Star Trek: Season 8 - The Perfect Reflection

[Geekyfanboy]

Ensign Took was walking through Engineering preparing his report for the returning K'arath when the klaxons began to wale. As the walls started to flash red, crewmembers went into action securing their stations. The calm voice of Commander Sevryll could be heard. "Attention all hands, we have been boarded by the Borg. All non-essential hands clear Decks Six, Seven, Eleven, and Thirteen.... All security trained personnel, secure these decks." You could see the panic start to take hold. The ship was rocked back and forth as the Borg fired upon the Arabella. Nic knew what he must do. He started spouting off commands. "Secure the warp core... we need weapons back up... divert all unnecessary power to the shields... secure all jeffiestubes.." A loud banging could be heard coming from the main engineering door. "Arm yourself" Nic said as the doors to engineering were torn open and several Borg drones entered.

[X]

Aria James stood alone in the Arabella, looking into the recently opened weapons locker. On her hip, she added a pulse phaser pistol to the daggers that already rested there. They were designed to not only have  an automatic random modulation of the phaser frequencies, but they were created with the idea of defeating personal shields. On her other hip, she carried a medical tricorder that was modified to work in concert with her mental abilities.

"Personal log," she said aloud. "I have gathered the tools I need and activated the counterstrike programming of my nanobots. Rory has Elizabeth safely protected in my father's quarters, but I have suggested that they move to the Aurora as soon as possible. Shortly, I will begin to move towards the last known locations of the twins. I fear for them as the Aurora has lost contact with the holosphere being used by their protector. I have enabled the counterstrike programming of my nanobots. I am sure that they will serve to combat the Borg on a nanoscale level, but the Borg will not keep me from them. Hopefully I can bring them back here safely. End Log."

[wraith1701]

Joint post by HawkeyeMeds, BryanCD and wraith1701

The turbo lift doors swished open on deck 11, and K'Tan and D'Callan ran through towards engineering. 

K'Tan couldn't help but note that the normally soothing corridors of the Arabella had taken on a decidedly nightmarish flavor- the dim lighting, accompanied by the constant strobing of the red-alert, made him feel as though he were stepping into Grethor, the Klingon Hell.  This impression was strengthened by the occasional cries of terror and shrieks of pain echoing in the distance.  It was evident that the Borg were wreaking havoc throughout the ship, assaulting both the Arabella and her crew.  K'Tan bit back the urge to rush to his crewmates aid; the most pressing need right now was to secure engineering.  If the heart of the ship were to fall, all hands aboard would be doomed.

As K'Tan and D'Callan approached the main doors to engineering, they spied Lt. K'arath.  The Klingon Chief Engineer still sported his Ter'Ossik disguise.  Like a mighty ebon tower of barely contained wrath, he stood before the doors, and beckoned the pair forward.  His massive bat'leth dripped with gore, and a coiled piece of Borg hung from one of the handles.  K'arath turned towards the two officers and a broad warrior smile engulfed his face. 

K'Tan slapped his hand on his fellow Klingon's shoulder, and eyed the ichor covered blade.

"It looks like you've been busy!"

D'Callan's eyebrows raised.  The Chief Engineer's already fearsome visage was intensified by his surgical alterations- his piercing, yellow eyes shone from his midnight-black face with the intensity of a laser.   D'Callan glanced from K'arath to K'Tan.  "You Klingons, you should be in a Shakespeare play."  He glanced at the blade in K'arath's hand.  "We'll need to have similar weapons. The bat'leth is ideal against the Borg."

K'arath nodded in agreement.  "We must secure Main Engineering or the Borg will be able to control all ship systems."

"We might need some help," K'Tan added.  He looked at D'Callan, who tapped his com badge.

"D'Callan to Dunn.  We need you outside engineering."

Dunn's voice echoed through.

"On my way sir. Good to see that you're back on your feet."

K'Tan threw D'Callan a look of inquiry;  the Security Chief simply winked at his look of confusion.

"We need bladed weapons, Dunn.  Bring the weapons from the away mission, anything sharp will do."

