the Borg."
     "Very strange that they would have waited so long to come for us," noted
Chow.  "Didn't that ever bother you?"
     "I have often wondered why, if they were aware of our presence, they did
not come for us sooner.  It was always presumed that Q opened the door for
them, but I have often wondered if that were not merely one of his convenient
coincidences.  He did in fact help us by giving us the chance to learn about
the Borg before our eventual first encounter."
     "Anyway," said Euge, bringing other data up on the screen.  "They must
not have found much about the Romulans that interested them...perhaps they
were expecting the Empire to pull the same kind of stunt they did during the
Lucky Charm Invasion."
     "So why the Klingons, besides the obvious reason of assimilating EVERY-
thing?" asked Chow.
     Euge tapped some more and a picture formed on the screen before him.
"Getting old, Captain?  Memory failing?  Don't you remember T'Kreila?"
     "Who?" asked Chow.
     "I remember her," said Janson dreamily.
     "He'll NEVER forget her," muttered Aedoni, flashing a thumb disgustedly
over her shoulder at the security chief.
     "Admiral T'Lilith's sister," explained Euge.  "The true Klingon of the
two, according to the Admiral.  Don't you remember where she was when the
_Subaru_ recovered her?"
     "T'Kreila was the Speaker the Borg replaced by Missycutus!" Aedoni
suddenly realized.  "They must know all the key Klingon targets."
     "Between Missy and T'Kreila," Chi groaned.  "The Klingons might as well
give up."
				* * * * *
     "He didn't believe me!" complained T'Kreila.
     The three sat in a darkened room -- qey'rI's planetside quarters.  It
was spartan -- even less furnished and grungier than the average Klingon
abode, although this could be expected considering its frequency of use.
T'Lilith shook her head disgustedly as she tried to place a comforting hand
over her sister's, though the gesture was brushed off.
     "The Emperor believed you, t'Qayla," confirmed qey'rI.  "But he had to
keep up the appearance of disbelief."
     "The other members of the Council are the problem," agreed T'Lilith.
"If only..."
     T'Lilith was interrupted by the eerie wail of Klingon air raid sirens.
Her stomach dropped as she realized what must be the cause for the alert.
qey'rI was already up, arming himself and T'Kreila from his weapons cabinet.
     I am not ready for this, thought T'Lilith.  I may be Klingon, but the
Vulcan way is preferred.  Why must they create conflict???
				* * * * *
     Euge entered Ten Forward, scanning the crowd.  She was sitting at a table
near the windows, watching the distant starlight.  He approached hesitantly.
There had been a distance, an unspoken tension lately.  Neither had spoken of
it openly, but both had noticed.  Whose fault it was, or whether blame should
even be assigned, seemed a moot point to Euge.  It simply was.
     "Paula."  She acknowledged him with a warm smile that surprised him.  He
sat down opposite her and wondered how many times he had become lost in her
eyes.
     "Euge, I..."  She was obviously having trouble finding her words.
     He laid a hand over hers merely to give her strength.  She pulled back
a little.
     "Paula, you don't need to say it.  Things have changed for both of us.
There's no reason we can't continue to be friends."
     She nodded and smiled, though he thought he saw a tear forming in one
of her eyes.
     "Euge, I've met someone."
     "Anyone I know?"
     "No.  I met him on Earth a few weeks ago, right after we got back."
     He nodded.  She hadn't taken the LMC incident well.  She really had
needed some time.
     "I'm happy for you, Paula.  I really am."  He said it honestly, and deep
down he really did feel happy for her.  It made things a little easier.
     Her eyes began to search the room, the tears welling up thickly now.
"I...this has all been too much for me.  I have a duty to perform...  I can't
just drop it at a time like this.  Yet..."
     "Paula, do what's right for YOU."
     She smiled again and sniffed back the tears.  "Thanks, Euge.  You really
are a good friend."  She took his hand into hers now, and he now noticed a
shiny ring around one of her fingers.  "My best friend."
     "You're getting married..."  She blushed and nodded.  "Congrats."
     "As soon as this is all over, I'm resigning my commission.  When you ship
back out to the LMC--"
     "*If* we ever go back to the LMC," he pointed out.
     "Whatever.  I won't be going with you."
     "What's his name?"
     "Emilio.  He's really sweet!  He's an actor, you know, and a friend of
his is interested...well, I may finally get to perform some of my music."
     "It's about time," said Euge.  "The Federation really doesn't know what
