We Were Once Borg
Posted on Sat Jul 17th, 2021 @ 7:14pm by Sublieutenant Miles Lynn & Colonel Sehan t'Varis & Subcommander Kaiae t'Lien & Centurion Nancy Gable & Lieutenant Xia Idris & Five of Eight & Lieutenant Kaol Ralaa & Sublieutenant Seira t'Reiza
2,290 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
Chapter IV: Unravelling the Mystery
Location: Somewhere between Cera and Drozana
Timeline: 238702.19
They had reached the arranged meeting point with the mysterious ex-Borg, who claimed it wanted to defect from Vulture's operation slightly ahead of time. The departure from Cera early in the morning had gone smoothly. Professor Lynn had arranged for a shipment of all sorts of rations to be delivered to the Ourainavassa, so the crew would be enjoying Ceran fish for about a week. He had even brought a few live fish that had been released into the newly-established pond in hydroponics, as well as some traditional Ceran pastries that had been prepared by a childhood friend of the twins, a fighter pilot in the CDF who had always dreamed of opening a bakery after retiring from the force. Overall, the mood on the warbird was positive.
Just after they had jumped to warp, Raven had received word from Captain Mannerheim. The operation to capture the enemy transport had been a success, and the Amelia was now also headed to Drozana with the captured James Bedford accompanying her. Once at the station, the refugees, currently still in cryo, would be released, and the ship handed over to them to search for a new home.
The colonel looked around the bridge and could not help but smile. In both Commander and Major Rogers' absence, Miles had taken over at tactical, while Seira was now at the helm. The ship was at yellow alert and cloaked, waiting for the defector's shuttle to arrive. But Raven knew better than to take its word at face value. All weapons were charged and ready. If this was a trap, the Ourainavassa would be ready to shoot her way out of it.
Five of Eight was jerked out of its standby mode, waiting for any sign of the vessel that would come to collect it, when an alarm sounded as the shuttle's sensors picked up a vessel dropping out of warp. Five of Eight piloted the shuttle out of its hiding spot into range of the Species 3783 vessel and awaited further developments. It was likely that the crew would treat it with hesitancy and a lot of mistrust.
Miles looked up from the tactical console. "Vessel on sensors, Colonel. Small shuttlecraft. Seems to have picked us up when we dropped out of warp, before we went under cloak."
Raven turned. "So you forgot to engage the cloak as we dropped out of warp, Subieutenant?"
The young man went red. "Uhm, I'm sorry, sir."
Had she been human, Kaiae probably would have currently had her palm over her face: She had served aboard ships with such equipment her entire adult life; been raised with the expectation of such since she was shorter than her mother's knees. "Forgetting" to engage cloaking was...not something that happened aboard a warbird. Except, apparently, this one.
The colonel chuckled. "Good thing you're a good pilot, Mr Lynn. Keep an eye out for any other arrivals, but drop us out of cloak, then scan the shuttlecraft. Sublieutenant Seira, move us into transporter range. Lieutenant Xia, keep an eye on any communications, all frequencies, and hail the shuttlecraft."
She tapped the intercom button. "Ready the brig to receive our guest. Medical team on standby. Hope you managed to get that regeneration thing set up."
"We're ready," Nancy replied, giving the preparations a quick once over before stepping out of the brig cell to make room for the new arrival. "Not my first rodeo dealing with XBs."
Kaol couldn't help but be intrigued with an XB. He had never personally treated one, but he was looking forward to the challenge. This would surely help him truly be the best doctor in the quadrant. He looked over at Gable, knowing better than to say anything to her... lest she pulls him off the case.
Xia tapped the communications console to hail the shuttle. “Should be coming on screen for you,” she told Raven. “No other communications in the area.”
Raven acknowledged the report from Dr Gable, just as the hail connected. "Five of Eight, I believe it was? Colonel t'Varis of the Ourainavassa. We have spoken before. Prepare to be beamed over. And take any items from on board the shuttle that you want to bring with you, as we will be destroying it once we have you on board."
Five of Eight took a hold of its bag, which contained what little it owned. "We are ready to beam aboard," it informed Raven.
Five of Eight had no attachment to the shuttle. After all, it was a means to an end, nothing more, nothing less.
Raven nodded. "Close the channel. Sublieutenant Lynn, prepare to fire on the shuttlecraft once you get the signal. Sublieutenant Seira, as soon as the shuttle is dust, get us out of here." She pressed the intercom. "Transporters, lock on and transport the XB straight to the brig. Cell six has been prepared. Brig, ready to receive prisoner. I will join you myself momentarily."
Xia closed the channel. “Do you want me down there to help evaluate?” she offered Raven. “I don’t know if telepathy will work on an ex-Borg, but I can try."
Raven shook her head. "Later perhaps, but for now, I need you here, monitoring comms."
A signal from the intercom indicated that the transport had been completed. "Right. Sublieutenant, blow that shuttle. Once that's done, Seira, get us out of here. Subcommander Kaiae, you have the bridge."
She stood and made her way off the bridge. Time to check out this defector.
Down in the brig, Gable was frowning at her medical tricorder. She'd reached for it as soon as she'd gotten a good look at the being that had materialized in the brig cell. As Raven entered, she looked up, but the frown remained. "Colonel, this isn't an ex-Borg. This is an actual Borg. He's just out of contact with a Collective."
Raven stopped in her tracks. "Are you absolutely certain, Doctor?" Without waiting for a reply, she walked over to the cell and looked at the Borg. "I am Colonel Sehan t'Varis, commonly known as Raven. Welcome to the Ourainavassa. State your designation and your intentions." She held her arms crossed behind her back, her hand holding a remote control that would immediately activate the transporter and space the Borg in case of trouble.