Dunn responded in the affirmative, and the communication went dead.

K'arath kicked the door with his boot in frustration, then pointed at a series of scratches and scorch marks marring the edges.  "It looks like the Borg have already made it here.  I believe they may have forced their way in, then sealed the door behind them to keep us out."    

As if to confirm his words, a loud crash and the muffled yell of Lt.Took rang out from behind the doors.

K'arath turned to his comrades, his expression grim.

"We need to get in there now."

All three men looked at each other, and nodded.  After pausing to brace himself, K'Tan whirled and lashed out with his left foot, his boot shattering the access panel beside the doorway.  Reaching into the smoking, sparking mess of exposed wires and ODN conduits, he yanked free two cables.  As he pressed the exposed ends together, the corridor was briefly lit by a flash of electricity; there was a sizzling SNAP and he was thrown violently into the opposite wall of the hallway.

The twin doors slowly parted four inches, then ground to a halt.

K'Tan shook his head, and shakily got up off of the floor, wisps of smoke rising from his hair.  He gave the air a sniff.

"Either of you smell something burning?"

Suddenly, to the right of D'Callan, the hum and glow of a transporter beam sprung to life.  The beam faded, revealing the lanky form of  Dunn.  He held out a staff with an ax style head and K'Tan took it, giving it an experimental swing.

"It will have to do."

D'Callan looked at Dunn for his weapon and Dunn held out a small club.  It too was made of wood and had metal spikes.

"Is this it?"  D'Callan asked.   "Hand to hand for me then boys.  Lets go."

The four men grasped the edges of the partially opened doors and heaved.  Within moments, the doors were forced back into their wall recesses, revealing the darkened engine room.  Grey smog billowed out as two Borg turned to regard them, the red beams of their ocular implants shining through the haze.  The four officers came together, looked at each other, then shouted as they ran in.

[Meds]

D'Callan ran to the right and ducked under the red implant light and swung his club into the metal shaft of one of the Borgs legs, stumbling the beam came down and shone into D'Callans eye temporarily blinding him, the Borgs wire shot out of its hand towards D'Callans neck but just as contact was made the wired infused hand shattered. Dunn had timed it perfectly and as the Borg attempted to steady itself the Bat'leth of K'arath glided smoothly through its skull. D'Callan jumped up and quickly looked at Dunn.

"I owe you that sir"

D'Callan shouted at Dunn,

"Fair play Ensign, now lets keep going"

The two men turned to see three more drones walking towards them, D'Callan checked to his left and saw K'tan expertly glide his axe through a Borgs spine, sparks and pieces of metal covered him and he looked like a welder from the ship yard days. Glancing to his right he saw Took lying on the floor. Joseph shouted at K'Tan and K'Arath and pointed at the unconcious engineer. The roar of the two Klingon's filled engineering and D'Callan knew that this was going to be a dangerous fight, he felt his body fill with adrenalin and ran with Dunn, weapons raised at the oncoming Borg.

[Bryancd]

K'ararth paused above the prone figure of Lieutenant Took. He kneeled down and turned Took's head to the side. His neck had no markings on it to indicate an assimilation infection. Took's eye's opened slightly.

"Sir..." Took rasped, "We held the line as best we...." and unconsciousness claimed him again.

"Brave warrior," K'ararth said with a smile.

He stood up and could see K'Tan and D'Callan engaged with the last 2 drones. He rushed forward, dropping one of the attackers at the knees and delivering an overhanded blow to it's chest. The coppery smell of spilt blood mixed with that of burnt circuitry. D'Callan's club stunned another attacker and K'Tan promptly decapitated the drone. Engineering was secure. K'arath looked around at the carnage. He saw some of his own staff among the bodies. Some were dead, some were worse even than that. The three men knew what had to be done.