it's been missing."
     She blushed again, shaking off his comments modestly.
     "Really though," he continued.  "I am happy for you--both of you."
     "Oh, Euge!"  She stood up and threw herself at him for a tight embrace.
"I'll miss all my friends here, but you most of all!"
     "I'll miss you too," he said.
     "At least come to the wedding?" she said, pulling apart from him.
     "I couldn't miss it," he smiled.
     A few more pleasantries later and they parted, moving on to new chapters
in their lives.  After leaving Ten Forward, Euge started for his quarters,
then snapped his fingers and abruptly changed course for the ship's library.
				* * * * *
     Three Borg cubes had taken up position around the Klingon homeworld.
Tractor beams lanced out toward the cities below, one locking onto the
capitol.  T'Lilith wondered if this was what the "Big One" in Los Angeles
had felt like in 2028.
     qey'rI's first officer made a valiant attempt to break up the Borg
attack, but the Borg saw _wil'yum rey'qIr_ as little more nuisance than a
pesky mosquito.  Reinforcements were on the way, but for a few minutes, the
Borg would have the advantage.
     qey'rI, T'Lilith and T'Kreila arrived at the Great Hall just as the
Borg began their ground offensive.  The Emperor found himself face to face
with a Borg half his size, but struggled to hold his ground when he grabbed
hold of the Borg's arms.
     T'Kreila knew damn well that disruptors were useless and drew out the
large spiked mace she had recovered from qey'rI's quarters.  Leaping toward
the nearest Borg, she aimed not at its face, but for the life support
controls in the drone's chest unit.
     qey'rI took her lead and aimed similarly at other Borg.  Unfortunately,
by the time the various High Council members had caught on, so had the Borg.
     T'Lilith stood in silence, watching the spectacle.  It was if she was
frozen by fear, but she was not experiencing terror.  She was simply at a
loss for what to do.
     A Borg came too close.  She whirled and aimed for the neck, but her
nerve pinch didn't work through sheet metal.  The Borg simply ignored her
and continued toward its target.
     The Emperor!  The Borg were seeking him out.  Despite his great strength
and combat experience, he didn't have much time left.  The Borg outnumbered
him.
     "I have to do something," muttered T'Lilith.  Logic went to the winds
as her mind raced for an idea.
     "T'Lilith," her sister called.  "Got any bright ideas?"
     What would Mike do at a time like this? she wondered.  She looked around
the Hall again and was suddenly reminded of a scene from an ancient Terran
video she had once been subjected to by a certain first officer on the _USS
Christopher Pike_...
     Could it be?
     She rushed toward the Emperor and the Borg surrounding him.
     "It is so ridiculous it might work!" she thought aloud as she spun a
Borg around to face her.
     She pointed two fingers toward the Borg's face.  As expected, it focused
on her fingers.  She then ran the fingers up, down, side to side, the drone's
gaze following all the way.  Suddenly, she reversed direction and poked the
Borg in the eyes.  The drone staggered backwards, lurching from side to side,
its arms outstretched.  The sudden loss of vision confused it and it crashed
into two of its comrades, sending all three to the ground.
     "baQa'!" swore the Emperor in praise.
				* * * * *
     "The Klingon homeworld is under attack and some reinforcements are on
their way," reported Aedoni.  "But maybe they could use our help?"
     "We are too far away," said Data.  "If we could be of help and if our
duty in this sector were not so important, I would have us assist."
     "So instead we're going to do nothing???"  Chi was visibly upset.
     "There is another alternative, Captain."
     "What exactly?" wondered Aedoni.
     "Easy," said Euge as he walked past them from the direction of the
turbolift toward his position at the front of the bridge.  "Checked your
ears lately, Aedoni?"
     Chi looked up sharply.  "Romulans?"
     "Oh yeah," realized Aedoni, slapping her own forehead.  "What am I?  An
idiot?"
     Data looked at Aedoni curiously.  "Science officer, please alert your
people to the threat the Klingons face."
     "I'll get right on it."
				* * * * *
     It was working!  Somehow, T'Lilith had found the secret to defeating the
Borg in close combat.  If only she could get the message to Avenger somehow!
How amused he would be to learn that the Klingon Empire had been rescued by
the beings known as Larry, Moe and Curly.
     Unfortunately, the Borg still held the advantage in space, high above
the planet.  The Borg were still able to reach down with their tractor beams
to tear the capitol apart, despite Klingon reinforcements.