"We are Five of Eight, Secondary Maintenance Drone of Submatrix 48 of Trimatrix 16," Five of Eight replied. "We have no intentions towards the crew or this vessel," it added.
"Like I said, actual Borg," Gable repeated, though she could almost hear Arnason reciting case histories of single Borg like Hugh, who were largely harmless so long as they were disconnected from their Collective. But Arnason was softhearted, and in her opinion it too often made him soft headed when it came to anyone in need. "He probably doesn't have intentions toward us without a hive mind to drive them, but unmodified the possibility is there."
Kaol's eyes widened at the Borg drone. "Fascinating," he muttered. He had never seen an actual drone before. He felt like he should be terrified, but the drone was a patient now and in need of his care. "He is under our care now, Doctor Gable," Kaol said before turning his attention to Five of Eight. "Greetings. I am Dr. Kaol Ralaa. And this is Dr. Nancy Gable, and we are here to help you. Consider yourself lucky. I am the best doctor in the quadrant."
Dear Lord, he really is Arnason with pointed ears... And no humility. Gable looked upward, as if for strength.
Raven rolled her eye. "You claim to be the best doctor in the quadrant. Let's leave it at that." She turned to the Borg. "You say you have no ill intentions towards us. But we cannot take you by your words alone. Which is why you are in there. And let me tell you this much, Borg. It would be foolish to assume we are not prepared to deal with you, should you cause trouble. Now, when you contacted me, you said you were going to help us. How, exactly, do you plan on doing so?"
Five of Eight studied those around it, noting their species and their designations before it turned its full attention to Raven. "In this bag there is a PADD with all of the data you require," it said.
Five of Eight placed the bag down in front of the cell door and it moved away from the bag, so as not to be too close to the bag when someone took it on the off chance that they were afraid it would use the chance to seize and assimilate them.
Raven shook her head. "Take the PADD out of the bag." She moved over to the force field and placed a hand on the hilt of her weapon, clearly visible. The other hand still held the remote for the transporter. "And then put it here, on that shelf by the entry," she added, nodding towards the shelf she mentioned.
Five of Eight did as Raven requested then moved away from the shelf and the PADD, its ocular implant and eyepiece fixed on its captors.
For the briefest moment, Raven disabled the force field and reached through to grab the PADD, before immediately closing the cell once more. The PADD's design was similar to the Romulan ones the Ourainavassa crew used, but yet it was somewhat different. She was going to have Mila Lynn take a look at it when she returned. For now, Raven accessed the PADD and flicked through the files. After a minute or so, she looked up at the Borg.
"So then, Five of Eight, Secondary Maintenance Drone of Submatrix 48 of Trimatrix 16," she said, waving the PADD. "This holds quite a lot of very interesting information, I will give you that. It will be very useful. If it's correct. At the moment, I do not suspect that you are planning to cause us any immediate trouble. That being said, we still have no reason to trust you. As you can see, we have put together a regeneration alcove in your cell for the time being. Please inform the doctors if there is anything else you need. Once we have verified the information you have provided, we can talk about where we go from here. Until then, you will remain confined to the brig. And don't even try to make any outside communications. We will notice."
Raven turned to Gable and Kaol. "I will leave our new arrival in your hands." She held out the remote activator for the transporter. "If there is any reason to, activate this and space it. I will be in my ready room, going over the files."
"I'll take that," Gable said, taking the remote activator to be sure there was no chance Kaol would take it. She didn't trust bleeding heart 'Romulan Gunnar' for one minute to space the Borg if necessary. "We'll run some more detailed scans so if you decide he's worth keeping, we'll work out a plan to make him safely ex-Borg."
Kaol looked at Gable with his mouth agape. "He is standing right here, Dr Gable." He then turned to the drone. "I will ensure you get the best care, Five of Eight."
Raven shook her head. "Lieutenant Kaol. Remember where you are. And who your patient is. We are not in some fancy planetside hospital here. This is a military vessel, and we are dealing with a potentially dangerous prisoner." She turned to Gable. "Please make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. Like getting himself assimilated or something like that."
Great. I get to babysit a Borg AND Kaol, Gable thought. "I'll do my best."
Kaol almost thought better of it than to challenge Raven andGable, but the urge to speak his mind was too strong. "I am aware of what he is, Colonel. He deserves every opportunity to not be, and I am not going to get assimilated." He walked over to the drone to do preliminary scans, startled by the emergence of the assimilation tubules from Five of Eight's arm.
Raven looked at Gable. "Looks like you might want to get your bat'leth. Just in case. Or anything that isn't an energy weapon. You know, just in case."
Five of Eight studied the makeshift alcove "We will make use of it now. We will be in standby mode for six hours as we do so," it told them. "If you wish to scan us. you may do so without risk," it added.
The colonel nodded, and turned to the medical officers. "Well then. Do your thing. Let me know what you find. And Kaol, don't get yourself assimilated." She nodded at Gable, and left the brig.
"I'll set up the scan." Gable looked at Kaol. "If I send you for my bat'leth, do you think you can fetch it without cutting your arm off?"
Five of Eight plugged into the alcove. No sooner had it done so, it powered down to standby mode. The only sign that it was still functional was the lights flashing on its armoured torso.
As soon as Raven gave the order, Miles tapped the command to fire. Two blasts from the Ourainavassa disruptors were all it took to reduce the shuttlecraft to dust. "Target destroyed, Subcommander."
"Very good." Kaiae whirled then from Mile to Seira and gave a brisk, fractional tip of her head, and Seira's fingers flew across her controls, withdrawing the Ourainavassa from the scene.
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