[Geekyfanboy]

Quinn lay on the cold metal table. He was conscious and aware but kept his eyes closed to listen to his surroundings. He heard movement around him but didn't dare open his eyes. At the moment nothing was happening to him and the more information he could gather the better he would be. Nathan was still unclear on how this all happened. How could Nic be assimilated so quickly and he be transported to a Borg cube without any warning. Quinn reached out with his mind and connected with the Borg collective. Millions of voices talking at once, it was deafening. He slowly started to filter out the noise until he heard one voice that was louder then the rest. This male voice was issuing commands. Nathan couldn't be sure but it sounded as if they were in the middle of a battle. They had taken heavy damage to their aft section. Quinn could feel the Borg's unified consciousness focusing on the repairs, it was incredible. He probed a bit further into the mind of this Borg that was giving orders until something that he wasn't expecting happened. The male voice spoke to him, not in his mind but verbally. Quinn slowly opened his eyes to see that he was in the middle of an assimilation chamber.  As he looked around for the voice it spoke again. "Glad to see that you are awake.. Captain". Quinn sat up and noticed that he wasn't wearing any clothing. "Who are you?" he said looking around.  "I am the Borg". Quinn shook his head, "the Borg are many, you are one." The cool voice echoed in the assimilation chamber, " I am many, I am one, I am all".  Quinn sat there confused as he knew that the Borg had a Queen that commanded all Borg's but this was a male voice, could it be a Borg King? "Show yourself," Quinn demanded.

[iceman]

Casey worked feverishly to stay on top of the casualties and wounded, as fast as he patched one person up, another took their place, Dr. Peterson began to wonder if he would be able to stay on top of the situation. Crew were lined up out the door to sickbay and kept coming gobbling up what limited space was left in sickbay.

Every member of his staff was occupied trying desperately to stay on top of the growing number of wounded.

Dr. Peterson stopped momentary " computer activate the  EMH program" the computer responded in its monotone voice "The EMH program is currently offline".  Dr. Petersons frustration was evident on his face as was the sweat that was accumulating on his forehead.

Dr. Peterson continued his work assessing the injuries as they came in and categorizing those injuries that were urgent over the minor ones that could wait. Peterson wondered how many of the crew would be left standing after the Borg were finished with them and wondered how many of them would be repeat customers.

[Meds]

JOINT POST BY WRAITH1701, BRYANCD & HAWKEYEMEDS

K'ararth looked over at K'Tan. The two command officers exchanged a look which spoke volumes. Lt. Took was not seriously harmed and he now struggled to stand. There were three other members of K'arath's staff who were not as fortunate, the Borg nanite infection clearly visible on their skin.

D'Callan saw the two officers looking towards each other and his blood ran cold.

"Now, we don't know if they can't still be saved," he reasoned.

"True," K'Tan said.  "Computer; lock onto crewmen.." He paused, and looked to K'arath.

"Frakes, Smith, and Maryweather," K'arath supplied.  "All three were honorable, hardworking officers.  They deserve better than this."

"Lock onto officers Frakes, Smith, and Maryweather," K'Tan continued.  "Beam them directly to sick-bay!"

"Unable to comply," came the disembodied response.  "All non-essential systems- power has been routed to main shields.  Transporters are currently off-line."

"Well, we can't just carry them like there like this," said K'Tan.  If they succumb to the nanites en-route, they could infect us all!"

K'ararth took a deep breath and was about to agree when a hand shot out and grabbed the blade while another hand went for his leg. Catching the Klingon by suprise K'ararth stumbled back, just ast the phaser blast shot past killing the infected crewman instantly. D'Callan and Dunn spun round to see Took holding the weapon.

K'tan lifted Tooks free hand over his shoulder and lifted him up.

K'ararth looked up from his dead crewman and shouted at the team.

"Do what you have to do, secure them if need be, kill them if they are too far gone. We cannot afford to waist anymore time"

There was a sudden screech of phaser-fire; the two stricken crewmen were briefly engulfed in a red-orange glow, and then slumped to the deck, unconscious.

K'Tan, K'arath, and D'Callan all turned to see ensign Dunn calmly holstering his sidearm.   "That should keep them quiet for a while," Dunn said with a grin.

"Excellent thinking, Dunn!" D'Callan exclaimed.  "We'll make a lieutenant out of you yet!"