     "ja'! [Report!]"
     qey'rI's first officer relinquished the throne at the center of the
bridge and stood at attention to one side.  "They have the upper hand, joHwI'.
Our reinforcements are not enough...the borgh--"  The tall Klingon spat to one
side at the word 'borgh.'  "--are attempting to lift three cities from the
planet as we speak.  One contains the weather control center."
     qey'rI rested his chin on one hand.  "qu'vatlh!  No more smog."
     "Damn you, let me by!"  T'Kreila pushed her way past a security officer
six inches taller and two feet wider than her.  When he laid a hand on her
shoulder, she whirled and slammed her palm into his nose, simultaneously
bringing her knee up into his groin.
     "A simple nerve pinch would have sufficed!" scolded T'Lilith as she
lowered the other security man to the floor.
     "The Emperor?"
     "He is safe for now," T'Kreila told qey'rI.  "But YOU may need our help."
     qey'rI smiled, nodded, then turned to the gunner's station.  "Relinquish
your station and see to the Crouton torpedoes.  We may need to make special
modifications to defeat this enemy."  As the gunner exited the bridge, qey'rI
offered a hand to the open station.  "I appear to have a job open for you."
     "I'll take it!"  T'Kreila dropped into the gunner's seat and familiarized
herself with the console.
     "I don't know how much help I can offer," said T'Lilith.  "I'm about
out of ideas."
     "So am I, t'lil," he replied in hushed tones.  "Maybe your sister knows
something we don't."
     "Don't count on it."
     They watched as three more birds of prey swooped in to be immediately
destroyed.  They were able to distract the Borg ships for just a few seconds,
a few seconds in which the cube shapes could not concentrate their tractor
beams on the cities below, but the loss to the Klingon fleet was just as great
and the firepower they had to offer was now that much less.
     "A plasma torpedo with a peak release around 9000 TW might disrupt their
entire power distribution network," muttered T'Kreila.
     "What was that?" qey'rI and T'Lilith asked.
     "If only we had access to Romulan technology!"  T'Kreila slammed the
console hard.  "A plasma torpedo with excited Croutons mixed in would work!
I just know it!"
     They watched in horror as a city lifted from the face of the planet
toward one of the orbiting cubes.  Was it worth the loss of so many ships to
save this city?
     Suddenly, the sky erupted in a flurry of shimmering green, as fifteen
Romulan Di'direx'kada II class Warbirds decloaked around the Klingon fleet.
     "Commander qey'rI, is it not?" said an all-too-familiar Romulan voice.
The imposing image of Commander Torbog flickered onto the _rey'qIr_'s main
viewscreen.  His jet-black hair was cut into the standard hawk-shaped bowl
and his trademark scar was still all too visible on his left cheek.  "I hope
we're not too late."
     "Friend Romulan," qey'rI said hesitantly.  "Let us cut to the chase and
bypass the usual unpleasantries.  We thank you for your timely arrival.  We
were just discussing how you could help us win this battle!"
     "You are welcome to the aid.  A certain artificial friend to both our
great Empires suggested you were in need of our assistance.  What can we
provide for you now?"
     "My gunner--"  T'Kreila smiled at being so readily accepted.  "Well,
perhaps she can explain."
     T'Kreila did. "If you add a 37% mix of Croutons of third Crispness to
the plasma in your torpedoes, you should be able to produce a torpedo with a
peak energy release around 9000 TW.  That should be enough to not only blast
a BIG hole in the side of any one of those Borg ships, but it should also
overload the power coupling system and disrupt the entire power distribution
network."
     "Impressive," said Torbog.  "Could we borrow some of your fine Klingon
engineers to help us with these improvements?"
     T'Kreila looked to qey'rI.  He nodded and his own engineer left for the
Croutonizer.
     "And when the battle is won," offered qey'rI.  "Perhaps we might borrow
some of your fine Romulan engineers for similar improvements here?"
     "I don't see why not," replied Torbog.
     "One problem," interrupted T'Kreila.  T'Lilith listened with strong pride
building in her green and purple heart.  "This may only work a few times...
and it won't last forever.  You'll bring them to a halt, but only for a few
minutes.  You need to cripple them all and finish them off quickly.  On our
next encounter with the Borg, they will probably be immune to this."
     "Thank you for that information," acknowledged Torbog.  "May I ask how
you can be so certain of this?"
     "Yes," said T'Kreila.  "I used to be one of them."
     "Of course.  T'Kreila..."  Torbog nodded.  "I am glad to see that you
have recovered.  Commander, I will inform you when the torpedoes are ready."
     "Thank you, Commander.  qey'rI out."  The viewscreen went dark.
     "It's going to work, t'lil," T'Kreila stressed.
     "I know," said T'Lilith firmly.  And she meant it too.

FADE TO BLACK
----------------------------------------------------------------------
On the next
		    STAR TREK: THE CROUTON GENERATION
			    "The Perfect Game"
			 Part 10: "Mail Bonding"

The _Croutonprize_ hosts a new weapon in the fight against the Borg...
Highlander:  Marines?
Soraya:  Marines?
Avenger:  Marines.

And with them Crossfire's past begins to catch up with him...
Icefalcon:  Weren't you originally going to enlist in the Marines?

But will the Marines cause more trouble than help?
Crossfire:  Geez, what is everybody's infatuation with these jarheads???

Join KIRK DOUGLAS aboard the _Croutonprize_...
  [ Kirk Douglas as a Marine Colonel stands face to face with ]
  [ Crossfire in a Cargo Bay, each staring at the other.      ]
...on the next STAR TREK: THE CROUTON GENERATION!