With K'Tan holding Took and D'Callan and Dunn carrying the two stricken crewmen they followed K'ararth towards the turbo lift and headed towards sick bay.

[Jen]

A subroutine within a system...this is what he had been reduced to. After a year of enjoying the benefits of a permanent emitter orb, he was once again a collection of algorithms confined to a computer. It was difficult to adjust to the disembodied sensation after occupying a living, breathing form for so long.

An instant before he vanished from the lounge, and a heartbeat before Ryla Drett bore her fatal wound, the hologram known as Dennis flowed into the ship's mainframe. Ordinarily, this action would be impossible due to the safeguards in place to prevent such intrusions. But the Borg pierced the dedicated appliance, which typically denied access to unauthorized individuals, and permitted his admittance without protest.

He could sense Borg coding spilling around him. "This is looking more and more dire," he thought after a series of anomalous functions within his program produced a feeling of anxiety. If he had them, he would have clinched his fists.

Though disoriented from the transfer, Dennis instantly began monitoring the data that the sensors in the lounge gathered. The moment the events were recorded, they notified him that a Trill had been injured and that one vulcanoid child was transported off the Arabella. He was relieved to find that M'Rynn was safe, for now...he would continue to monitor her status. Yet despite his incorporeal state, he felt anguish for the boy and then sorrow as the detection devices indicated that the Trill Bio signs were no longer measurable. The doctor had fought so hard to defend the twins, and she ultimately gave her life in the attempt. Her lifeless body now rested in the only place available within main sickbay... her untidy office.

The data he received from the lounge sensors, specified that Doctor Drett was cut down by friendly fire. A pulse from a type two phaser had killed her. Dennis analyzed the signature of the rifle and took note of the officer that the weapon was issued to. He then transferred the data to Sickbay and Security before sending a message to Rory, who was yet another hologram currently inhabiting the Aurora in the Main Shuttlebay.

Alien code bumped against his own, causing his program to lag slightly. He grumbled a series of colorful words and focused on his next objective— the computer's internal defenses. The sentinel hologram known as Dennis, would take perverse pleasure in fouling the Borg algorithms.

[Rico]

As the deck plating shook under his boots, Lieutenant Zremm tried to catch his balance on a nearby hand railing.  The Arabella was moving cautiously through the asteroid field and it did seem to be slowing down the progress of the Borg vessel pursuing them.  Zremm continued to scan the field in order to feed updated tactical and better navigation data to helm control.  So far the plan seemed to be working.  The ship had quieted slightly, and an almost eerie silence covered the bridge which had been in chaos just a short time ago.  However, his mind drifted as he stared at his work station thinking about his morning with Marie.

"Are you sure you are feeling up to reporting to engineering today Marie?  I know this pregnancy hasn't been the easiest so far for you."  Zremm said as he watched the earth woman that he loved adjust the collar of her uniform tunic. 

"I'm fine, Ch'Fras.  Besides if I tell them I'm not feeling well again K'ararth will just suggest another one of his Klingon home remedies for morning sickness.  And the last one he suggested made me sicker than the baby, just by watching it wiggle on the plate!"  Marie said with a light laugh as she pulled her blond hair back into a ponytail.  Zremm loved hearing Marie laugh and it made him smile and usually laugh as well.  Something he had not done a lot of in his life.

"Well, ok then.  I'm sure they could use your help down there.  I know they have been having a slight problem with the warp field calibration sensors.  Which I happen to know is your 'other little baby.'  And you know, maybe you should stop off at your quarters and pick up a few more things and bring them here after you get off duty.  There's enough room and since you've been staying here I've gotten used to finding your uniforms hanging in the bathroom - or tripping over your big boots.  Hehe!"  The tall Andorian said as Marie gave him a sly smirk and walked over close to him.

"My boots are not big, blue boy.  Besides, this place is going to get even more crowded when the baby comes.  Now, come here."  Marie said as Zremm bent down to kiss her.

"Zremm!?  Zremm, report!"  Commander Sevryll's voice called out and brought the lieutenant back to the present.

"Ahh, we seem to be evading the Borg ship at present commander.  The asteroid field is definitely causing them trouble with their targeting sensors."  Zremm said.

"Very good lieutenant, keep me posted.  Engineering has been secured, but they lost some personnel to the Borg.  Don't worry Zremm, Marie is fine.  I need you focused and here Zremm."  Sevryll said to her old friend.

"Yes sir, commander.  I won't let you down."  Zremm said, as a sigh of relief washed over him.

"I'd expect nothing less.  Now, we need to come up with a plan.  This cat and mouse situation won't last forever.  Once main power is back online, I want a way out of this situation.  Let's get to work."  Sevryll said as she worked to keep her emotions in check as well as she had asked her Andorian friend to do. 

[wraith1701]

joint post by HawkeyeMeds, BryanCD, and wraith1701


It didn't take long for the four officers to get to sick bay. Movement was frantic, and on the floor lay several Borg and one security officer. D'callan looked down as he carried the injured engineer.

"Damn; Ensign Patrick."

K'arath was the first in and placed his ensign on the floor, he could see there was no room on any of the spare beds.

"I'm heading back to engineering; there's lot of damage that needs repairing."

K'Tan nodded and stepped back as K'arath ran out.  He carefully  placed Took near Ryla's office door and turned to nurse Caine.

"Where's Dr. Drett?"

Susan glanced up from the injured patient she was working on.

"K'Tan. Oh my, look I'm afr......"

An explosion blasted through the outside wall near the turbo lift and Dunn fell to the floor.  He looked back to see a Borg hand emerging from the ruined wall.

"Borg, three o'clock!"

K'Tan and D'callan ran towards the Borg. D'Callan lifted his club and hit the arm but was greeted with a green force-shield.

"Damn it. They have adapted to even these weapons!"

The two men stood back and Joseph looked around.  On the floor was a shredded power cable, sparks bounced from it making it writhe around like a snake. He looked at the hole in the wall and slowly three Borg began to emerge. Timing it he pointed to K'Tan who goaded the Borg out.  Just as all three where huddled together D'callan dived to the floor, throwing the cable into the drones and causing a huge power surge.

Standing back up he smiled at K'Tan who quickly spoke first.

"Don't say it"

D'Callan walked past him smiling.

"Shocking, positively shocking"

K'Tan shook his head as D'Callan left the hallway and headed back to Deck 15; suddenly he popped his head back round the corner.

"Oh, and those three are on my count, so beers on you."

Before K'Tan could argue D'callan was gone.

Smiling to himself, K'Tan silently shook his head, then turned to nurse Cain.  "I'm heading back to the bridge to relive the tactical officer on duty.  Can you tell Dr. Drett that I came by, and would like to speak with her once this crisis has passed?"

Nurse Cain stared silently at K'Tan, her lower lip trembling as a tear slowly made it's way down her face.  "K'Tan; I'm so sorry.."

As the implications of Ryla's absence from sickbay dawned on him, K'Tan's blood turned to ice, and time seemed to slow to a crawl...

[ElfManDan]

They ran down the hallway towards their quarters.

"We have to secure the ship, it's first priority." Reese said as they approached the door. They quickly entered. They both went to grab their phasers. Reese grabbed it and attached it to his side. He thought about the Borg and what they were. He felt his neck where the two holes were already beginning to seal themselves. He hoped he wasn't infected. He wondered how long it would take for a few Borg nanos to take over his body. "Maybe we should stop by the Sick Bay."

"We have to secure the ship first. We're not mortally damaged, Reese. After the ship is secured then we worry about our own wounds." Fissual grabbed a knife out of one of his draws.

Reese noticed it shine as it entered the light, "A knife?" Reese looked at the little silver blade, "What's that for?"

"It's back up when my phaser becomes useless." Fissual strapped the knife to his side.

"Useless?" Reese didn't know much about the Borg, only that they were a collective of biometric drones, "Why would my phaser become useless."

"The Borg will adapt to our phaser fire. If you got a knife better grab it."

"I got one better." Reese reached down into the little space between the bed and his small box of things. He pulled out the long sheath that housed his sword. "Will this work?"

Fissual eyed it with a slightly startled feel, "You've had a sword in here the whole time."

"No I brought it from home on my return."

"Oh," Fissual thought about the usefulness of a sword against the Borg, "Yeah, that will work great."

Reese slung the sword onto his back. "We ready to do this?"

"Yeah," Fissual gave Reese a very eager smile, "Lets go on a rampage."

[wraith1701]

Manning the bridge's tactical station, Lt. Otak paused to wipe the sweat from his brow.  The commander's decision to take the ship into the asteroid field seemed to be buying the ship some time.  So far, the Borg hadn't shortened the distance separating them from their fleeing prey.

Otak took a hitching breath and slowly exhaled, trying vainly to dispel some of the stress and anxiety that he was feeling.  His thoughts drifted back to his old engineering accident, and the prosthetic arm it had left him with.  After being irreparably damaged by a reactor coolent leak, the limb had been replaced by a state-of-the-art duplicate.  Although constructed of various alloys and ceramic composites, the arm was sheathed in a sleeve of synthetic skin that gave it a life-like appearance.  The arm was so real-looking that at times, Otak could almost forget that this vital part of his anatomy was mechanical.

Almost.

Unfortunately, with the ship being attacked by half-machine, half organic invaders, the reality of his situation was foremost on his mind.

It's ironic, he thought to himself.  Here I am, afraid of being turned into a machine, and I'm already halfway there anyway!

Otak glanced down at his fist as it gripped the side of his LCARS display.  The matte gray housing of the display was marred by a thin, spiderweb pattern of cracks radiating out from beneath his hand.  At some point during the battle, he had apparently lost control of his strength governors, accidentally crushing the plastic casing.  Otak forced his fingers to release their grip, and slowly lowered his hand to his side.  He marshaled his strength and stomped down on the hysterical giggle struggling to make it's way past his lips. 

The commander and the crew are depending on me, he thought.  I've got to keep it together!

[Meds]

D'Callan ran into his security office and began scanning the monitor. Bleeping in the left hand corner was a message, he quickly clicked onto it and read the message, some of it out loud.

"Dennis? hmmm. Oh lord no not Ryla. Friendly fire, Talon Bowers. Damn it."

Joseph punched the monitor screen with his fist as he thought of the Doctor who had been reassuring him only a few hours earlier, and what of K'Tan. He shook his head, he must concentrate on the security of the ship.

Tapping his communication he announced his orders.

"D'callan to all security. Engineering and sick bay is clear for ship action. Kelly and Morgan stay on the bridge and cover both turbo lift doors, under no circumstances leave these posts unless instructed by myself or the acting Captain. Ray take a post on deck 3 and cover the emergency ladder to the bridge, we don't want anyone using that. Coleman and Wood I am sealing all corridors with the internal forcefield on deck 10, man the field and keep watch. Hayes, Murdock, Rutherford and Powell turn the mess hall into the emergency intensive care, you've done the training now do the practical. All other security keep up the good work, i'll be with you shortly. Joseph ran to the armoury and took out several phasers and rifles and adjusted some of the settings advised by K'tans tactical team, nodding to the two security staff on watch he ran out. A twinge gave in his stomach and looked down to see a small patch of blood.

"D'Callan to Comander Sevryll. Security management echo 2 and echo 5 has now been put in place. Turbo lifts and security ladder to the bridge has now been locked down until you override. D'Callan out"

D'calln ran out and headed to the turbo lift.

[Jen]

Joint post by Jen and Meds:

D'Callan ran round the corner and aimed his rifle at an oncoming Borg. Adjusting the settings to a 1 second cycle, he fired. The blast shot straight through the drone's head.  A beam came from behind and sparked against the bulkhead in front of him. Falling to the deck, he rolled over to see another Borg towering over him. The rifle was out of reach, so D'Callan clenched his fist ready to fight. The right arm of the Borg moved towards him, but before it could lay a pincher on him, a sudden power surge fried the attacker. Rolling out of the way of the falling body, D'Callan noticed a flashing panel on the wall where the surge originated. Slowly getting up, he studied the display. In a bold typeface the words "you're welcome," pulsed on the screen.

"Thanks..." he replied.

The words were replaced by a new sentence, "consider the sizzling drone a virtual handshake. I'm Dennis."


"Right, OK. 'Dennis'. You sent me the report regarding the death of Ryla Drett, didn't you?"

The words flashed again,"go to a monitor around the corner."

The panel darkened as the words disappeared from the screen. D'Callan glanced about the empty corridor then jogged to the engineering monitor. Dennis waited for him to arrive before spelling out his next line of communication.

"I have accessed the ships systems and I am monitoring Borg movements."

"That's all very well and good, but all I know is that your name is 'Dennis'.  Who the hell are you?"

If Dennis had a face, he would have flexed his jaw.

"I am a sentinel hologram programmed to protect Sevryll and her children. My holoemitter was damaged during a skirmish in the lounge. I had to enter the mainframe to survive."

D'Callan raised his eyebrow.

"You're the commander's nanny? Ok Jeeves, what's..."

Before Lieutenant D'Callan could finish his sentence, bold red letters streamed onto the screen, "NO. I'm a SENTINEL. Can't you people get that in your heads?"

"Right. Sorry mate. You were in the lounge with Ryla and the children weren't you?"

The question was too hard to answer. Dennis ignored it and with a thought, entered another line of communication. "The Arabella is not lost, but each of her decks now has Borg swarming it."

D'callan looked about quickly, before continuing his conversation with the monitor. "Engineering and Main Sickbay have been secured. I've locked down all access to the bridge and we have activated internal force fields in several sections."

"I know... I'm in the computer, remember?" Replied Dennis sarcastically. "Most of these drones are your crewmembers. If it were me, I'd just kill them all..." Dennis stopped himself. N'Vall had been taken by the Borg. He couldn't kill the boy, and if he couldn't end the toddler's life, the crew would have trouble killing any drone they recognized as a fellow crewmate. "We can't dispatch them all... We'll have to power them down so they can each be reclaimed. It will take a while, but I'm sure the doctors have some way of removing implants." The words disappeared from the screen for a moment as Dennis considered a plan of attack. An instant later the monitor began to rapidly scroll new information. "The Borg are creating clusters of alcoves on each deck with a Borg computer console at the end. They need thirty megawatts of energy to run. Since engineering is secured... maybe I can work with that department to divert the power, and starve the Borg of the energy they need to keep going. It won't be an instant solution, but if it works, you'll have your ship and crew back. Of course, you'll need to collect the Borg in one area so the docs can do their thing."

D'Callan looked round and bit his lip then turned back to the monitor. He stared at the words for a moment before speaking.

"If you can do what you say you can, then we had best get busy. I'll introduce you to K'arath and Took."


The lieutenant pivoted on his feet and ran back the way he had just come. When he reached a cross-section, he looked back at the paneling on the wall.

"You still with me mate?"

The panel flashed a "yes".

"Good... do us a favor, warn me of anything that may be around the corner and we'll do a little skip along"

The security officer darted through corridors and dove into the Jeffries tubes to stay away from drones. All the way Dennis monitored his movements from the computer. After some time, D'Callan dropped from a service hatch and landed in the middle of Sickbay, catching his own security staff off guard.

"Gonna have to do some more training with you two aren't I?" he smirked.

Joseph  saw Lieutenant Took sitting up holding his arm on the opposite side of the room. The Security Chief pushed passed his baffled security personnel and approached the injured engineering officer. Lieutenant D'Callan pointed at the wall where the words: "I'd say 'good day', but it ain't... so I won't," appeared on the screen. Took glanced at Joseph with a puzzled expression then turned back to the panel as another sentence scrolled on to the screen, "I understand you have an infestation..." Joseph D'Callan wasted no time on filling the young Lieutenant in on who Dennis was, and what their plan happened to be. A grin grew over the engineer's face as Lieutenant D'callan slapped the young man's back. An instant later, the two men hurried out of Sickbay and headed towards engineering.